Cranesbill

Geranium maculatum

COMMON NAMES

• Alumroot
• American Cranesbill
• Cranesbill
• Dovefoot
• Old-maid's-nightcap
• Shameface
• Wild Geranium

Cranesbill - a perennial herb, growing up to 2 feet tall with hairy stems. The leaves, which are arranged in opposite pairs, are usually divided into five toothed lobes. Five-petaled flowers (April-June) are pale pink to rosy purple and bloom in clusters at the end of each stem. The fruits bear a fanciful resemblance to cranes' bills.

"A very popular domestic remedy in many parts of the country," is what a 19th-century handbook for physicians says about cranesbill, or wild geranium, citing the widespread use of this astringent plant for diarrhea, dysentery, and hemorrhaging.

An herbal remedy that settlers picked up from North American Indians, cranesbill proved to be both effective and harmless. The Chippewas used the dried and powdered rhizome, or underground stem, on sores inside the mouth, especially of children. Other Indian peoples steeped cranesbill in water as an eyewash. Mixed with other herbs and water, the powdered rhizome was applied to sores and open wounds and, as a poultice, to swollen feet. The Indians also ate the young green leaves as food.

PARTS USED

Root, rhizome, aerial parts.

USES

An astringent and clotting agent, cranesbill is used today much as in earlier times. The herb is often prescribed for irritable bowel syndrome and hemorrhoids, and it is used to staunch wounds. Cranesbill may also be used to treat heavy menstrual bleeding and excessive vaginal discharge.

Because of its tannin content, the rhizome (underground stem) of cranesbill acts as an external astringent (an agent that causes the skin and mucous membranes to constrict) and a hemostatic (an agent that stops bleeding). For the same reason cranesbill is probably effective when taken internally for diarrhea.

HABITAT AND CULTIVATION

Native to woodlands of eastern and central North America, the root of cranesbill is dug up in early spring, and the aerial parts are gathered in summer.

CONSTITUENTS

Cranesbill contains up to 30% tannins.

USUAL DOSAGE

Decoction: put 1 - 2 teaspoonfuls of the rhizome in a cup of cold water and bring to the boil. Let simmer for 10 - 15 minutes. This should be drunk three times a day.
Tincture: take 2 - 4ml of the tincture three times a day.

COLLECTION AND HARVESTING

The rhizome of cranesbill is unearthed in September and October, cut into pieces and dried.

COMBINATIONS

In peptic ulcers cranesbill may be used with meadowsweet, comfrey, marshmallow or agrimony. In leucorrhoea cranesbill can be combined with beth root.

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