Selfheal is loved, loathed, and full of uses
Considered a native in the Northern Hemisphere and Central America, Selfheal is thought to have originated in Europe. It is edible and has been used to treat most ailments known to man.
(Photo courtesy MARILYN GEORGE/KINNIKINNICK NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY)
(Photo courtesy MARILYN GEORGE/KINNIKINNICK NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY)
Considered a native in the Northern Hemisphere and Central America, Selfheal is thought to have originated in Europe. It is edible and has been used to treat most ailments known to man.
Column name: Plant Notes from the Arboretum
By KINNIKINNICK NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY
Gardeners either love or hate Selfheal (Prunella vulgaris). Considered a native in the Northern Hemisphere and Central America, this herbaceous perennial in the mint family is thought to have originated in Europe. It is edible and has been used to treat most ailments known to man.
Selfheal, also known as All Heal, Heart-of-the-Earth, Blue Curls, Hook-heal and Carpenter's Herb, was named by the famed Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778). Intending to reference the German word for quinsy, a streptococcal infection in tonsil tissue traditionally treated with Selfheal, Linnaeus misspelled the genus name as Prunella. Once published, international botanical naming conventions prevent making changes, so Prunella it remains. The species name, vulgaris, is Latin meaning common.
Selfheal is highly adaptive in the wild, growing in grasslands, disturbed areas, in meadows, pastures and woodlands. It prefers some shade and some moisture, but is drought tolerant once established. Its fibrous root system forms a dense mat that helps stabilize stream banks and roadsides.
Like its other mint cousins, Selfheal has square stems. It is a low-growing plant with bloom heads reaching up to a foot high. Stem leaves are lance-shaped, several inches long and up to one inch wide with a pointed tip. They grow in pairs opposite each other. Basal leaves tend to be more round. Young leaves can be somewhat hairy, but become smooth as the plant matures.
Purple to lavender blossoms appear in dense whorls of six, stacked tightly in a short, squarish spike. Each flower is surrounded by leafy bracts and has two lips with the upper one resembling a purple hood. The lower lip can be a lighter color, even white. It is three-lobed with the center lobe larger than the others and fringed on the edges.
The flowers are highly attractive to a variety of small butterflies and other pollinating bees and insects. It is the larval host of the yellow Clouded Sulfur butterfly. Blossom time is from June to August depending on location, making Selfheal a good candidate for a pollinator garden.
The cause of displeasure with some gardeners is Selfheal's ability to spread aggressively by underground rhizomes and aerial layering. It makes an excellent ground cover if you can give it room, for example under roses or other shrubbery. It is lovely in a rock garden or border where it is somewhat confined. Deadheading after blooming helps prevent spread by seeds and can encourage additional blooms.
Once thought to have been placed on Earth by God to drive away the Devil and heal man's ailments, Selfheal has been used for centuries, both internally and externally, to treat many physical ailments. Analysis of its many chemical compounds indicates it is antibacterial, anti-microbial, antiseptic, antispasmodic, astringent, anti-inflammatory and more. It has shown promise in modern research for ailments such as herpes, cancer, AIDS, and diabetes.
Pictures and a description of Selfheal are found on page 226 in “Landscaping with Native Plants in the Idaho Panhandle,” a KNPS publication available at local bookstores and the Bonner County History Museum. Additional native plants can be viewed at the North Idaho Native Plant Arboretum, 611 S Ella Ave., in Sandpoint.
Native Plant Notes are created by the Kinnikinnick Native Plant Society. To learn more about KNPS and the North Idaho Native Plant Arboretum, visit www.nativeplantsociety.org.