Botanical atlas

Mountain Everlasting

Antennaria dioica

In the mountain villages of the Alps, Antennaria dioica was long kept as a household remedy for coughs and chest complaints, brewed into a simple tea when the damp season set in. Austrian and other Central European folk traditions also turned to the dried flowering tops for sluggish digestion and complaints of the liver and gallbladder, drinking it as a mild, bitter-leaning infusion after heavy meals. Its slightly astringent, tannin-rich nature also made it a familiar wash for small cuts and irritated skin in places where more famous herbs did not grow. It never became a star of the herbal pharmacy the way echinacea or chamomile did, but in the high pastures where it thrived underfoot, it earned a quiet, steady place in the home remedy chest.

Safety.

Mountain everlasting has no significant toxicity on record, though large amounts of its natural tannins can be hard on a sensitive stomach.