Wednesday, November 3, 2021

Echinacea as Magical Head Dress


Echinacea seed head worn, on the left, by a discarded Victorian china doll who faces a similar doll elevated by an elegant American chestnut burr, its velvety interior clasping the head. 

Echinacea (Family Asteraceae)  is native to North America and has been known to and used by Native people for centuries as a valuable medicine.  Long before antibiotics were discovered by western scientific medicine, echinacea was used to cure conditions ranging from colds and flu to toothaches to migraines to malaria and tumors.  Native people traditionally chewed and sucked on the root, which activated disease-fighting enzymes in saliva. 

For much more information about human-echinacea interactions as well as insect-bird-interactions, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echinacea_laevigata

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