Solomon's Seal
Polygonatum commutatum, P. multiforum.

The cool shady areas beneath our 100 year old lilac bushes is home for a long established colony of Solomon's seal. A handsome perennial herb, close relative of the lily-of-the- valley, is native to moist shady woods in north temperate zones., Oval ribbed leaves, each tilted forward at a precise angle, are set at regular intervals along graceful arching stems 18 in to 3 ft high. Arising in the spring from thick, fleshy, white rhizome, which travel a short way and then emerge as new shoots. The small white or greenish bell-shaped flowers are seen in May and June; later the globular blueish-black berries.. To pass along a clump to a friend, sometime during October or April, divide the rootstock with a sharp knife, allowing each piece of root an eye, which looks like the tip of an asparagus stalk.. Despite the multitude of roots, the size of our plot has not increased much in the four years we have lived at MoonVeil.

Medicinal Part: Rhizome

Solvents: Boiling Water

Uses: -
Used by herbalists of the past to glue together broken bones..
- As a successful decoction used for pectoral (breast) affections, menorrhagia, (excessive menstrual discharge), inflammation of the stomach and intestine.
- Will relieve pain and heal hemorrhoids if a tea solution is injected three or four times a day.
-For conditions such as erysipelas (an acute febrile infectious disease caused by a specific streptococcus, characterized by diffusely spreading dee-red inflammation of the skin or mucous membranes), etc.; also of use in neuralgia and ruptures when taken internally and an external poultice
Dose: Infuse the leaves, decoct root 1 ounce to 1 pint water;
Acute- drink ½ to 1 cup tea/hour until condition lessens, then drink 2 cups/day until the problem is gone.
Other- drink 3 cups 3 times/day p 10-30 drops tincture; leaves 3-9 gm, root 6-15 gm in formula.
Comfrey also stops bleeding from the stomach, lungs, bowels, kidneys, ulcers and piles. For this take a strong decoction of the root using ½ to 1 ounce of root every 2 hours until the bleeding stops.

Precautions: Because of its pyrrolizidine alkaloids, it should be avoided in pregnancy, nursing, for prolonged use in children and liver disease.