The common name selfheal or heal-all is due to the ubiquity of this herb in traditional medicine around the world. The Algonquin of Quebec used it as a fever reducer. New England has one native and one non-native variety. Anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed habitats), meadows and fields, shores of rivers or lakes.
Prunella vulgaris (known as common self-heal, heal-all, woundwort, heart-of-the-earth, carpenter's herb, brownwort and blue curls) is a herbaceous plant in the genus Prunella.
Self-heal is edible: the young leaves and stems can be eaten raw in salads; the plant in whole can be boiled and eaten as a potherb; and the aerial parts of the plant can be powdered and brewed in a cold infusion to make a beverage.
Prunella vulgaris is edible, and can be used in salads, soups, stews, and boiled as a pot herb. The Nlaka'pamux drank a cold infusion of the whole plant as a common beverage.
The plant has been used by aboriginal cultures to treat various physical ailments.
Prunella vulgaris grows 5 to 30 cm high (2-12inches), with creeping, self-rooting, tough, square, reddish stems branching at leaf axis.
This plant is useful.
How to get rid of:
Killing Self Heal with a selective weedkiller is another option if you only have a few plants. The chances of eliminating it the first time are much higher because the herbicide kills the plant at the root.
