Everyone knows lavender, yarrow, peppermint, and ginger, but the mountains have a much longer list of medicinal plants, and many of them rarely make it into the average herb garden.
Here in Appalachia, plants have long been gathered, grown, prepared, and passed down as part of household herbal traditions. Some were used as teas and poultices. Others were valued as tonics, digestive herbs, or plants for seasonal allergies. Many were simply familiar plants growing around the home, recognized and understood through generations of observation.
Some of these herbs are still well known to herbalists. Others have been almost completely forgotten outside of specialized herbal traditions.
And that's why we love growing unique and hard-to-find medicinal herbs.
Rattlesnake Master
Eryngium yuccifolium
Rattlesnake Master is a member of the carrot family, it produces striking round flower heads surrounded by stiff, spiny leaves. Historically, it was used by Indigenous peoples for a variety of purposes, and its traditional medicinal reputation is part of the reason it earned its unusual common name.
Traditionally, various parts of the plant were used for toothaches, digestive complaints, respiratory ailments, and other common complaints, although uses varied between Indigenous cultures.
Today, we're particularly interested in it as a native perennial that brings structure, habitat, and an entirely different look to a medicinal garden.
Hyssop
Hyssopus officinalis
Hyssop has been cultivated as a medicinal and aromatic herb for centuries. Its intensely fragrant leaves and spikes of blue-purple flowers make it useful in both the herb garden and pollinator garden.
It has traditionally been used as a tea or infusion for coughs, congestion, digestive discomfort, and sore throats, and its aromatic qualities are a big part of its appeal.
Hyssop is also a good example of how plants that do multiple jobs at once: useful herb, fragrant garden plant, and valuable nectar source.
Spilanthes
Acmella oleracea
If you've never grown Spilanthes, this is one you'll remember.
Sometimes called toothache plant, Spilanthes produces small yellow flower heads with a distinctive red center. Chewing a flower creates a surprising tingling and numbing sensation in the mouth.
That unusual sensation is caused by spilanthol, a naturally occurring compound in the plant.
Traditionally, Spilanthes has been used for toothaches, mouth discomfort, and digestive complaints, and it has remained a popular plant among herbalists interested in traditional oral and digestive preparations.
Wild Quinine
Parthenium integrifolium
Wild Quinine is a native perennial that deserves considerably more attention.
Its clusters of small white flowers can resemble a loose version of yarrow, but the plant itself is quite different. It has a long history of traditional use, including as an herb for fevers, digestive complaints, and general discomfort.
For the modern gardener, it offers something else, too: a durable native perennial that supports pollinators and brings a different texture and form to the garden.
Mountain Arnica
Arnica chamissonis
Arnica has a long history in European herbal traditions, and mountain arnica is a North American relative that has its own place in traditional herbalism.
Arnica preparations have traditionally been used externally for bruises, soreness, and minor aches, usually as topical preparations such as infused oils or salves. Arnica should not be taken internally without appropriate professional guidance, as it can be toxic when ingested.
Red Sage
Salvia miltiorrhiza
Also known as Dan Shen, red sage comes from the traditional herbal medicine of China rather than Appalachia, but it belongs in a broader medicinal garden because of the long history surrounding it.
The root is the part traditionally used.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, Dan Shen has traditionally been used for circulatory and cardiovascular-related complaints, menstrual discomfort, and inflammatory conditions.
Dan Shen is a good example of how medicinal gardening today can bring together traditions from different parts of the world while still encouraging us to learn where those traditions come from and how plants have historically been used.
Rue
Ruta graveolens
Rue has an impressive history as a medicinal and culinary herb, but it's a plant that deserves respect.
Its strongly aromatic foliage has been used traditionally for digestive complaints, menstrual symptoms, and various aches and pains, and it has a long place in European herbal traditions.
Rue also contains compounds that can cause photosensitivity and skin irritation, particularly when the fresh plant comes into contact with skin followed by sunlight. Gloves are a good idea when handling it. Rue-rash is never fun.
It's an excellent example of why knowing a plant's history isn't enough. Medicinal gardening requires knowing its cautions, too.
Mad Dog Skullcap
Scutellaria lateriflora
Mad Dog Skullcap is a North American native that has a particularly strong connection to traditional Appalachian herbalism.
It was historically used as a calming herb for nervous tension, restlessness, and difficulty sleeping.
The plant itself is an annual self seeder that will establish a perennial patch readily, use caution with siting when planting.
Spikenard
Aralia racemosa
American spikenard is a native Appalachian plant with an especially interesting place in traditional herbalism.
It is a member of the ginseng family and produces large clusters of berries later in the season. The aromatic root was traditionally used by Appalachian herbalists for respiratory complaints, digestive issues, and as a general tonic.
It also makes a beautiful woodland garden plant, which is a recurring theme with these forgotten herbs: many plants that have medicinal histories are also exceptionally well adapted to the ecosystems where they evolved.
Boneset
Eupatorium perfoliatum
Boneset is one of the classic medicinal plants of eastern North America.
Its clusters of small white flowers appear late in the summer, often when many other plants are beginning to fade. Historically, it became particularly associated with preparations used during fevers, colds, coughs, influenza, headaches, and the aches that accompanied fever.
Its common name has an interesting history, but like many common names, the traditional uses behind it shouldn't be taken as a guarantee of effectiveness.
What is certain is that boneset has a long history in American herbal traditions and is an important native plant for pollinators.
Wild Licorice
Glycyrrhiza lepidota
Wild licorice is a native relative of the familiar licorice plant, with roots that contain glycyrrhizin and have traditionally been used for their sweet flavor.
Traditionally, the root has been used for coughs, sore throats, digestive complaints, and as a soothing herb.
It belongs to the pea family and, like other legumes, has an interesting relationship with soil biology and nitrogen-fixing.
Horsetail
Equisetum hyemale
Horsetail is ancient in the truest sense.
The Equisetum lineage goes back hundreds of millions of years, long before flowering plants dominated the landscape. It thrives in wet, boggy soils, making it particularly well suited to rain gardens, water gardens, pond edges, and areas with poor drainage.
Ethnobotanical records document its use for kidney and bladder complaints, as a diuretic, for sores, hair and scalp use, and for other traditional preparations, although these uses vary considerably between cultures.
The stems are naturally high in silica and were traditionally used for scouring and polishing, which earned horsetail the common name "scouring rush."
If you've met horsetail in the wild, you know that it is exceptionally determined spreader. Plant accordingly.
Medicinal use requires care. Horsetail can be confused with other Equisetum species, and some contain compounds that make internal use inappropriate. Proper identification matters.
Self Heal
Prunella vulgaris
Self Heal may be one of the best examples of a medicinal plant hiding in plain sight.
It's a low-growing perennial with purple flowers that can turn up in lawns, meadows, and open areas. Historically, it has been used in many herbal traditions externally for minor wounds and skin complaints, and internally in teas and preparations for sore throats, inflammation, and other everyday ailments.
Sweet Joe Pye Weed
Eutrochium purpureum
Joe Pye weed is probably better known today as a pollinator plant than a medicinal herb, but its history goes much deeper.
The plant is traditionally associated with an Indigenous herbalist known as Joe Pye, and various species of Eutrochium have longstanding medicinal histories.
Traditionally, different parts of Joe Pye weed have been used for fevers, urinary complaints, and aches and pains.
It is also an incredible garden plant.
Tall stems, late-season flowers, and an abundance of pollinators make it particularly valuable in a perennial garden designed to provide something throughout the growing season.
Anise Hyssop
Agastache foeniculum
Anise hyssop is neither a true anise nor a true hyssop, which is exactly the sort of botanical trick that makes common names so much fun.
Its leaves have a distinct anise-like fragrance, and its tall spikes of purple flowers are magnets for bees and butterflies.
It has a long history of traditional herbal use, particularly as a fragrant tea for digestion, coughs, congestion, and sore throats.
It's also one of those plants that earns its place in the garden even if you never make an herbal preparation from it.
Mountain Mint
Pycnanthemum spp.
Mountain mints are some of the best plants you can grow if you want to see your garden absolutely covered in pollinators.
Native Pycnanthemum species are aromatic perennials that produce masses of small flowers and can support an impressive range of bees and other insects.
Mountain mint has also been used traditionally as a tea for digestive discomfort, colds, congestion, and fevers.
For an Appalachian garden, it checks a lot of boxes: native, aromatic, useful, attractive, and excellent for wildlife.
Bee Balm
Monarda spp.
Bee balm is probably more familiar than most of the plants on this list, but it belongs here because it has such a strong connection to traditional herbal use.
Different Monarda species have been used by Indigenous peoples and later by settlers as tea herbs for digestive complaints, colds, congestion, and sore throats. The leaves are intensely aromatic, thanks to their essential oils.
And, of course, the flowers are spectacular.
If you've ever watched a patch of bee balm covered in hummingbirds and bees in midsummer, it's easy to understand why this plant has remained in cultivation.
Valerian
Valeriana officinalis
Valerian is another old-world medicinal herb that has made itself at home in gardens throughout North America.
The root is the part traditionally used, particularly in preparations associated with relaxation, nervous tension, restlessness, and sleep.
An Herbal Garden Is More Than a Collection of Plants
It's a continuation of tradition, knowledge, and skills that our ancestors have passed down to us. The Appalachian herbal tradition wasn't built around a catalog of trendy medicinal plants.
It grew out of knowing the landscape.
That knowledge was practical, local, and passed between people.
And some of it is still here.
You can find traces of it in herbalists, family traditions, Appalachian plant names, and in the plants themselves.
Research into Southern Appalachian folk medicine has documented how extensively plants were incorporated into household medicine, including traditions recorded from communities in Western North Carolina, Eastern Tennessee, and Southwestern Virginia.
That makes growing these herbs more interesting than simply filling a garden with plants labeled "medicinal."
It's an opportunity to grow some of the plants that shaped the herbal history of this region.
Some are beautiful, some are strange, and some look like weeds until you know what you're looking at.
That's part of the fun.
The next time you're planning an herb garden, look beyond lavender and yarrow. There is a whole world of useful, unusual plants waiting to be rediscovered.
A note on traditional herbal use: We grow and sell medicinal plants, but we are not herbalists or medical practitioners. The uses mentioned here are traditional uses documented in herbal and ethnobotanical traditions, not medical advice or claims that these plants treat or cure disease. Many medicinal plants have important contraindications, drug interactions, or toxicity concerns. Always properly identify a plant and research its safety before using it medicinally.
