Herbs A-Z: Arctostaphylos uva-ursi & Artemisia vulgaris

The Holistic Herbalism Podcast

Here we go with some more of the herbs on our apothecary shelves! This week our spotlight is on uva ursi & mugwort.

Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, known as bearberry, uva ursi, or kinnikinnick, is a very astringent herb. It can knit wounds together, combat infections, and squeeze stuck fluids out of tissues. When we drink it it has a lot of action on the urinary system – it’s famous for UTI – but it also helps with other stagnation & laxity conditions in the pelvic region.

Our final Artemisia species (for now anyway!) is A. vulgaris, mugwort. This herb is fantastic for a host of troubles. Today we focused on “not the dreaming stuff, and not the emmenagogue stuff” because those are covered extensively in most discussions of mugwort. Instead we spent more time discussing this herb as a stimulating relaxant, as a mood lifter, and as an herb that can sharpen the mind and cut through mental fog.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Arctostaphylos uva-ursi profile at GoBotany.
• Artemisia vulgaris profile at GoBotany.
• Mugwort for Dreaming
• Herbs and Dreaming course

These quick plant profiles were done off-the-cuff & on-the-spot. If you enjoyed them, we have more! Our organized & comprehensive presentation of our herbal allies is in the Holistic Herbalism Materia Medica course. We have detailed profiles of 90 medicinal herbs! Plus you get everything that comes with enrollment in our courses: twice-weekly live Q&A sessions, lifetime access to current & future course material, discussion threads integrated in each lesson, guides & quizzes, and more.

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Our theme music is “Wings” by Nicolai Heidlas.

This episode was sponsored by Mountain Rose Herbs. We thank them for their support!

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