Witnessed by: Western
Spreading dogbane (Apocynum androsaemifolium), of the Apocynaceae family. Erect branching perennial with opposite leaves, milky sap and small pink bell-flowers; native range: dry thickets, fields and roadsides across North America. Globally recognized as spreading dogbane, bitter root, milkweed, honey-bloom in English. The part used is root. Milky, intensely bitter and acrid root.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
SPREADING DOGBANE
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- spreading dogbane
- Scientific name
- Apocynum androsaemifolium L.
- Family
- Apocynaceae
Form
- Part used
- root
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Western
- bitter · acrid
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- Western
- heart · kidneys · liver
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Western
- in small doses a bitter tonic, laxative, diuretic and diaphoretic; in fuller dose emetic and cathartic, and acting on the heart like its cousin Canadian hemp
Cautions
Contraindications: avoid in pregnancy and in weak, irritable states of the stomach and bowel
Toxicity: contains cardiac glycosides; large doses cause violent vomiting and purging and can disturb the heart
Interactions
- Western
- cardiac glycosides: its glycosides add to digitalis-like cardiac effects, raising the risk of toxicity
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