Saw Palmetto

Serenoa repens

Saw Palmetto

This member of the Palmaceae/Arecaceae plant family is native to the southeastern part of the US and West Indies and was used by tribes such as the Mikasuki Seminoles for making baskets, rope, brushes, and other useful items as well as for a food and medicine source. It has been used for at least 150 years in North America as a complete genito-urinary tonic for men as well as for some conditions in Women. Finley Ellingwood; M.D. wrote about these uses in his work called; The American Materia Medica, Therapeutics and Pharmacognosy in 1919. It was also given a nod in King’s American Dispensatory written by a doctor (Harvey Wickes Felter) and a pharmacist (John Uri Lloyd) in 1898. They mention its use for various respiratory ailments as well including laryngitis.