Geum

Chronic, watery diarrhea with abdominal cramping and a cold, debilitated patient

Relaxed, boggy sore throat or pharyngitis calling for an astringent gargle

Overview. Geum is a genus of small perennial herbs in the rose family, with several species used interchangeably in older Western herbal practice for their strongly astringent roots. Water avens (Geum rivale), native to damp meadows and woodland edges across Europe, Britain, and much of North America, is the species most often described in older pharmacopoeias. The related North American species, Geum canadense and Geum virginianum, were used by Eclectic physicians under the names throat-root and chocolate-root for very similar purposes. The dried rhizome and root, which carries a faint clove-like fragrance and a notably tannin-rich, bitter, astringent taste, is the part employed.

Clinical Notes. Geum root is reached for wherever tissue is lax, boggy, or oozing and needs firming up: chronic loose stool without acute infection, a relaxed sore throat, or low-grade uterine bleeding in a patient who is otherwise stable.