Herbs on the Go: Immune Season™

Elder is a woody shrub or small deciduous tree whose pithy stems (hollow in young stems) can reach up to 4 meters high.^3,4,7 Its compound leaves are odd-pinnate, oblong in shape, and have shiny leaflets.⁴ The numerous white to cream flowers grow in a flat-topped compound cyme and are quite fragrant.^4,6,7 The fruit are in heavy drooping bunches and when ripe are purplish-black drupes.^6,7 Each fruit has 3 seeds that are oblong.⁷

The herbaceous plant is a perennial that reaches up to approximately 1.5 feet (0.4 meters) tall.^3,6 The stem has sparse white hairs.⁶ The leaves are pinnately compound, alternate and elliptical shaped.⁶ They are smooth on the top and have white hairs on the underside.⁶ The yellow small, tubular flowers occur in a raceme.^3,6 Its fruit is an elongated papery smooth legume and the seeds are dark brown and kidney-shaped.⁶ The root is a yellow-brown taproot.^3,6

Echinacea is a perennial herb that grows up to 3 ft (1 m) in height.³ It has upright rough stems that are branched. Each flowering stem has 1 to 3 flower heads.⁷ The leaves are alternately arranged on the stem, broad and simple with an acute tip and bristly hairs.³ The plant has pinkish-purple showy petals with a large, spiky seed cone.^3,4 The underground parts are fibrous and slender woody rhizomes with numerous roots, which are collectively known in herbalism as “root”.^4,6,7

This deciduous woody shrub has mostly unbranched stems that grow approximately 10 to 20 feet (4 to 6 meters).^2,4,6 The young stems are covered with flexible prickles, while the older stems are mostly smooth.² The leaves are palmately compound with five leaflets that are elliptical with a serrated margin that are often attached to the stem by reddish petioles.² Flowers are small, multiple, and umbelliferous; attached by long peduncles at the end of stems.² Fruit is a drupe with multiple kernels.² The root is a cylindrical dark brown taproot that is sometimes branched with a smooth exterior and a thin bark about 0.5 cm in diameter.² The rhizome is pale brown, up to 4 cm thick, wrinkled lengthwise, and shows the root scars with aerial stem traces and a pale yellow interior.²

Ginger is an herbaceous perennial herb, growing up to approximately 5 feet (1.5 meters) in height.⁴ Its alternate lance-shaped narrow leaves are sheathed to the stem and grow upwards.⁴ Flower stems are shorter than leaf stems and have an egg-shaped tip with dense, large yellow-green bracts surrounding the tip.⁴ The orange-yellow petals of the flower have a purplish tubular inner structure.^3,4 The cone flowers are scarce in a spike formation originating from a small thin bract within the larger bract.^4,5 Its capsule fruit has tiny arillate seeds.⁴ The underground part is a horizontal rhizome that branches out resembling the fingers of a hand.⁴ The thin skin of the rhizome is a tan color with a yellow fibrous interior.⁴