If you've never been to Northern Nevada, the part of the country I hail from, your first impulse would probably be to grimace at the landscape. I've had many friends and relatives come to Nevada for visits and their first thoughts of the environment are detailed using words like "boring", "bland", or "ugly". Now don't get me wrong, I'll fully admit that the Nevada outdoors is not exactly lush, green, or well...interesting at all. Most parts of the desert valley are just cardboard colored, dust-textured dirt and drab plant after drab plant after...yep, drab plant.
The majority of the drab plants you will see in this area are sagebrush, the Nevada State Flower. Sagebrush has many survival uses, most of which have been passed down from Native American lore. You will identify sagebrush by it's pale, silvery-green/grey leaves. The leaves appear as three separate lobes connected at the center, and are covered in silver-like hairs. The resemblance is closer to a small bush or shrub. Sagebrush can be found from California to as north as Western Canada, east as Nebraska, and south as Mexico for the North American Continent.
So how can this dull, mangled-looking shrubbery help you in a survival situation?
One of the first and most important steps in surviving without modern technologies or amenities is obtaining and sustaining fire. Sagebrush burns extremely well, and is one of the very few wood-types in the world that will also burn when wet. This becomes an invaluable survival tool for this desert region. It is not an unknown fact that while scorching hot during the late spring to early fall the desert can reach chilling drops in the evening many times of the year. There is also few fauna in the desert and desert valley that should be eaten raw, so having plentiful firewood for cooking is a great gift from the sturdy sagebrush. And trust me, there is PLENTY of it!
Another great use once you get a fire going, is using the leaves to make smoke in your fires. In the evenings, near any sort of shade or water source, the mosquitoes come buzzing abound. There are few things more irritating in this area than the mosquitoes. Even the heat, constant dust, and windstorms don't make one so enraged with irritation as the mosquitoes. However adding some nice green branches of sagebrush leaves to a roaring fire causes an aromatic smoke that discourages mosquito visitation. This will make you a much happier desert dweller!
Sagebrush leaves are also antimicrobial, anti-fungal, and anti-parasitic. When taken as a tea (or tincture added to water) it was used by Native Americans to expel parasites, such as different types of worms. The tea is also used to assist the body in fighting off pathogenic organisms like those responsible for food poisoning; or inhibiting harmful bacteria like Salmonella and E. Coli. Drink cold for these types of treatments. Hot sagebrush tea is used to break fevers, and has been known to break very high ones when nothing else will work.
It has also been known to act as a treatment and expectorant for bronchial infections, rivaling the efficiency of even Eucalyptus and White sage for expectorant and soothing properties, when the leaves are boiled, steeped, and breathed in.
Topically it has analgesic properties. When made into a warm paste and applied to areas of pain caused from bruises, sprains, menstrual cramps, digestive pains, sports injuries, or arthritis, the pain and discomfort can be lessened considerably.
You can find more recommended uses and dosage information by checking into this book:
Herbal Medicine of the American Southwest: A Guide to the Identification, Collection, Preparation, and Use of Medicinal and Edible Plants of the Southwestern United States by Charles W. Kane.
It is important to note, that even with the vast amounts of uses sagebrush has, it is in modern medicine considered to be poisonous. Most people are ignorant to dosing and preparing sagebrush as a medicine, and large amounts have been known to be quite toxic in human beings. It is not the intention of this blog to suggest that people interested in natural and homeopathic medicine seek out sagebrush and use it medicinally without the supervision of a CAM or Holistic physician, or other expert on desert flora or alternative medicines. Do your research or seek a professional!
Hopefully you are never actually having to survive off the land in a region like the dusty desert valley, but if you are, you'll have sagebrush by your side to light your way, cook your food, calm a cold, and ease your cramps. Now THAT'S sensible!
