Indian Cup Plant

I took Friday off and got a good start on my garden. I love working in the garden. Since it has been raining, the plants are doing great, but so are the weeds. Oh well.

I have been dividing plants and giving to friends and my neighbors have given me plants that they need to get rid off. About half of my wildflower garden is plants that friends have given me. I am particularly proud of a beautiful prairie plant called Silphium Perfoliatum or Indian Cup Plant or Cup Plant. It grows to be about eight feet tall and attracts butterflys and humming birds. This year it had lots of "babies" and I am either transplanting to different areas or giving to friends. Of course, I warn them that in a sunny place this large plant will grow and grow and grow. As you can tell by the picture, it has beautiful yellow flowers.

Indian cup's most common use by Native American Indians wasn't exactly medicinal it was used for chewing gum. When the top of a cup plant stalk was snapped off, a large blob of resinous sap would slowly ooze out and eventually harden. This hardened sap could be chewed and is said to freshen breath.

Some tribes, like the Winnebagos, attached much more importance to the plant. Believing that it had supernatural powers, braves would drink a concoction derived from therhizome to purfiy themselves before embarking on a buffalo hunt or other important undertaking.

The Chippewas used an extract from the roots for back and chest pains, to prevent excessive menstrual bleeding, and as ameans to stop hemorrhaging from the lungs.

This plant is native to my state, but of course through development it has retrenched to more wild environments. Perhaps it will flourish in the metropolitian area because I'm cultivating it and spreading via friends. It is a hardy plant.