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Epilobium Angustifolium: Roadside Weed Or Remarkable Healing Herb?
Author : J Jones
Submitted : 2010-11-19 14:58:19 Word Count : 556 Popularity: 19
Tags: epilobium angustifolium, fireweed, rosebay willowherb, epilobium, organic skin care, biodynamic beauty, hydrocortisone, herbal remedies, herbal cream, anti-irritant cream, anti-inflammatory cream
Rosebay Willowherb (Epilobium angustifolium), a member of the Onagraceae (Evening Primrose) plant family, is an herbaceous prairie perennial native to temperate regions of the northern hemisphere. A highly attractive plant, Rosebay Willowherb grows anywhere between 1½ - 8 feet and can easily be identified growing in abundance along roadsides and other open areas of northern United States and Canada. Another name for Rosebay Willowherb is ‘Fireweed’, derived from the plant’s tendency to quickly colonize and reclaim disturbed ground in open areas, especially those areas which have been cleared through forest fires.
Though rarely, if at all, used in conventional herbalism – and in fact considered a weed to most - this remarkable herb has a long history of use as both a food and a remedial herb. In fact it was used by Native Americans and early settlers as a nutritious vegetable, and externally as a remedy for burns and skin conditions. It was also prescribed for gastric upsets and bronchial complaints.
What makes this plant useful in the world of organic skin care today is its remarkable anti-irritant properties. Indeed, modern scientific research of Rosebay Willowherb extract has shown it to have an unusual chemical make-up, including a compound known as Oenothein-B, which gives the plant very powerful anti-irritant and anti-inflammatory properties – far greater than other well known plant species, for example, Chamomile (Anthemis nobilis). In addition, Rosebay Willowherb extracts have shown promising anti-acne properties and analysis is still underway to determine more precisely its potency in the treatment of this skin condition.
Rosebay Willowherb is mostly unnoticed by today’s phytomedicine communities, yet its active constituents have received positive scientific validation. Indeed, some manufacturers are now extracting the active constituent for use as a functional anti-inflammatory ingredient in a number of conventional personal care products (eg. baby wipes) and topical pharmaceutical applications.
However, according to Deanna Vazquez, founder of Alchemilla Ultra-Pure Skin Care - an organic skin care company in Oregon who biodynamically grow the plant ingredients that go into their skin care preparations - extracting one or two active constituents from an herb is not necessarily the best way to harness its greatest healing potential: "As with internal herbalism, even though the topical application of whole plant medicine cannot be fully explained, it is a superior, more potent form of herbalism and poses less probability of side effects. Every well-trained herbalist would attest to this", explains Deanna.
Their Patent Pending Rosebay Willowherb Cream is no exception: "We believe that isolating a single active compound from a plant and placing it in a product is not harnessing the herb's fullest healing potential." Nor is it necessarily the safest means of using herbs for skin care: "There are no doubt higher risks of side effects or irritation."
Whether its a single component or the entire plant, one thing for certain, Rosebay Willowherb is a powerful anti-irritant plant and has even been considered as “nature’s alternative to hydrocortisone”.
For more information about Rosebay Willowherb and its applications in organic skin care, check out http://www.myalchemilla.com and their comprehensive online herbarium, or to check out details on Rosebay Willowherb Cream, visit http://myalchemilla.com/Details-SpecialCare/Details-WillowHerbCream.html.
© J Jones, 2008
Author's Resource Box
McColl J., Biology, chemistry, bioactivity and uses... May/June 2002:18-22
Hetherington M. & Steck W., Natural Chemicals from Northern Prairie Plants, Fytokem Products Inc., 1997
Alchemilla Ultra-Pure Skincare, Alchemilla Herbarium: Willowherb, 2007
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