Quinine Muscle

Quinine Muscle

Quinine Muscle

Called “ague weed” by Native Americans, the settlers called it Indian Sage. It has also been referred to as thoroughwort, sweating plant, feverwort, crosswort, and wild sage. The Chippewa Indians charmed deer by rubbing the root fibers of the herb boneset on the whistles they made to call deer.

A summer perennial, boneset flowers in July and August. It grows wild in wet, sunny meadows, often growing near milkweed. Boneset flowers have a fuzzy appearance. White blossoms with long projecting threads are clustered in rounded heads. The leathery veined leaves appear to have been pierced by the stem as they surround it.

Medicinal Uses of Boneset Herb

Boneset was at one time listed as an official medicine in the U.S. Pharmacopoeia. In the mid 19th century, many drugstores carried the herb leaves, and during the Civil War, boneset tea substituted for quinine in the Confederate Army. Homemade boneset herbal tea has been used to treat fever and colds, dengue, constipation, pneumonia, influenza, rheumatism and ringworm. It has also been used as a pain reliever for broken bones.A boneset herbal tea was given for snakebite, and the leaves of the medicinal plant used as a homemade poultice on the wound.


  • Quinine Muscle

    Quinine Muscle

    Quinine Muscle

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