Buckbean
(Bogbean) Leaf

Medicinal Usage

Buckbean is native to Europe and North America. Early European physicians used the leaves as a cathartic and a supportive for constipation, fevers, joint pain, scurvy, skin rashes, and dropsy (edema, or an abnormal accumulation of fluid). Buckbean also earned a reputation as a tonic and appetite stimulant. Colonists found the buckbean growing wild in America and used it much as they had in Europe. Some Indian tribes boiled the roots and stems of the plant to make a decoction for spitting blood and other internal problems. The herb was also employed to help support skin problems, and jaundice.

Research by scientists indicates but does not prove conclusively that buckbean may have cathartic properties. The same studies show that buckbean's traditional use as an appetite stimulant is medically valid.

Large doses of the whole plant may cause vomiting and diarrhea.

General Herb Information

Only bees have an easy time finding buckbean, because it grows in often inaccessible bogs and marshes and in cold water. People who are fortunate enough to come upon buckbean in the wild will not confuse it with any other herb, for it is among the most beautiful of water plants. In bud buckbean flowers have a delicate whitish-pink color, and when the petals are fully open they are covered with a soft white fluff, or fringe. Man has long admired the buckbean for its beauty, and he has also used it as an herbal supportive-the leaves contain strong-tasting bitters.

Habitat: Marshes, bogs, ponds.

Range: Native to Europe and to North America from Labrador to Alaska, south to West Virginia, and as far west as Wyoming. The species is rare or endangered in some states.

Identification: A perennial aquatic herb, buckbean has a thick, creeping underground stem, about 4 inches long, that sends out 2- to 12-inch stalks bearing leaves divided into three oval or oblong leaflets 2-3 inches long. The flowers (April-September) range in color from white to pink to rose and are covered with a thick fringe of white hairs. The fruit resembles a bean.

Buckbean, or Bogbean, leaves can be used to help support loss of appetite and dyspeptic complaints. It is also employed as an ingredient in cholagogues, geriatric supplements and especially in anti-inflammatory and antirheumatic formulations. Traditionally, it can be used to help support skin concerns, cold and fever. Industrially it is a hop substitute and an ingredient of bitter liqueurs.

Buckbean
Menyanthes trifoliata L.

Family: Menyantheceae.

Other Names: Bog bean; trèfle d'eau (French); Bitterklee, Fieberklee (German); trifoglio d'acqua (Italian) trébol acuático (Spanish).

Description: Bogbean is a leafy, water-loving plant that grows in marshes and on lake margins. It has large, trifoliate, basally sheathing leaves resembling the leaves of beans (hence the common name bogbean) and attractive white and pink flowers with distinctive fringed petals. Menyanthes is chemically similar to members of the Gentianaceae.

Origin: Northern temperate zone (North America, Europe and Asia). The plant is not cultivated but is wild-harvested in midsummer.

Parts Used: Dried leaves (Menyanthidis folium; synon. Trifolii fibrini folium).

Therapeutic Category: Bitter tonic (amarum).

Preparation and Dosage: Unsweetened tea, made from 0.5 - 1 g of finely chopped leaves is taken half an hour before meals. The daily dose is 1.5 - 3 g.

Active Ingredients: The leaves contain bitter-tasting secoiridoid glycosides, including dehydro-menthiafolin (main component), menthiafolin and loganin, and coumarins (scopoletin, scoparone, braylin). Also present are phenolic acids, tannins, flavonoids (kaempherol, quercetin, O-methylquercetin and their glycosides), a volatile oil (benzaldehyde, citronellol), triterpenes and traces of alkaloids (gentianine, gentianidine).

Health Effects: Bogbean is closely related to gentian and other members of the Gentianacea (see Gentiana lutea and Centaurium erythraea) and it is similarly used as a bitter tonic. The varied herbal uses have not yet been thoroughly investigated from a scientific point of view. Scopoletin and scoparone are known to act as cholagogues and choleretics and have antihepatotoxic activity. Scopoletin is stated to have spasmolytic effect. Extracts show useful health-supporting properties (probably due to the activity of iridoids, tannins and terpenoids).

Status: Traditional health; Pharm.; Comm. E+.



The rhizome and the leaves of Buckbean or Marsh Trefoil contain a bitter principle, they are used as atonic and digestive. In a mixture with a little mint, Buckbean is regarded as a sedative for the nervous system.

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