vine Archives - The Cargo Cult Café

One-Seeded Bur Cucumber: Medicinal & Cautions

October 5, 2015 by Mike 1 Comment

One-Seeded Bur Cucumber, Sicyos angulatus, is a medicinal plant with questionable edibility. Medicinally, it was used for venereal disease in women and used as a veterinary aid for the difficult delivery of a calf. As for its edibility there is no historic evidence of any American Indians using this plant for food. If you have evidence contrary to this or have used it for food please contact me and let me know.

Keep your eyes and ears open and your powder dry!

One-Seeded Bur Cucumber Sources:

Audubon Guides Box Set – Birds, Tree, Wildflowers & Mammals. Computer Software. Green Mountain Digital. Version: 2.3. Web. Jul 10, 2014.

Herrick, James William. Iroquois Medical Botany. Ph.D. Thesis, New York: State University of New York, Albany 1977. Print. pg. 102, 150

Moerman Daniel E., Native American Ethnobotany, Portland: Timber Press. 1998. Print. pg. 530

Newcomb, Lawrence. Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1977. Print. pg. 328-329

United States Department of Agriculture. Natural Resources Conservation Services. Web.

Wild Balsam Apple: Medicinal, Cautions & Other Uses

September 14, 2015 by Mike Leave a Comment

Wild Balsam Apple, Echinocystis lobata, is a medicinal vine that can be misidentified as grapes due to similar leaves. The fruit resembles and smells like a cucumber but can cause vomiting and diarrhea. It was used by American Indians for rheumatism, chills, fever, headache, obstructed menstruation, kidney ailments, stomach troubles, as a tonic and panacea (cure-all). The seeds were used to make beads for jewelry.

Keep your eyes and ears open and your powder dry!

Wild Balsam Apple Sources:

Audubon Guides Box Set – Birds, Tree, Wildflowers & Mammals. Computer Software.Green Mountain Digital. Version: 2.3. Web. Jul 10, 2014.

Foster, Steven and James A. Duke. The Peterson Field Guide Series; A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs of Eastern and Central North America. 2nd. ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000. Print. pg. 25-27

Hamel, Paul B. and Mary U. Chiltoskey. Cherokee Plants and Their Uses- A 400 Year History. North Carolina: Herald Publishing. 1975. Print. pg. 40

Moerman Daniel E., Native American Ethnobotany, Portland: Timber Press. 1998. Print. pg. 207

Newcomb, Lawrence. Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1977. Print. pg. 356-357

United States Department of Agriculture. Natural Resources Conservation Services. Web.

Bittersweet Nightshade: Poison & Medicinal

July 20, 2015 by Mike Leave a Comment

Bittersweet Nightshade, Solanum dulcamara, is another beautiful yet deadly vine that can grown in your garden and backyard but it still has some good uses.

Bittersweet Nightshade Sources:

Audubon Guides Box Set – Birds, Tree, Wildflowers & Mammals. Computer Software.Green Mountain Digital. Version: 2.3. Web. Jul 10, 2014.

Culpeper, M.D., Nicholas. Culpeper Color Herbal. Ed. David Potterton. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc., 1983. Print. pg. 30

Herrick, James William. Iroquois Medical Botany. Ph.D. Thesis, New York: State University of New York, Albany 1977. Print. pg. 202

Moerman Daniel E., Native American Ethnobotany, Portland: Timber Press. 1998. Print. pg. 535-535

Newcomb, Lawrence. Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1977. Print. pg. 328-329

Peterson, Lee Allen. The Peterson Field Guide Series; A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants; Eastern and Central North America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1977. Print. pg. 50, 134, 198

United States Department of Agriculture. Natural Resources Conservation Services. Web.

Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Web.