Herbs of the Southwest

I recently returned from a wonderful trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico where I was inspired by the herbs of the high desert. The pristine beauty of the mountains, the vibrant music, and the flavorful foods also inspired me as did the joy of the townspeople and the graciousness and generosity of my two lovely hosts.
I visited the opening of the brand new Botanical Garden of Santa Fe. It was delightful and will be more lush and complete in the near future. I saw many herbs and plants that I love, some I am familiar with, and some I just met as new friends. On a walk one morning, I fell in love with Giant Purple Sage, Salvia pachyphylla, saw it again at the garden and then bought a plant to bring home to my garden in Austin. We’ll see how it survives, I’m hopeful. I also dug up some of the profuse Russian Sages, collected seeds of a local penstemon and harvested profuse broad-leaf Plantain along the creek on a mountain hike.
I am choosing to write about three herbs of the southwest, that grow well here in Austin, that thrive in the high deserts and have been long used by the indigineious people of this area. 

The first plant is the very common, and sometimes invasive, Prickly Pear Cactus, Opuntia phaeacantha. This ferocious plant grows naturally all over Texas and much of the Southwest. Being a cactus, it is drought tolerant and thrives in our heat and prolonged periods of dryness. The cactus pad holds much medicine and can be used as an effective drawing poultice for burns, contusions and bruises. The entire pad is cut up and cooked as nopalitos, a Mexican delicacy. The nopolitos are eaten to help with the regulation of blood sugar. This is an important herb and should be consumed by anyone who may have adult-onset diabetes, or a pre-disposition to it. I eat nopolitos in my breakfast taco at least once a week, because I love it and also as a preventive measure since a few of my family members suffer from diabetes. The dried flowers can be drunk as a tea to treat capillary fragility, such as in chronic colitis, pulmonary problems and digestive disorders. To read more about the herbs of the Southwest, see Michael Moore’s two books: Medicinal Plants of the Mountain West and Medicinal Plants of the Desert and Canyon West. 

A drought loving beauty that grows at the front of my property each summer is one of Michael Moore’s favorites, Immortal, or Antelope Horns, Asclepias asperula. Antelope Horns grows where nothing else does. It likes to grow at the edge of my property, close to the road. The flowers are magical and the entire plant, aerial parts as well as the roots are used medicinally. Midwives use the root as a tea or tincture to facilitate childbirth. A small amount of the root tincture or tea taken by a new mother during the day, will stimulate the changeover from colostrum to milk production. It is also effective in bringing on menses whether it is absent or scanty. The root is also useful as a bronchial dilator and can be a medicine for asthma, pleurisy, bronchitis and other lung issues. And finally the root is used as a cardiac tonic, particularly in congestive heart disorder. It’s a beautiful, useful and drought tolerant herb, perfect for Texas!!!

 

Another herb that I visited at the Santa Fe Botanical Garden was the local Ephedra, Ephedra spp. Known in Chinese medicine as Ma Huang, Ephedra has gotten a bad rap. This noble and helpful plant was used to make a diet drug called Fen Fen. As many in this country are obsessed with their weight, some folks used this medicine incorrectly and were affected adversly. The Chinese and Indian species of Ephedra are the plants that are used to make the drug; Ephedrine, not the American Ephedras. When used ethically and correctly Ephedra is one of the best herbal decongestants in existence. The American Ephedras, commonly known as Mormon tea, are used as a benign stimulant, with milder and similar effects than their overseas cousins. Mormon Tea has been used as a morning beverage for many, many years. Its stimulating effects help one get started in the morning, similar to, but milder than the caffeine effects of coffee.

 

 

So if you previously thought that the desert is too desolate, or barren, think again as the dryness, the harshness, the severity of the landscape, all blend together to create powerful, beautiful and intricate medicine.  

Behold the Plants of the Southwest!!!