Also known as:

Lycopodium clavatum, Vegetable Sulphur, Goat's Claw, Stag's Horn, Wolf Claw, Running Pine, and Robin Hood's Hatband

Introduction:

Club moss is an evergreen related to ferns that is native to Europe, and harvested mostly in Russia. Though it?s called a moss, it is actually more related to ferns than to true mosses. Traditionally, herbal healers employed the entire plant to relieve muscle cramping, and as a diuretic. One herbal recommends that those suffering from muscle cramps and gout use a pillow stuffed with club moss, and reports relieving cramps by wrapping the affected area in lengths of club moss. Nowadays, the only part of the plant used medicinally is the powdered spores by which it reproduces. Interestingly, those spores have a number of other uses as well, In Victorian England, they were sometimes used in the theater to create a flash fire, since the high aluminum content of the plant cause a bright, fast-burning fire when ignited. The spores are highly moisture resistant, and can be used as a dusting powder for skin ailments like eczema, and to prevent chafing, and may be applied to wounded tissue to absorb moisture. Its most common modern pharmaceutical use is as a dusting powder to prevent pills from sticking together. The plant is known to be diuretic, analgesic and antispasmodic.

Constituents

Alkaloids, about 0.1-0.2%, of which the major one is lycopodine; with clavatine, clavatoxine, nicotine and many others. Polyphenolic acids including dihydrocaffeic, Flavonoids including apigenin, Miscellaneous; triterpenes.

Parts Used:

Whole lichen (also known as spores or moss)

Typical Preparations:

Dried spores as a powder, tincture prepared from dried leaves and stems. Usually found in extract and capsule form. Suitable as a tea.

Summary:

Once listed in the United States Pharmacopeia, club moss is traditionally used to treat kidney and liver complaints, promote healing in wounds, stop bleeding and help drain tissues of excess fluids. It is a recognized diuretic, and may have analgesic and antiseptic properties. The leaves and stems contain two poisons, lycopodine and clavadine, but the spores are completely non-toxic. Club moss is widely used in homeopathic medicine to treat a wide variety of ailments, but its effectiveness is not established by research. Among the traditional uses are: - treat irritable bladder - diuretic to encourage urination - prevent chafing - regulate menstruation - reduce edema - relieve itching in skin conditions - treat eczema, erysipelas - antispasmodic to relieve gastritis, kidney complaints, dysentery

Precautions:

Not to be used while pregnant. Not for long term use. When used as directed, there are no known side effects or dangers, though severe overdoses can cause gastric distress.

 

 

Wild Harvested- These plants are gathered from their natural environment, such as woodlands, prairies, deserts etc. All Wild Harvested species are taken to separate facilities for further processing. All the Wild Harvested species gathered and contracted from our distributor must sign a preliminary "Wild Take Audit" to insure that materials are sustainably gathered with a no more than 10% take, and that the plants are re-seeded or roots are left to re-stock native populations.

 This information has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

For educational purposes only.