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| Usnea is not very water-soluble, and so is best used in a tincture or in an oil base. It is tremendously effective for strep throat and can eliminate the need for antibiotics. As usnea has a rather bitter flavor, the tincture is more palatable when diluted in a small amount of grapefruit juice. |
| Herbalist Deb Soule gives a simple, but powerful immune-stimulating formula in her book, The Roots of Healing. Make a tincture of equal parts lomatium, usnea, echinacea root and goldenseal root. Take 25 to 50 drops, three to five times a day. She suggests using this formula for seven to ten days at a time for bronchitis, pneumonia, flu, candida, skin lesions, and colds, and in conjunction with other therapies for HIV, herpes and chronic fatigue syndrome. |
| Usnea ointments and salves are commonly used topically in Europe for fungal infections. |
| Wild Indigo |
| (Baptisia tinctora) |
| Part used: Root and leaves |
| Actions: Antimicrobial, lymphatic, antiseptic, laxative, immunostimulant |
| Indications: Wild indigo is an immune system stimulant especially indicated when infection or abscess is present. It is one of the first herbs to consider in treating swollen lymph glands. It is indicated in mumps, pelvic inflammatory disease, Epstein Barr virus, infections mononucleosis and pleurisy. It is a specific for tonsillitis and infectious conditions of the upper respiratory tract. It is the herb of choice for chronic or recurring infections, such as cystitis and for smoldering inflammation and swampy conditions that you just can't seem to kick. Whenever there is disintegration or death of tissue, wild indigo is specific. |
| Murray and Pizzorno write in the Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine, that baptisia (wild indigo) "can enhance white-cell destruction of viruses and bacteria, production |
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