Medicinal Monday... Desert Elkweed

 Frasera albomarginata, commonly known as Desert Elkweed makes a statement in the environment of the southwest deserts of the United States. It is considered to be a perennial herb that is found in the California desert, as well as in Nevada, Northern Arizona, New Mexico, Southern Utah, and Colorado.

photo Stan Shebs

About Desert Elkweed

This pretty little plant grows low to the ground and has a rosette of basal-shaped green leaves that have white edges. Leaves at the top of the plant are smaller than those at the base and grow in whorls. The blooms are white with dark purple spots that grow at the end of stout stems. There are four stamens with large anthers. The seeds are dark capsules that are elliptic in shape. It blooms in April, May, June, July, and August and grows up to two feet tall in well-drained soil in full sun.

Medicinal Uses

The most common use of this plant, medicinally, was to use the root as an eyewash to soothe sore eyes. It has been documented that the Navajo, Kayenta made a poultice of the plant and applied it to gunshot wounds. Another use of this plant was to make a tonic from it that was taken to cure general weakness.

Stan Shebs

DID YOU KNOW... 

Sereno Watson named this plant in 1871 from a specimen collected by Edward Palmer in Utah.

The genus name, Fraser was named after an 18th-century British nurseryman and plant collector, John Fraser.

Common names for this plant are White- margined Frasera, and Mjave gentian.