Common Names

Bitter herb
Fishmouth
Turtlebloom
Turtlehead
Salt-rheum weed
Shell flower
Snakehead
Back to Top

Parts Usually Used

Leaves
Back to Top

Description of Plant(s) and Culture

Balmony is an herbaceous perennial plant; its simple, erect, square stem reaches 1-3 feet high. Opposite, short-petioled, shiny leaves are dark green, pointed, are serrate and oblong-lanceolate in shape. Bloom from July to September, the white flowers are often tinged with pink or magenta, grow in dense clusters, terminal or axillary spikes. The two-lipped corolla of the flower somewhat resembles a turtle's head, upper lip arching. The fruit is an ovoid capsule.
Back to Top

Where Found

Found in wet ground from Newfoundland to Florida and westward to Minnesota, Kansas, and Texas.
Back to Top

Medicinal Properties

Anthelmintic, antibilious, aperient, cholagogue, stimulant, tonic
Back to Top

Uses

Good for weak stomachs and indigestion, general debility, constipation, and torpid (sluggish) liver. It stimulates appetite, fever, jaundice, expels worms, and in small doses is a good tonic during convalescence. Externally, it is used for sores, painful ulcers, herpes,inflamed breasts, and eczema. The ointment relieves itching and irritation of piles.
Back to Top

Formulas or Dosages

This herb may be difficult to obtain.

Infusion: use 1 tsp. leaves to 1 cup water. Take 1-2 cups a day.

Tincture: take 10-20 drops in water, 3-4 times a day.
Back to Top

Bibliography

• American Folk Medicine, by Clarence Meyer, pg., 284.
• Back to Eden, by Jethro Kloss; pgs., 89-90.
• Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants, by Steven Foster and James A. Duke, Plate 2, pg., 12.
• Indian Herbalogy of North America, by Alma R. Hutchens, pgs., 21-22, 217.
• The Herbalist Almanac, by Clarence Meyer, pg., 89.
• Old Ways Rediscovered, by Clarence Meyer, pg., 33.
• The Yoga of Herbs, by Dr. David Frawley & Dr. Vasant Lad, pg., 193.
• The Herb Book, by John Lust, pgs., 309, 382-383.

Back to Top