''Pseudognaphalium obtusifolium'' (formerly ''Gnaphalium obtusifolium'') is a member of the family

Asteraceae The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae w ...

, found on open dry sandy habitat throughout Eastern North America. Common names include old field balsam, rabbit tobacco and sweet everlasting. When crushed, the plant exudes a characteristic maple-syrup scent.

Description

It is a biennial herb which grows up to one meter tall. In its first year, the plant produces tightly packed rosettes covered in wooly hair. In the second year, the plant produces a tall stem with alternate leaves and yellow peg-shaped flowerheads. These are borne in clusters. The seeds are dispersed by the wind. Its native habitats include dry clearings, fields, and edges of woods.

Uses by Native Americans

Alabama tribe

The Alabama tribe used a compound decoction of it as a treatment for nervousness and sleepiness,Swanton, John R 1928 Religious Beliefs and Medical Practices of the Creek Indians. SI-BAE Annual Report #42:473-672 (pp. 663, 664) and a decoction as a face wash for nerves and insomnia.Taylor, Linda Averill 1940 Plants Used As Curatives by Certain Southeastern Tribes. Cambridge, MA. Botanical Museum of Harvard University (p. 61)

Cherokee

The

Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...

use it in a compound for muscle cramps, local pains, and twitching,Hamel, Paul B. and Mary U. Chiltoskey 1975 Cherokee Plants and Their Uses -- A 400 Year History. Sylva, N.C. Herald Publishing Co. (pp. 51, 52) and apply an infusion of it over scratches made over muscle cramp pain. It is also used internally with Carolina Vetch for rheumatism. A decoction is taken for colds, and the plant is also made into cough syrup. It is used in a sweat bath to treat various diseases, made into a warm liquid blown down throat for clogged throat (diphtheria), chewed for a sore mouth or throat, and smoked for asthma.

Choctaw

The

Choctaw The Choctaw (in the Choctaw language, Chahta) are a Native American people originally based in the Southeastern Woodlands, in what is now Alabama and Mississippi. Their Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choctaw people are ...

use a decoction of leaves and blossoms taken for lung painBushnell, Jr., David I. 1909 The Choctaw of Bayou Lacomb, St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana. SI-BAE Bulletin #48 (p. 24) and colds.

Creek

The Creek add the leaves to medicines as a perfume,Swanton, John R 1928 Religious Beliefs and Medical Practices of the Creek Indians. SI-BAE Annual Report #42:473-672 (p. 661) use a decoction to treat vomiting, as a throat wash for mumps, as a wash "for people who wanted to run away" and as a wash for people who are believed to be afflicted by ghosts. A decoction made of the plant tops is used as a wash for old people who are unable to sleep. They also use a compound decoction of plant tops as an inhalant for colds, and apply a poultice of decoction of leaves for the throat for mumps.

Koasati

The

Koasati The Coushatta ( cku, Koasati, Kowassaati or Kowassa:ti) are a Muskogean-speaking Native American people now living primarily in the U.S. states of Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas. When first encountered by Europeans, they lived in the territor ...

take a decoction of the leaves for fevers, and use it to bathe those who are feverish.

Menominee

The

Menominee The Menominee (; mez, omǣqnomenēwak meaning ''"Menominee People"'', also spelled Menomini, derived from the Ojibwe language word for "Wild Rice People"; known as ''Mamaceqtaw'', "the people", in the Menominee language) are a federally recog ...

steam the dried leaves as an inhalant for headaches, and as a treatment against "foolishness". They also smudge the leaves and use them to fumigate premises to dispel ghosts,Smith, Huron H. 1923 Ethnobotany of the Menomini Indians. Bulletin of the Public Museum of the City of Milwaukee 4:1-174 (p. 30) and to bring back "loss of mind". This smudge is also used to revive unconscious patients. The leaf smoke is blown into the nostrils of people who have fainted.

Montagnais

The Montagnais use a decoction of the plant for coughing and tuberculosis.

Rappahannock

The

Rappahannock Tribe The Rappahannock are a federally recognized tribe in Virginia and one of the eleven state-recognized tribes. They are made up of descendants of several small Algonquian-speaking tribes who merged in the late 17th century. In January 2018, they ...

take an

infusion Infusion is the process of extracting chemical compounds or flavors from plant material in a solvent such as water, oil or alcohol, by allowing the material to remain suspended in the solvent over time (a process often called steeping). An inf ...

of the roots for chills, smoke dried leaves or dried stems in a pipe for asthma, and chew the leaves for "fun".Speck, Frank G., R.B. Hassrick and E.S. Carpenter 1942 Rappahannock Herbals, Folk-Lore and Science of Cures. Proceedings of the Delaware County Institute of Science 10:7-55. (p. 29)