Common Names

Asarum Europaeum:
Asarabacca
European snakeroot
Hazelwort
Public house plant
Wild nard
Asarum canadense L.:
Canada snake root
Indian ginger
Vermont snake root
Wild Canada ginger
Wild ginger
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Parts Usually Used

Asarum Europaeum - Rootstock, leaves
Asarum canadense L. - Root
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Description of Plant(s) and Culture

Asarum Europaeum
Asarum is a perennial, evergreen plant; a low plant with a horizontal, creeping rootstock and prostrate stem. Two long-petioled, upright, shiny, leathery, dark green leaves grow from each bud on the stem, rising from 2-4 inches above the ground. The large, solitary flowers appear from March to May and are characterized by a green-brown color on the outside, reddish-black on the inside.

Asarum canadense L.
Asarum canadense is a perennial plant; the knobby, root of the plant is round and fleshy, with dividing stem supporting a heart-shaped, deep green above and a light green below, soft, woolly and handsomely veined leaf, there being two to a plant. A single flower is small and brownish-purple, growing only a few inches high and covered by the dead leaves that carpet the woods. The taste is pungent and bitter.
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Where Found

Asarum Europaeum Grows in European woods
Asarum canadense L. Grows in rich woods from Maine to Michigan, and southward.
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Medicinal Properties

Asarum Europaeum - Rootstock: diuretic, emetic, purgative Leaves: cathartic, emetic, errhine
Asarum canadense L. - Stimulant, carminative, tonic, diaphoretic, diuretic
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Uses

Asarum Europaeum - Basic use is emetic. It is mixed with lance-leaf plantain to stop mucus congestion in the nose and respiratory passages. Asarum is too dangerous to be used without medical supervision.

Asarum canadense L. - Used as an appetite stimulant. Externally, used to ease the pains of gout, remove freckles, as a poultice for snakebites, colds, whooping cough, headache, dysmenorrhea, hysteria, typhus, alcoholism, dropsy, ague, and fevers. Used by Native Americans as a ginger substitute for its flavor.
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Formulas or Dosages

Do not boil this herb; boiling weakens its properties.
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Warning

Asarum Europaeum - Asarum is too dangerous to be used without medical supervision.
Asarum canadense L. - Large doses cause nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Use under medical supervision.
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Bibliography

• The Herb Book, by John Lust, pg., 104.
• Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants, by Steven Foster and James A. Duke, Plate 11, pg., 138.
• Culpeper's Complete Herbal & English Physician, by Nicholas Culpeper., pgs 13, 218.
• Herb Gardening, compiled by The Robison York State Herb Garden, pgs., 43, 44, 48, 78, 146.
• Indian Herbalogy of North America, by Alma R. Hutchens, pgs., 28, 136-137.
• Planetary Herbology, by Michael Tierra, C.A., N.D., O.M.D., pg., 414.
• Webster's New World Dictionary, Third College Edition, Victoria Neufeldt, Editor in Chief, pg., 79.
• The Rodale Herb Book, edited by William H. Hylton, pgs., 89, 93, 454.

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