Distribution of 10 Medicinal Plants
used by Native Americans &
Open-source Observations of the Species in Illinois

Acer negundo - Boxelder

Medicinal Uses:

American Indians used the inner-bark as an emetic (a substance that induces vomiting).

Other uses:

The sap was boiled down as a sugar source.
(Foster & Duke, 2014)

Acer Saccharinum - Silver Maple

Medicinal Uses:

An infusion of the bark is used in the treatment of coughs, cramps and dysentery. The infusion is also applied externally to old, stubborn running sores. A compound infusion is used in the treatment of "female complaints". The inner bark is boiled and used with water as a wash for sore eyes. An infusion is used internally in the treatment of diarrhoea. An infusion of the root bark has been used in the treatment of gonorrhoea. (Silver Maple, n.d.)

Asclepias syriaca - Common Milkweed

Medicinal Uses:

Native Americans and pioneers had to discern between silkweeds with the same genus that are poisonous.
Appalachian tribes brewed a tea from the leaves to induce vomiting and to relieve fever.
The root was taken in small amounts for digestive gas. The plant was used a mild astringent and diuretic.
The extract obtained by boiling the powdered root was widely used to reduce hemorrhaging.
The milky sap was rubbed on warts to eradicate them. (Angier & Duke, 2008)

Other uses:

The root was considered Emmenagogue, diuretic, alterative, aromatic, sudorific, tonic, laxative and expectorant.
It was valuable in amenorrhea, dropsy, retention of urine, dyspepsia, asthma, and scrofulous diseases. It is capable of producing vomiting; promotes moderate perspiration. It is tonic and acts upon the bowels. (Miller, 1998)
Precautions: Overuse of the milkweed juice, plant parts, or seeds may be dangerous because of the presence of cardiac glycosides. (Angier & Duke, 2008)

Geranium maculatum - Wild Geranium

Medicinal Uses:

They were said to be Native Americans’ strongest astringent. Native Americans made a green solution from the powdered roots and water for dysentery and internal hemorrhaging.
It was also used to dry up sores and healing ulcers.
The crushed roots were used for arthritis, over exercised joints and sore feet.
It was also used as the most common birth control substance by drinking a tea steeped from the roots. This would make the drinker being thought safe from pregnancy for at least a year.
Native Americans, and subsequently the settlers, used the powdered dried root to help heal wounds of all sorts since it was regarded as an antiseptic.
The Cherokees chewed the fiber of the root and blew it into the mouths of children suffering from thrush. (Angier & Foster, 2008)

Other uses:

This species can be used to prepare a decoction of the roots in hot water to be consumed as tea. It is suggested that you can drink ¼ cup as needed, or use topically as a skin wash.
When prepared as tea, the leaves can also be used as an astringent mouthwash or as a topical wash for weepy rashes (like from poison ivy) and wounds. (Rose, 2017)

*Hypericum perforatum - St John's Wort

Medicinal Uses:

It was used to cure suppression of uriine, chronic urinary affections, diarrhea, dysentery, worms, and jaundice. It was also used as an ointment, used for wounds, ulcers, and tumors.
Astringent, Sedative, Diuretic, and Balsamic Properties. (Miller, 1998)

Other uses:

Used in depression treatments in Germany outselling conventional antidepressants Prozac by as much as 20 to 1. Over 20 controlled clinical trials confirmed its safety and effectiveness. It is currently being researched for AIDS treatment.
Warning: Taken internally or externally may cause skin burns on sensitive skin. As an antidepressant, it is used only for mild to moderate forms of depression, not severe forms. (Foster & Duke, 2014)

Monarda fistulosa - Wild Bergamot

Medicinal Uses:

American Indians used leaf tea for colic, flatulence, colds, fevers, stomachaches, nosebleeds, insomnia, heart trouble; in measles to induce sweating; poulticed leaves for headaches.
Historically, physicians have used it to expel worms and gas. (Foster & Duke, 2014)

Other uses:

Its essential oil is high in carvacrol which has anesthetic, worm-expelling, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and diuretic properties (Foster & Duke, 2014)
It is used to relieve sinus congestion, heal the skin, relieve colds and flus. The flowers and leaves can be boiled for steam inhalations to sooth stuck and congested sinuses. The infusion of the plant can be taken internally as a tea and topically as a wound wash. The wild bergamot-infused oil can be used for massage. (Rose, 2017)

*Nepeta cataria - Catnip

Medicinal Uses:

This plant is useful in febrile and nervous diseases. It is also used to restore the menstrual secretions. It can be used in flatulence and to relieve an upset stomach.
Sudorific, Antispasmodic, Diaphoretic, carminative, emmenagogue, and stomachic properties. (Miller, 1998)

Other uses:

Podophyllum peltatum - Mayapple

Medicinal Uses:

Cherokees and other tribes used the root, steeped in water to make a tea, in differing small doses as purgative and an emetic. They also used it to kill and expel worms from the digestive tract.
It was used as a diuretic and to encourage the discharge of bile.
The Penobscots used the juice of the fruit to remove warts.
They would also apply a few drops of the fruit juice to the ears in hope that they would reduce deafness.
The tea of the root was credited to be an antidote for poisons and snakebite.
The best time to dig the roots, per the settlers and the Native Americans was when the fruit was ripening. (Foster & Duke, 2008)
The root is deobstruent, cathartic, alterative, anthelmintic, hydragogue, sialogogue, antibilious, diuretic, and narcotic. It was considered valuable in jaundice, bilious and intermittent fevers, scrofula, syphilis, liver complaints, rheumatism, and where a powerful cathartic is required. (Miller, 1998)

Other uses:

Currently the tea of the root is still used sparingly for liver disorders, rheumatism, and venereal diseases.
Recent studies have shown that the resin extracted from the root has been used successfully as a caustic to remove benign growths on the skin caused by viruses, including warts but also other epithelial tumors. (Foster & Duke, 2008)

Populus deltoides - Eastern Cottonwood

Medicinal Uses:

Its inner bark contains the glycoside salicin, a precursor of salicylic acid which has been used for centuries to treat headaches, fevers, and inflammation. (Rose, 2017)

Other uses:

The leaves and stems have been used as a yellow and orange natural dye via a heating process. (Richard & Tyrl, )