Blue vervain is a lesser-known herbal remedy, but has a lengthy and infamous used for over 3,000 years in Europe, Asia and Africa. It's been used to stimulate the liver, soothe the nervous system, detoxify the body, reduce depression and stress, eliminate pain, lower inflammation, protect the immune system, and alleviate chest congestion. It's also used to treat personalities who are hard driving, like type A, and end up with nervous exhaustion from the long term stress they put on themselves.

_{Photo by @krnel}

Verbena hastata is the scientific botanical name for blue verbain. It's also comonly known as American vervain and or swamp verbena.

_{James St. John/flickr - CC BY 2.0}

Key Points

• long historical use in Europe, especially among Celts
• used to treat nervous system issues, calming anxiety and muscle tension
• native to North America and Europe

History

Blue vervain has a long traditional use by Native Amerindians, especially the Iroquois who used a cold infusion of mashed leaves as a witchcraft medicine to make obnoxious persons go away.

The Druids held vervain high regard, referring to it as “the Herb (Yn Lus),” and the “Chief Herb (Yn Ard Lus). Vervain comes from the Celtic ferfaen, from fer (to drive away), and faen (a stone).

Hippocrates considered vervain "God's gift to man".

Where is it found?

Blue vervain is a native perennial plant found in the wild across North America. It's also native to the Mediterranean region and Near East.

Blue vervain prefers moist areas with full to partial sun. It grows in disturbed areas, It can be found in meadows, thickets, riversides, marshes and pastures.

What's it used for?

The seed can be cooked by roasting and ground into a powder. It's pleasantly bitter, but some of the bitterness can be removed through leeching the flour. Leaves can be used to make a tea. It can be used in salads and soups as well.

The leaves and roots can be used for medicinal purposes as a antiperiodic, diaphoretic, emetic, expectorant, tonic, vermifuge and vulnerary. The roots are stronger than the leaves. It's uses to treat fever, stomach aches, gravel, worms and scrofula. The lowers can be used to treat nose bleeds as well.

It's used to improve mood, support the nervous system, digestive system, and menstrual cycle, helping with musculo skeletal tension & holding patterns, lymphatic stagnation, inducing sweating when necessary and treating spasmodic nervous system disorders like tics, palsy and tourette's syndrome.

Externally it can be used as a poultice to help heal wounds and hemorrhoids.

Are there any risks?

Blue vervain can interfere with blood pressure medication and hormone therapy. Large doses can induce diarrhea and vomiting. It can also induce miscarriages in pregnant women in large doses, but ins mall doses has been used to prevent them apparently in the past.

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References:

• Blue Vervai
• Verbena hastata - L.
• Verbena hastata L.
• Blue Vervain
• Discovering the Vervain Plant, Part 1
• 10 Wonderful Benefits of Blue Vervain

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Previous posts on Getting to Know Herbs:
Blessed or Holy Thistle | Common Horehound | Cayenne | Ashwagandha | Gotu Kola | Common Verbana/Vervain | Holy Basil | Sweet Annie | Globe Artichoke | Butterfly Weed / Pleurisy Root | Joe-Pye Weed / Gravel Root | Valerian | Malva/Mallow | Boneset | Elecampane | Lungwort | Cramp Bark | Motherwort | Common Plantain | Eleuthero (Siberian ginseng) | Black Cohosh | Common Bearberry | Mahonia Mountain Grape (Oregon Grape) | Blue Cohosh | Goldenseal

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