Is There a Drugstore in Your Backyard?
Shinleaf (Pyrola elliptica) is a native perennial wildflower that can be found growing in the woods of Distant Hill Gardens. It is an evergreen herb, 5-10 inches high with a slender, branching rootstock that produces a set of basal, dark green, ovate to elliptical leaves.
The naked flower stalk bears from 7-15 white, waxy, drooping, greenish-white flowers, which smell like lily-of-the-valley and bloom in early summer here in southern New Hampshire.
Shinleaf is also known as waxflower shinleaf or wild lily-of-the-valley due to its fragrant, nodding white flowers that resemble the traditional lily-of-the-valley. Its leaves contain a compound closely related to aspirin and reportedly have analgesic properties. The plant was used as a poultice on bruised shins and other sores and wounds; such a leaf plaster was referred to as a shin plaster. Tea made from the plant is said to have been used by some Native American tribes as a treatment for epileptic fits, rheumatism, indigestion, and sore throats.
I’ve read that Shinleaf can be propagated by root cuttings or by dividing its runners. If young plants are grown in containers, they can be brought indoors in late winter to speed up their growth. I think I may give it a try—it sounds like it would make a great addition to the medicine cabinet!
