Natural Medicine from the Lily Family
Many people do look towards alternative healing method. For centuries people have relied on natural methods of curing illnesses and many people have survived and lived off of these natural remedies. We would truly be surprised if we knew all of the wonderful natural medicines that have been provided to us by our Creator.
Believe it or not, the Lily family can be used for a variety of medicinal purposes. These pretty flowers possess more than just beauty they possess a cure common illnesses. Here is a list of some of the Lily family’s medicinal uses.
Lilies
Native people of the northern region would use wood lily roots in order to make medicinal teas that would help to treat stomach disorders, coughs, tuberculosis, fevers, and child birth pains. These teas were used to wash swellings, bruises, wounds and sores and the flowers and roots were used in poultices for treating spider bites.
Fool’s Onion
This slender, perennial herb has been reported to save at least one family from starvation. Theses flowers are deep to light blue and bell-shaped. They have three ruffled inner petals and three smooth-edged outer petals, which form flat-topped, clusters during April to July. This was one of the first roots to be dug during the springtime. Both native people and settlers collected it in large quatities. This plant was sometimes eaten fresh, however, the taste is gluey when eaten uncooked. These are considered best roasted in hot ashes or over a slow fire for about an hour.
Warning!!! These bulbs can be confused with death camases. You should never eat wild roots or bulbs unless you are definitely sure of the plant’s identity.
Wild Onions
Onions are not only a very strong food, however, this plant is reported to have anti-fungal, anti-bacterial and anti-viral tendencies. They have been used for centuries in the treatment of cuts, burns, insect bites and stings. The juice from the bulbs of this plant was used to make syrup that was sometimes sweetened with honey, in order to cure sore throats and colds. The bulbs of onions have been used to relieve indigestion, gas and vomiting and were also used in order to treat sexual impotency that was caused by mental stress and or illness. Sometimes they were dried and made into a snuff in order to open the sinuses. Regular doses of onions have been shown to reduce blood cholesterol levels and blood pressure. They have also been used to prevent blood clots from forming in the body. This plant is a slender perennial herb with oval bulbs. The strong smell of onion is present in this plant. The flowers are bell-shaped, 6-teapled, bunched at the tips of the skinny leafless stem.
Warning!!! Wild onions have the tendency to resemble and often grow in the same places as their poisonous relative, mountain death camas. There are some tribes who believed that wild onions in the mountains were poisonous, probably because of their confusion with the poisonous plant. Mountain death camas does not smell like onions and the wild onion plant does. So if it does not smell like onions do not eat it.
Wild Chives
Coughs and colds are the most commonly treated illnesses with wild chives. The juice of this plant was either boiled down to thick syrup or a sliced bulb was put in sugar and the syrup was consumed. Dried chive bulbs were burned and smudged to fumigate patients or ground into a snuff to open up the sinuses. This plant has also been useful in stimulating appetites and aiding in digestion. In order to rid the system of worms, chives were crushed and soaked for 12 hours in water and then consumed. Crushed plants were often times used as a treatment for insect and snake bites, stings, hives, burns, scalds, sores, and blemishes. This plant is a slender perennial herb with cylindrical elongated bulbs. The flower of this plant is a deep pink to lilac or white and they are bell-shaped, 6-teapled, forming bunches at the tips of the hollow, leafless stems. These chives grow in moist open sited in the plains, foothills, and montane zones from Alaska to Colorado.
Warning!!! If a wild chive plant does not have flowers it can be confused with a death camas plant. However, those plants have flat (not hollow) leaves and they do not carry an onion smell.
Narrow-Leaved Yucca
The roots of this plant was made into tea and given to women with prolonged labor. This was said to clean the sticky covering from an over-sized baby and speed up the delivery process. A cupful of yucca suds was sweetened with sugar and given to the pregnant woman. The yucca fruit has been proven to help induce vomiting, but many sources do agree that the plant is edible. This plant is a coarse, evergreen colored perennial with dense tufts or stiff, linear sharp pointed leaves. The flowers are a cream color or a greenish-white color. This plant grows on dry, open slopes in plains and foothills regions from southern Alberta to New Mexico.
Mariposa Lilies
The juice from the leaves of this plant was often applied to pimples and the entire plant was boiled to make a medicinal tea that was given to women in labor to help with the delivery. This plant is slender with deep fleshy onion like bulbs. The leaves are grass-like and the flowers are cupped and white with 3 wide, rounded or abruptly pointed petals. Each petal has a distinctive gland, band of color or fringe of hairs near the base. They are borne in loose cluster of 1-5.
Warning!!! This plant should only be eaten during an emergency.
Fritillaries
The leopard lily bulbs were pulverized and used to make salves for treating tuberculosis of the lymph nodes in the neck. Many people contracted this disease because of gophers and children were warned to stay away as far away from gopher mounds or else they would get swollen cheeks just like the rodent. This plant is a skinny, perennial herb that has scaly bulbs surrounded by tiny, rice like bublets. The flowers are yellow and bell-shaped and they look like they are nodding downwards. There are 6 petals, and they are either in a single or loose cluster of 2-4. The fruit of this plant are in small capsules.
Yellow Glacier Lily
The leaf of this plant has been made into tea and has proven to kill a wide range of bacteria. This can be used as an antiseptic for cuts, scrapes and sores. The compounds extracted from these plants have also been shown to be slightly anti-mutagenic and to have tumor-reducing qualities. Other species of this plant have been used for the treatment of fevers, swelling and infection. They have also been used to reduce the chances of conception. This perennial herb has two leaves and deeply buried, elongated, corm-like bulbs. The flowers of this plant are bright yellow and nodding. They have 6 petals that curve upwards and 6 large stamens projecting downwards. These plants grow in moist, rich, shaded areas such as montane slopes, sub alpine and alpine zones from BC and Alberta to Colorado and Utah.
Warning!!! The bulbs of the yellow glacier lily sometimes cause a burning sensation and can also cause vomiting. If large quantities of the leaves and seedpods are consumed they can cause vomiting and diarrhea.
I hope that God willing this guide will benefit you in some way. I do not suggest that you consume any of these plants except at your own risk. I recommend that you find more information about natural cures for your knowledge and betterment.
