Adam's Needle
Yucca filamentosa Linnaeus; Fam. Agavaceae
Yucca filamentosa Linnaeus; Fam. Agavaceae
DESCRIPTION
Medicinal Parts: The medicinal parts are the leaves and the roots of non-flowering plants.
Flower and Fruit: The flowers are ivory-colored and located in nodding, many-blossomed terminal panicles. The perigone is simple, campanulate, tinged greenish on the outside, with 6 tepals. The flower has 6 stamens, and the stigma is 3-sectioned.
Leaves, Stem and Root: The plant is 120 to 240 cm in height.
The leaves are in a basal rosette. They are sword-shaped and erect with a recurved tip. They are short-thorned, broadly grooved and. covered on the margin with long, twisted, whitish or yellowish threads.
Habitat: The plant is indigenous to the southern United States and is cultivated mainly as an ornamental plant in Europe.
Production: Adam's Needle leaves are the leaves of Yucca filamentosa.
ACTIONS AND PHARMACOLOGY
COMPOUNDS
Steroid saponins (from the roots; the saponins from the leaves remain uninvestigated): protoyuccoside C, yuccoside B, yuccoside E, yuccoside C, aglycones including sarsapogenin, tigogenin
EFFECTS
No information is available.
INDICATIONS AND USAGE
Unproven Uses: The plant is used for liver and gallbladder disorders.
PRECAUTIONS AND ADVERSE REACTIONS
No health hazards or side effects are known in conjunction with the proper administration of designated therapeutic dosages. Intake can lead to stomach complaints because of the saponin content.
DOSAGE
Mode of Administration: Adam's Needle is available in ground form and in extracts.
LITERATURE
Kern W, List PH, Horhammer L (Hrsg.), Hagers Handbuch der Pharmazeutischen Praxis, 4. Aufl., Bde. 1-8: Springer Verlag Berlin, Heidelberg, New York. 1969.
Madaus G, Lehrbuch der Biologischen Arzneimittel, Bde 1-3, Nachdruck, Georg Olms Verlag Hildesheim 1979.
