One-Blade

Maianthemum bifolium

HRB-0040Entry “ONE-BLADE” in the 1850 textIn Culpeper’s 1652 first edition

Open in the Concordance

Old claims, quoted verbatim: not medical advice. A warning sits above the claims and never hides them; no warning does not mean safe, only that no source here has flagged the plant.

Substance of concernThe berries are poisonous to children in quantity (about 3-4 g, dozens of berries). EFSA lists heart glycosides; nature guides name saponins.EFSA: Coumarin, Cyanogenic glycosides, cardenolide glycosidesEFSA’s list of substances, not a danger rating. Checked 26 October 2026.

Historical correspondence. Ruled by Sun, by Culpeper. A traditional astrological assignment, kept apart from the modern evidence; it is not a finding.

What it does, in Culpeper: Counter-poison

Culpeper’s claims about it: 2, under 2 headings

  1. Poison (to expel)CLM-001383
    half a dram, or a dram at most, of the root hereof in powder taken in wine and vinegar, of each a little quantity, and the party presently laid to sweat, is held to be a sovereign remedy for those that are infected with the plague, and have a sore upon them, by expelling the poison, and defending the heart and spirit from danger.
    QUO-000940Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the Concordance
  2. WoundsCLM-0021621850 index
    It is also accounted a singular good wound herb, and therefore used with other herbs in making such balms as are necessary for curing of wounds, either green or old, and especially if the nerves be hurt.
    QUO-001355Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the Concordance

Source

Nicholas Culpeper, The Complete Herbal, a new edition (London: Thomas Kelly, 1850). Project Gutenberg eBook #49513. SRC-CUL-1850

Quotations are verbatim from the 1850 text, line breaks joined. Modern research and the European regulator’s verdict on each claim are on the Concordance page, kept apart from this historical record.