Medicinal Plants in Your Backyard

By Isabelle Houston ‘25

*Photograph of motherwort courtesy of* *pixabay*

Medicinal plants serve a significant purpose to our earth ranging in many healing capabilities. They are a crucial element in natural medicine, and Native peoples of North America have utilized their capabilities for centuries.

“People have been using plants for medicinal purposes for thousands of years,” says Cynthia DuVal, the lead Kitchen Gardener at Cornell Farms. “They are used to treat health conditions, and they’re prepared in different ways depending on what the knowledge base is. That knowledge will generally be among a group of people that have lived in a certain area, and over thousands of years, will have developed their knowledge on how to use these plants to treat their ailments.”

North America is home to about 2,700 medicinal plant species with over 25,000 medicinal uses. Oregon holds many of these fantastic plant species that have a variety of benefits.

“The Oregon Coast is prolific in medicinal plants, if you add in the Coast Range, you can take care of practically anything,” says Scott Kloos, a Portland herbalist and founder of the School of Forest Medicine.

When seeking out how to obtain these amazing plants and use them for your benefit, you must gain a knowledge base and educate yourself. You can grow your own medicinal plants or buy them from other medicinal gardeners.

“The internet is a good place to go find seeds, for example, or find someone like Skeeter who is a grower and super knowledgeable, and you can buy bare root plants from him,” says DuVal. “Get Grow Your Own Herbal Remedies by Maria Noël Groves or something similar to it, that talks about the plant and the medicinal uses of it, as well as educate yourself on the different varieties of traditional healing that use medicinal plants and that would give you some ideas on where to start.”

You can find a variety of medicinal plants at Cornell Farm to start growing your own medicinal plants and, beyond that, do personal research into specific plant species of interest. When growing any plant, there are many important factors for optimal care.

“For every plant, what you look for are what does that plant need in terms of sunlight, what does it need in terms of soil composition and drainage, and what is the coldest temperature it can survive at. Some plants like to go partially dry, some plants like to be kept moist, so you need to research each plant to know if you’ve got a spot in your garden that would facilitate their good health and growth,” says DuVal.

If you are interested in getting your hands dirty and foraging medicinal plants from nature, DuVal advises being cautious and taking ethical considerations for our environment.

“When it comes to foraging, I have never done it, and to be honest, I probably wouldn’t do it because I love the forests,” expresses DuVal. “There are lots of berries and plants that are medicinal, and you have to be very careful about berries always. Some plants are poisonous, some of them you can eat just a tiny bit, and it’s okay, so you need to research every plant you intend to ingest with a reputable writer.”

If you are very interested in foraging, DuVal advises going with organized groups that contain knowledgeable and experienced natural medicine guides for the best learning and safety.

“Sometimes you’ll see them on Facebook events; they just go out in the woods and teach you all about the medicinal plants out there,” says DuVal.

Following is a short list of medicinal plants native to Oregon.

*Please look into the medicinal uses of any plant with specific instructions on how to use them by reputable herbalists and natural medicine doctors. An excellent resource for recipes using medicinal plants is, again, Grow Your Own Herbal Remedies by Maria Noël Groves.

Oregon Grape

About: The Oregon Grape is Oregon’s state flower and is formally known as Berberis aquifolium, Mahonia aquifolium. Other names include Barberry and Mahonia. This plant bears clusters of bright yellow flowers in the spring and ripens to dusty blue-black grapes by early fall.

Growing: Oregon Grape grows statewide and specifically flourishes on the coast.

Medicinal Purposes: Root tinctures or tea stimulate liver and skin. The Oregon Grape can be used as a skin wound disinfectant in infused oil, salve, tea, tincture, or powder. The berries are a great source of Vitamin C and flavonoids.

Cautions: Avoid root with certain liver conditions or during pregnancy.

Western Red Cedar

Plant Description: The Western Red Cedar, formally known as Thuja plicata, is an evergreen coniferous tree in the cypress family. Other names include pacific red cedar, giant arborvitae, western arborvitae, just cedar, giant cedar, and shinglewood.

Growing: This tree grows along the coastal fog belt from Alaska to Northern California.

Medicinal Purposes: Stimulates immune system and has antifungal capabilities. The Western Red Cedar can be used in oils, salves, teas, and tinctures.

Cautions: Avoid while breastfeeding, during pregnancy, or with kidney weakness.

Douglas Fir

Plant Description: The Douglas Fir, formally known as Pseudotsuga menziesii, is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family. The tree has long, flat, spirally gray-green needles that grow on the tree branches.

Growing: The Douglas Fir grows along the coast from west-central British Columbia southward to central California.

Medicinal Purposes: Some abilities of the Douglas Fir are disinfection, helping with skin irritation, and anti-inflammatory. It can be used in salves, teas, oils, and other recipes.

Cautions: Ask a natural medicine provider before using while pregnant or breastfeeding.

Trillium

Plant Description: The Trillium flower, formally known as Trillium ovatum, is white with three petals and symbolizes recovery, beauty, and purity.

Growing: The Trillium flower grows best in rich, moist habitats and is found in temperate regions of North America and Asia.

Medicinal Purposes: This flower is known as a “birth root” and has been used by Indigenous peoples to ease childbirth in the form of a tincture of the whole plant.

Salal

Plant Description: The Salal plant, formally known as Gaultheria shallon and also known as Oregon wintergreen, is an evergreen, understory shrub with purple-black berry-like fruits.

Growing: Salal flourishes in moist and shady understories. This shrub grows along the coast from central California to the Alaska panhandle and inland to the Cascade Mountains.

Medicinal Purposes: The Salal plant has a variety of medicinal uses, including stopping bleeding, easing pain, anti-inflammatory, soothing gas pains, helping with fever and cramps, and more. It can be used by chewing or crushing younger leaves, and berries high in bioflavonoids and vitamins can be eaten.

To gather more information about the diverse pool of our native plants, here are a few organizations to consider: