Wild Red Currant (Ribes triste Pall.), “mîciˈ tcimînûk.” The Flambeau Ojibwe use the leaves as some sort of a female remedy. There is no record of its use by the whites.
SCROPHULARIACEAE (FIGWORT FAMILY)
Butter and Eggs (Linaria vulgaris Hill.), “owacawaˈ skwûneg” [yellow light]. The whole plant is dried by the Flambeau Ojibwe and used in the kettle with other foliage and twigs as a bronchial inhalant in the sweat lodge. The Ojibwe name for medicine to be inhaled is “nokweˈsîkûn” which sounds much like the Menomini Indian name for the same thing,—“naˈ sîkon”. The eclectic practitioners claimed that the plant is diuretic, and cathartic, using it in dropsy, jaundice, and cutaneous eruptions. The fresh plant was sometimes used as a poultice for hemorrhoidal tumors, and an ointment was made of the fresh flowers for the same purpose and to use locally in diseases of the skin. In Germany, the flowers were used for a yellow dye.
Cow Wheat (Melampyrum lineare Lam.), “agoñgasiˈ mînûk” [chipmunk berries]. The Flambeau Ojibwe say that this plant is made into a tea, which is a “little medicine for the eyes”. There is no record of its medicinal use by the whites.
Wood Betony (Pedicularis canadensis L.), “mandamîˈ nîodjiˈ bîkîns” [little corn root]. According to John Peper, Pillager Ojibwe, this root was a bad kind of medicine, an aphrodisiac, when cut fine and placed in some dish of food without the knowledge of those who were going to eat it. There is no record of its medicinal use by the whites.
Mullein (Verbascum thapsus L.). The Flambeau Ojibwe have no name for this since it has come into their territory from the south and they do not use it. The writer has gathered this for his grandmother who smoked the leaves for relieving asthma and bronchitis. The flowers are supposed to have diuretic properties and have been used in the treatment of tuberculosis.
THYMELEACEAE (MEZEREUM FAMILY)
Moosewood (Dirca palustris L.), “djibeˈ gûb” [djibe means a dead person, or ghost or spirit]. The bark of Moosewood is very soft, strong and elastic, so that twigs can be tied into knots. The Pillager Ojibwe say that all their people use it as a tea for a diuretic. The bark is sometimes substituted for Mezereum bark, which is official in the U. S. pharmacopoeia. It is usually used in a compound decoction with sarsaparilla for chronic skin diseases, and syphilitic, rheumatic and scrofulous conditions. As an external ointment, it was used for a stimulant to foul or ill-conditioned ulcers.
TYPHACEAE (CAT-TAIL FAMILY)
Cat-tail (Typha latifolia L.), “bebamasûˈn” [it flies around]. The Flambeau Ojibwe used the fuzz of the fruit for a war medicine. They claim that the fuzz thrown into an enemy’s face will blind him.