LucasLand

The Wildflowers

Cleavers

Galium aparine

HOMŒOPATHIC MATERIA MEDICA
by William BOERICKE, M.D.
Presented by Médi-Ti

Galium acts on the urinary organs, is a diuretic and of use in dropsies, gravel and calculi. Dysuria and cystitis. Has power of suspending or modifying cancerous action. Has clinical confirmation of its use in cancerous ulcers and nodulated tumors of the tongue. Inveterate skin affections and scurvy. Favors healthy granulations on ulcerated surfaces.

Copyright © Médi-T 1999

King's American Dispensatory

COMMON NAMES: Cleavers, Goose-grass, Catch-weed, Bedstraw, etc.

Botanical Source.—Galium aparine is an annual, succulent plant, with a weak, procumbent, quadrangular, retrorsely-prickled stem, which grows from 2 to 6 feet long, and is hairy at the joints. The leaves are 1 or 2 inches in length, 2 or 3 lines in width, verticillate in sixes, sevens, or eights; linear; the flowers white, small, numerous and scattered. Calyx 4-toothed, corolla rotate and 4-parted, stamens 4 and short, styles 2. The fruit is large and bristly, with hooked prickles.

History, Description, and Chemical Composition.—This plant is common to Europe and the United States, growing in cultivated grounds, moist thickets, and along banks of rivers, and flowering from June to September. Its root consists of a few hair-like fibers, of a reddish color.

Action, Medical Uses, and Dosage.—The infusion made with cold water is also considered very beneficial in removing freckles from the face, likewise lepra, and several other cutaneous eruptions; the diseased parts must be washed with it several times a day, and continued for 2 or 3 months in case of freckles.