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Prairie Snowball
Abronia fragrans
Ezekiel 47:12 "And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine."
Nicknames: Sweet sand-verbena, snowball sand-verbena, prairie snowball, fragrant verbena;[1]
Grows well in: It prefers dry sandy soils.[2] The species is hermaphrodite.[3]
Plant Family: Nyctaginaceae;[1] Genus: Abronia;[1] Species: A. fragrans[1] The Genus name "Abronia", is derived from the Greek word "abros" which means "delicate", in reference to the flowers.[2] The name "fragrans", means "fragrant", and is speaking of course of the sweet-smelling highly aromatic flowers that this plant produces, which look like snowballs from far off in the distance..[2] Hints the nickname, "prairie snowball".. It's a perennial.[2]
Ethnobotany: The Keres tribe likes to mix the ground roots of Abronia fragrans with corn flour, and they believe it helps put on quick weight.[1] The Native American tribes of the southwest used it as a wash for sores and insect bites, and to stimulate appetite.[1] The Kayenta Navajo use it as a cathartic, for insect bites, as a sudorific, an emetic, for the stomach, and general illness.[1] It's very much similar to Echinacea. The Ute tribe uses the roots and the flowers as well for stomach and bowel ailments.[1] The Navajo also use it for boils, or to combat spider poison.[1] The Navajo also use it for bathing, and as a mouthwash.[1] Native Americans attribute magical powers to the plant(Idolatry; Exodus 20:4).[1] Ceremonial necklaces are made from the Abronia fragrans plant.[1]
Natural Habitat: North America; Idaho and South Dakota to Arirona and Texas.[2]
Mixes well with: [?] I have no experience with this plant yet.
OG Observations: There doesn't appear to be a whole lot of academic information out there on this specimen, if any at all.
Phytochemicals:
[?] I can't find any scholarly sources on this one that reveal its phytochemical makeup. Some plants like this haven't been studied yet by phytochemist, or the studies are limited and hard to find. Other ethnobotanicals on the other hand, have vast amounts of scientific literature to back up their properties and effectiveness.What is Phytochemistry? What are Phytochemicals?
Phytochemistry is a branch of science for those interesting in studying herbal remedies, and getting to the bottom of why and how they work.[4] These plants produce pharmacological components known as phytochemicals. Each individual phytochemical has a wide range of medicinal actions. This makes each herbal supplement a soup of drugs, rather than an individual drug(and by drug I mean medicine). These phytochemicals work together to create the plants pharmacological effects.Pharmacological / Medicinal Properties:
The plant is cathartic, diaphoretic and emetic[3] There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of scholarly research that's been done on this plant. I hope that blogs like this one inspire more phytochemist to study plants like this.More Ethnobotanicals To Learn About: Snakeroot (Eryngium aquaticum) | White Vein Banjar Kratom(Mitragyna speciosa) | Opium Poppy Seeds(Papaver somniferum) | Pau'darco is excellent for colds and the flu | Buy Rizqo baqi Kratom Indonesia Free Shipping | Tagetes lucida, Mexican Mint Marigold, produces an LSD-like chemicals | Eremomastls | gax speciosa | Trichilia catigua(Catuaba)
Buy Abronia fragrans Here
Academic citations:
[4] Burrell, R. C. "Phytochemistry. What it is and how it has developed." Journal of Chemical Education 14.11 (1937): 520.
Government Sources:
[2] US National Park Service https://www.nps.gov/arch/learn/nature/nyctaginaceae_abronia_fragrans.htm
Encyclopedia Sources:
[1] Wikipedia contributors. (2023, November 24). Abronia fragrans. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 06:18, December 9, 2024, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Abronia_fragrans&oldid=1186634147
[3] Plants For A Future Archive
Other resources:
M.A.P.S. Ethnobotanical Studies By Scholars
PubChem - pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov