This plant has several medicinal uses. The powdered root was used to treat arthritic and rheumatic pain (For this purpose, the root material may have been boiled in water and the liquid used as a bathing solution.), as were the leaves when used in poultice form. The leaves and dried roots steeped in water, were taken as a tea to treat mouth infections. In this regard, the tea was used regularly as a mouth wash. [Photograph adapted from Foster & Duke: 1990]