It’s the beginning of April in New England. As of last month, I began my meanderings outdoors once again, exploring a few new places. I had seen some little lovely scalloped edged plants that smelled like corn husks after a summer cleaning. Last week, I noticed blueish purple flowers in on small batch. AH HA! I said. I was examining them when my friend reminded me to take a picture. I was so enthralled with checking out this new plant I had forgotten all about my camera. (Which is really something, just ask Peter who wants to beat me over the head sometimes because I take a pic of EVERYTHING on these walks.)
I have ID’d the plant as Alehoof, also commonly known as Ground Ivy or Cat’s-foot. The sources I saw mentioned flowering in May – August. Guess this little batch got an early start. The scent I liked so much has been described as a mix of camphor, citronella and peppermint.
Tea made from it can be used to treat headaches, asthma, coughs, sinusitis, lung problems, fever, and throat infections. Alehoof has been used to treat digestive issues and scurvy (high vitamin C)as well. The tea made is also good for cleansing the blood and tissues of toxic heavy metals like cadmium, copper, lead, and zinc. I even read where it had been used to treat sciatica. Externally, it is used in compresses in treating abscesses, wounds, cuts, and bruises.
