INDIGO— WILD Baptisia tinctoria, R, Rr.( N. O.: Leguminosae)
Common Names: Rattle Bush, Horsefly Bush, Wild Indigo, Yellow Indigo. Features: The wild Indigo of the United States is many of several species of closely related genus, Baptisia, of the pea family, which flourishes especially in the southern and eastern states of U. S. A. The blackish and woody root of this perennial plant sends up a stem which is very much branched, round, smooth and from 2 – 3 ft. high. The leaves are rounded at their extremity, small and alternate. The bright yellow flowers appear in July and August. The fruit is a bluish-black colour in the form of an oblong pod, and contains indigo, tannin, acid and baptisia. Any portion of the plant, when dried, yields a blue dye which is, however, not equal in value to indigo. If the shoots are used after they acquire a green colour they will cause dramatic purgation. The virtues of the root reside chiefly in the bark. Medicinal Part: Bark of the root and leaves. Solvents: Alcohol, boiling water. Bodily Influence: Antiseptic, Stimulant, Purgative, Emmenagogue. Uses: Medicinally this plant seems to have served the desert tribes for the same type of“ all round” herb as did the Yerba Santa of the more western areas. A stem decoction was thought of most highly for pneumonia, tuberculosis and influenza. The tips of Indigo combined and boiled with chopped twigs of Utah Juniper( Juniperus osteosperma) was used as a kidney medication. The tea from Indigo was used in cases of smallpox, given internally in small doses and externally as a cleansing wash. The Flower Hospital in New York made extensive experiments with this herb and found that the Indians knew their medicine. It is of great importance in all septic and degenerative conditions manifesting themselves in various forms of ulceration, and importance in serious eruptive diseases. Dependably reliable in ulceration and mucous colitis and amoebic dysentery, both of which are persistently difficult to treat. In follicular tonsilitis and quinsy it is indicated as internal medication and as a gargle.
The action of Baptisia exerts a vital influence, aiding in metabolism by stimulating the elimination of accumulated waste in the body and encourages normal organic activity. Dr. Clymer recommends the following. In all morbid, internal conditions a dependable formula is:
Tincture of Wild Indigo( Baptisia tinctoria), 2 – 20 drops Tincture of Rhatany( Krameria triandra), 10 – 20 drops Tincture of Cone flower( Echinacea angustifolia), 2 – 20 drops.
In water every 2 – 4 hr., depending on symptoms. Dosage: tincture alone, Baptisia 2 – 20 drops.( Keep out of children’ s reach.)
Generally of great importance to all septic conditions of the blood, serious forms of prostration, muscular soreness, rheumatic and arthritic pains, and constriction of the chest. Advisable to combine with other remedies when there are chills with fever. Homoeopathic Clinical: Tincture of fresh root and its bark— Abortion( threatened), Apoplexy, Appendicitis, Biliousness, Brain softening, Cancer, Consumption, Diphtheria, Dysentery, Enteric fever, Eye( affections of), Gall-bladder( affections of), Gastric fever, Headache( bilious), Hectic fever, Hysteria, Influenza, Mumps, Oesophagus( stricture of), Plague, Tinea capitis Tongue( ulcerated), Typhus, Variola, Worms. Indian and Pakistani Experience: Some of the local names are Guli, Nil-Nilika— Common and