Western Herbalism
Fireweed
Epilobium angustifolium
Also known as Willowherb, Willow-herb, Rosebay willowherb, Rose bay, Great willowherb, Wickup, Epilobium, 1.
Epilobium angustifolium, known as fireweed or rosebay willowherb, is a tall perennial of the evening-primrose family that readily colonizes burned ground, clearings, and disturbed soil across temperate and boreal regions of North America and Eurasia. Its striking spikes of magenta flowers gave it a place in physiomedical and eclectic practice, where the root and leaf were prized as gentle astringent and demulcent remedies for irritated bowel and mucous membranes. In contemporary Western herbalism the closely related small-flowered willowherb (Epilobium parviflorum) has drawn most modern research attention for prostate and urinary complaints, with E. angustifolium used more traditionally and by extrapolation from shared constituents.
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Indications what the tradition reached for it in
- Subacute and chronic diarrhea
- Dysentery in the convalescent, tender-bowel stage
- Irritable bowel with looseness and mucous membrane irritation
- Gastritis and enteritis
- Mild gastrointestinal irritation in children
- Sore throat and mouth ulceration (as a gargle)
- Minor wounds and skin irritation (topical)
- Eczema and weepy dermatitis (topical)
- Early benign prostatic enlargement with urinary hesitancy or nocturia
- General mucous membrane laxity
Specific indications
Chronic, tender, relaxed bowel with lingering looseness once the acute inflammatory stage of dysentery has passed
Nocturia, hesitancy, or a weak stream in early prostatic enlargement, used as part of a longer-term urinary tonic protocol
Safety
The record lists 1 contraindication; open the plate in the library to read them in full.
In practice
Fireweed leaf and flowering top make a soothing, mildly astringent tea that eclectic physicians reached for once the acute, hot stage of dysentery or diarrhea had passed and the bowel remained tender, loose, and irritable.
Dosing as the sources wrote it
| Preparation | As written | Metric |
|---|---|---|
| Infusion (leaf and flower) | 2-4 g dried herb per cup, three times daily | 2000-4000 mg |
| Tincture (1:5, 40%) | 2-4 mL three times daily | 2-4 mL |
| Decoction (root, traditional) | 3-6 g dried root daily | 3000-6000 mg |
| Fluid Extract of Epilobium | Dose, from five to sixty minims Specific Medicine Epilobium. | 0.31-3.7 mL |
| Fluid Extract of Epilobium Dose, from five to sixty minims Specific Medicine Epilobium | Dose, from ten to sixty minims. | 0.62-3.7 mL |
| He gave it in doses from fifteen to twenty minims, and in persistent cases he would make all infusion of the herb, having the patient drink it freely. | 0.92-1.23 mL |
Doses are reproduced from the sources for practitioners and are not a recommendation for any person.
From the sources
Overview. Epilobium angustifolium, known as fireweed or rosebay willowherb, is a tall perennial of the evening-primrose family that readily colonizes burned ground, clearings, and disturbed soil across temperate and boreal regions of North America and Eurasia.
Clinical Notes. Fireweed leaf and flowering top make a soothing, mildly astringent tea that eclectic physicians reached for once the acute, hot stage of dysentery or diarrhea had passed and the bowel remained tender, loose, and irritable.
Action and Therapy. Epilobium is a remedy for the diarrhoea of debility and irritability of the intestinal mucosa. It is the most certain and kindly remedy we have ever used to control the diarrhoea of typhoid fever; and the experience covers a period of years.
Therapy. It will be curative also in general relaxed, subacute or acute cases of diarrhea, after the stage of inflammation has passed, but is not as reliable a remedy at that time as geranium. In muco-enteritis it is of some service in conjunction with the indicated remedies.
Drawn from Cook's Physio-Medical Dispensatory; 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.
In formulas
Fireweed stands in 1 documented formula in the library, among them Syrupus Rhei Et Potassae Compositus.
Often paired with
GeraniumPelargonium graveolens
GingerZingiber officinale
PeppermintMentha piperita
Ceylon cinnamonCinnamomum zeylanicum
BarberryBerberis vulgaris
CayenneCapsicum frutescensNearby on the shelf
FeverfewTanacetum parthenium
FicariaRanunculus ficaria
FigFicus
FigwortScrophularia nodosa
FireweedErechtites hieracifolius
Five-fingerPotentilla canadensis
Five-flowered gentianGentiana Quinqueflora
Flame of the forestButea monospermaThe whole plate is in the library. The compass, Compare, the Sky of eleven hundred plants and the formulary open with an email address and a password, free, with the formula builder and its safety engine. Herbert without limit, his formulating, clients, the handouts and the labels are the paid room.
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