The Double Edge of Dogbane

FOCUS ON NATURE There Are Definitely Two Ways to Look at Dogbane

In my days as a graduate student at the University of Arizona, my friend Luke and I pursued the rather dangerous hobby of harvesting our own medicinal plants. One day he decided to "cleanse" his system with a tonic made from the herb called spreading dogbane because, after all, "if it was good enough for the Pima Indians.

After a camping trip to the White Mountains, he returned with a handful of small pink blossoms, sadly removed from the woods where they belonged. Fortunately, before he had a chance to brew the plant into a beverage, I did some research.

After a quick glance at my herb books, I frantically called Luke with the news that his dogbane tea would not only be worthless as a tonic it might very well land him in the emergency room. This was a turning point: Luke and I abandoned our risky botanical ventures, and he became a vocal advocate of protecting wild plants.

The pretty little plant that almost poisoned my friend goes by many names. It's been called catch fly and fly trap, American ipecac and wild ipecac, black Indian hemp and bitter root. Some know it as western wallflower or wandering milkweed.

From its medicinal qualities, it has gotten the names colicroot and rheumatism wood, and because it can be poisonous to animals, some call it dogbane. These names reflect the plant's contradictory nature: It can be both healing and deadly.

The species Luke found in the White Mountains, spreading dogbane, grows up to 20 inches high with pairs of drooping leaves, dark green on top, pale underneath. It flowers throughout the summer in clusters of pink blossoms shaped like tiny bells.

To the botanist, spreading dogbane is Apocynum androsae-mifolium, a relative of the olean-der and periwinkle. It is often mistaken for its close white-and pink-blossomed relative, Indian hemp, and to make matters more confusing, it shares some of its many names with several unrelated plants.

Spreading dogbane, one of Species of dogbane are not uncommon in other parts of the country as well. It is found as far north as Canada and as far east as Georgia. According to archaeologists, dogbane has been used in North America since prehistoric times. In the West-ern deserts of the United States, scientists found nets made from dogbane fibers dating as far back as 5000 в.С.

Long before the arrival of six dogbane species in Arizona, grows in Apache, Coconino, Cochise, and Pima counties, and it is especially common in the White Mountains. The pink-blossomed variety is usu-ally found in forest clearings at elevations of 7,000 to 9,500 feet. Indian hemp, Аросупит cannabinum, grows commonly in Oak Creek Canyon and can be found along the desert floor or at elevations of 7,500 feet. It grows as a shrub up to five feet high.

Europeans, Native Americans made the bitter root of the various dogbane species into an antidote for poisons. The Hopis used dogbane for dizziness, convulsions, and sore throats. The Pimas burned the dried roots over coals, inhaling the fumes for headaches, and some-times put dogbane juice into the ear for earache. While some tribes believed dogbane would cause temporary sterility, others used it for everything from mange in their dogs to insanity.

Early settlers learned the use of dogbane from the Indians and took it as a heart stimulant and diuretic.

Nineteenth-century herbalists prescribed dogbane for arthritis, fevers, malaria, neural-gia, and typhoid, for problems with digestion, for the kidneys and liver, and for gallstones. One old herbalist described it as" wonderful for diabetes."

There are still people around who contend that the milky juice of the dogbane, extracted in the spring, will remove warts. And others say dogbane pro-tects the victim of animal bites against rabies a contention that hasn't been substantiated.

But dogbane has another face. It may sometimes be curative when properly prepared, but eaten raw it can sicken and kill. Although there is no record of any human deaths from dog-bane, it has been known to kill cattle, horses, sheep, and small animals. Containing the heart stimulant cymarin, as little as 15 to 30 grams of its fresh leaves can kill a mule within a few hours. Fortunately, dogbane's milky juice tastes terrible, and most animals won't go near it.

But modern medicine is less interested in the poisonous qualities of dogbane than in some possible uses for this versatile herb. In recent years, sci-entists have discovered that some varieties of the plant con-tain alkaloids that may prove valuable in treating cancer.

In the meantime, dogbane can be enjoyed in summer as a mountain wildflower, hopefully growing unmolested by amateur herbalists.

SPREADING

Early settlers learned of the pretty phant's curative uses from the Indians. But it has been known to kill small animals, even sheep and cattle

DOGBANE

Six species of dosbane grow in Arizona and all are relatives of the oleander and periwinkles