This section of the book is from "The Complete Herbalist" by Dr. O. Phelps Brown. Also available from Amazon: The Complete Herbalist: The People Their Own Physicians By The Use Of Nature's Remedies.
COMMON NAMES. Gravel-root, Joe-pie, Trumpet-weed.
MEDICINAL PART. The root.
Description. -- This is a herbaceous plant,
with a perennial, woody root, with many long dark-brown fibres, sending
up one or more solid green, sometimes purplish, stems, five or six feet
in height. The leaves are oblong-ovate or lanceolate, coarsely serrate,
and from three to six in a whorl. The flowers are tubular, purple,
often varying to whitish.
History. -- Queen of the Meadow grows in
low places, dry woods or meadows, in the Northern, Western, and Middle
States of the American Union, and flowers in August and September.
The root is the officinal part. It has a smell resembling old hay,
and a slightly bitter, aromatic taste, which is faintly astringent but
not unpleasant. It yields its properties to water by decoction or
spirits.
Properties and Uses. -- It is diuretic, stimulant,
astringent, and tonic. It is used in all chronic urinary disorders,
as well as in hematuria, gout, and rheumatism, with moderate good effect.
Dose. -- Of the decoction, from two to four
fluid ounces, three or four times a day.
 
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