Pipsissewa
Chimaphila umbellata
Pyrolaceae (family of winter plants)
If you’ve ever played Uncle Wiggley’s old board game, you may remember the phrase “Bad Pipsissawa was trembling and looked like Uncle Wiggli in three steps.” This rather creeping evergreen grass certainly doesn’t deserve the reputation of a bad guy! His Algonquian Indian name, pipsissewa , derived from the Canadian Cree word for "breaking it into small pieces," for example, breaking a stone in the bladder. Its official name is genus, Chimaphila , meaning "winter-loving", as these tiny shrubs are often visible in the winter snow. Name of the species umbellata , points to their little umbrella flowers.
Also called the winter green, pear, wax flower and prince pine, pipsissa is native to eastern woodlands and thrives in a mixed deciduous forest. Stems can stand ten inches in height, topped in mid-summer from one to three small, fragrant, drooping, from white to pink flowers. These small, waxy flowers ever stood right in climax shape and became woody and fibrous, as each plant designed its mature seed tray. Striped or spotted pipsissewa, Chimaphila maculata , also called racban root or rheumatism root, is a close relative.
Traditional use:
Native people chewed and sometimes smoked the leathery leaves of pipsissewa for the treatment of numerous conditions. Leaves and roots were immersed in strong teas, sometimes formulated with other natural herbs, to relieve cough, cold, bladder complaints and kidney problems. East Algonquian tea used tea for the season of other drugs, for the treatment of problems with PMS and as a diuretic, astringent and diaphoretic (to stimulate sweating) for pot bath. Iroquois taverns used it to treat stomach cancer and rheumatism. Some tribes used leaf waste to treat eye problems and drank them like spring tonic. Along the West Coast, from British Columbia to Southern California and Idaho, lies the western C. menziesii A braided, often motley look that stands six inches tall. Thomps Indians from British Columbia covered the entire pulverized plant to reduce the exchange in the joints, legs and feet. Native peoples also covered leaves on skin tumors, ulcers and sore muscles, especially as a remedy for treating the back.
Modern usage:
A decoction made from pipsissewa leaves was the original ingredient in traditional root bees, and pipsissewa extract is still used as a flavoring in some sweets and soft drinks, as well as in various health products. It provides an earthy, musky flavor.
Cautions:
Biologically active compounds arbutin, sitosterol and ursolic acid can give different healing properties, but also irritate sensitive skin.
Growth needs and distribution:
Pipsissewa stands for dry forests and sandy soils. In most of our northern temperate regions, their brilliant green-toothed leaves are signs of healing in the winter. However, pipsissewa is currently exhausted for most of its natural range, which makes it particularly important for growing in our gardens for rims. It is difficult to spread from the seed. Promote from one-inch pieces of underground stock left under foliar mulch.
Satellites:
Pipsissewa grows well with most shade-loving plants in a garden wheel, especially a mayapple and a maidenhair fern.
When a pregnant woman feels fever and drowsiness, she is not sick, her child. Make a small bundle of Pipsissewa, about one inch thick, using the whole plant. Put it in half a quart of water on steep. Take the cup four times a day until it is used up.
- Sam Hill, Onondaga Herbalist, Six Nations Reserve, 1912
