The Encoded Power of Wild-Foraged Herbs

Close your eyes and envision your ancestors in the middle of their day, in the middle of their homeland. What landscape were they in? How were they interacting with it? What were they eating? How were they eating? Despite all of our disparate food access options nowadays- big grocery stores, small grocery stores, sit-down restaurants, time travel machine friendly "drive-through" restaurants, food delivery services, robot-powered food delivery services, farmer's markets, residential gardens- our ancestors had One Source. And that was the raw, wild, ever-changing, but ever-giving land around them. They were not other from their place. They were their Place.

Just over 20,000 years ago, hunter-gatherers relied on wild plants. Cultivated plants were not yet essential for our survival as a species. We were aware of seed cycles. We were aware of the physical and temporal gridlines of our natural landscape-- its plant composition, how the elements influenced that composition over time. We were aware of the natural cycles: lunar, solar, wind-based, water-based. We knew which bushes to consult for headache, which flowers to consult for menstrual cramps, and which bark to consult for pain. We prayed to the land, for the land. We offered to the land. It offered to us. We were of the land. As it was of us.

In these past 20, 000 years, we have domesticated wild species. That is to say, those wild plants that our ancestors were consuming, have been so genetically altered that they are no longer the same species, and definitely not the same Plant. For example, in Plants, People, Planet, Barbara Schaal (2008) describes how Oryza rufipogon, a wild ancestor of cultivated rice is vastly different in structure and nutrients than our modern derivative. O. rufipogon produced very large anthers for cross pollination and long awns to aid seed dispersal, both of which are missing in the modern crop (Schaal, 2008). The genetic changes associated with domestication in many species makes them unable to survive and compete in the wild. Thus, they have become dependent on humans. They have become weak. How do you think that influences their medicine?

It's 2024, and most of us can admit to the trap of globalization that we have caught ourselves in, the cross-continent value chain that many of our food products journey through as their ingredients are grown across seas from one another, called in to order by someone in another, packaged in another, and then sold to three to 50 other countries. Our bodies are changing, and not for the better. Our minds are changing, and not for the better. Fundamentally, we are less connected to the Earth, and we are less connected to Ourselves.

Yet, aside this Drama of Human Ignorance, Mother Nature has not failed to provide us with an abundance of wild healing plants and herbs. Encoded within the wildness that still bursts from seeds cycled through increasingly resilient adaptation cycles, is a set of genetic code that increases their ability to survive intense conditions like drought, UV radiation, and predation. Genetic codes that make up advanced immune systems that not only benefit the plant, but the entire ecosystem. Wild plants have adapted an exquisite biochemistry of vitamins and secondary metabolites that protect them from photosynthetic stress, oxidative damage and regulate physiological processes at the molecular level.

Interestingly, these "phytochemicals" contain similar-functioning effects on the human body. These compounds, ancient, wise and intentional, offer immense healing benefits to humans, especially with domesticated crop becoming increasingly depleted of their fundamental medicine. Luckily, these wild plants still exist around us, in the mountains surrounding our houses, along the rivers running through our towns, in the national forests, state & local parks, peaking out from our sidewalks.

More than ever, these plants are begging for our attention. For our protection from pesticides, plowing and pavement. For your prayer for their prosperity, as our fellow earth dwellers, our neighbors from the Five Earth Kingdoms.

It is time we reconnect with the wild ones, to rediscover our wild, free, and Connected Self. Let's look at a couple of the phytonutrients (i.e., flavonoids, lignans) we might find in some of the wild medicinals around here (Big Sur, California).

Yerba Santa: The flavanone sterubin is the main active component of Yerba Santa (Eriodictyon californicum). It is very neuroprotective against multiple toxicities of the aging brain ands also induces potent anti-inflammatory activity. Yerba Santa has been studied extensively for this novel neuroprotective compounds for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Yerba Santa has been used by CA native tribes to treat a variety of indications including various respiratory conditions and fever as well as bruises, infections and pain including headaches. Thus, its anti-inflammatory properties are well documented, consistent with the potent anti-inflammatory effects of sterubin in recent studies.

Yarrow: The flavonoid luteolin in the native medicinal plant Achillea Millefolium is a hemostatic agent for local bleeding in medicine (from nasal, dental, small wounds; lung, fibroids, inflammatory processes). It is used for diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. Local tribes have used it to stop bleeding, as well as for stomach related discomforts for thousands of years.

Black Sage: A study was conducted to identify the main differences between our native Black Sage (Salvia mellifera) and the more commonly known and used White Sage (Salvia apiana). This study involved isolating the metabolites of both plants, and revealed an undescribed phytochemical in that of the Black Sage called eupatorin 3'-O-glucopyranoside. Beyond this, this species contains cirsimaritin which has been reported to have a high anti-microbial activity against several bacteria strains (Miski et al., 1983) as well as hispidulin which possesses antihepatotoxic activity (preventing hepatitis and liver disease). Traditionally, this herb was used to prevent disease and relieve pain & body aches, including chronic pain. At Woven Herbs, we are passionate about reconnecting with these wild plant ancestors for more powerful and place-based healing. For their powers of fostering connection to place, to ties of reciprocity, stewardship, respect, and love as walkers of this earth. It is for these reasons alone that we are a business, to support the Weaving between human and land, and inspire the spark for reconnection.