Solomon's Seal

[Peanut]

The use of the root of the herb Solomon’s Seal, dates back over 3,500 years ago to the era of King Solomon. He was so impressed by the plant's diverse healing qualities that he proclaimed it a gift from God, and named it after himself. - at least that's how the legend goes...

Its more “modern day” acknowledgement was by Dioscorides and Pliny in the 1st Century, A.D. (the first a Greek physician, the second a Roman physician)

Asian medicine considers it one of the ten top healing plants. Ancient Europeans and North American Indians considered it a “workhorse” herb of wide value.

A short list of its benefits…

1. Aids in restoration of damaged cartilage & connecting tissue
2. Aids in easing general inflammation
3. Aids healing of bruises, wounds and skin irritations
4. Hastens recovery from bone injuries (broken, stressed) and associated connective tissues
5. Encourages the production of synovial fluid to reduce grinding in joints
6. Addresses and aids restoration of too tight or too loose tendons, ligaments, joints & attachments associated with repetitive stress, injury & inflammation
7. Soothes upset stomach
8. Encourages loosening of mucous in lungs
9. Improves women's reproductive health

Because of an illness I have, I’m prone to injure ligaments and tendons. 3 or 4 times a year Solomon’s Seal is my best buddy!

It’s an absolutely incredible medicinal plant. The root of the plant is used, fresh root is best. Tincture made from fresh root is second best. The main root grows parallel to the ground about an inch down. Each year another segment is added, about 1/2-inch long. I don’t kill the plant when I harvest fresh root. I dig carefully around the plant until I find the root. I then break off a few of the older segments and leave a couple of the newest segments. The plant will continue to grow.

Late this afternoon I noticed the solomon’s seal I have growing in pots had come up. I keep them in thick woods. S. seal loves shade. There are several species that are native to the northern hemisphere around the world. In North America it can be found east of the Rockies and from Hudson Bay south to Florida and Texas.

It’s also a common plant found in nurseries and home gardens.

There is a different plant named False Solomon’s Seal - Maianthemum racemosum. It looks very similar but is smaller, about half the size. It can be used the exact same way medicinally. Its very common where I live and true Solomon’s Seal is rare. I had a friend in Arkansas sent me some seed from true seal and I got it to grow in pots.

Pics
1) True solomon’s seal - Polygonatum biflorum
2) False solomon’s seal - Maianthemum racemosum

 

[goshengirl]

Thanks, peanut!

How do you distinguish true S seal from false? I know the size is different, but what size are each? We have a lot of something, but I don't know if it's true or false.

 

[Peanut]

Thanks, peanut! How do you distinguish true S seal from false? I know the size is different, but what size are each? We have a lot of something, but I don't know if it's true or false.

Both plants grow out in a curved arc.

True seal gets 2 to 3ft long. False seal gets about 15 to 20 inches long.

The blooms and seeds of true seal is on the bottom of the arc. The blooms and seeds of false seal appears on the upper side of the arc.

The stems of both plants have joints. The stem of true seal usually stays straight at the joints.

The angle of the stem of false seal will change slightly at the joints. You can see this in the false seal photo.

Google the latin names of both plants and click images, you'll see what I'm referring to. My two photos are both immature plants. Seeing photos of mature plants will help you see the difference.

 

[joel]

This is one I know something about, I have grown it & Solomons plume or False seal.
But I have nothing to add, as Peanut has covered everything as always.
Both plants like shade with leaf mulch, but can grow in many different places.

 

[goshengirl]

Thank you!

Based on that joint information, we have both.

 

[Peanut]

we have both.

One year I hurt my back carrying a 90lb new born calf. I had to crawl 400 yards back to the house, I couldn’t stand, agony!

9 days later I had planned to go learn plant medicine for a day in very hilly terrain, from a man named Darryl P. I was hurting, still in a lot of pain, was hunched over a staff to help me walk. I didn’t think I could make it until noon.

As it happened on the learning day, one of the first plants we found was true seal! Darryl showed me how to dig the root. I took a big bite, in just less than an hour I was pain free and walking upright instead of leaning over a staff.

As I said above… this plant is amazing… It’s been my buddy for years now!

I don’t know if the story about King Solomon is true, one hears lots of stories. What I do know to be true, these plants are an amazing medicine everyone should know about.

 

[Grizzleyette___Adams]

I might try that! About once or twice a year, my back has a mind of its own and likes to argue with me and my plans...

Peanut, you mentioned that the fresh root is best, but does the dried root have any value?

Solomon Seal is sparse in my neck of the woods, but if the dried root will work, I may try getting some from a trusted source:
https://www.herbalcom.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=cEcommerce.dspProducts&LinkKey=A&OrderClause=ProductName,ASC&searchText=solomon's+seal&CategoryID=2403&submit=Search

They also have dried elderberries in stock...yay!

 

[Peanut]

I don't know about that company... When I can't find or get herbs I want from friends I only use Mountain Rose Herbs in Oregon. Everything they sell is of the highest quality. (https://www.mountainroseherbs.com/ )

Sorry, I've never had to try dried SS. I use tincture from fresh root or if in a bind I chew a piece. You can get Solomon's Seal at the Lowes garden department. I'd suggest growing your own. It's a very hardy wild plant... just make sure it get water and is in heavy shade. It's one of those plants that as soon as you see it... you know it's medicine, even if you have never seen it before.

 

[Grizzleyette___Adams]

I have a nice stand of False Solomon's Seal that grew from a few transplants from another part of my woods. I have not used it medicinally yet. Have you ever personally tried the False Seal? What is your opinion of how it compares with the true Solomon's Seal?

 

[Peanut]

Have you ever personally tried the False Seal? What is your opinion of how it compares with the true Solomon's Seal?

I've never used it so can't really say. Matthew Wood has something interesting in one of his books. He said false seal seems to be more active on the nervous system. It was an old Indian remedy for severe premenstrual syndrome, crying babies and hysteria,

 

[gumpy]

The use of the root of the herb Solomon’s Seal, dates back over 3,500 years ago to the era of King Solomon. He was so impressed by the plant's diverse healing qualities that he proclaimed it a gift from God, and named it after himself.

Its more “modern day” acknowledgement was by Dioscorides and Pliny in the 1st Century, A.D. (the first a Greek physician, the second a Roman physician)

Asian medicine considers it one of the ten top healing plants. Ancient Europeans and North American Indians considered it a “workhorse” herb of wide value.

A short list of its benefits…

1. Aids in restoration of damaged cartilage & connecting tissue
2. Aids in easing general inflammation
3. Aids healing of bruises, wounds and skin irritations
4. Hastens recovery from bone injuries (broken, stressed) and associated connective tissues
5. Encourages the production of synovial fluid to reduce grinding in joints
6. Addresses and aids restoration of too tight or too loose tendons, ligaments, joints & attachments associated with repetitive stress, injury & inflammation
7. Soothes upset stomach
8. Encourages loosening of mucous in lungs
9. Improves women's reproductive health

Because of an illness I have, I’m prone to injure ligaments and tendons. 3 or 4 times a year Solomon’s Seal is my best buddy!

It’s an absolutely incredible medicinal plant. The root of the plant is used, fresh root is best. Tincture made from fresh root is second best. The main root grows parallel to the ground about an inch down. Each year another segment is added, about 1/2-inch long. I don’t kill the plant when I harvest fresh root. I dig carefully around the plant until I find the root. I then break off a few of the older segments and leave a couple of the newest segments. The plant will continue to grow.

Late this afternoon I noticed the solomon’s seal I have growing in pots had come up. I keep them in thick woods. S. seal loves shade. There are several species that are native to the northern hemisphere around the world. In North America it can be found east of the Rockies and from Hudson Bay south to Florida and Texas.

It’s also a common plant found in nurseries and home gardens.

There is a different plant named False Solomon’s Seal - Maianthemum racemosum. It looks very similar but is smaller, about half the size. It can be used the exact same way medicinally. Its very common where I live and true Solomon’s Seal is rare. I had a friend in Arkansas sent me some seed from true seal and I got it to grow in pots.

Pics
1) True solomon’s seal - Polygonatum biflorum
2) False solomon’s seal - Maianthemum racemosum

View attachment 5427

View attachment 5428

I remember seeing those all over the bottoms back home. Specially close to the creek in the thick mature woods. (Pic # 2)

 

[Peanut]

The solomons seal on my porch are about to bloom. I'm thinking I'm going to move them to the woods in a couple of weeks. I'll dig holes big enough for the pots and sink them in the ground. The ground temp here is 54 degree's year round. It'll keep them nice and cool. It's raining today, rain on the leaves look white...

 

[joel]

I have the variegated Solomon seal.

 

[Weedygarden]

@Peanut, the Solomon's Seal that you have, did you dig it up and bring it home, or did you order it online?

When I plant herbs and even bulbs and perennials, I like to put a label there. I tend to forget from year to year what might be planted somewhere. One of the challenges is that labels don't show the information in a year or two.

 

[Peanut]

@Weedygarden A lady in Arkansas sent me some seeds. They didn't come up. I left the pots in the woods. The next year I went to get my pots and there they were... tiny little SSeal plants growing, a year after I planted them.

Wild seed stock can be that way. Seeds can lay dormant for many years. When the conditions are right they sprout. Annoying sometimes... I scattered plantain seed in my yard for 12 years... Last year it came up volunteer in a pot. This year my yard is full of it! Finally!!!!

 

[Weedygarden]

@Weedygarden A lady in Arkansas sent me some seeds. They didn't come up. I left the pots in the woods. The next year I went to get my pots and there they were... tiny little SSeal plants growing, a year after I planted them.

Wild seed stock can be that way. Seeds can lay dormant for many years. When the conditions are right they sprout. Annoying sometimes... I scattered plantain seed in my yard for 12 years... Last year it came up volunteer in a pot. This year my yard is full of it! Finally!!!!

I have planted many things that never came up. I had no instruction about planting things, just dug up dirt and planted seeds and seedlings. I had to learn the hard way. I never thought to research about amending the soil, when to plant, how to plant, fertilizer. I was used to seeing my grandparents have their garden plowed, and then plant their gardens and never remember any fertilizer or anything. I think they used chicken manure and whatever else they got from their chicken house, but that would have been all. I was really ignorant about it. One time I bought a columbine at Denver Botanical Gardens annual sale and planted it in my yard. It came up and never bloomed. Next year it came up, but never bloomed. I asked someone and they said if it is planted too deep, it won't bloom. I went home, dug it up, and replanted it, but not so deep. The next year it was so crazy with all the blossoms on it. Then it died. It probably exhausted itself from all of those blossoms the year before. I have had several learning experiences like that, and still have failures.

 

[Peanut]

On lookout mtn a few days ago I saw acres of Solomon's Seal. I've never seen large patches like this before. They dotted the sides of a big hollar! In just that hollar there were plants numbering in the 100,000's.

Personally I like the taste of the root.

 

[BBLife]

There seems to be a few varieties for sure. I found some that was much taller and had stems up to 1/2" thick. I thought it was just an old stand of it but even from the seed it comes up and grows into a healthy sized plant quick. Root segments are an inch or more thick and each node is about an inch long. Most other times I've ever seen it the plant was just a foot or two high.

 

[BBLife]

On lookout mtn a few days ago I saw acres of Solomon's Seal. I've never seen large patches like this before. They dotted the sides of a big hollar! In just that hollar there were plants numbering in the 100,000's.

Personally I like the taste of the root.

View attachment 83333

I love the taste as well. I find it best after soaking in saltwater for about 6 hours.