Author: Hope Grows Editor

September Healing Plant of the Month: Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)

Doterra Essential Oil of the Month: Sandalwood

Rishi Tea of the Month: Dandelion Ginger

In the language of flowers, Echinacea is a leader. It means spiritual warrior, making it the perfect flower to present to someone who needs courage in the midst of a difficult decision or trying time. It can also signify shielding, or protection, which all warriors need, no matter what the battle. A go-to healer for many herbalists, Echinacea can be found as a tincture, tea, supplement or salve, depending on the ailment. It’s well recognized for its immune system-enhancing abilities that help protect (or shield) us from colds and flus. Because of this, the plant has come to be known for its power to bring strength and health, also making it an appropriate flower to include in any get-well bouquet. Folklore says that if you grow Echinacea around your house, bringing in bouquets, it will draw in money and prosperity and be a conduit of strength and protection for those inside.

The name Echinacea comes from the Greek word “echinos,” meaning sea urchin, or hedgehog, referring to the prickly cone in the center of the flower. One of the most captivating features of a coneflower is the intersecting Fibonacci spirals in that prickly center. This is a common feature of the composite disc floret and ray petal flowers from the Asteraceae plant family, which also includes daisies, sunflowers and asters, to name a few. Remarkably, each one of the beautifully arranged spiny orange spikes in the center cone-shaped disc of an echinacea bloom is actually a flower in itself, pollinated individually by bees and butterflies.

Native to central & southeastern North America, Echinacea was growing here long before the arrival of European settlers or pill bottles of antibiotics. Native Americans used it as a curative for wounds, burns and infections, a treatment for snake bites, and to help withstand heat. All parts of the plant can be harvested for medicinal use, but much of the healing power is housed in the root. The Choctaw, for example, used it to treat coughs, stomach upset and sore throats. Great Plains tribes smoked it to be able to better withstand the heat of sweat lodge rituals. Omaha Native Americans would coat their hands with it, it’s numbing effect enabling them to perform ritual feats like retrieving meat from boiling water. In that same vein, medicine men would chew the root in order to coat the interior of their mouths so they would be able to hold hot coals in their mouth during some ritual medicine performances.

In the garden, Echinacea is able to grow in extreme heat (as witnessed during our sweltering summers!), tolerate drought, and is a pollinator magnet. I’ve been watching the bees and butterflies sip nectar from our patch in the pollinator garden all summer. After they move on, the goldfinches swoop in to feast on the seeds, which is one of the reasons we opt to leave the spent stalks up all winter. As for me, doing the research for this article has made me a believer. This coming flu season, I will no longer be indifferently walking past the myriad of Echinacea products at the grocery store. I’m heading right for them, stocking up to fight cold & flu season like a warrior.

Herb of the Month: Clary Sage (Salvia sclarea)

Doterra Essential Oil of the Month: Clary Sage

Rishi Tea of the Month: Peppermint Sage

In the language of flowers, clary sage represents “clearing the mind,” and “uplifting the spirit.” Derived from the Latin word “claris,” meaning “clear,” the plant earned its common name(s) after being used for centuries to help remove foreign objects from one’s eye. Hence, the many names it has been known by over time: Clear Eye, See Bright, Eyebright, Clarywort, and even Oculus Christi, or “Eye of Christ,” in the Middle Ages. The eye treatment is long gone, but the name remains. The Latin name “Salvia,” denoting one of the many varieties of sage, comes from the words “salvare,” which means “to save,” or “make healthy,” and “salvere,” meaning “to be well,” or “in good health.” Not to be outdone by its sage cousins, clary sage embodies its Latin name too, offering clarity and healing to more than just our physical eyes.

As an essential oil, it’s a go-to for stress relief, helping to calm anxiety and regain one’s clarity of focus. This oil is one of a few essential oils with a high percentage of “esters,” chemical compounds known for their anti-inflammatory properties and considered balancing and soothing to the sympathetic nervous system. They are the chemical contribution behind the uplifting feeling one gets from inhaling clary sage. This plant possesses some of the highest amounts of ester linalyl acetate, also found in another one of our favorite stress relievers: lavender (June’s pick of the month)! Both from the mint plant family, these two oils are sometimes mixed together in aromatherapy for use as a calming and uplifting additive to one’s bathwater or diffuser. This nighttime bath regimen is highly recommended for anyone suffering from insomnia.

Clary sage is closely related to the common sage (Salvia officinalis) we are so used to seeing in the kitchen, but only the young and tender leaves are used for culinary purposes. Native to the Mediterranean basin, parts of North Africa, and Central Asia, it grows twice the size of its common sage cousin and is considered a biennial. In its second year, it blooms in whorls of white, lilac, pink, or mauve flowers and the essential oil is steam distilled out of the flowers and leaves. It can be made into a tea and is also used to flavor wines, vermouths, and liquors. On an environmentally friendly note, it’s been used as a fixative in the fragrance industry since the 70s, helping to chemically bind scents, in place of a product only found in whales. (Yay!)

Nicknamed the “woman’s oil,” clary sage is also known for its ability to support and regulate the female reproductive system, treating symptoms of PMS, menstrual discomfort and menopause. There’s that linalyl acetate compound again, providing some pain relief. Linalyl acetate also supports the herb’s ability to soothe skin inflammation and balance the skin’s oil production. Because of this, you will often find clary sage combined with jojoba oil for use as a moisturizer. In Ayurvedic medicine, it is used as a healing tonic that brings balance to the 3 doshas (vata, pitta, kapha). And, in chakra work, clary sage is recommended for use with both the sacral and third eye chakras, where it helps dispel confusion, and promote strength, emotional balance, and relaxation.