Pipsissewa

Botanical Name
Chimaphila umbellata, C. maculata

Synonyms
Pyrola umbellata. Winter Green. Butter Winter. Prince's Pine. King's Cure. Ground Holly. Love in Winter. Rheumatism Weed.

Parts Used
Dried leaves only are official, though the whole plant, including root, is used.

Habitat
Europe, Asia, Siberia, America, and found in all parts of the United States.

Introduction
The name Chimaphila is derived from two Greek words meaning 'winter' and 'to love.' There are two varieties of this plant, Chimaphila umbellata and C. maculata. The former alone is the official plant, a small evergreen perennial with a creeping yellow rhizome, which has several creeping, erect or semi-procumbent stems, angular, marked with the scars of former leaves, and woody at the base. These are 4 to 8 inches high, with the leaves on upper surface, shiny, coriaceous, dark green and underside paler. Flowers corymbose, light purple colour, corolla five cream-coloured petals, fragrantly perfumed, purplish at base. Capsule erect, depressed five-celled, five-valved, numerous seeds, linear, chaffy. It flowers May till August; leaves when dried have only a slight odour, but when fresh and rubbed are sweet-smelling; taste astringently sweetish and not disagreeably bitter.

Medicinal Action and Uses
Pipsissewa is Diuretic, astringent, tonic, alterative. The fresh leaves, when bruised and applied to the skin, act as vesicants and rubefacients, of great use in cardiac and kidney diseases, chronic rheumatism and scrofula. The decoction is advantageous for chronic gonorrhoea, strangury, catarrh of the bladder, and a good cure for ascites. It is said to diminish lithic acid in the urine; for dropsy it is useful combined with other medicines; it is a substitute for uva-ursi and less obnoxious; said to be of value in diabetes, but this has not yet been confirmed; and it is very efficacious for skin diseases. This herb finds its main use as a urinary antiseptic and as a diuretic with a beneficial effect on the liver, kidney and bladder. In disorders of the urinary organs, it is especially effective in relieving irritation and catarrhal conditions of the kidneys and bladder, reducing uric acid, and helping against deposits of stone and gravel. 15 to 30 drops 2-4 times daily

Dosage
Decoction, 1 to 4 fluid ounces three times daily. Fluid extract, B.P.C., 15 to 45 grains. Fluid extract, B.P.C., 3 parts syrup to 1 part fluid extract. Fluid extract, 1 to 45 grains.

Side Effects
Not Known


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