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What plant stimulated hair growth?

By Chelsie Vandaveer

February 5, 2007

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The yellow leafcup or bear'sfoot (Smallanthus uvedalia (L.) Mackenzie ex Small = Polymnia uvedalia (L.) L.) is native to the U.S. ranging from central Florida north to New York, west to Michigan and southwest to Texas. It is a large, shrub-like perennial native to moist open woodlands and was probably more common when forests covered much of the land.

Plant of the Week 01/29/2007

Bear'sfoot (Smallanthus uvedalia) Plant of the Week 01/29/2007

The leaves, lobed and maple-like, are rough. Crushed, the leaves have a clean, light pine-woodsy scent. The essential oil from the leaves contain at least 57 compounds, the majority are terpenes: [alpha] and [beta]-pinenes, germacrene D, camphene, and [beta]-caryophyllene.

The Cherokee and Iroquois tribes certainly knew bear'sfoot. The bruised root was used as a topical treatment for burns and cuts; mixed into lard, bear'sfoot root became an ointment for 'itches'. The root and stem, steeped, were given as an analgesic for rheumatism, back pain, fevers, and to induce vomiting. The smoke of the burning root was a fumigant—it would drive away ghosts and provide a night of sleep untroubled by nightmares.

Dr. Harvey Wickes Felter (1922) knew bear'sfoot under the name Linnaeus gave it, Polymnia uvedalia. Doctors and pharmacists called the plant, Uvedalia, the infusion or extract,
Plant of the Week 01/22/2007

Bay Rum Tree (Pimenta racemosa) Plant of the Week 01/22/2007

Specific Medicine Polymnia, and the ointment made with lard, Unguentum Polymnia.

Felter recommended the Specific Medicine Polymnia for liver problems, dyspepsia (indigestion, upset stomach), and general and malarial cachexia (morbidity or poor condition of the body due to prolonged disease). He wrote that the ointment rubbed on the abdomen reduced an 'engorged' spleen. But he added a caveat: "Large doses of polymnia are said to produce painful emeto-catharsis, gastro-intestinal inflammation, convulsions and death."

Long before we had topical minoxidil (Rogaine®), Felter emphatically stated, "Uvedalia stimulates the growth of hair." He recommended two fluid ounces of Specific Medicine Polymnia mixed with six fluid ounces of Bay Rum. (See Plant of the Week, January 22, 2007). The prescribed use was to "Rub thoroughly into the scalp once or twice a day."

Dan Tenaglia's Missouri Plants has a page dedicated to Smallanthus uvedalia (aka Polymnia uvedalia). To view numerous photographs showing leaves and flowers of bear'sfoot, click on the link:

http://www.missouriplants.com/Yellowopp/Polymnia_uvedalia_page.html

Hi, Dan!

(Compiled from: "Composition of the Essential Oil from Leaves of Smallanthus maculatus (Cav.) H. Rob. (Asteraceae)", Jose F. Ciccio, Journal of Essential Oil Research, Allured Publishing, 2004; "255. Smallanthus Mackenzie ex Small", Flora of North America, Volume 21, eFloras; Cherokee Plants and their Uses—A 400 Year History, Paul B. Hamel and Mary U. Cheltoskey, Herald Publishing, Sylvia, NC, 1975; "Iroquois Medical Botany", James W. Herrick, PhD Thesis, State University of New York, Albany, 1977; "Polymnia", The Eclectic Materia Medica, Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Harvey Wickes Felter, M.D., 1922, published to the internet by Henriette's Herbal website)

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