Folkways Reporter Zack Harold recently made a trip to the small town of New Vrindaban, in West Virginia’s Northern Panhandle. It’s a Hare Krishna community started in the late 60s. These days, the town is home to a few hundred permanent residents, but thousands of pilgrims visit each year. They come to worship in the temple — and to visit the opulent Palace of Gold. But those main attractions were a pretty small part of Zack’s trip. He ended up spending much of his time in the kitchen.
EDIBLE MOUNTAIN – Boneset The Forgotten Fever Remedy
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This forgotten fever remedy was once one of the most popular medicinal herbs used by herbalists in Eastern North America.
Also called break bone fever, it’s leaves can be used steeped as a tea and taken as warm as a person can stand to break a fever.
Some folks in Appalachia would simmer it with lemon and honey to make a cough syrup.
Boneset was also combined with elderberry and used with great success by some doctors during the influenza outbreak of 1918-19.
It’s popularity has faded over the years and is now considered a weed.
Ella Jennings
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The Stem grows through the base of the leaves of boneset
A key way to identify boneset is that its stem grows through the leaves.
In the early days of herbalism visual observations like this would influence what it was thought it would cure. In this case it was believed that wrapping a broken bone in the leaves of boneset would help cure the break. Of course this was not true but this is how it got the name boneset.
While it doesn’t fix bones, the fever remedy works very well. It’s worth having a boneset tincture in your apothecary for this reason.
Ella Jennings
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Boneset in bloom during the late summer
Do mind that white snakeroot has very similar flowers and can be mistaken for boneset. White snakeroot is deadly poisonous so please be sure what you are harvesting.
In the video below, 👇🏼Barbra Volk gives us info on how to ID identify it and makes a simple boneset tincture.
EDIBLE MOUNTAIN Boneset The Forgotten Fever Remedy
West Virginia Public Broadcasting (WVPB) has received four awards in the 30th annual Communicator Awards. This year’s Communicator Award winners were selected from a pool of over 3,000 submissions from around the world by the Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts (AIVA).
Flooding throughout the day Monday caused significant damage to roads, houses and bridges in central and southern West Virginia. There have been no deaths reported so far due to flooding. Officials are still working to assess damage. Many houses were flooded, and some were washed away.
Edible Mountain follows botanists, conservationists, and enthusiastic hobbyists in the field as they provide insight on sustainable forest foraging. The episodes are designed to increase appreciation and accessibility to the abundance found in Appalachia, celebrating the traditional knowledge and customs of Appalachian folk concerning plants and their medical, religious, and social uses.