Botanical Name
- Family Euphorbiaceae
- Stillingia sylvatica
Common Names
- Yaw Root, Silver Leaf, Queen's Root, Cockup Hat, Marcory, Stillingia
Cautions
- Use only under professional supervision.
- It should not be used during pregnancy or while breastfeeding.
- It can cause vomiting and diarrhea in large doses.
- The juice of the green root can cause skin inflammation and swelling.
- The diterpenes are thought to be carcinogenic and virus-activating.
Description
Queen's Delight is a member of an important botanical family which is highly concentrated in the Americas, Mediterranean countries, and Africa. It is a perennial herb that grows profusely in the US, particularly around the Virginia and Florida coastlines, preferring sandy soil. It grows to four feet, producing leathery leaves, yellow flowers without petals, and three-lobed fruits. The fresh root is considered to be most active medicinally, and is unearthed in the fall.
History
It was used by Native Americans as a purgative, a treatment for skin eruptions, and as a remedy for venereal disease.
Evidentally, it was known by the Greeks as women who had just given birth were given a decoction of the root or were bathed with an infusion.
Queen's Delight was listed in the US Pharmacopoeia from 1831 to 1926.
Key Actions
- detoxifier
- diuretic
- emetic
- laxative
- purgative
- tonic
Key Components
- alkaloids
- diterpenes
- fixed oil
- volatile oil
- resin
- tannins (10-12%)
Medicinal Parts
- Root
Traditional Uses
It is used as a general detoxifier, a blood purifier, for digestive disorders, and for treatment of liver, biliary and skin diseases, including boils, weeping eczema, and scrofula (tubercular infection of the lymph gland of the neck).
The fresh root is also taken for the treatment of bronchitis, laryngitis, and throat infections.
Externally, it is applied as a lotion to hemorrhoids or such itchy skin conditions as eczema and psoriasis.
In the UK, the herb is generally used as a laxative and blood-purifier. In the US, until the 1950s, it was used as a treatment for syphilis. Herbalists of both countries value it for its effectiveness in treating scrophula.
Its astringency has made it useful in the case of leucorrhoea, a vaginal discharge that originates in the glands of the cervix.
Homeopathic tinctures are employed for secondary and tertiary syphilis.