Both purple and yellow loosestrifes grow by water and marshy areas.

Notes: Energetics: bitter and bland; cold; stimulation and restoring; Meridians effected: LI; Lung; Liver

Holmes: Best used as an infusion or tincture. Salves, washes, gargles and enemas may be prepared for topical use. Douches and pessaries are excellent for genital discharges with itching. Loosestrife was traditionally used for fumigating or smudging places to keep away mosquitoes, flies, and insects. This botanical is both a circulatory stimulant and a bitter, cold astringent. Moreover with its mucilage content, Loosestrife effectively prevents any drying out of tissues, especially the mucosa. As a stimulant diaphoretic, Loosestrife herb treats wind heat onsets of the flu and upper respiratory infection manifesting sore throat and fever. In Europe the herb is used pervasively to enhance vision. This is due to the detoxicant action through enhance diuresis. Its rutin content is known to lower eye pressure in conditions such as glaucoma. While the other glycosides may strengthen the eye capillaries in various vision disorders.

Culpeper-Yellow Loosestrife-This herb is good for all manner of bleeding at the mouth, nose or wounds and all fluxes of the belly and the bloody flux giver either to drink or taken by clysters; it stays also the abundance of women’s courses; it is a singular good wound herb for green wounds, to stay the bleeding, and quickly close together the lips of the wound. If the herb be bruised the juice can be applied. It is often used in gargles for sore mouths, as also for the secret parts. The smoak hereof being bruised drives away flies and gnats, which in the night time molest people inhabiting near marshes and in the fenny countries.

Purple loosestrife, Grass-polly, is an herb of the Moon, neither do I know a better preserver of the sight when ‘tis well, nor a better cure of sore eyes than Eyebright. This is no whit inferior unto the former, it having not only all the virtues which the former hath, but more peculiar virtues of its own, the distilled water is a present remedy for hurts and blows on the eyes, and for blindness, so as the Christalline humours be not perished or hurt; It clears the eyes of dust, or any thing gotten into them, and preserves the sight. It is also very available against wounds and thrust, being make into an ointment. It cleanses and heals all foul ulcers and sores whatsoever, and stays their inflammations by washing them with the water and laying on them a green leaf or two in the Summer, or dry leaves in the Winter. The water gargled warm in the mouth and drank will cure the quinsy or King’s evil in the throat. The said water applied warm, takes away all spots, marks, and scabs in the skin; and a little of it drank, quenches thirst when it is extraordinary.

TCM: Lysimachia christinae; Jin Qian Cao; considered salty and cool, entering the Bladder, GB, Kidney and Liver channels. Actions: 1. clears Damp-Heat and treats dysuria-used for kidney and urinary stones; 2. Clears Damp heat from the Liver and Gallbladder-treats gallstones; 3. Clears heat and eliminates toxins- clears heat and toxins from the skin.

Invasive in the US-destroying wildlife habitats- use herb freely