Western Herbalism
Yerba Reuma
Frankenia
Also known as alkali heath, sea heath.
Frankenia salina, called yerba reuma, is a low, matted, salt-tolerant subshrub of California and adjacent Pacific coastal salt marshes and alkaline flats, in the small family Frankeniaceae. The aerial parts were used by California folk healers and later by eclectic physicians of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as an astringent remedy for catarrhal discharges of the mucous membranes. It never became a mainstream botanical and modern clinical knowledge of it is thin.
Ask Herbert about Yerba Reuma. Herbert is the master herbalist inside Bountiful Herbs: he answers from this plate and eleven hundred others, with dosing, pairing and cautions. Your first ten questions are free.
Ask HerbertActions
Indications what the tradition reached for it in
- Chronic catarrh
- Nasal congestion with thin discharge
- Sinusitis
- Vaginal leucorrhea
- Chronic urethral discharge (gleet)
- Diarrhea
- Mucous membrane discharges generally
- Recurrent low-grade genitourinary discharge
Specific indications
Persistent watery nasal catarrh with a recurring flux that other astringents have not resolved
Vaginal or urethral discharge used topically as a wash or douche alongside internal treatment
Safety
Pregnancy: Avoid in pregnancy: no modern safety data exist to establish a safe margin.
Breastfeeding: Avoid in lactation: no modern safety data exist to establish a safe margin.
The record lists 3 contraindications; open the plate in the library to read them in full.
In practice
Yerba reuma was reached for by eclectic practitioners mainly for chronic, low-grade discharges from mucous membranes that had settled into a persistent pattern: nagging nasal catarrh, a lingering urethral discharge after acute gonorrhea had been treated, or vaginal leucorrhea.
Dosing as the sources wrote it
| Preparation | As written | Metric |
|---|---|---|
| Infusion or decoction | 2-4 g dried aerial parts steeped or gently simmered, taken as tea up to three times daily | 2000-4000 mg |
| Fluid extract (1:1) | 1-2 mL up to three times daily | 1-2 mL |
| Topical wash or douche | dilute decoction (approximately 1 part herb to 20 parts water), used as a wash, injection, or spray as needed | |
| Dose, 5 to 25 drops. | 0.1-0.5 mL | |
| fluid extract | The dose of the fluid extract is from 5 to 25 minims; when diluted with water, it may be applied locally by injection or spray. | 0.31-1.54 mL |
Doses are reproduced from the sources for practitioners and are not a recommendation for any person.
From the sources
Clinical Notes. Yerba reuma was reached for by eclectic practitioners mainly for chronic, low-grade discharges from mucous membranes that had settled into a persistent pattern: nagging nasal catarrh, a lingering urethral discharge after acute gonorrhea had been treated, or vaginal leucorrhea.
Action and Therapy. Used both internally and by injection or spray, for catarrhal diseases and other discharges from the mucous membranes, diarrhea, vaginal leucorrhea, gonorrhea, and gleet, and the different types of catarrh. It is little used.
Drawn from King's American Dispensatory, 18th edition (Felter and Lloyd); Felter's Eclectic Materia Medica, Pharmacology and Therapeutics, and the Bountiful Herbs editorial.
Nearby on the shelf
Yellow RootXanthorhiza simplicissima
Yellow-berried nightshadeSolanum xanthocarpum
Yerba MansaAnemopsis californica
Yerba MateIlex paraguariensis
Yerba santaEriodictyon californicum
YewTaxus baccata
Ylang YlangCananga odorata
YohimbePausinystalia johimbeThe 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.
Open the library, free