Jewelweed, widely known as a poison ivy remedy, is abundant in damp areas, blooming throughout the second half of summer and into the fall.
Identifying Jewelweed
It has beautiful, open-mouthed orange or yellow flowers that end in a curved spur. The orange flowers have spots of darker orange. The thin, pliant, coarsely toothed leaves are alternate, usually with a blush of pink at the base of the pale midrib. The stem is often coated with a bluish bloom and is marked by swellings, or nodules, where branches diverge from the stem.
Medicinal Applications
If you open the stem, you will find it filled with moist tissue, which may be rubbed on the skin to prevent a rash if you have come in contact with poison ivy. It is also soothing to an existing rash and often relieves itching temporarily, although a severe case might not respond. Some Indian tribes used the juice to treat other rashes, such as eczema.
To preserve jewelweed for use when there isn’t a patch nearby, simmer the leaves and stems in water for 15 minutes and then freeze the resultant broth in an ice cube tray. In early spring, the young shoots (up to eight inches high) are edible when cooked, but wild food expert Steve Brill says the cooking water, like the fresh plant, contains toxic levels of selenium and should not be taken internally. Brill cites other external applications, including acne, nettle stings, and minor burns.
Fun with Jewelweed
Jewelweed is also fun. The name is said to come from its waterproof quality, which causes rain to bead up, jewel-like, on the leaves. If you stick a leaf underwater, its surface reflects light with a silver shimmer, like a piece of foil.
The most fun comes in late summer, as the seeds ripen. When they’re ready, the lightest touch makes the pod snap open and the seeds fly out, along with a coiled section of the pod. This behavior accounts for the plant’s other common name, Touch-Me-Not. It takes practice and careful observation to find pods that are fat enough and ready to pop. For an extra thrill, take a pod that’s ready, pick carefully it by the stem, and put it in your mouth. The pod popping inside your mouth feels really weird. The walnut-flavored seeds are edible, although you’ll want to spit out the little coils. Hunting and popping keeps the kids busy for a good long time.
Jewelweed is also fun to have in your yard because it is attractive to bees and hummingbirds. (See Jewelweed blog for a hummingbird story.)
Other Poison Ivy Remedies
What about those stubborn poison ivy cases that jewelweed doesn’t soothe? Tincture of grindelia, a sticky plant that grows out West, is said to work in 90 percent of cases, when applied directly to the rash. Tom Brown lists 16 herbs that can be brewed into strong teas for external use on poison ivy rash. Different ones work in different cases, he says. His list includes acorn husks; black or white birch bark; roots of bulrush, cattail, chicory, comfrey, spicebush, thistle, or yucca; mint or sweet fern leaves; milkweed stems; and hemlock bark. He also suggests rubbing the rash with fresh burdock leaf.
