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Medicinal Native Plants

In this Workshop we go over how to identify and process some of our local plants into powerful medicines. We will review how to harvest and break down the raw materials into Poultices, Compresses, Infusions, Decoctions and washes to aid in a variety of wound care and ailments. Below is a list of a few of our most prominent medicinal plants in the area.

Black Sage

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(Salvia Mellifera) Maybe the most abundant of all the sage here in our area. It has a sweet, slightly minty aroma and can be used to make food as well as a variety of medicines. The leaves can be chopped and lightly cooked together with a bit of water to make a poultice and placed on the back of a sick individual to fight mild coughs all the way to serious issues like bronchitis.

Chamise

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(Adenostoma Fasciculatum) Also known as Greasewood. It's the most recognizable in the chaparral biome and can be processed in a variety of ways. The bark can be used to make a medicinal tea and the leaves make a wash for wound care.

California Everlast

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(Pseudognaphalium obtusifolium) This is, in my humble opinion, one of our most underrated native plants. With it's sweet maple scent it makes for a wonderful tea that can be used to treat common cold symptoms such as coughs, sore throat, fevers and muscle cramps.

Golden Yarrow

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(Eriophyllum confertiflorum) Yarrow has been used as an herbal treatment for centuries. The flowers and leaves can be dried and steeped to make a tea that will aid with stomach ailments and the common cold. It fights back fevers by raising the body temperature and helping the individual "sweat it out".

Sage Brush

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(Artemisia Californica) A small hardy Sage seen all over our hillsides here in Southern California. With it's sweet aromatic fragrance it's been used as both medicine and food for centuries. Although a tea made from the leaves may be beneficial to anyone, it was historically used primarily for pregnant woman or those who just gave birth as it is said to help the mothers body recover quickly.

Wooly Yerba Santa

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(Eriodictyon tomentosum) Growing all over our local hillsides Woolly Yerba Santa is one of our most useful medicinal plants available year round, even in the dry heat you'll still find some healthy & thriving. The Leaves can be made into teas, extracts or poultices that treat the common cold, kidney conditions, flesh wounds, poison oak, rheumatic pains, some say it even helps with weight loss.

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