Self Heal

''Prunella'' is a genus of herbaceous plants in the family Lamiaceae, also known as self-heals, heal-all, or allheal for their use in herbal medicine.

Habitat

Most are native to Europe, Asia, and North Africa, but ''Prunella vulgaris'' (common self-heal) is Holarctic in distribution, occurring in North America as well, and is a common lawn weed. Prunellas are low-growing plants, and thrive in moist wasteland and grass, spreading rapidly to cover the ground. They are members of the mint family and have the square stem common to mints.

Biological descriptions

The common name "self-heal" derives from the use of some species to treat a range of minor disorders. Self-heal can be grown from seed, or by dividing clumps in spring or autumn.

;Species
# ''Prunella albanica'' Pénzes – Albania
# ''Prunella × bicolor'' Beck – parts of Europe (''P. grandiflora × P. laciniata'')
# ''Prunella × codinae'' Sennen – Spain (''P. hyssopifolia × P. laciniata'')
# ''Prunella cretensis'' Gand. – Crete
# ''Prunella × gentianifolia'' Pau – Spain (''P. hyssopifolia × P. vulgaris'')
# ''Prunella grandiflora'' (L.) Scholler – central + southern Europe from Caucasus to Russia; Caucasus
# ''Prunella hyssopifolia'' L. – Spain, France, Italy, Morocco
# ''Prunella × intermedia'' Link – central + southwestern Europe (''P. laciniata × P. vulgaris'')
# '' Prunella laciniata'' (L.) L – central + southern Europe, North Africa, Middle East
# ''Prunella orientalis'' Bornm. – Turkey, Syria
# ''Prunella prunelliformis'' (Maxim.) Makino – Japan
# ''Prunella × surrecta'' Dumort. – central + southwestern Europe (''P. grandiflora × P. vulgaris'')
# ''Prunella vulgaris'' L. – widespread in Europe, North Africa, Asia, North America; naturalized in New Zealand, parts of South America

Subspecies are
* ''Prunella vulgaris'' ssp. ''aleutica'' (Fernald) Hultén – Aleutian selfheal
* ''Prunella vulgaris'' ssp. ''lanceolata'' (W. Bartram) Hultén – lance selfheal
* ''Prunella vulgaris'' ssp. ''vulgaris'' (L.) – common selfheal

Uses

Traditional medicine

In the Pacific Northwest, its juice was used by the Quinault and the Quileute on boils. They also used the whole plant to treat cuts and inflammations. Ointments can be made by fixing the plant with grease. Dried ''Prunella'' () is used to make a herbal drink. Prunella is also used for halitosis, especially when combined with other herbs (e.g. perilla, field mint, etc.)
Herbal tea for treating ozostomia caused by oral local lesion

Food uses

The mildly bitter leaves are also good as salad greens. ''Prunella'' species are used as food plants by the larvae of some ''Lepidoptera'' species including ''Coleophora albitarsella''.

As a health supplement

''Prunella vulgaris'' is used as an ingredient in some bodybuilding supplements.

References

Bibliography

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{{Authority control

Lamiaceae genera
Plants used in traditional Chinese medicine
Plants used in traditional Native American medicine
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus