Devil's Shoestring

Devil's shoestring is a root carried and sold in folk magic under a name that the sources read here give to more than one plant, so no formal name is recorded for it. Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs heads its entry Viburnum alnifolium. Kynes's Witches' Encyclopedia of Magical Plants heads its Devil's Shoestring entry with hobblebush, Viburnum lantanoides, listing V. alnifolium as a synonym of it, but its yucca entry also gives devil's shoestring as another name for Adam's needle, Yucca filamentosa. Wikipedia applies the name to a third plant, Nolina lindheimeriana, a grass-like beargrass found only in central Texas. Kynes describes the hobblebush as a straggling shrub whose drooping stems take root where they touch the ground, leaving loops that trip the unwary, and reports that the Cherokee planted it beside the front door to keep evil spirits away and that hoodoo uses it for protection and for breaking hexes. Cunningham has it worn at the neck against evil, carried by gamblers for luck, and kept in a pocket when seeking work, facing trouble at work or asking for a rise. Both books work with the root: Cunningham steeps pieces in whiskey and spirits of camphor to rub on the hands, and Kynes ties a bundle of roots with red yarn to hang over a door.