CENTAURY
Centaurium erytraea
COMMON NAMES: Rose pink, bitter bloom, bitter clover.
FEATURES: This plant is common to most parts of the United States. There are many species and colors; the English distinguish between them by using the red centaury in diseases of the blood, the yellow in choleric diseases, and the white in those of phlegm and water. Variety is not limited only to color; the centaury family will grow in many soil conditions—moist meadows, among high grass, on the prairies, and in damp ditch soil. It flowers from June to September and is best gathered at this time. The flowers close at night, and the American variety is considered preferable to the European.
SOLVENTS: Water, alcohol.
MEDICINAL PART: The whole herb.
BODILY INFLUENCE: Tonic, febrifuge, diaphoretic.
USES: Excellent old American remedy, bitter tonic, preventive in all periodic febrile diseases, dyspepsia, and convalescence from fevers; it strengthens the stomach and promotes digestion. An aid to rheumatic and all joint pains. The following in a warm infusion is a domestic remedy for expelling worms and to restore the menstrual secretions: of the powder, ½–1 dram; of the extract, 2–6 grains.
The loose dried herb, 1 teaspoonful to 1 cup of boiling water. Although bitter, this effective herb is a good accompaniment to all herbal teas and preparations. For taste, combine with other herbs such as anise, cardamom, peppermint, ginger, fennel, etc.
HOMEOPATHIC CLINICAL: Used as tincture of root in cases as follows: coryza, diarrhea, inflammation of the eyes, fever, homesickness, influenza intermittents, vanishing of sight.
RUSSIAN EXPERIENCE: Russian centaury, Centaurium erytraea, called "a thousand golden leaves" and many other beautiful names. Official medicine very often prescribes centaury alone, but also with other herbal preparations. Folk medicine: Centaury tea and a home extract, usually prepared with vodka, is given in cases of high blood pressure and liver and gallbladder malfunctions. The bitter tonic is antiseptic in stomach sickness, working with nature without destroying the necessary secretions that stimulate desirable digestion and appetite. The parasitic tapeworm cannot maintain its circlet of hooks and suckers, which enable it to gain livelihood in the mucous membrane of the intestines of its host, when centaury is taken persistently.

CHAGA
Inonotus obliquus
COMMON NAMES: Chaga, birch mushroom.
FEATURES: In North America and Canada the birch is well known for its beauty alone. Its medical purpose is served by a mushroom, or fungus-type growth, found in the older trees (also grows on beech and other trees). This growth is rough, dry, porous, crusty, with deeply cut and crooked separations having the appearance on the outside of dull charred wood. The surface is almost black in color. When this projection is sawed off the tree it is as if the tree were having cosmetic surgery or the removal of an out-of-control wart. The matured and most desired chaga is 30–40 centimeters wide, 10–15 centimeters thick, and may be 4–5 feet long, weighing 4–5 pounds. There are three layers: (1) the outside, rough with some old bark and possibly twigs, must be cleaned; (2) the side, very close to the tree trunk, must be cut off; and (3) the middle part, granulated and not spoiled, which is the part to use. It can be collected at any time of the year.
Always keep chaga in a dry and dark place (dark covered jar) as dampness and strong light dissipate its power.
MEDICINAL PART: Inside granulated parts of the three layers.
SOLVENTS: Boiled (not boiling) water, alcohol, vodka.
BODILY INFLUENCE: Tonic, blood purifying, anodyne, restorative.
USES: It is well known that the Native Americans knew all plants and how they were best used—for food, medicine, or if they are poisonous. In Anglo-American literature we know that treatments of many sicknesses were kept as tribal knowledge. We know they used the properties of many fungi, but from our research work we cannot find a definite record of chaga being identified; we are poorly informed.
RUSSIAN EXPERIENCE: The existence of chaga and its uses are mentioned in Russian literature and in such sources as monographs, medical books, encyclopedias, and popular herbal books.
Folk medicine of European Russia and Siberia gives nearly unlimited credit to chaga, which for generations has been thought of as magical. Chaga has a long list of uses by persons of experience and faith in herbal folk medicine. It was used for all stomach complaints—gastritis, stomach pain, ulcers—and for cancer, tuberculosis of the bones, and glandular organs where operations were not possible due to the network of blood vessels.
While folk medicine may be unrestrained in its commendation of chaga, science is reserved and cautious. From year to year scientific medical literature carefully gives it more credence. The apparent value of this plant has warranted commitments to further research and to laboratory and clinical tests. Since 1955 the Medical Academy of Science in Moscow has promoted chaga for clinical and domestic medicine, encouraged it commercially, and collected it for medical use. In an atlas of medical plants published in Moscow (Tzitzin 1963), chaga is carefully recommended but definitely approved for administration as a tea, extract, or nastoika (chaga in vodka) for malignancies. It is recommended in cases where the patient cannot undergo surgery or radiotherapy. Chaga is recognized as a very old folk medicine for stomach gastritis and ulcers, and especially for cancer, tuberculosis, or conditions of malignancy unfavorable to surgery.
It should be understood that not all advanced forms of cancer can be controlled, but chaga will reduce pain, give comfort, and stop or slow growths. Some early and less-advanced cases of cancer are arrested, and spreading may be prevented. In swelling of the lower bowel, chaga decoctions are prepared for colonics in addition to oral medication.
Diet is very definitely restricted to milk products and vegetables—no meat, conserves, sausages, or strong spices (Saratov University 1932). Chaga is blood purifying and regenerates deteriorated organs and glands; Medical Encyclopedia (Moscow 1965). Time must be given for chaga to work. Recommended treatment is for three to five months at seven-to-ten-day intervals. Domestic use: The bark and middle portion, which have been carefully separated and cleaned, must be crushed or shredded, then soaked in warm water (not over 500 degrees Fahrenheit). When preparing chaga think of it as yeast; water too hot will kill the living fungus. For 1 part of crushed chaga pour over 5 parts of boiled (not boiling) water, let stand covered 48 hours, strain, pour in more boiled (not boiling) water, perhaps twice as much, then drink three cups a day thirty minutes before each meal.