Club moss

Lycopodium clavatum

Forests of giant club mosses that reached 100 feet in height encircled our planet many millions of years ago. Today these ancient relatives of the running club moss constitute, in their petrified form, an important source of coal. Eventually the primeval giant club moss evolved into its present form: a smallish plant with a ground-hugging stem that grows up to 4 feet long. A low-growing evergreen, club moss has a three-foot stem that runs along the ground and dense spirals of yellow-green leaves. Two or three cylindrical yellow-green cones, which grow at the ends of six-inch stalks, carry many small yellow spores. The botanical name of the plant means "club-shaped wolf's claw," a reference both to the plant's club-shaped spore cases and to a fancied resemblance between the plant's root and a wolf's claw.

The fine yellow powder formed by the spores of running club moss is extremely rich in oil and flammable-hence its old name vegetable sulfur. Stage designers once employed the powder to create stage lightning for plays, and in the pioneering days of photography the spores served as a flash powder. The yellow powder was once used as an absorbent dusting powder in surgery and as a baby powder. Both the spores and the whole plant figured in medications once prescribed for various ailments such as kidney stones and urinary tract infections.

Club moss has been used medicinally since at least the Middle Ages. The whole plant was employed as a diuretic to aid in the flushing out of kidney stones. Being strongly water-resistant, the spores are still used to coat tablets. The spores ignite explosively and have been used in  making fireworks.

Other names

• Clubfoot Moss
• Common Club Moss
• Foxtail
• Ground Pine
• Lycopodium
• Running Club Moss
• Staghorn
• Vegetable Sulfur
• Wolf's Claw

Parts used

Whole herb.

Uses

During the Carboniferous period, 360 million years ago, club mosses achieved dominance as a plant group, growing to the size of trees. Club mosses are not true mosses but, rather, primitive vascular plants. In China one variety was known as stone pine and grown ornamentally in pots. Because of their extreme resistance to water, club moss spores, in powder form, are employed not only as a coating for pharmaceutical pills to keep them from sticking to each other when placed together in a container but also to disguise their taste. Quite flammable, the spores were also used before the advent of electricity to produce special effects in theaters and in fireworks.

The whole plant was dried, chopped, and prepared as a tea in traditional medicine for kidney and bladder complaints. In the 17th century, spores began to be used alone to treat diarrhea, dysentery, hydrophobia, gout, scurvy, and rheumatism. Homeopathic remedies of club moss, called lycopodium, are prepared by triturating club moss in lactose until the seeds break up and release their oily contents. Homeopathic practitioners use it to treat constipation, chronic lung and bronchial disorders, aneurysms, and fever.

Club moss is diuretic, sedative, and antispasmodic, and it is particularly useful for treating chronic urinary complaints. The herb may also be taken for indigestion and gastritis. The spores may be applied to the skin to relieve and protect itchy or irritated areas.

HOMEOPATHY
To create the homeopathic remedy, Lycopodium pollen is extracted from the spores and diluted with milk sugar.
Lycopodium alleviates digestive complaints, for example, indigestion caused by eating late at night; constant nausea; vomiting; ravenous hunger followed by discomfort after eating a small amount; a distended, bloated abdomen with gas; constipation; and bleeding hemorrhoids.
In men, Lycopodium is given for an enlarged prostate and reddish urine with a sandy sediment in it caused by kidney stones. It is also used to treat increased libido with an inability to achieve or sustain an erection.
Most ailments helped by this remedy tend to be right-sided and accompanied by a desire for sweet foods. Lycopodium is effective for neuralgia-type headaches; sore throats that are worse from cold drinks; persistent, dry coughs; tiredness from flu; chronic fatigue syndrome; hair loss; and psoriasis on the hands. Emotional problems caused by insecurity, such as nervousness, anxiety, impatience, cowardice, fear of being alone, insomnia, talking and laughing during sleep, night fears, and fear on waking are all helped by this remedy.

Habitat & cultivation

Club moss is found throughout temperate regions of the northern hemisphere. Club moss is common on mountains and in grassy areas. Club moss is gathered in summer.

Constituents

Club moss contains about 0.1-0.2% alkaloids (including lycopodine), polyphenols, flavonoids, and triterpenes.

How much to take

Infusion of the moss, cut small -1 oz. to 1 pint boiling water.
Drink one cupful during the day, a large mouthful at a time.

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