Western Herbalism
Club Moss
Lycopodium clavatum
Also known as Clubmoss, Lycopodium, AND SYNONYM: (Plant) Club moss; (Spores) Lycopodium seed, Pulverized lycopodium, Vegetable sulphur, Sporae lycopodii.
Primarily used historically and in folk medicine limited modern clinical evidence in herbal pharmacopoeias spores used topically as dusting powder whole plant possibly unsafe internally due to toxicity distinguish from Chinese club moss (Lycopodium chinense) which contains huperzine A
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Indications what the tradition reached for it in
- Cardialgia
- Nephritis
- Kidney disorders
- Wounds
- Bladder disorders
- Diaper rash
- Flatulent colic
- Retention of urine
- Pulmonary diseases
- Rheumatism
- Skin irritations
- Urinary calculi
- Nephritic colic
- Edema
- Fluid retention
- Inflammation
- Urinary disorders
- Bacterial infection
- Infection
Safety
Low dose botanical. Used in drop doses in the classical practice; not a plant to dose freely.
Pregnancy: Pregnancy Caution
Breastfeeding: Lactation (source flag notSafeInLactation)
The record lists 8 contraindications; open the plate in the library to read them in full.
Dosing as the sources wrote it
| Preparation | As written | Metric |
|---|---|---|
| Specific Medicine Lycopodium | Dose, from one to fifteen minims. | 0.06-0.92 mL |
| Tincture of Lycopodium | Dose, from one to twenty minims. | 0.06-1.23 mL |
| Small doses of lycopodium, twenty drops in four ounces of water, a teaspoonful every two hours, was sufficient to modify all the conditions and overcome the fever. | 1 mL | |
| Dose, 1/10 to 30 drops. | 0-0.6 mL | |
| The small dose, from the fraction of a drop to five drops of the specific medicine, is the most advantageous form of administration. | ||
| Action, Medical Uses, and Dosage: This agent was for a long time used only as a dusting powder for protective purposes in erysipelas, intertrigo, herpes, ulcers, eczemas, etc. Druggists used it to prevent pills from adhering to each other in the boxes, and pyrotechnists employed it in the manufacture of their wares. Of recent years it has become quite important as a remedy in our school, the suggestion coming first from the homoeopaths, who use it quite extensively. It was introduced to us as a remedy by Prof. Scudder. He prepared a tincture of the fresh plant before it had cast its sporules with 98 per cent alcohol, and also a tincture of the sporules first triturated in a dry mortar until doughy, then placing them in a percolator, covering with alcohol, allowing to macerate 4 days, when the tincture was drawn off. He recommended the tincture of the sporules in "extreme sensitiveness of the surface |
Doses are reproduced from the sources for practitioners and are not a recommendation for any person.
From the sources
Clinical Notes. Primarily used historically and in folk medicine limited modern clinical evidence in herbal pharmacopoeias spores used topically as dusting powder whole plant possibly unsafe internally due to toxicity distinguish from Chinese club moss (Lycopodium chinense) which contains huperzine A
Action and Therapy. External. Lycopodium forms a good protective and absorbent dusting powder for irritated and inflamed surfaces, for which purpose it is largely used in excoriations, intertrigo, herpes, erysipelas, dermatitis, eczema, ulcers, etc.
Therapy. The simple powder is used extensively as an application to tender and irritable conditions of the skin, and as an application to certain skin diseases to which a dry powder would seem applicable ... to intertrigo, erysipelas, eczema, herpes, and ulcerated surfaces and perhaps to burns.
Physiological Action. The older writers claimed that the agent acted as a stimulant to the sympathetic visceral system of nerves and influenced the functional activity of all organs so controlled. It was believed to increase the tone of the liver, and to restrain over-action of the kidneys and eliminative organs.
Drawn from King's American Dispensatory, 18th edition (Felter and Lloyd); Ellingwood's American Materia Medica, Therapeutics and Pharmacognosy; Felter's Eclectic Materia Medica, Pharmacology and Therapeutics, and the Bountiful Herbs editorial.
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