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Shepherd’s
Purse
(Capsella bursa-pastoris)
Shepherd’s heart, pick-pocket, toywort
 Description:
An annual with an erect, simple or branching stem and
6-18 inches tall. The basal leaves are in a rosette of
gray-green, pinnatifid leaves. The stem leaves are small
and clasping. Tiny white flowers grow in terminal cymes.
The fruit is a flattened, heart-shaped or triangular,
notched pod. It is common in fields, waste places, along
roadsides everywhere.
Edible,
Medicinal: The leaves are a salad herb, and is high
in Vit.K. It is a diuretic, styptic, hemostatic, and astringent.
A tea made from the fresh or dried herb (seeds or leaves)
is used for profuse menstrual bleeding, bleeding piles,
a styptic against hemorrhage, bleeding ulcers, lungs,
chronic diarrhea, kidney and gall bladder problems, gastritis,
stomach ulcers dysentery and as a wash for bruises. It
can also be used to regularize blood pressure and heart
action, high or low. It is sometimes used to promote uterine
contractions during childbirth and for hemorrhage after
childbirth. Steep 1 teaspoon of any part of the plant
for 30 minutes. Drink cold, 2 or more cups a day, or as
needed, for a tonic. Drink hot for a diaphoretic.
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