Echinacea is well known for it’s immune-boosting benefits according to Dr. Josh Axe and Medical News Today.

Also known as the coneflower, the entire flower, from the bud to its roots, has been a part of nature’s medicine cabinet for over 400 years, including as an all natural antibiotic. When WW2 happened and synthetic/chemical version of antibiotics were created in mass quantities and the art of creating medicine from this plant lessened in popularity until recently.

Excerpts from Cloverleaf Farm Herbs about the fun medicinal history of this herb.

• A German country doctor discovered this remarkable American plant and its benefits.
• At a medical conference, he said that he would allow a snake to bite him and then cure that bite with echinacea. They ignored him.
• Dr. Meyer then presented this same offer to two other doctors named King and Lloyd who belonged to a now-extinct branch of medicine. The herb was introduced into the 1887 Materia Medica.
• American Eclectics, a group of doctors prominent from 1830 to 1930 who used botanicals in their practices, were a major force in bringing echinacea to the forefront of herbal medicine.
• After their decline in the 1930s, the herb also fell into disfavour, but regained its stature when interest in herbal medicine revived in the 1970s and 1980s.
• The Sancoz Company was the first pharmaceutical company to research the plant and  found the root to possess milk antibiotic activity against Streptococcus and Staphylococcus aureus.

Indian tribes chewed the root to help alleviate toothache, used the leaves to make teas and used the juice to treat burns, wounds, ulcers, coughs, sore throats and other skin conditions.

Elderberry Syrup Recipe with Echinacea

Ingredients