Why learn about medicinal plants? Certainly, backpackers shouldn’t leave the first aid kit home, but it can be useful and interesting to know a few plant medicines too. Whether you are someday in a survival situation, or you just lost your first aid kit and have a terrible headache, wouldn’t it be nice to find relief nearby? Well, there are many effective medicinal plants. So here is some quick guide to a few safe plant medicines.
- Pain Relief – Fill the bottom of a cup with shredded willow bark, and make a cup of tea with it. Let it steep for a few minutes before you drink it. The active ingredient is salicin, closely related to salicylic acid, which is used to make aspirin. You can also try chewing on a few balsam poplar buds.
- Antiseptic Plants – Sap from “blisters” on balsam firs is a strong antiseptic. Pop the blisters on the trunks of young trees, and the sap will ooze out. You can spread it over cuts and small wounds to prevent infection. It is very sticky, however, and it will be difficult to wash off (at least it smells nice).
- For Diarrhea – You can drink tea made from the roots of blackberries and their relatives to stop diarrhea. Just fill the bottom of the cup with the cleaned and shredded roots and pour boiling water over them. Let the mix steep for five minutes before drinking.
- Skin Medication – You can relieve the itch from insect bites, sunburn, or plant poisoning rashes by applying a poultice of jewelweed. I have seen a poison ivy rash cleared up overnight using the juice from jewelweed. It is also said to work on sunburn as well as aloe vera.
There are hundreds of wild medicinal plants that could be useful to hikers and backpackers. You don’t need to become an expert to benefit from them. Just learn to identify and use a few of the most widespread and safest ones.
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