Common Names: Life everlasting, Chafe weed, Common everlasting, Field balsam, Indian Posy, Old field balsam,Sweet balsam, Sweet-scented life everlasting, White balsam
Parts Usually Used: The entire plant
Description of Plant(s) and Culture: Life everlasting is a fragrant, herbaceous annual plant; the erect, branched, white-woolly stem grows 1-3 feet high and bears alternate, sessile, lanceolate leaves that have wavy margins and are dark green above and white-woolly beneath. Yellow flower-heads grow in several terminal panicled clusters from July into September.
Other varieties: Low cudweed or marsh cudweed (G. uliginosum) was smoked by Native Americans to cure headaches; Pearly everlasting (Anaphalis margaritacea) called Pearly everlasting, was once called Lady*s tobacco, has basically the same properties as life everlasting (G. polycephalum); Sweet everlasting, also called Rabbit tobacco (G. obtusifolium).
Where Found: Grows in dry fields, open pine woods, and clearings in the Atlantic coastal states and west to Kansas and Texas.
Medicinal Properties: Astringent, diaphoretic, febrifuge, pectoral, vermifuge
Legends, Myths and Stories; In Colonial America, pillows were stuffed with native life-everlasting, for its delicate and soothing aroma. The pillows were especially used for consumptive patients. Life everlasting was a popular smoke among European peasants.
Uses: An infusion of life everlasting, taken as a tea, is useful for lung problems, leukorrhea, and intestinal problems, including hemorrhage. The cold infusion helps expel intestinal worms. A homeopathic tincture is used for sciatica, lumbago, and some kinds of arthritis. The fresh juice is used to calm excessive sexual desire. Externally, it makes a good fomentation for bruises, wounds, and ulcers. The dried flowers are used like hops for a calming herb pillow. As a mouthwash and gargle, the infusion is good for sores in the mouth and throat.
Formulas or Dosages: The fresh herb can be chewed or the leaves applied for external problems.
Infusion: steep 1 tsp. leaves and flowers in 1 cup boiling water. Take 1-2 cups a day.