Gentiana quinquefolia
by John Henry Clarke — A Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica
Historical reference for practitioners and students. The statements below reflect the named author’s homeopathic teaching and do not establish treatment effectiveness. This text is not medical advice and must not replace appropriate diagnosis or care.
Five-flowered Gentian. Gall of the Earth. N. O. Gentianaceæ. Decoction of the herb. Tincture of fresh plant in flower (September, October).
Clinical
Anorexia / Intermittent fever
Characteristics
This unproved Gentian has a great popular reputation in Ohio and other parts of the United States as an antiperiodic and tonic. Hale quotes Yelvington of Susquehanna (who says he learned its value from a tribe of Indians) as saying "he has succeeded in obstinate intermittents where Quinine and other anti-periodics had failed. He used the decoction of the herb. A fluid extract or the saturated tincture is a better form for administration in fever. It is a valuable tonic for old cases of dyspepsia and torpid liver." It is a pleasant bitter, and appears to be, like the other Gentians, a positive tonic. Dr. Yelvington also used it in cases of infantile fever and cholera infantum. "As a tonic in enfeebled patients and in chronic diseases," he says, "it is a remedy par excellence, appearing to exert an action over the organs of nutrition and assimilation, as well as being a stimulant to the excretory organs."