Yerba Mansa
Anemopsis californica

Family: Saururaceae

What it is like

Anemopsis californica is a PERENNIAL growing to 0.5 m (1ft 8in). See above for USDA hardiness. It is hardy to UK zone 8. The species is hermaphrodite (has both male and female organs). Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. Suitable pH: basic (mildly alkaline) soils and can grow in very alkaline and saline soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It prefers wet soil and can grow in water.

Height (m): 0.5

Where it is found

Wet, especially somewhat alkaline or saline marshy places, below 2000 metres.

South-western N. America - California, Mexico.

Conservation Status:

Countries/locations it is found in

How it is used

Food

Rating: 2

Root - raw or cooked. An aromatic flavour. The pulverized seeds are made into bread or cooked as a mush. The peppery aromatic root is astringent and is chewed raw for medicinal purposes.

Root: includes bulbs, corms, tubers, rhizomes etc.

Medicine

Rating: 2

Yerba mansa was widely employed by the native North American Indians to treat a wide variety of complaints. It is little used in modern herbalism. The whole plant is analgesic, antiperiodic, antiphlogistic, blood purifier, disinfectant, diuretic, laxative, stomachic and vulnerary. The plant is infused and used to bathe aching muscles and sore feet. The root is chewed for affections of the mucous membranes. A tea made from the root is used as a blood purifier and general pain remedy, and as a treatment for pleurisy, gonorrhoea, syphilis and menstrual cramps. An infusion of the plant is used in the treatment of colds, chest congestion and stomach ulcers. The dried and powdered plant is used as a disinfectant on wounds whilst the fresh moist leaves are used as a poultice or salve on burns, cuts and wounds. An infusion of the bark is used as a wash for open sores.

Analgesic: Relieves pain.

Antiperiodic: Counteracts recurring illnesses such as malaria.

Antiphlogistic: Reduces inflammation.

Antiseptic: Preventing sepsis, decay or putrefaction, it destroys or arrests the growth of micro-organisms.

Astringent: Produces contraction in living tissue, reducing the flow of secretions and discharges of blood, mucus, diarrhoea etc.

Blood purifier: Purifies the blood.

Diuretic: Acts on the kidneys, promoting the flow of urine.

Stomachic: Aids and improves the action of the stomach.

TB: Plants used in the treatment of tuberculosis

VD: Used in the treatment of venereal disease

Vulnerary: Promotes the healing of wounds.

Women's complaints: A very vague title, it deals with a miscellany of problems peculiar to the female sex.

Other

Rating: 1

Beads can be made from the rootstock.

Beads: Used as necklaces etc.

How it is grown

Requires shallow water or a wet muddy site in a humus-rich alkaline medium. Requires a warm position. Plants are hardy to about -5 to -10°c, and are probably hardiest when the rootstock is submerged. Another report says that they are hardy to about -15°c.

Propagating it: Seed - best sown in a greenhouse as soon as it is ripe in the summer. Stand the pots in about 3cm of water and germination should take place in about 5 weeks. Sow stored seed in a cold frame in the spring. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for their first winter. making sure you keep the compost wet. Plant them out in late spring or early summer. Division in spring.

Best place to grow: Pond; Bog Garden;

Habit: Perennial

Hardiness: 7-10

Growth:

Soil: Light (sandy), medium, heavy (clay)

Shade: Semi-shade, no shade

Moisture: Wet, water

Things to keep in mind

Its other names

Local names

Synonyms

Houttuynia californica.