leaves was used as a cold remedy, treating coughs, fevers, & stomachache. A decoction of leaves was taken for postpartum pain & as an antiseptic wash for wounds. The plant's herbal smell comes from camphor, terpenoids, & other volatile oils. Modern research has not found ...

significant biological activity of the plant's extracts, though there is one reference that it has antihelminthic activity. It's the larval food plant for 15 moth species, including the striking Hera buckmoth, Hemileuca hera.