Whorled mountain mint, Pycnanthemum verticillatum

      Whorled mountain mint, Pycnanthemum verticillatum, Lamiaceae family. Mountain mints Pycnanthemum make up their own wood mint tribe located here on the east coast, here growing in a relatively, open, full sun meadow environment. 

    Whorled mountain mint is a Lamiaceae/mint family perennial plant. The mountain mints are eastern woodland plants with highly aromatic foliage, square mint stems, and a basic opposite leaf pattern. At first appearance it's flattened pale white flowerhead pattern, at the very top of the plant, resembles an asteraceae plant. It appears similar to the white asteraceae tribe, similar to pussy toes, from a distance looking at the meadow like tall yarrow. It's foliage is stiff hard to the touch, unlike many mints whose foliage is soft, moist, wet and downy. It's leaves have a tactile, sense of a drought tolerant, open meadow, full sun, hardy plant vs the soft watery, moisture filled, palustrine mints. 

       Palustrine means a non-tidal, fresh water marshy wetland. Whorled mountain mint does not usually grow in a wet marsh.  Palustrine is the same as paludose, from the latin paluster. Palustrine is foot wet zone, whorled mountain mint is in the foot dry zone, an open, full sun, well drained eastern states meadow. Yet it's aromatic foliage resembles, smells like, tastes like the moist poleo, or Mentha arvensis, Mentha canadensis. I think it's fair to call whorled mountain mint, a whorled horse mint. 

     It has a brown red woody square stem, a set of lanceolate opposite leaves, sessile, meaning attached directly to the main stem without a petiole. This mountain mint has a unique feature for which it's named, a distinctive whorled pattern of smaller leaves at the leaf axil. 

     It's foliage is stiff to touch, oily, minty spicy aromatic. Its quality is warming, spicy hot tasting, minty, like other spicy, minty, highly aromatic herbs of the mint family. We gain this knowledge of the individual plant by organoleptic testing.  We experience the plant directly by sense input. From this input we can frequently get an idea of the plant identity, and this can lead to understanding what the plant does in the body. Of course organoleptic is only part of learning the plant. A plant has leaf characteristics that can best be described by the specific botanical term, through a specific unique language developed within our western cultural tradition. Likewise a scientific specific binomial, first and last, genus and species name. Pycnanthemum verticillatum. This name and system of categorizing plants, organizing plants is another aspect of western european culture and heritage, 

     Organoleptic comes from the french, organoleptique, -organo meaning 'organs of the body', thus the senses and -leptique from the greek leptiqos, disposed to take. So through the organs of sense we take in information about the plant directly in front of us. So using all your senses including tongue, nose, touch sensorial input, and the gestalt of biosense, the whole terrain and lay of the land, we can frequently learn something about the plant. Not only tasting the herb, but seeing the patterns in the landscape. Probably being alone with the plant where it grows. Then taking this style of knowledge which is non-verbal and letting it do its own thing developing connections as it goes. Spending time in the bio-environment of whorled mountain mint. Organoleptic perception allows me to get a sense of the herbal nature of the plant and what that herb does in my body. So you get a sense of how the herb lends itself to certain actions within the body. 

   Reconciliation is the next step of the process. The idea is that you want to build from personal direct experience. You get a sense of the plant within the landscape, you co-inhabit that same landscape. Then you do your best to reconcile what you've got directly from that personal experience, with what others have understood about the plant as herb use for various conditions, complaints, and concerns. You want to rule out the random, anomaly. Are most whorled mountain mints like the ones I saw? Ideally you want a direct face to face confirmation from another person who has used, gathered and done stuff with the herb, an herbalist. That interaction, face to face, direct, is both social and culture. Then you want to confirm, deny or expand on that confirmation with a written source, meaning further reconciliation. Each one of those steps, organoleptic, person to plant, person to person, academic book based confirmation, each herbal step is essential.

   

        Whorled mountain mint like ginger works as a servant herb to get herbs deep into the tissues. You can consider understanding the mountain mints as kinetic, moving, warming, heating herbs. When an herb is strongly kinetic, promoting movement in the body, heating, warming it automatically should bring up certain cautions and concerns, especially regarding its use in pregnancy. Herbs that heat you up, make you pee, poop, sweat, make your face red, cause you to blush, should be avoided during pregnancy. Pregnancy can be understood as a modified stuck condition. A stuck condition here needs to be kept that way. During pregnancy, mommy wants the baby to remain, stable, well nourished stuck, within baby's house, the uterus. She is carrying the baby, holding it there. Baby needs to stay so mommy needs to chill. The baby's needs to be held and protected, in baby's safe space within mommy until baby is ready to come out. So you want the baby to be held, stuck safely inside mommy's belly. For that reason, strongly moving herbs are contraindicated in pregnancy. Well meaning folk herbalists need to be aware of this principle.  Just because an herb, or any substance is fairly safe does not mean it's safe during pregnancy. People without a lot of experience tend to over do things, especially so called natural things. Just because an herb is natural doesn't mean it's a good choice in the modified stuck situation of pregnancy. Deeper into this, when similar, well meaning dominant culturalists, medical experts or not, say various things are safe during pregnancy that has to be seriously questioned. Beyond, nourishing food and clean water, any substance taken into the body during pregnancy needs to be seriously questioned. You would be safe to say, that just as the modern american life/style if lived according to its own narrative, guidelines and advertising, if executed as advised will make a person sick, in the same way if a pregnant American woman attempts to live as a regular person, in the standard narrative and agenda of modernism, she will inevitably adversely affect the baby she is carrying. Pregnancy is a unique woman specialized condition with its own guidelines. Likewise the care, suckling, breast feeding, nursing of the infant is a specialized mommy, female, womanly zone type of thing.

https://youtu.be/9SeeuYB6kG8

     Mountain mint, similar to poleo mint, has a folk usage for upset sour stomach, digestive tract disorders, as a mouth rinse with a little salt for  mouth sores, bleeding gums, indigestion, colic, and gas/flatulence. Mountain mint also encourages menstrual flow. It can help to open up stuck, boggy uncomfortable menses. If used at the right time in the cycle it can relieve menstrual cramps and bloating. 

     Pycnanthemum spp, mountain is diaphoretic it promotes sweating; stimulant an aid to digestion; antispasmodic can help with cramps; carminative dispels gas; and tonic. A warm infusion is very useful in puerperal the first 6 weeks after delivery; likewise in other forms of recurring fever, coughs, colds, catarrhs excessive mucus from inflammation of the mucus membranes. It can be useful alone or probably more appropriate added to a customized herbal formula with other herbs for spasmodic situations in the body, especially colic, stomach cramps, menstrual cramps. The cold infusion is a good tonic and stimulant during convalescence from exhausting diseases. Dose of the infusion, either warm or cold, from 1 to 4 fluid ounces, 3 or more times a day. A liquor, similar to spirit of poleo can be made, see other blog posts. A good formula for colic or nausea is fennel seed, catnip, and whorled mountain, made as glycerite. Or raspberry leaf, whorled mountain mint glycerite. Another formula is mountain mint, bugle weed, and catnip for empacho. Empacho is a term from traditional folk medicine of the southwest, which may be unfamiliar in other parts of the country. See my blogpost from 2015. Mountain mint can substitute in formulas for Mentha arvenis, horsemint or other mints.

  https://pgmanski.blogspot.com/2016/10/el-empacho-remedio-nebada-poleo-hinojo.html?m=1

   

A tea made with whorled mountain mint resembles both monarda and poleo, you can almost instantly feel it opening up the breathing, causing you to sweat, and encourage urination. Its decoctions are quite helpful in healing wounds, curing fever, and pains of various origins (especially toothache). Also added to a pain relief liniment. In the field, you can rub the leaves on clothing including shoes, socks and pant legs as an insect repellant. You can combine horse mint with yarrow for insect repellants and mixed with rose geranium for tick repellant on clothing pant legs, socks and shoes in early spring.

https://pgmanski.blogspot.com/search/label/Poleo?m=1

The leaves of mountain mint are rich in limonene, menthone, pulgeon, and menthol. I strongly recommend adding whorled mountain mint to your materia medica.

El Empacho Remedio: Nebada, Poleo, Hinojo, Menta de Lobo and Hinojo

     Understanding El Empacho:

   Empacho is a term used in the south west and refers to stomach distress, Empacho is when food gets stuck in the intestines or accumulates around the stomach. It often manifests with a blocking in the epigastric area. I was wanting to make this formula for a while now. Published original 2015.

Today while walking along the river the herbs came to me. Our recent mild October weather brought up new growth of Bugle weed, Poleo and Catnip- the 3 ingredients along with fennel seed which are the basis of this remedio.
    In empacho the food becomes stuck and digestion suffers. This can lead to bloating, gas and constipation in dry empacho, or loose stools in wet empacho.  There is dry empacho with constipation and wet empacho with diarrhea. It can occur for several reasons including:
eating fatty foods, eating outside the normal rhythm; eat faster or slower than usual, eating foods that are not well prepared; They may be raw or eating foods that are difficult to digest like too many beans and not enough vegetables. In different biospirits,  empacho can occur from eating too much bread, pizza, eating on the run, eating with strangers.

Poleo and , Menta de Lobo grow together in families 

Menta de Lobo 

Poleo

     In traditional south west teaching, eating should be done with friends and loved ones.There should be harmony with the cook, and the people eating together. You should avoid for profit restaurants where people serving and cooking the food may be angry, judgemental or hostile to various biospirits. Crowded dining with diverse groups of people who may be jealous or confused by dominant culture meme pathogens. Women who hate men, men who hate women and all this will go into the food and cause a severe kind of indigestion. Especially people who cultivate programming in dominant culture cinema, music and literature. These people sometimes with and sometimes without intention seek to even a score for perceived past grievance and although no one can atone for a grievance not done, they seek to inflict justice by causing others to suffer, creating havoc in biospirit. These types of people can transfer this type of fearful paranoid energy to the food. Food must be balanced. Balanced in relation to the hot and cold intrinsic characteristics of the elements consumed. It's best not to eat too late, the last meal should be finished near sunset. If you are having this type of stomach upset you can make this remedio or find someone who honors the unique biospirit of each, to make it for you specifically. Often herbs are made in big batches and then someone will take the herb and wonder why it didn't work? Herbs should be made in small batches, for specific purposes, for specific people, with specific conditions. If at all possible a cleansing should be done, with the various prayers that we have been taught to use by Father God.

https://youtu.be/uEMI1dALX2Q

    There is a special type of emapacho that occurs with nursing mothers and their babies. Women and girls are often nursing, feeding babies and both their state of mind and what they are doing influences their milk. This can create colic in the baby drinking the mommas milk. Therefore fruits that are "cold" like oranges and watermelons, should not be consumed by pregnant women whose nature at that time is "hot". Likewise they should avoid windy places because the wind can enter the milk. In this sense, the ingestion of "cold" or "hot" food in the nursing mother can cause milk "curds" and harm the infant, just as if being in the sun too much she in excess or suffers a "cooling off" when wash or take a bath. Consequence of this is the "enlechamiento"  a variety of 'colic' that occurs when the child eats breast milk under the conditions listed, or mom offers her milk too frequently, too much,  or Mom nurses her baby after suffering a surprise event (shock) or a stressful event. In all cases, the milk is in lumps, and produces colic in the baby. The baby will be filled with gas and crying, if it progresses the baby will lose sleep and lose weight.
     If the Mom is frightened, or mistreated by her husband, if there is a lot of yelling in the house, this can spoil the milk. The idea that a husband and wife should always be together, always sleep together, is a crazy idea. During certain times a woman and man should not spend a lot of time together, they should not be intimate because they will make each other sick. If a husband and wife need to fight and argue, they should do it outside rather than in an enclosed space like a moving car or inside the house.  Often times when men and women separate and divorce it is because they were fighting inside the house. They want to break up and separate from the fighting angry energy in the house. That's why if you work with herbs you should also do house blessings and cleansing. If the woman is angry or jealous she may spill bile into the milk, creating empacho in the baby. Empacho can also be caused by older women beyond child bearing years who is jealous of the Mom with her baby. Jealous of her youth and beauty, she may intentionally or unintentionally stare at the Mom or kiss the baby and create a special type of empacho which can be helped by this remedio, but it may require a cleansing by someone able to do so.
     Recently I was with a woman who had some how been exposed to this type of 'susto' or fright. She was a bright, attractive and well educated, yet she was living in her car. Moving continuously from place to place she wasn't able to accomplish her goals. Then I noticed she was drawn to some herbs I had on the table, some traditional Remedios. She was drawn to the Espiritu de Poleo I had made and some yerba santa smudge sticks. In another south west tradition this is called moth sickness. Moths are drawn towards flames. Someone with moth sickness is unable to remain in one place. They are continually coming and going. Often seeking romantic relationships of a transitory nature, they may leave their partners unexpectedly seeking to hook up for one night stands. They go again and again towards the flame, eventually burning in the flame. Something outside of themselves is compelling them to run around. Leave their loved ones and family and go tramping about. It's not like they enjoy this running around. They are suffering. She agreed to try a limpia, which I did with yerba santa, and tincture of osha, Ligusticum porteri. It was a great help to her. In this type of susto, it's often necessary to use herbal formulas and techniques to resolve the condition.

     (left to right)  Poleo, Menta de lobo, Nebada

     El Empacho Remedio is a traditional remedy for treating empacho. I use the following 4 herbs together in a formula called El Empacho Remedio:Nebada, Poleo, Hinojo, and Menta de Lobo. Nebada is catnip Nepeta cateria. Poleo, is our native bit Mentha arvensis. Hinojo is Foeniculum vulgar or Fennel seed. Menta de Lobo is Lycopus americanus or Bugle weed. Use fresh herbs and try to gather the herbs from the same place. Don't mix herbs from far away places, they all come from the same place.
    The first ingredient is Nebada, or catnip, Nepeta cateria. I prefer the catnip which grows wild along the river. Nebada relieves stomachache, cramps, and spasms of the intestinal tract. The second ingredient is Poleo, Mentha arvensis. Poleo is a sweet and spicy mint growing in riparian areas. It relieves stomach pain, and settles the stomach along with dispersing heat. It is used as a colic remedio for infants. The 3rd ingredient is Menta de Lobo, Bugle weed, Lycopus americanus. The traditional name Menta de lobo refers to Lycopus refers to the greek 'lyco", wolf and 'plus'-little foot, referring to the plants leaf shape. You can find out about these herbs from books but it is best to encounter them face to face and learn them that way. Michael Moore, in Medicinal Plants of the Mountain West, states, "Bugle weed is specific to nervous indigestion, being both tonic and nervine. As a sedative and tranquilizer it is strong but not druggy, producing few symptoms other than relaxation...much better than something like Valerian...", this combination of equal parts Nebada, Poleo, Menta de Lobo with seeds of Hinojo makes an exquisite remedio for empacho. I encourage you to try it.