Grindelia
Gumweed, gum plant, California gum plant, hardy grindelia, scaly grindelia, rosin weed; Grindelia robusta Nutt., Grindelia squarrosa (Pursh) Dunal, Grindelia humilis Hook. & Arn., Grindelia camporum Greene; in pharmacy Grindeliae herba
- Known today as
- The dried flowering tops and leaves of several gumweeds of the western United States, of the family Asteraceae, perennial or biennial herbs or small shrubs whose early growth is “covered with a glutinous varnish.” Grieve describes round, yellow, smooth stems, alternate light-green, coarsely toothed leaves clasping the stem, and large solitary yellow flower-heads, the taste bitter and slightly aromatic; the drug may hold as much as 21 per cent of resins. Until the work of Perredes in 1906, she notes, the drug was thought to come from Grindelia robusta, which is in fact rarely used.
- Kind
- Plant, in 1 older authority
- Constituents
- triterpenoid saponins, chlorogenic acid, tannins, and 1 more
- Earliest authority here
- Grieve, A Modern Herbal (1931) (A Modern Herbal, 1931)
- In other databases
- Plants of the World Online · GBIF · Wikidata
Caution. Not for those allergic to plants of the Asteraceae (Compositae) family, nor under eighteen. The European agency advises seeing a doctor at once if the cough worsens or breathlessness, high fever, or purulent sputum appears.
Grindelia: what was it used for?
A remedy for the chest. Grieve calls it “Expectorant and sedative, with an action resembling atropine,” its principal use “in bronchial catarrh, especially when there is any asthmatic tendency,” employed with success in whooping cough and outwardly for rhus poisoning and burns.
Grindelia: what does modern science say?
The European Medicines Agency’s herbal committee accepts the herb as a traditional herbal medicine, “exclusively based upon long-standing use,” for the relief of cough associated with a cold (monograph of 2012). Its assessment report names triterpenoid saponins, phenolic acids such as chlorogenic acid, and about 5 per cent of tannins among the constituents, and accepted the use as plausible “Despite the absence of data from clinical studies.”
Pharmacognosy & Toxicology
- Constituents
- triterpenoid saponins
- chlorogenic acid ChEMBLamong the phenolic acids, with p-coumaric acid
- tanninsabout 5 per cent
- resinsas much as 21 per cent of the drug, by Grieve’s account
- Mechanism
- Not established in the sources read for this entry.
- Standing
- European Union herbal monograph (2012): traditional use, “exclusively based upon long-standing use,” for cough associated with a cold.
- European Medicines Agency, Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products. European Union herbal monograph on Grindeliae herba (Gumweed herb). EMA/HMPC/748220/2011, 20 November 2012. Read in full · the text read
- European Medicines Agency, Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products. Assessment report on Grindeliae herba. EMA/HMPC/748218/2011, 20 November 2012. Read in part · the text read
- Grieve, M. A Modern Herbal, “Grindelia.” As published on botanical.com. Read in full · the text read
Constituent names open the compound’s record at PubChem, and “ChEMBL” beside a name opens its record at ChEMBL, the European Bioinformatics Institute’s database of bioactive molecules. Where a mechanism line was checked against ChEMBL (ChEMBL 37, read 1 October 2026), the check is shown with the measured value and its source paper, or says plainly that nothing has been measured. Doses are as the references give them, for description only; this is not medical advice. Each source carries the result of its check against Crossref, PubMed, or the authority’s page: see Verification.
Grindelia: what lore surrounds it?
Of the officinal species Grieve distinguishes G. cuneifolia, a darker, less glutinous plant of marshes, from G. squarrosa of prairies and dry banks, whose involucral bracts spread outward.
Grindelia: what did the older authorities say?
- Grieve, A Modern Herbal (1931)
- “The plant was only made widely known to the medical profession in the latter part of the nineteenth century, by Dr. C. A. Canfield, and Mr. J. G. Steele of San Francisco.” It had also been recommended in cystitis and catarrh of the bladder; because its active principle leaves the body through the kidneys, it sometimes caused signs of kidney irritation.
Sources
- Grieve, M. A Modern Herbal, “Grindelia.” As published on botanical.com. Read in full · the text read
- European Medicines Agency, Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products. European Union herbal monograph on Grindeliae herba (Gumweed herb). EMA/HMPC/748220/2011, 20 November 2012. Read in full · the text read
- European Medicines Agency, Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products. Assessment report on Grindeliae herba. EMA/HMPC/748218/2011, 20 November 2012. Read in part · the text read
Verification
- Checked
- October 1, 2026
- Passes
- Every sentence read against its sources, in the pass over the remaining 343 entries
- The Standing line checked against the authority it names (EMA, WHO, FDA, CITES, Commission E)
- Every dated or regulatory claim checked by category across the database
- Sources
- 3 cited: 2 read in full, 1 read in part.
- Corrections
- None were needed.
What was checked, how, and what was found is set out on the Verification page. A checked source is one whose record was found; it does not make the entry medical advice.
Club members can point at a technical term in this entry, such as a constituent, an action, or a word of Jung’s, to read its definition from the source. The Club.
Cite This Entry
Version 1 · first published October 17, 2026
- Chicago
“Grindelia.” In Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1. The Thinking Press, 2026–. Last modified October 17, 2026. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/grindelia.
- MLA
“Grindelia.” Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema, version 1, The Thinking Press, 17 Oct. 2026, thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/grindelia. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.
- APA
Grindelia. (2026, October 17). In B. C. P. Statema (Ed.), Materia medica (Version 1). The Thinking Press. Retrieved October 17, 2026, from https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/grindelia
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See Also
Sharing chlorogenic acid, tannins, resins
Tilia cordata · Prunus insititia · Pilosella officinarum · Coffea arabica · Geum urbanum · Euphrasia officinalis · Polygonum aviculare · Diascordium
Also in M. Grieve
Ground cherry in M. Grieve · Goldenseal in M. Grieve · Guelder rose in M. Grieve · Ginseng in M. Grieve · everything M. Grieve names →
Drawing on the same sources: Grieve
Nearby in the alphabet
Greek sage · Ground pine (yellow bugle, distinct from arthritica (note XLIX)) · Gorse (Ulex europaeus) · Guaiacum (The wood and resin of Guaiacum officinale and G)
Historical description, not medical advice.
