Heal-all
- katemacquarrie22
- Aug 3
- 2 min read
Have you noticed any purple-flowered plants in your lawn or nearby areas? On PEI, most of these – Creeping Charlie, Hemp Nettle, or Thyme, for example – are not native. But look closely and you may find a useful native plant growing among them. Meet Heal-all (Prunella vulgaris).
Like those other plants I mentioned, Heal-all is a member of the mint family (Lamiaceae). It has the family traits of a square stem, opposite leaves, and two-lipped flowers, but lacks the strong aroma of some of its relatives. The dense floral spike at the top of the plant is distinctive; those flowers usually aren’t all open at once, giving the plant a bit of a ragged appearance.
If you’re going to be called Heal-all, you should have the resume to back it up. Heal-all’s medicinal uses date back thousands of years in both Traditional Chinese Medicine and among North American Indigenous cultures. It was used externally to treat wounds and skin irritations, chewed or used as a gargle for mouth and throat sores, and taken internally for everything from headaches and colds to tuberculosis and internal bleeding.
Modern research has found dozens bioactive chemicals in this plant, including rosmarinic and ursolic acids which have anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, and anti-tumour properties. Heal-all has been shown to be strongly anti-bacterial and there is evidence that it may be able to help protect human skin against damage from the sun’s UV radiation.
Some clinical trials have shown improved outcomes when Heal-all was used in combination with chemotherapy for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and breast cancer. Others have shown patients with liver or gastrointestinal cancers had fewer cancer-associated symptoms (less functional impairment) when Heal-all was added to their treatment protocols.
In Canada, Heal-all is approved as a natural health product ingredient by Health Canada. It can be used in commercial products intended to treat sore throats, gingivitis, hemorrhoids, diarrhoea, and minor skin cuts or wounds. You can use Heal-all at home by drying and making it into a tea (consumed hot or cold, or cooled for external use), infusing in alcohol or oil, or combining into lotions or creams.
If you’re more interested in edible plants than medicinal, I have good news: Heal-all checks that box, too. All parts are edible and pleasantly mild-tasting, lacking the strong bitter flavour of so many other wild greens. Young growth is best, but Heal-all leaves, flowers and stems remain tasty even this time of year and make a nice field nibble, garnish, or addition to salads. They can be cooked, though I find their flavour and texture is nicer raw.
The only notable caution with Heal-all is some evidence suggests it may bioaccumulate heavy metals such as arsenic, cadmium, mercury, and lead. Like Cattails (another bioaccumulator), Heal-all is something I don’t collect from roadsides.
With its penchant for sharing our human-altered habitats, Heal-all is one of our native plants that is likely more common here now than it was historically. If you haven’t noticed it yet, I bet you’ll now be seeing it everywhere on PEI Untamed!
