The Encyclopedia of
I
II
Edited by Malcolm Stuart
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In The Encyr' ^edia of Herbs and Herbalism, an enthusiastic
Malcolm
team
<
.
experts headed by
Dr
Stuart has produced a practical
detailed guide. Beginning with the origins development of herbalism, they give fall
and and
r;
account of the biology and chemistry of plants, moving on to present-day usage ranging from medicine, cooking and cosmetics, to dyes and animal food-stuffs. Practical aspects of herb cultivation, collection and pr-- ^1 vation are also examined. The alphabetical section describes 420 herbs in detail, with full botanical descriptions, their habitats
and methods of and
cultivation, their chemical constituents
their
many and varied uses.
The 350 superb photograph^ and over 1 go specially commissioned drawings and diagrams allow the reader to identify each species, and the notes on cultivation will c.iable anyone to start a personal herb garden. The possibilities provided by modern processes such
as electric drying,
and the age-old refinement
traditional herb cookery, are all elements in
comprehensive new work of reference on an increasingly popular subject.
this
Jacket photograph by
Mike Foster
Below : The Mandrake, thought for
centuries to
possess magical powers because of its resemblance the
human form. ( IGDA)
Back flap : Galanthus (Pat Brindley)
rac«>^v "
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nivalis
- Snowdrop
to
of
The Encyclopedia of
Herbs and Herbalism
The Encyclopedia of
Herbs Herbalism Edited by /
Malcolm Stuart Publishers
•
GROSSET & DUNLAP
-
New
York
A FILMWAYS COMPANY
I
7 '•
B^VIf
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YC
Copyright
1979 Orbis Publishing Limited, London, and Istituto ("
Geografico de Agostini, SpA, Novara All rights reserved
Printed in Italy by Grafiche,
IGDA,
Officine
Novara
SBN: 0-448-15472-2 Library of Congress catalog card
number: 78-58101 First Grosset & Dunlap Edition 1979
Endpapers
from (
:
Spices
haded by
Mansell Collection)
HalJ-litle page
:
The pomegranate Punica I
granatum from Duhamel's century herbal, (
the Chinese,
a seventeenth-century illustration
nineteenth-
Traite des Arbres
Michael Holjord)
Title page
spica
:
English Lavender
'Lavandula
(Jane Burton/Bruce Coleman)
Right: Some of
the ingredients for
pot-pourri (Leslie Johns)
making s<
3
Contents
Introduction
7
Malcolm Stuart
The history of herbalism
1
Kay Sanecki and Christopher Pick
The biology and chemistry of plants Allen Paterson
and Peter Hy lands
The medicinal uses Peter Hylands
of plants
47
and Malcolm Stuart
Herbs /.
29
in the kitchen Audrey Ellison and Christopher Pick
The domestic and cosmetic uses of herbs
71
93
Kay Sanecki Cultivation, collection
and preservation of herbs 115
Kay Sanecki
Reference section
141
Malcolm Stuart
v>
Glossary
284
Conversion tables
291
Organizations
291
Bibliography
292
General index
294
Index of plants
296
Acknowledgments
304
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Introduction
Herbalism
has
long
been
thought
to
almost exclusively of the lighthearted study of early printed works which dealt with the supposed medicinal action of plants or their use in cookery.
consist
The
only recently with quack medicine and become part of the return to a more natural way of life with the study
begun
of herbs
has
to lose its association
rediscovery of our pre-industrial heritage. The study of herbs cannot be slotted into a
narrow botanical niche, either, since the development of man's relationship with plants has always been inextricably linked with economics, religion and science. "herb", In defining the term 'herbaceous' plants arc those which lack a wood) stem and die down to the ground at
end of
tin
the plant
is
their
growing season, or
an annual. Yet
life if
this definition
cannot accommodate some of herbs that come to mind such
the
first
as Sage.
Rosemary or Lavender. These arc among the most commonly used herbs which are woody and do not die down. As het
dictionary restricts our study to
the-
use of
and leaves from plants whereas herbalism can involve the- use of lichens, fungi and innumerable other plants whose
steins
fruit, roots, us.
bark and
we must simply
gums
are of value to
define herbalism as the
stuck of those plants which are of use to
man. The
definition of a herb
complicated Left
.'
by
the
inclusion
is
further of
such
The old-world charm of a formal
herb garden showing the use
of a focal point and plants with foliage of various colours (Gatdden Manor, near Taunton, England).
plants as certain onions, beetroot, celery,
and chicory, which we now term
olives
vegetables. Originally herbs were divided into
three
types:
different
pot
herbs,
which
included onions, for example; sweet herbs, such as thyme, which we now call culinary herbs; and salad herbs such as wild celery. In the seventeenth century pot herbs began to be called vegetables since they were no longer thought of as suitable only for the pot but
The
used at table.
were
also
horticultural breeding
of these plants led to the development of their structure
and
from the wild plant bitter
modern
Until
their
away and less
flavour
to the larger
equivalents.
comparatively
recently
herbs
and quite clearly a necessary commodity in life. In medieval were an Europe,
integral
for
instance,
their
cultivation,
and distribution were essential to the smooth maintenance of any household. In the kitchen Ash twigs (Fraxinus excelsior) and Horsetail (Equisetum arvense) served respectively as egg whisks and brushes. Such herbal implements are to be collection
found today only
Soapwort
or
in exclusive chandlers.
Bouncing
Bet
(Saponana
was used as a soap for delicate fabrics, and Pennyroyal {Mentha pulegium) Verbascum as a flea-repellent. Mullein thapsus) and other herbs served as tapers or emergency candles, and almost every daily task involved one herb or another. For cheesemaking Lady's Bedstraw {Galium verum) provided a juice which acted as the rennet. Herbs still play a vital role in the tobacco and brewing industries, in the manufacture of wine and liqueurs, as officinalis)
INTRODUCTION and colourings in the conand in the manufacture of dyes. With their lovely natural scents and oils, herbs are once again becoming as essential to the modern cosmetic business as they have always been to perfume flavourings
fectionery trade
manufacturers. In order to understand the present revival of herbalism, the development of man's relationship with plants through the centuries should be examined. Historv from the emergence of Homo sapiens to the present day can be divided into three broad epochs the hunter-gatherer period, the agricultural period and the present agricultural-industrial period with its beginnings some four hundred years ago. :
Our knowledge of man
We
and
his
know
can
of the very early history
evolution
very
early man's diet
is still
little for
very vague.
certain about
and way of
and our
life,
assessment of his dependence on plants must, therefore, be a combination of
A
Above: This ancient painting of healing drugs
Below
page from an eleventh-century
surmise and deduction from the remains
was used
herbal. It illustrates an Ivy
discovered by archaeologists. While tools
Galen, whose accounts of botanical drugs
herb's
and describes the medicinal applications. (This one was
and
were undisputed until the Middle Ages.
written at
Bury St Edmunds, England.)
indication of economics and technology,
to illustrate
a book by
:
artifacts
plants
^«T«.
C/'flbnTndlu.
ftulluTfarrom aVU-
JLrpprui
*
•
l^rfriu cdcti,
M .u]iui Qbtai
\rj u
JtSau
'fun>
<
jM
a* myczu tnirr far
regions and, often, caves. Plant remains
comprise a variety of forms, mostly seeds,
some flower and
fruit stalks
and
leaves.
A
can identify plants from these remains, and even fossilized faeces can provide clues.
skilled botanist
hunter-gatherer,
man hunted
animals, fished, gathered wild fruits and leaves
and grubbed up the edible
wild plants.
He may
or
may
roots of
not have
poisonous plants. Certainly he must have experimented with and come to know the many plants within the limits of his
rsfcC-Mtm* jttiiii).;^'
wanderings. Most were innocuous and bland; some nourished him; a handful were particularly pleasant to taste and some equally unpleasant. By trial and error he discovered that some could relieve pain, some proved fatal and a few had a strange unearthly effect on his mind and body. In this period man was able to develop techniques for neutralizing or rendering palatable the parts of plants which he discovered to be of any value to him. Plants were chopped, leached, dried, roasted and cooked. There is even some evidence that the hunter-gatherer may have experimented with fermentation.
nomadic
fumr
i
aqua
adite,-
aiyauom
l>ocfarirf lurvt cjirca tcciTttX*
li rtiu nlatt t^ uino
7mrr Umax
in
reacted instinctively in his rejection of
Cdrra niqia
ftbrr
and foods are only preserved
As a aiirf fbrtr«
m oUd rof*mo frgS
ltmino
nna
bucaf A,
luptu ponti-
survive to give an
ideal conditions, such as particularly dry
„w
i
commonly
•
(rbvrc fuf^
5*
>
boo
urnr cotara Tfunbar^
Tiiairolr*^^
mmjytnffmr^J dLumoftilZ*n^ ruf mdxzun lb ^ nwUifliinc aim riidcra)
(rdrrr for
Right : Marjoram was cultivated
v»V^
m
medieval times not only as a food flavouring but also for
its
medicinal qualities,
particularly as an antiseptic.
HUNTER-GATHERERS
INTRODUCTION The hunter-gatherer period was est clinical trial in
ally
history
the long-
which eventu-
produced the herbs that provided the
best foods, the poison to destroy enemies,
the
finest
drinks,
fuels
and weapons,
soporific
medicines, the plants that pro-
duced colour for body and cave paintings, and the 'magic' plants which carried primitive man away from reality. This last group consists, of course, of those
herbs
tactile, taste or
causing
visual,
auditory,
other hallucinations.
They
are variously described as hallucinatorv. psvchedelic. narcotic or psychoactive,
and
can vary from mild euphoria inducement of artificial psychoM s. Their importance cannot be overemphasized since the effects they have on the
human mind and body ful role
To
led to the
early
man
such herbs offered tempor-
ary relief and an escape from the severitv of his environment.
When
The
power-
they played in primitive society.
sick they pro-
and
early doctors
herbalists
were
invested with an appropriately high social status
and indeed, they often enhanced
their
social
secrets'
position
of their
by
herbal
guarding the remedies and
ills,
stage-managing superstition. Mandrake.
though often we must suppose that the psychic effects of these plants were of more importance than their purely physical
a herb with anciently appreciated anaes-
vided a direct palliative or cure for his
effects.
we
This
is
when modern
especially significant
consider that to early
man
the
between science, medicine, art and religion would not have had any meaning. Sickness, in primitive societies, divisions
often attributed to supernatural forces
their effect
is
to the
entering; the
body and from the earliest medicine was linked with
times, therefore,
the supernatural.
and purgative properties, was imbued with many forbidding superstitions. In the first century a.d.. Josephus the Jewish historian said that Mandrake had the power to expel evil spirits from sick persons but that it was certain death to uproot it casually. The Paeony. too. had to be dug at night, for if a woodpecker thetic
caught a gatherer by day. woe to his c Hallucinatory herbs and their products have been used for thousands of years in all civilizations. Today their abuse is a topic of much contention in what is known as the drug problem. Opium, hashish, cannabis, morphine, and cocaine are the most frequently misused. The long historical associations of such herbs with the supernatural and primitive religion have been incorporated into modern attitudes to herbalism. Much of the valuable knowledge our ancestors accumulated about herbs has been dismissed because of superstitious contamination. The second period in history witnessed the birth of agriculture, not as was once supposed in the fertile valleys of M> potamia. but in the Near East. One of the earliest archaeological sites
i>
at
Jarmo
in
where excavations have revealed evidence of wheat and barley which have been dated at 6750 B.C. Agriculture began a few thousand years later in the New W( >rld and probably started independently. Maize, gourds, beans and squashes have been found in early sites in Mexico. Iraq
The
discovery
Neolithic
of
agriculture
revolution,
as
or
the
archaeologists
was to change man's whole Whereas the hunter-gatherer needed a good deal of land to sustain him. term
it.
existence.
agriculture
meant
that relatively smaller
under cultivation could sustain a whole community. Man began to make permanent settlements and the prerequisites for the growth of science areas
of land
commenced. Instead of subsisting man could open up the forests to make suitable environments
for
the
herbaceous sun-
loving crops he favoured. B.C.. the Egyptians were makPapyrus and palm fibre, ropes from ing
By 3500
they had begun to Left:
make
cosmetics and
The frontispiece of a compendium of was published in France in
plants, which
IJJ4- It describes the plants' range of uses man.
to
10
REVIVAL OF INTEREST Right
Many
:
aquatic herbs are
still
important as medicinal or aromatic plants
-
Papyrus, the best known aquatic herb, was used by the Egyptians
5000 years
perfumes and
treatment of disease reliant on magic. By
in their
became
they
2700
the
B.C.
ago.
less
Chinese had started
to
approach healing with the use of herbs on a more scientific basis. Everywhere those species most usecultivate
and
to
or highly prized for domestic, medicin-
ful al
tea
or religious
employment were brought
into cultivation, planted nearer to
dwellings and stored.
man
The
human
Persians gave
first gardens by planting aroscented herbs together with and matic shade-offering trees in beautiful and peaceful sites. In some early cities like Nineveh, municipal herb gardens were planted for popular use. State-run medicinal herb gardens can be seen in Nepal. Slowly scholarship and trade developed and flourished. Ideas were exchanged as communication grew and with the great civilizations of Greece and Rome the foundations of modern science and medicine had been laid. The classical works of the Greeks and Romans provided standard reference sources right up to the
the
seventeenth century, but nevertheless the most useful herbs included in them can be traced back to the hunter-gatherers and Neolithic
man. Herbalism and our under-
have a far more restricted than the Roman conquerors of Europe. Sadly, industrializ-
and most of vegetable
us
diet
meant
ation has
the loss of
much
of the
standing of the benefits of plants did not Stop developing with the Greeks and
valuable herbal knowledge of our ancestors and the misconception that we can
Romans, however, neither has its stud) been limited to Europe. he dis< o\ ei \ of New World brought the many new plants which were added to European herbals and pharmacopoeias. But even so u only have records of a mere fraction ol the
manage without This
I
(
world's 342.000 estimated species ol plant life. Wild products and plants are still
gathered in large quantities even in the most economically advanced countries; new spei ies of wild plants are still being taken into cultivation
way
in exactly
same
the
as the firsl auric ulturalists did, while-
more
uses air being found
leu
well-known
plants.
enthusiasm for the initial Yet OUl hemical and synthetic alternatives to herbs made available by modern science
(
has had the effect
our Rein o\ eel from the basic proe esses o| prod lie tion, we now know little or nothing about
real
e>l
blindfolding us
and continued need
for
tei
herbs,
raw mate-rials or staye-s involved in the we cannol tell commodities we- buy whether the- d\e in blue- jeans is from Incline. e>r India, Efficiency had dictated the
thai
e>|
the-
200,000
spec ies of
plants, only 12 or 13 arc- widely
e
herbs.
clearly a very great misconcep-
is
tion if one thinks of the
massive quantities crude herbs used today <\ en in the- most
ol
sophisticated of societies.
revival
hundred
herbalism is now experiencing a >>\ both public and professional
interest.
The
culed medic
al
professions
which
herbalism
ineffective
wi\es"
'old
Superstitious
nature
.is
tales'
so ridi-
are-
and
once
an attempt to methods and materials free horn discover tinundesirable side-effects frequently experienced with the modern 'chemically again turning
to
tailored' synthetic drug.
in
New methods
reappraisal are being used to judge
of
the
produced by centuries of practical experience. There ate- signs that the beliefs
revival
of interest
tremely profitable practices ol our i
1
ic
it
ol
in
to
herbs will be ex-
man and
ancestors
the-
herbal
are
being
reasingly vindicated. By careful studies
has been shown that a good proportion the beliefs of the old herb physicians
flowering
were right, and that, for example, plants do indeed posse-ss different properties if
ultivated.
harvested
at
herbs used separately. There has also been a revival
of popular Enthusiasm has been aroused for the charm and serenity of the old fashioned herb garden with its associated culinary and aromatic herbs which
interest
different times ol the da\ 01
in
herbs.
somehow suit the requirements of modern times. Herb gardens provide useful materand
ials
Alter a decline of about two years,
year and that certain combinations of more active than the individual
plants are
minimum
yet
require
not
remain attractive with a
of maintenance, for herbs do
horticultural
special skills.
soils or complex Herbs provide the
vitamins and minerals increasingly sought alter for a healthy diet. They provide an ideal starting-point for a range of home-
made products wines, dyes. use.
such as cosmetics, ales, pot-pourris and
scented sachets,
Not only are herbs cheap and easy but
those in general
advantage of being to
free
to
use have- the
from the dangers
health often contained in
man-made
commodities, be they drugs, food colourings or hair dyes.
Herbalism has become part of the new concern in our society for an ecological balance and an unpolluted 'natural' way of life. This late twentieth-century appreciation of herbs and their immense value in food and medicine truly represents the rediscovery of old wisdom indicating that the biblical expression as true-
today
as
it
'all
flesh
is
grass'
is
always has been. I
I
«
Sfet
Skri
The history #
of herbalism
&& ^*fcm.
a»
sa».
-
mn.
,
—
"-—
Who first used plants we do not know. But someone - more probably, many different
religious belief in a
people - in the earliest mists of history, long before the earliest records that now
the gods, receiving their powers of healing from them. This much is assumption. But it is valid assumption, given our understanding of human nature in general and our knowledge of the earliest communities that archaeologists have been able to trace. It also accords with the first medical records that we have, from India, China, Egypt
survive, discovered that
good
to eat
and
some plants are
that others have healing
i
properties. This
was the
first
step in a
lengthy process of trial and error by which early man in different communities slowly
up a corpus of knowledge about To this gradual process was added, no doubt, experience handed down from generation to generation by word of mouth and a measure of intuition. Why and how a plant should have been capable of curing sickness must have remained a mystery to those early communities, Indeed, only the development of built
plants.
f
sophisticated techniques of chemical an-
century or so has at last provide the solution. So those
alysis in the last
begun
who
to
took a special interest in the healing
qualities of plants
and became especially
gradually gained an honoured place in society. Their skills and knowledge singled them out from the mass as medicine men. Because there were no readily comprehensible explanations of how plants healed, primitive communities tended to attribute the process to a god or gods, as indeed they did any phenomenon that puzzled them. Thus the earliest medicine men became associated with the whole structure of skilled
in
their
application
were
priests
who
community.
Many
acted as instruments of
and Assyria. This very vagueness about the first herbalists points to an important dichotomy in our knowledge of herbs and those who used them. The story that follows inevitably recounts what might be termed the 'official' aspect of herbalism - the only one for which records remain. We can only suppose - but none the less with every confidence - the existence of an 'unofficial' side to herbalism, a succession of ordinary country men and women skilled and knowledgeable about the herbs of their area and their uses - medicinal, culinary and in the preparation of dyes, perfumes and cosmetics. Only rarely do these people emerge in the 'official' story. Finally, in the nineteenth-century industrial revolution in the western world, urbanization and the increasing division of labour gradually caused such rural
Mandrake. For centuries it was thought that if humans dug up the plant it meant certain
wisdom to die out. We know little of the origins of medicine in China and in India. It is thought that the Emperor Chin Nong composed a herbal in about 2700 b.c. and that some 60 years later another Emperor, Huang-
death.
ti,
Left:
A
1
dog uprooting the 'shrieking
wrote a
treatise
on medicine. In India. '3
HISTORY the Rig Yeda. one of the sacred books of
ledge
the Brahmins, mentions the use of medi-
spread
cinal plants.
The
scarcity of
knowledge
about ancient medical practice in these countries should not. however, lead us to assume that no developed system existed there, nor that ideas, beliefs and practices may not have passed across Asia, between these ancient civilizations, in a process of
which we now know nothing. Lack of evidence means that we can only point to China and India and cross-fertilization of
state that a tradition of medicine as old as
that of
Europe does
exist
there, perhaps
one that is even older, and that plants were undoubtedly used as remedies. As a result, an account of the history of herbalism is confined to describing the gradual development of medical know-
in
Egypt and Mesopotamia,
first
its
to the countries of the eastern
Mediterranean and Persia and Armenia, to ancient Greece and then throughout Europe and - two thousand years later to the New World. For many centuries botany and medicine were closely linked, and plants were central to medical practice. They provided the chief,
if
not the only, remedies
other than surgery, and theories
were
addition,
many
many medical
around
them. In ordinary people will have put their faith in the long line of herbalistwho sold their patent remedies made up from different herbs in towns and villages, successful because they were cheaper than doctors and physicians and perhaps also because they appealed to the always very built
potent traditions of folklore and magic.
Only
have and medical scienthe same time medical
since the eighteenth century
the paths of botanists
tists divided: at treatment has become available for everyone, and the old herbal remedies have died out.
EGYPT The Egyptian civilization is the first of which we have any extensive medical knowledge. Much of that is somewhat imprecise, as
is
illustrated in the case of
Imhotep. the first Egyptian physician whose name survives. He served Zoser. a 3rd Dynasty Pharaoh, in about 2980 B.C. and was renowned as an astrologer and magician as well as for his healing powers. His reputation lived on after he died: legends grew up about his work and he was eventually transformed into a god of healing. For the Egyptians some two millennia later, whether Imhotep had actually lived or not would have been unimportant; in fact, his reality would not have been questioned in such terms. Just as a contemporary healer would have been regarded as a priest and instrument of the gods because of his healing
Imhotep.
skills.
who had been the subject of down for many centurie-.
legends handed
would have been regarded as a god. The ground becomes rather firmer by about 2000 b.c. Various medical papyri most important among them being the famous Ebers Papyrus - discovered by archaeologists in the last 100 years
list
a
of medical prescriptions in use after about 1800 B.C. Mineral substances and series
animal products were included, but about five-sixths of the ingredients were of vegetable origin. Each prescription dessymptoms of the disease and
cribes the
gives instructions
on how the cure
One
is
to
be
administered and prepared. prescription, intended "to empty the belly and clear out all impurities from the body typical
of a sick person", required field herbs, honey, dates and uah grain to be mixed together and chewed by the patient for one day. These same papyri demonstrate the central role of the gods in Egyptian medicine - and. of course, in the entire life of Egyptian society. Osiris was worshipped as a god of vegetation. Isis. his twin sister Left: Imhotep (c.2g8o B.C.). the first
known Egyptian physician. A celebrated sage among his contemporaries, he was worshipped as a god after his death. Imhotep was the patron of the sciences and of doctors. For ordinary people he was regarded as the god of healing.
ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS
and mother, was one of the most ancient goddesses of Egypt. She held it in her power to renew life and was reputed to have transmitted the secrets of healing to mankind. As such a powerful magician and healer, it was to her that the Egyptians prayed for deliverance from disease. Thoth was believed to have formulated each healing prescription. He is represented as holding in his left hand the symbol of life and in his right a staff
around which a serpent is coiling itself - a symbol of the physician to this day. So the picture that comes down to us from Egyptian sources is of increasing medical skill confined as it were within a framework of magic. A herbalist carried with him both a casket of medicines and a magician's wonder-working rod; before treatment could begin, the gods had t<> be called on to cast out the devil which
We
shall find this
association between medic
me and magic How much
possessed the patient.
continuing in ancient Greece. both there and in Egypt it was
,i
resull ol a
genuine belief in the power of the L, ods, how much because of a desire on the herbalist's part to keep his skills secrel through a pio< ess ol mystification we anr
i
uot
now
distinguish. But before
Greece objectiveat
turn to <>l
we must look Mesopotamia and
medical science
the civilizations of
their
we
also saw the beginnings
which
approach
to
medic
inc.
or vice versa ly,
is
not known. Quite probab-
they both borrowed from a
Asian source
common
in a process of cultural
con-
which is now lost. The earliest Sumerian herbal dates from some time after 2500 b.c. and has come down to us in the form of a copy tact all trace of
dating from the seventh century b.c. Later Assyrian inscribed tablets are
much more
informative. Tablets from the library of
Ashurbanipal. King of Assyria between 668 and 626 B.C.. reveal that knowledge of herbs and their medicinal properties must have been considerable. Some 250 vegetable drugs are mentioned, as well as 120 mineral drugs and some 180 that remain unidentified. This wealth of information makes it reasonable to assume that gardens where medicinally useful plants wen cultivated must have been established. Whether physic gardens in the sense th.it the term came to be used in the Middle Ayes ever existed is uncertain. But we do know that gardens and parks
were
laid out
that in
one
round the royal palaces and herbs were grown.
at least
Language is and spread of ideas, and it is significant that a number of the names \>\ which plants are known today are derived an obvious indicator of the
Above: Tablet depicting Ashurbanipal.
King of Assyria, at work on his herbal. Ashurbanipal was very interested in herbs and their medicinal properties, and large numbers were grown in the royal gardens for his
use.
Aesculapius Like the Sumerians and Egyptians, the Greeks believed that the gods were the first herbalists and physicians and that they had taught the art of healing to man.
Aesculapius was the first, and probably greatest, of them. Historians now
the
believe that he actually lived, but
whether
he did or not is of little importance. Aesculapius must have been a healer whose skills and successes brought him
renown and about
whom
after his
death
legends gradually grew up. His signifi-
cance lies in those legends. They tell that Aesculapius was the son of Apollo and Coronis. Born in Epidaurus in about 1250 B.C., he was slain by Zeus, who was jealous of his success in healing the sick
and
daughter was Another closer link with
raising the dead. His
Hygieia, the goddess of health.
provides
origin
tradition
from the Sumerians, having passed through the Greek and Arabic languages.
Egypt by claiming that Aesculapius was born in the Egyptian city of Memphis and emigrated to Greece, bringing with him Egyptian medical techniques and know-
These include Apricot, Saffron, Cumin, Turmeric, Myrrh, Mandrake, Almond, Poppv. Mulberry and Sesame.
MESOPOTAMIA
a
ledge.
The root-gatherers The
link
with the Egyptian association of
ANCIENT GREECE
healing with magic and mystery
that
The civilization of classical Greece took much from the Egyptian world and from
physicians.
Mesopotamia, including, of course, its knowledge of the practice of medicine. It took much, but it added even more-. It also
demonstrated by the rhizotomists is root-gatherers who wandered from place to place gathering roots and herbs used in medical prescriptions For the most part, they were uneducated and would follow a complex ritual as they went about their work complex in all likelihood, again, to
I
he
Sumerians believed
that sickness
the manifestation of devils
and
was
evil spirits
had attacked the human body. Magic and medicine went hand in hand, and many of the- gods were believed to be
The
similarity of these
beliefs
Egyptians is cleat. Whether the Egyptians influenced die Sumerians
io
diose
ol
began, perhaps most important of basis lor medic
establish a scientific
all.
inc.
to
is
clear.
It
also
'"»
HISTORY He earns
protect their trade from inquisitive out-
known
Certain prayers and chants had to be spoken as the plants were gathered, and specific times were appointed for the task.
this
person to establish and
The
to
learning he took from Egyptian sources.
pharmacopolists, who prepared drugs and other healing remedies for sale in village markets. The rhizotomists and
But he dropped the elements of mystery and magic and, recognizing disease as a natural phenomenon, established for the first time a system of diagnosis and prognosis. Hippocrates used about 400 drugs,
siders.
rhizotomists
sold
their
plants
pharmacopolists of ancient Greece together form the start of a long tradition of what might best be described as dealers in herbs, usually itinerant and always re-
magic and mystery to justify Such people could still be the markets and fairs of Europe in
ferring to
their products.
seen in
the early part of this century.
Hippocrates Despite
the
traditional
framework of ancient Greece
was in that scientific medicine fas we now understand the term) was first developed. Hippocrates (460-377 B.C.), who was born and practised on the island of Cos, is religious belief,
it
tific
as the father of medicine.
description because he was the set
system of medicine.
down
Much
first
a scien-
of his
mostly of vegetable origin, but he never wrote a herbal. The Hippocratic Oath, to which all doctors until very recently had to swear before they could practise, is of course named after Hippocrates. Its opening words - 'I swear by Apollo, the Physician, by Aesculapius, by Hygieia and Panacea and by all the Gods and Goddesses that to the best of
my power and judgment
BED(pPAI"F5
MEAANTA
.' .
.
demonstrate a close and fascinating link between modern medical practice and the beliefs of the earliest medical
EPE2I DS
scientists.
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Aesculapius, the Greek god of
medicine.
Left
:
Hippocrates, the most important
physician of the classical world.
He
wrote a
number of medical works distinguished for their scientific content, much of which is still valid.
memorial 16
The Hippocratic Oath
to his ethical
philosophy.
is
a
,
THE ALEXANDRIAN SCHOOL Left: Theophrastus ( c. 37 2-286 B.C.) the
Greek philosopher, was a pupil of
Aristotle
and
the first scholar to attempt to
establish a scientific classification
plants.
He
is
reputedly the author
of
of
227 works. Right: Hygieia, the Greek goddess of health and daughter of Aesculapius. She is usually depicted with
him and
others
of the family
such as her sister Panacea.
Greek herbals
The
first
The
earliest
Greek herbal of which any-
known was written by Diocles Carystius, who was born some time in the
thing
first
is
half of the fourth century B.C.
He
noted their habitats and briefly described their medicinal properplants,
listed
ties.
Nothing
is
now
left
of Diocles'
writings.
was Theophrastus of Eresus c.372286 B.C. on the island of Lesbos, who was the first person to try to establish any scientific system of plants. Theophrastus was Aristotle's friend and pupil and was bequeathed Aristotle's garden on the latter's death. His two treatises. Historia Plantarum and De Causis Plantarum Inquiry which into Plants and Growth oj Plants between them listed some 500 plants, were based on Aristotle's botanical writings. These he supplemented with his own observations made during his travels and with the reports of foreign travellers and It
,
.
merchants.
The Alexandrian School Alexandria Greek Emperor Alexander the Great - in 331 B.C. that Greek medicine really began to flourish. A school of medicine was rapidly set up commonly referred to as the Alexandrian S( hool which attracted the foremost scientists and botanists from all over tin Near East. Gradually a body of knowledge and experience was built up, based on the observations of contemporary writers, but also drawing on Egyptian knowledge and practices and on the beliefs of the Sumerians and Assyrians. In addition much information was brought back from Alexander's campaigns into western Asia. The Alexandrian School thus brought together beliefs and practices from many different sources and developed and extended them through research and writing, so forming a tradition that was eventually transmitted to medieval Europe- through the writers and u holara of the Arab world. The written herbals produced dining the Alexandrian period were mainK the It
was
after the foundation ol
named
after the
works of physicians. first
half of the
Of these. Herophilus century B.C. Andreas of Karystos
third
.
Mantias (.270 B.C.;, d.217 B.C. and Appolonius Mys ir.220 were perhaps the most important. B.C. Later, in the second century B.C.. Nikander produced a work on poisons and their antidotes.
Mithridates Experimental work was also carried out under the aegis of the Alexandrian School and was encouraged by Mithridates, who was Eupator king of Pontus between 120 and 63 B.C. Mithridates
was especially interested in poisons and their antidotes. His name is commemorated in the word 'mithridate', which came to mean any concoction used an antidote against poison. Up to the eighteenth century every physician would
as
be equipped with his personal mithridate. Mithridate's rhizotomist. Kraetus, was more intelligent and sensitive than most of his calling. He not only collected plants but
wrote about them and
nificant of all
including
its
most
sig-
illustrated the entire plant, roots.
Each drawing was the plant and
name of
accompanied by
the
by a description
ol its
medicinal
uses.
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acri
Below
:
Galen, philosopher, teacher and
physician.
proposed
The
theories
and diagnoses he
in his extensive
medical works
Above: Pages from an version
illustrated Latin
of Dioscorides' writings
made
in the
twelfth century. Beautiful though the
may
remained, in essence, unchallenged until the
illustrations
Renaissance.
scientific value.
be, they
have
little
or no
Dioscorides Thus the picture
at the beginning of the century a.d. is one of increasing experimentation and knowledge. One man, the Greek physician Dioscorides, first
drew
knowledge together and assembled it in one vast work, De Materia Medica. Dioscorides was a physician with the Roman army and much of his information came from first-hand observation in the Near East, France, Spain, Germany and Italy. He supplemented this with material taken from Hippocrates - about 1 30 of the plants known to Hippocrates are mentioned by Dioscorides - Theophrastus, Andreas, Kraetus and many others. His work mentions some 600 plants. Each entry names the plant, describes it and its habitat, notes how it should be prepared for medicinal use and the effect it has.
18
this
Dioscorides was without doubt the
first
medical botanist. For 1500 years his Materia Medica was the standard reference work on the medical application of plants and most later herbals were closely modelled on it. Indeed, many of the plants he mentions still gain a place in modern pharmacopoeias such as Aniseed, Chamomile, Cinnamon, Dill, Ginger. Marjoram, Pepper, Rhubarb and Thyme. real
Other Greek Christian
era
herbalists
were
in
the early
Pamphilos,
who
arranged the plants in his herbal in alphabetical order, Menecrates, physician to
Emperor Tiberius (reigned 37), and Andromachos of Crete. the
a.d.
14-
ANCIENT ROME Pliny was the most important writer on
He devoted in ancient Rome. seven of the 37 volumes of his Historia
plants
Naturalis {Natural History), a.d.
77,
to
their
medical
writing was uncritical,
uses.
in
Pliny's
information
and thus his work is now of value. It was during this time.
unverified, little
his
composed
THE DARK AGES however, that the Doctrine of Signatures, become of such significance in Paracelsus' hands, originated. later to
Galen
Much more Galen
significant are the writings of
perhaps the great-
(a.d. 131 -201),
physician after Hippocrates. Galen was Greek by birth; he travelled extensively in
est
the Near East and had an enormous output of books, which earned him a great reputation as a philosopher, teacher and physician. His herbal, which forms part of De Simplicibus, contains information on each plant and its habitat, usually to-
gether
with
about
note
a
its
use
in
medicine.
THE DARK AGES Greek herbal tradition, seen, embraced the much older traditions of Egypt and Mesopotamia, comes to an end. Though
With Galen,
the
we have
which, as
the dark ages after the
fall
Empire no longer seem
of the
so
dark
Roman to the
and writing stopped. Six centuries or so must pass before we can point with any confidence historian, scientific research
evidence to a resumption of interest and, indeed, in botany and medicine in general. What happened in the intervening time can only be sketched in outline. In Europe, only the monasteries kept alive the literature of medical and herbal pracin the in
herbs
Monks were
tices.
often physicians
and
care for the sick was seen as part of a
Above
:
Avicenna,
ad. g8o-iojy,
and 950 by a
possibly the greatest physician and scientist
of the Moslem world. His
Medicinae was kept
its
Canon
translated into Latin
been a friend of King Alfred of England. This is the first book on herbs written in the vernacular and also the first which did
and
place as a standard university
became very
lore
influential;
travelling
and herb women treated the and magic were resorted much as they had been in ancient
bone-setters sick, to,
and
ritual
Egypt.
not base itself directly on Greek texts.
century.
knowledge it displays of herbs is remarkable. Another such manuscript is the Lacnunga, thought to have been written in
and pharmacological lore of the entire Orient' and on their own observations. Among them were Rhazes (865-925), a Persian employed as a royal physician in Baghdad, whose investigations into clinical practice gave a considerable impetus 9H0 1037)5 to knowledge, and Avicenna whose ('.anon Medicinae brought together information about the diseases, drugs and
THE ARAB WORLD
medical
In contrast, the highly sophisticated cul-
world. In Spain, in particular, where the
Arab world maintained and the Greeks. By
Cordoban physician Abulcasis (d.1013)
ture of the
added about
to
the legacy of
900 or a little after, all the surviving Greek medical works had been A.I).
known
theories
in
the
practised, especially high standards
reached, and wealthy men over Europe for treatment.
Arab
all
eighth century. this
The
greatesi physicians ol
Arab empire drew
011
the
works
ol
the
Greek physicians arid writers as well as on what one writer on medieval Spain has described as the 'accumulated botanical
ANGLO-SAXON HERBALS was the Arab world that prethe main tradition of medical learning, it should not be supposed that
Although
it
served
came to a halt in northern Europe. The Anglo-Saxon inhabitants of
all
writing
England,
were very interesnumber of manuscripts
for instance,
ted in herbs,
and
have- survived.
a
The
Leech Book of Bald,
earliest ol these
the late eleventh or early twelfth century. It
consists chiefly of a
poem
in praise
of the
Nordic god Woden. Ritual and magic still played an enormous role in the herbalist's work, just as they had in ancient Egypt Waybroad, for instance, one of the nine sacred herbs, was believed to cure a headache if it were gathered, untouched by iron, before sunrise and its roots bound round the sufferer's head with a red ribbon. nine
herbs
sacred
of the
:
were
came from
translated in the great cultural centres ol
Damascus, Baghdad and Cairo. Knowledge of them spread with the advancing Arab armies across North Africa and into Spain, almost all of which had fallen under Moslem rule- by the end ol the
The
textbook until as late as the seventeenth
Christian's duty. In another way, too, the
monasteries preserved knowledge, tor it was there that scribes copied manuscripts by hand. Outside the cloister walls, folk-
named Cild under the who is thought to have
scribe
direction of Bald,
is
the
compiled between 900
THE REVIVAL OF KNOWLEDGE Greek medical theory - supplemented as we have seen by Arab observation and practice - was restored to western Europe at the end of the dark ages by two main routes. In Spain, a school of translators
grew up
in
Toledo (which had
century.
The
fallen to
twelfth 1085) work generally went in two
Christian forces in
in
the-
from Arabic to Romance (a form of old French), then from Romance to Latin, the universal language ol scholarship in medieval Europe. In Italy, stages,
first
|(
>
HISTORY Fulda - produced numerous influential medical works. Two emanating from Salerno were the Liber de simplici medicina. a herbal compiled by Matthaeus Platearius during the middle of the twelfth
Constantine the African c. 1020- 1087 translated a number of Arabic philosophical, scientific and medical works into Latin. Constantine remains a shadowy figure of whom little is known except that he was an Arabic-speaking Christian who became a monk and spent the last years of his life at the Benedictine abbey at Monte Cassino. where he composed most of his translations. His work spread rapidly throughout Europe.
century, and the Regimen Sanitatis Salerno.
have been assembled by to Arnold of Villa Nova, a Catalan who thought
simplici
Both these cultural channels, as one might describe them, centred upon monasteries the school of translators at
Toledo had
.
ists and until the invention of printing were the most important in early medieval times probably the only source of Others were horticulturalists; books. again, they were secure in their monasteries and had both time and opportunity to cultivate herbs and other plants; contacts
with
other
monasteries
in
their
order
Europe no doubt led to an of information and of actual of the sick was another part of and in many areas only the monks possessed any medical skills. At throughout interchange plants. Care their work,
Barnwell Abbey in England, the infirmarius the monk in charge of the pharmacy was required always to have 'ginger, cinnamon, penny and the like, ready in his cupboard, so as to be able to render promptly assistance to the sick if [they were] stricken by a sudden malady".
The study of medicine
Two
of the most important schools of medicine were at Salerno, where Con-
were
stantine the African's translations
particularly
influential,
and
MontCremona
at
founded by Gerald of 14- 1 187 who had translated Avicenna's Canon Medicinae. The Canon be-
pellier. 1
1
,
came
a standard
work
at the
University
and was
still
as 1650.
These schools and others -
a prescribed textbook as late for in-
stance at St Gall. Bobbio. Reichenau Right: Page from
and
Trattato de Pestilentia, a fourteenth-century work on the human body and the diseases to which it is subject. Almost all medical writing at this time
was
derivative
the
and
theoretical
practical experimentation of any
consequence
was
centuries later.
20
not to begin until several
medicina
Above: Constantine
the African (c.1020io8j), an Arabic-speaking Christian, translated a number of Arabic medicinal and
scientific
marked
works
the
into Latin.
These new ideas
end of the dark ages.
usually
Circa instans was concerned with the medicinal use of plants and was compiled from both Latin and Arabic sources. It had considerable influence throughout the Middle Ages. Despite increasing medical studies from the twelfth century onwards, the framework within which writers and physicians worked and thought had remained unaltered since Galen's day. There was
opening words.
The work of the monks
been established under the patronage of Archbishop Raymond, a member of the And the monasteries Cluniac order played a vital role in medieval Europe in the spread of medical knowledge and writing. Many monks were skilled copy-
The Liber de known by its
studied at Salerno for a time.
THE MIDDLE AGES little
new observation
or research.
What
was confined within galenic there was little questioning of basic ideas; certainly no attempt to overpremises throw them - and most medical writers were content to base their writings on the works of Greek physicians which, as has been shown, had been translated into Arabic and then further into Latin. This cumbersome process had led to numerous there was
errors; illustrations of plants often bore little
or no resemblance to the original
from any scientific names of the plants themselves had become altered because of
plants
and were
useless
point of view often the ;
errors of transcriptions
The development
made by
scribes.
of medicine had stultiwas to take a complete revolution in methods and outlook before any genuine progress was made. Even the fied,
and
it
foremost medieval scientist Albertus
200on plants on nus
(c.
1
1
280),
who based
Mag-
his writings
first-hand observations
and
by Konrad von Megenberg (1309- 1374), which was written in German - contributed
the
to
process.
So,
did the
too,
refused to accept without question the
increasing
statements
spices from the East available in western Europe. For much of the Middle Ages Venice was the European centre of this trade, and Venetian merchants grew rich from the commodities that eventually reached Europe after the long journey across Asia from India and China.
of earlier writers,
failed
to
break out of the galenic mould.
The birth of the herbals As the Middle Ages progressed, increasing interest began to be taken in herbal remedies. The first major work in English on botanical medicine was the Rota Medicinae also (
known
as the
Rosa Anglica
written between 1314 and 1 3 1 7 by a known as John of Gaddesden. His
but also included observations based on personal experience. Other vernacular herbals - among them the Book of Nature
V
ft
J
«•
•*
of exotic herbs and
.
monk
work combined Greek, Arabic, Jewish and Saxon medical writings and herbal lore
*>•*
number
Dissemination of knowledge The whole intellectual revolution of
the
Renaissance had of course a profound effect on medical science. The old galenic preconceptions gradually fell away; observation and experiment flourished, drawing on the works of ancient writers but soon soaring beyond their preconceptions. More particularly, the invention of printing in the mid-fifteenth century gave a tremendous boost to herbalism, as indeed it did to all forms of knowledge. Herbals could be circulated in far greater numbers. The first to be printed had previously been available in manuscript form, but by the early sixteenth century original works were being reproduced. These were vast improvements on their immediate predecessors, both in their scope and organization and in the quality of their woodcuts, which depicted the plants described accurately
and
in detail
rather than as mere decoration, which had
previously
Tragus'
Germany tions
been
the
Kreuterbuch,
of
in all
case. first
Hieronymus published
in
1539, gave precise descripthe plants included. In
England, William Turner, the first part of whose New Herball appeared in 1551, was the first person to study plants scientifically. He travelled widely throughout Europe and grew herbs in his garden at Kew, coincidentally on the site of the present Royal Botanic Gardens. Three years later in the Low Countries, R. Dodoens published his Cruydboeck, in which he grouped plants according to their properties and affinities rather than alphabetically. Later a French translation was published, and in 1578 an English version. John Gerard's Herball, first published in 1597 and extended and Left: Illustration of Coltsfoot fTussilago
farfaraj from an illuminated Greek copy of Dioscorides'
De Materia Medica.
commentary Dioscorides wrote that leaves could be dried
through a reed
to
In his
the
and then smoked mucus and catarrh - a
clear
remedy that has now been used for over two thousand years. 21
HISTORY Below : Title page of the first edition of John Gerard's Herball. Gerard was the Elizabethan
best-known herbalist
in
England; he had
own garden
his
in
London, where he grew plants assembled
from
all over the world.
gardener
to
He was
Lord Burghley for
also
over
20 years. Gerard's herbal is based entirely on the work Pemptades,
revised by Thomas Johnson proved extremely popular. By
1583 by the Flemish physician Dodoens. But it is in fact the later editions
herbals had
written in
of Gerard's Herball, which were considerably Thomas Johnson in 1633, that are most valuable. extended by
become
in
1633,
this
time
authoritative
and
comprehensive, covering practically every plant then known; one which appeared in 1640 mentioned 3800 plants, whereas von Megenberg's Book of Mature, the first printed edition of which had appeared in 1475, had dealt with just 89.
THE DOCTRINE OF SIGNATURES Despite what, to use a twentieth-century term, might be called a 'boom' in herbals, all of them consisted of what we today would describe as 'objective' information.
not
In the sixteenth century in particular, the Doctrine of Signatures held sway over many writers. It was promoted by Paracelsus (1493- 1 541), a physician whose controversial opinions and manner (not for nothing was his second name Bombastus!) caused him to lead an unsettled existence in
many
of the
Europe. According
plant acted in effect as
of
medical
its
cities
its
of central
dogma, every
to this
own
application,
definition
resembling
body afflicted or the cause of the affliction. William Coles, an English herbalist who published the Art of
either the part of the
God had not only 'stamped upon them [plants] (as upon every man) a distinct forme, but also given them particular signatures, Simpling in 1656, wrote that
Man may read even in legible Characters the Use of them. Heart Trefoyle is so called not only because the Leafe is Triangular like the Heart of a Man, but also because each Leafe contains the perfect Icon of an Heart and that in its proper colour.' Nicholas Culpeper 6 6- 654^, too, was an influential exponent of the Doctrine of Signatures, as whereby a
1
1
1
by under the domination of the sun, the moon or one of the five planets then known. His herbal, published in 1652, was immediately successful and was reprinted many times. He was per-
well as of various astrological theories,
which herbs were
set
haps the first herbalist to write directly for ordinary people who might collect and use herbs during the course of their daily lives.
THE APOTHECARIES The
increasing
number
of herbals being
produced and their growing scope and accuracy (Culpeper being the last important adherent to the Doctrine of Signatures) reflected the widening interest in herbal remedies and the developing status of the apothecary. Originally, apothecaries had merely sold drugs - the root of the word comes from the Greek for a store - but gradually they had absorbed skills and
APOTHECARIES knowledge and had come
compound
to
prepare and
drugs, as well as
sell
them.
establish
fessionally
In England they had been associated prowith the Grocers' Company
were
body of general traders who and drugs. (Interestingly enough, the Grocers themselves had their origin in the twelfth century in one of the
this
since 1378, a
also sold herbs
early City of
London
Guild of
guilds, the
Pepperers, a reminder of the importance trade in medieval times.) purchased herbs and roots Apothecaries collected in the countryside by wandering 'green men and women' the term is one of many used to describe rural herb collectors), the descendants, nearly two thousand
of the spice
years later, of the rhizotomists of ancient
and also imported drugs and from abroad. They also established
Greece, spices their
own
their
demanded
own
Their work
guild.
specific professional skills,
and
had been allegations that grocers Then, in 1586, came an attempt by the College of Physicians to set up their own physic
there
selling adulterated drugs.
garden.
was
The
apothecaries thought that
their prerogative
-
for
by that
time the practice was for physicians to diagnose and prescribe, while the apothecaries dispensed medicine and attended the patient. Although the apothecaries failed to prevent the physicians establishing their garden, they did in 161 7 succeed in forming the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London, with 114 members. At the same time a law was passed forbidding medicines to be sold by surgeons or grocers.
physic gardens, so serving as a
between horticulture and medicine by growing their own medicinal herbs. By the late sixteenth century in England the apothecaries were trying to dissociate themselves from the Grocers and link
THE PHYSIC GARDENS The
origins
of physic gardens can be
traced back several centuries. astic
communities,
as
alive interest in herbs
we have and
The monseen, kept
their healing
and the Middle Ages, and it
potential during the dark ages early part of the
seems fairly certain that the first herb gardens were established behind monastic walls. The monastery at St Gall in Switzerland probably had 16 herb beds as
and twelfth-century plans monastery at Canterbury indicate a small piece of ground set aside for a herb garden. But the first garden intended to provide plants for the purpose of study (until then, students had worked from herbals alone) was not established until 1545, at the medical school of the University of Padua in Italy. Botany and medicine - hitherto studied as one subject - were from then on taught separately. Pisa followed almost immediately and also set up a herbarium (in which pressed and dried plants are preserved on paper). Within two decades, Florence, Rome and Bologna had started their own gardens. Nor was the rest of Europe far behind. By the end of the seventeenth century, physic gardens had been laid out at early as 830,
for a
\
Tnr
.-7-
1
1
i-t
'/
tti.it
•i< i
Above
:
Bo/y krtr
aiAiC U
trves rut a Jff" Jnhil'tjuj* fjrr
St j-iras'u
m
a'rl'crie'ttl
r/iV
vou t '
rind
Mu
h-'lu
mind.
CofKt
Bookt
Portrait of Nicholas Culpeper and,
right, illustrations
from
his herbal.
Culpeper'1 theories rested on his belief
in
astrological influences: herbs were placed
under the dominion of one of the the sun or the
moon
;
five
.
planet \.
different parts of the
body were themselves governed by the planets.
Hi
also believed that plants resembled
either the part 0/ thf
body or the ailment
which they were intended
Herbal! and
A
to lira/. I lis
Physical Dire* tory both
enjoyed an enormous
sale.
23
HISTORY Right
:
The botanical garden
at the
Founded in 16j j and destroyed by fire in 1702, the garden was revived by Carl Linnaeus who University of Uppsala, Sweden.
arranged the plants according
and described
it
in
system,
to his
Hortus Upsaliensis.
translated into English as Joyfull Newes out
ofthe.XeweFounde W'orldem 1577. as well as into Italian, French, Flemish and Latin. Interest in the plants ofthe Xew World continued for a long time. In the eighteenth century in particular, numerous
made
botanists
the transatlantic journey:
more frequent passenof packing them was to
plants were even gers - one
way
wrap them
in an ox bladder half filled with wet moss and the plant's natural soil - and form the basis of the North American
collections
in
many European
botanic
gardens.
Bv the early eighteenth century the heyday of herbalism was passing. William Salmon's Botanologia : The English Herbal (1710) was the last herbal of any import-
iyoy-ijj8) the founder of modern botany. The system of Above: Carl Linnaeus
(
,
plant classification he developed opened the
way for and
the precise identification
their properties at a time
ance
of plants
when m a
to
The
be published.
erties of plants
still,
curative prop-
of course, played a
plants were being discovered at a great
vital role in
rate throughout the world.
two centuries the skills of the herbali^ were slowly replaced by medical tech-
Although
Linnaeus' s system has been continually modified,
it
remains the basis
ojf
owed more
niques that
today'
medicine, but over the next
to the scientific laboratory than to traditional wisdom.
internationally applicable system.
Heidelberg, Leiden, Montpellier. Stras-
CLASSIFICATION OF PLANTS
bourg. Oxford, Paris (the garden there
The system
now
is
famous and popular Jardin des Plantes), Uppsala and Amsterdam, to name only a few. All of them were linked with universities where medicine was taught. In London, the Chelsea Physic Garden was founded by the Worshipful the
Society of Apothecaries in 1673: on the same site today.
it
still
of plant classification estab-
by Carl Linnaeus in his Genera Plantarum and Critica Botamca of 1737 was a harbinger ofthe new attitudes. Linnaeus lished
in effect formalized a
new
scientific lan-
guage - botanical Latin. Each plant was described by two separate names: one. the generic
name
given
first
.
identified
THE BEGINNINGS OF TRADE
which the plant belonged, that is, a group with common structural characteristics; the second name, of the
One consequence ofthe age of exploration, inaugurated by Christopher Columbus'
from
flourishes
discovery of central America in 1492, was an increase in the number and varietv of imported herbs and spices available in
Europe. The English in India and Ceylon and the Dutch in the East Indies were the main suppliers, and London became the centre of the world spice trade, keeping this position until the early
years of the
twentieth century, when New York superseded it. Xor were herbs, spices and plants of all kinds the only imports from the Xew
World; great
was taken in the remedies practised by the native inhabitants. Nicholas Monardes. a physician from Seville, was one of the first to interest
describe these. His three books, published in
24
Spain
in
1569,
1571 and
1574. were
the class
to
individual species, distinguished the plant all its
fellows within the
same
class.
In his Philosophica Botanica of 1751 Linas a group of species
naeus defined a genus
constructed organs and arranged in a similar way later he published rules for the formulation of a generic name. Though changes have since
possessing
similarly
:
been made
upon which the made, the principle of
in the bases
classifications are
Linnaeus' system is still in operation. Indeed, it is now obligatory throughout the world. Thus by the mid-eighteenth century, it was possible for the first time to disting-
manner. might have given the same plant widely differing names. For instance, the Autumn Crocus, used as uish specific plants in a scientific Before, different writers
a
remedy against gout, was given no less seven Latin names by different
than
herbalists during the sixteenth century. In
addition, it was known by at least half a dozen names in English and by a similar number in most ofthe different European
languages.
The new svstem made
it
im-
possible, at least for trained botanists, to
confuse different plants. it
also identified
many
More important. previous mistakes
and misconceptions, thus enabling herbalists to refine and extend their skills and knowledge.
Although herbalists of course benefited from Linnaeus' work, in as much as it helped all those associated in one way or another with plants, in another, wider, sense it helped to speed the decline ofthe herbal
tradition
and
to
establish
the
CLASSIFICATION
between botany and medicine. Botanists were interested in all aspei is ol plants, rather than merely those that had
division
value as herbs.
From
the late eighteenth
century, and especially throughout the nineteenth, plant-collecting expeditions
were mounted, and plant-hunters ally out
of the best
s<
ientific
sometimes spurred on b\ desire mercial gain ously
unknown,
for
roamed over man) oi at least
comprevi-
uninvestigated,
parts ol the world, sometimes ing,
usu-
motives, but
accompany-
lew steps on other occasions onk many famous explorers. he\ ,i
behind,
I
and other botanical writers
at
home
than merel) have medical value. rathei
ol
those thought
frequently administered as a sedative for
MEDICINE
was the- Second World War, however, during which traditional sources of plant drugs dried up (quinine from
to
shell-shock.
At the same time, medical
science-
was
moving in quite different directions. The slow development of chemical and biochemical techniques during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries gradually enabled scientists to isolate and then to manufacture the chemical substances previously administered in plant form. Plain material was never entirely rejected, but nevertheless it came to be considered old fashioned and in some way second class None th<- less, even today, the orthodox medical
ed flora rather than heibals. sc ienstudies of all the plants ol an an a
|)ioc|uc tific
THE ROOTS OF MODERN
profession
relies
extracted from plants
on
substances
digitoxin from the
Foxglove and morphine from the Opium Poppy, for example. During the First World War, inn tine ol Valerian was
It
Malaysia for malaria, for example), that provided the impetus for the search for alternative chemical synthetic drugs. Alter the war, an enormous programme ol research and development, much of it carried out by international drug companies, gave- us the wide range of antibiotics available today.
Even the most dedicated and
skilled
herbalist found himself gradually denied
work of modern medicine be divided among the drug which became ever larger
a role as the
slowly
came
to
companies, from the mid-nineteenth century wards, who manufactured, doctors,
on-
who 25
HISTORY
} remedies and is slowly realizing that they have by no means been entirely superseded by medical science. To begin with, actual plant material is still used to a far greater extent than many people are aware - in 1968, some 3 per cent (over 41 million items) of interest in the old herbal
prescriptions in the United States con-
tained crude herbs. Conferences have examined the role of traditional medicine in contemporary society, and increasing notice
is
being taken of the experience of
the Third World, both in regard to those nations' its
own medical development and
to
application in the industrialized world.
In this context, Chinese practice ally interesting:
acupuncture
is
is
especi-
practised
alongside western medicine, neither tradition
dominating
at
the expense of the
other. In herbaria throughout the world, a vast
store
much, no
of information
doubt, merely native folklore but some surely of enormous importance - noted by plant-collectors ally
is
only
now being gradu-
tapped and collated
(it
took research-
and a half years to survey the collection at Harvard University; they ended with almost 6000 notes of interest,
ers four
revealing new information of value not only to medical scientists but also to those active in the fields of nutrition
taxonomy and entomology the Herb Society has started national
Above: Stripping tree to
the
300 years
is
used
between
to treat its
and the World War it was the only effective remedy. The tree is found principally in
introduction to western medicine
tropical South America, as well as in
Asia.
who
dispensed.
were forbidden to practise (although, no doubt, in remote country areas, remedies continued to be dispensed - part of the continuing In
some countries
'unofficial'
herbalists
tradition
of herbalism),
in
work was frowned on and came to be dismissed as in some way 'cranky' (though schools of homeopathy others their
thrived and, in the United States, a school
of physiomedicalism latter part of the
flourished
in
the
nineteenth century).
MEDICINE IN THE TWENTIETH
CENTURY Today,
century, the
quarter of the twentieth
dominance of what might be
termed chemical medicine is indisputable. the less the medical profession - and, beyond it, an increasingly concerned and informed lay public - is taking a growing
None
26
up a
herb centre with a botanical
This then points to the way ahead. No one suggests that the clock should be turned back and the advances of modern science be ignored, nor that the old folklore remedies have any credibility merely despite by virtue of their longevity. Yet all the mystery and charlatanism that have surrounded herbalists and their work - surely we should not ignore the wisdom accumulated and found effective over
many
centuries.
Right : Interior view of a pharmacy or apothecary's shop at Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia, thought to be one of the oldest in Europe. Such shops flourished in medieval Europe and dispensed a wide variety of medicines.
Between
in the last
to build
which will eventually provide data for a computerized collection of literary and scientific references to herbs. Research centres have also been established in China, Germany, Holland, Poland and the United States.
First
prescribed, and chemists,
and plant
In England,
garden
bark oj the Cinchona
obtain quinine, which
malaria - in the
.
the fifteenth
and
seventeenth
centuries they were the centres practice. Doctors
would meet
of medical their patients at
pharmacy where the drugs they prescribed would be made up and sold by the apothecary. The word 'pharmacy' comes from the Greek word for drug. the
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The biology and chemistry of plants sH
.
"•-.
Most herbs belong to the relatively highly developed class of living organisms known as flowering plants, but nearly all tindivisions of the plant world include at least a number of herbs. They are different from other plants only in that they being nutritious to are beneficial to man good flavouring agents or effective medicines because they happen to contain
eat,
certain 'active constituents'. This section sets out the evolutionary interrelationships of the plant kingdom and explains the basic plant anatomy and physiology which is essential lor an understanding of herbs
THE BIOLOGY OF PLANTS There are two
(lasses of living things on animals and plants. Both owe their existence to the presence of an cxtrcinelv complicated chemical substance this
plaint
known as deoxynbose nucleic acid DNA which has the remarkable ability of being able to replicate itself from smaller chemicals in
vicinity. Ibis material
its
house the genes, and see
shall
later,
organism.
The
all
it
is
said to
controls, as
the activities of
DNA
molecules
ol
the
I.rjl
:
As
this
Bumble Bee
collects nectar
jiom a Siottish 'Hustle, pollen nibs its
legs which become involuntary
pollinators.
off onto
may be
looked upon as the
first
strand of
DNA which happened to be formed in the 'primeval soup' and then replicated
itself.
This single molecule subsequently developed into a unicellular organism by enclosing its own controlled environment around itself, within a cell-wall. There are still present today a number of unicellular organisms exactly like those original ones from which all living things evolved. We know that there have been two main routes of evolutionary development, one resulting in plants and the other in animals. As will be explained later, the fundamental difference between the two classes is the way in which they obtain their food, but first we should examine the
way
in
which a plant grows.
considering
In herbs,
we
the
basic
biology of
are concerned mainly with the
higher plants.
They can be recognized by
we
the greenness of their aerial vegctativ e
the
parts this characteristic separates chemic-
all
and minute variations in the composition of this material determine the type of organism that results. Lite, then, is literally dependent on the presence of this DNA. The original oceans contained millions of organic and inliving things are essentially similar,
organic substances formed by the action of heat, light and electric storms on the air and minerals. The first living thing
:
from the lower, and plants themselves from animals the possession of chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is
ally the higher plants
which enables plants to build body of cells from inorganic elements. Each body will vary in size, depending upon the species, from microscopic algae to the- huge California!] redwoods which are certainly the biggesl living things on earth. Growth depends upon cell enlargement and division, both of which are made- nutritionally possible l>\ the actions of roots and the leaf activity. the catalyst
up
their
29
BIOLOGY The
structure of plant leaves
cell
is
with wide intercellular spaces. Filtering through them is a constant stream of air brought in through small pores or stomata which are normally situated on the undersides. Young green stems also possess stomata. Oxygen is
open
largely
taken from the air for the respiration process characteristic of all living things. chlorophyll, however, which
The green
is
apart from the upper and
in all leaf cells
lower epidermal layers, promotes reacenabling the small amount of tions, carbon dioxide in the air to be utilized. This is combined with the water brought up from the soil to produce usable foods in the form of carbohydrates. The process is
known as photosynthesis,
ing
up
simplified process,
nutrition
(
literally 'build-
presence of
the
in
The
light'.
upon which
all
plant
and hence ultimately animal is based, can be shown as:
foods as well)
light
6C0 +6H 2
^ C 6 H 12
2
water
carbon
glucose
6
+6
2
oxygen
(a sugar)
dioxide
The energy needed
to
power the process
comes from sunlight. Certain species of plants are adapted to live in shady habitats and this is usually reflected in their larger, thinner leaves which can utilize the weaker energy source. Once
made
often starch - in roots or tubers.
The enormous
variation in plant forms
can thus be seen
and what
it
climate (that
A
differentially stained, transverse
shows
the outer cork fat the top)
phloem (dark pink) and (
mauve)
as 1
30
of a tree trunk (left), magnified
.
The
the inner
layers in the
,
the
xylem
xylem are known
annual rings. The main water-conducting
wood -
lements of the
magnified
the vessels (right)
times.
375
is,
existence.
green
fall
into
ex-
products of that unceasing
tinct are the
search for efficiency and effectiveness in
any given habitat which must accompany success as an organism. 'Survival of the fittest' is no mere Darwinian catchphrase
temperature, availability
Plants
:
where the chlorophyll, although present, is masked by the presence of another pigment - Purple Sage and Purple Basil are typical examples and those which have developed a cuckoo-like existence by living either on the decomposing remains of their fellows (saprophytes) or directly, as parasites upon other living plant or
animal hosts. All fungi come into these two categories: mushrooms are in the former group while others, such as various diseases, fall into the latter.
as facultative parasites,
Some of these,
have the extra-
ordinary ability to live saprophytically on the remains of the host they have themselves parasitically killed.
Those that die
with the host which they themselves have probably killed are described as obligate parasites.
the
and
which are not two main categories those
their
The range of plants alive today and number of species that have become
as a response to habitat
offers in soil nutrients
of water and especially light). Greenness, then, is typical of the more highly evolved members of the plant kingdom and, at the same time, essential for
30
times,
:
the simple sugars can be trans-
located around the plant or stored in some
form
Above section
but a basic fact of
life
compounded upon
competition. This teeming diversity within the plant
kingdom has been
man's existence from the
a part of
earliest times,
notably as a basic source of food, but even at a very early stage man recognized that
had the power to heal and As a knowledge of plants with medicinal powers became of more certain plants
others to harm.
than local importance, a comprehensive popular knowledge developed which has come down to us from classical times. This produced the beginnings of classification and nomenclature which are still developing today. Both aspects might seem to be of only academic interest but this is far from the case. Unless it is possible to refer individually to the approximately 342,000
different
and
species
of flowering
6000-odd species of ferns, or to the almost innumerable algae, fungi and mosses, no knowledge can be
plants
to
the
successfully disseminated
must be suspect.
and
all
reference
CLASSIFICATION CLASSIFICATION AND
NOMENCLATURE The
first
attempt
to classify living things
was made by Theophrastus
in the fourth
century B.C. He classified plants as either herbs, shrubs or trees. The word 'herb' here does not, of course, have present-day implications but merely relates to the overall size of the plant. step in classification
A very significant
was made with the
publication in 1753 of Species Plantarum bv Carl Linnaeus. His system, largely restricted
to
the flowering plants,
noted
differences in the form of flowers. This
was 'artificial' in as much as variation of one particular character, namely flower structure, often does not necessarily indicate any real or 'natural' affinity. It was not until the publication of Darwin's theory on evolution that the idea was fully conceived that living organisms might be related to each other by descent,
classification
that
is
to say
that certain present-day
organisms share common ancestors. We have seen already that all living things have arisen from similar DNA molecules and as modifications were made to these original molecules, so branching of the evolutionary tree occurred.
Some
of these
primitive organisms developed the ability to
produce certain photosynthesizing pig-
ments, notably those organisms known now as the blue-green algae. Many simple green algae survive in fresh and salt waters today and there is evidence from fossils of the Pre-Cambrian period that similar plants existed over one thousand million years ago. Certain of these original organisms gradually acquired the ability to live outside their first environment - the
oceans - and slowly began to colonize estuaries and mud-flats and then finally
became land-living. Profound structural and physiological changes were required and such development were concerned mainly with the conservation of water.
Modern classification
A
based on ancestry will considerably more in-
classification
obviously
yield
formation about the relationships between plants than one based on similarities of certain morphological characters, and the former is the main criterion used in modern systems of classification. Morphology is not completely disregarded, however. Indeed, with modern analytical instruments, such as the electron microscope, fine structural differences may be of use in clarifying certain relationships. Similarly, recent advances in techniques of chemical analysis have made it possible for the presence or absence of certain chemical substances in plants to be used for classification purposes. Such taxonomic knowledge may help in the search for more useful herbs; if, for example, a medicinally useful plant is known to possess a certain tvpe of chemical constituent as its active ingredient, a search in closely related plants, which probably also contain similar (though not necessarily identical) substances,
discovery of a
the
plant
may
lead to
with similar
useful pharmacological actions, but, for
example,
undesirable
less
side-effects.
way from undergoing constant revision as more and more data comes to come
Classification has
Theophrastus and
a long
is
light.
A
current classification of the plant 17 initial divisions. It begins
kingdom has
with the bacteria which are the simplest and therefore probably evolutionarily the
most primitive, and it proceeds in ascending order (in developmental and hence to the flowering group, although the most obviously visible and valuable to
terms)
evolutionary
The
plants.
latter
man, by no means encompasses
all
plant
life.
The
bacteria possess neither chloro-
phyll nor an obvious nucleus in their unibodies,
cellular
and
their
relationship
with the animal kingdom is very close. The next eight divisions make up what we generally term the seaweeds. These are the algae, varying from single-celled organisms that can move around by movements of their special whip-like outgrowths called cilia, to the green covering on ice bark or to the incredibly diverse marine flora, some of which can be almost as large as terrestrial trees. A connection 1
/.///.
.Hiding
and gains some
t
is
own
its
0/ the hint
which
fViscum album J
Mistletoe
parasitt
.
of
its
is
a temi-
nourishment by
roots directly into the tissue
eithei
deciduous
in this ins,
01 e;ci»ieeii.
n Silvei
Maple
Acer saccharinumj. 3'
BIOLOGY can be noticed immediately these simple plants are not able to conserve moisture well and so must live in water or in damp, shady places. The Mycophyta - moulds, mildews and mushrooms - are all fungi. Unlike the algae they cannot photosynthesize because they do not contain any chlorophyll, which accounts for their parasitic or :
A
Classification of the Plant
Kingdom
Divisions
Bacteriophyta (9 orders)
Cyanophyta
(4)
Pyrrophyta (4)
Euglenophyta (1 Chrysophyta (6) Chlorophyta (1 1
Algae-
saprophytic modes of existence. Lichens have an unusual position in the classification order in that each species is a symbiotic combination of an alga and a
Chlorochytridiales
Phaeophyta (Brown Seaweeds) [Gelidium] Rhodophyta (Red Seaweeds)
We
fungus.
Myxophyta Acrasiophyta Lichenes [Cetraria]
Fungi-
Mycophyta
(4 Classes, 33 Orders) [Yeasts. Ergot.
Fomes]
see
them usually
grey.
as
yellow or brown circles on rocks, and, in areas of the world where humidity is high, lichens can attain considerable proportions.
Liverworts
and Mosses
The
Hepaticae (5)
Bryophyta_
Musci
(1
5)
Lycopsida (club-mosses) [Lycopodium] Ferns and
Pteridophyta-
Bryophyta and are the lowest generally noticed level in any
[Dryopteris.
Ophioglossum]
Higher
Cycadales L Ginkqoale kgoales
Cycadopsida-f Coniferophyta
(Gymnospermae)
Coniferales (5 fams) [Pinus. Juniperus]
Coniferopsida—
Taxales (2 fams) Gnetales (3 fams) [Ephedra]
community of plants.
in the evolutionary
usually in stature, too, fern-allies:
Seed-bearing
come
(Dicotyledons)
/lagnoliophyta
plants
[over 44 orders-|_3oo Families
(Angiospermae) Liliopsida _
Herb examples
in
[
]
fover (Monocotyledons; 10orders -L60 Families _
order and
the ferns
the Pteridophyta.
and
They can some trees
be tiny plants or as large as (though the trunks of tree-ferns are not composed of real wood, but compressed Left
:
Each main
kingdom
is
division
of the plant
divided into classes, orders,
tribes, families
and genera. Such a
classification reflects origins, relationships
and evolutionary progress from
Magnoliopsida_ Higher flowering
liver-
Psilotinae
Filicopsida (true ferns)
plants
and
types of mosses
Sphenopsida Equisetinae (Horsetails) [Equisetum]
fern allies
many
worts follow next. These are still humble plants needing, in most cases, much moisture to survive. They comprise the
the
most
primitive algae to the higher flowering plants.
Below from
left to right
:
Different small
fungi -fruiting bodies of a Penicillium; a young root tip in symbiotic association with a mycorrbxzal fungus
:
Mucor.
a black
saprophytic mould.
sporangium
spores
developing
sporangium
hyphae
32
of the
mycelium
,
LICHENS
foliose general view
frond-bases
and
fruticose
root-like
growths
and
i
are invariably leafy in habit.
Of
compacted hyphae
vertical section
the earlier groups only one or two
cross section
have higher plants, and so their world is greatly circumscribed by external factors. A similar rough comparison may be made within the animal kingdom
as
mushrooms and yeasts by man. Although few
ferns
molluscs with
are of use as loods or in any other
utili-
The last two major groups of this plant kingdom classification arc visually and
useful fungi
cultivated tarian
used
way as
a
exception)
{Dryopteris flix-mas
treatment
many
are
are
which
is
worms is an grown as objects oi for
beauty. Bacteria, algae and bryophytes can usually reproduce themselves by a
by fragmentation by sexual means; this helps in classification. Ferns, however, have
vegetative process as well as their
a special
method of reproduction
ing a rather complicated life-histoi
involv\
.
I
ru
which develop and are shed like dust from underneath the fern-fronds
spores
germinate, not into a recognizable fern plant, but into a flat plate <>l green tissiir which resembles a liverwort. This pro-
produces male and female sexual organs, the combination of whose gametes reproductive cells eventually thallus in turn
develops into a typical fern of the species. All the plant groups so lar mentioned, although su( ceeding in their damp, if not
mammals,
economically by
for instance.
Above
:
Lichens consist of two plants, an
alga and a fungus living in partnership. The green alga makes food for the fungus which in turn provides
most important to man though the interdependence of all plant and animal communities should never be forgotten, as no one group can be disregarded just because it seems to have no immediate economic relevance. These two groups, the Gymnospcrms and the Ant^iosperms, are the seed-bearing plants. Gymnosperms include cycads (a feu tropical palm-like trees) but mainly confar the
lichens are shrubby while crustose lichens
form fat consists
crusts on rocks or trees.
which enclose the algal layers
of the
diversity of this
Each of the
dom
possesses
Angiosperms are the highest (evoluspeaking flowering plants whose development has in many ways been conditioned by the need to ensure pollination
classes,
with specific functions within the organism
tion
and continuation of the
species.
The
upper
group
is
and
legion
is
17
groups
in the plant king-
many, usually thousands,
of different organisms. Since Darwin, the belief that each was an individual creation
related
the flowers with consequent reproduc-
cells in the
discussed later.
their berry-like fleshy fruits.
of
type
lichen.
continuation
tionarilv
Each
of strands, called hyphae, offungus
of the invaluable conifers so named because the majority develop their seeds. not in flowers, but in the axils of woody (ones' those of Pine, Cedar, Spruce and Kir are very familiar. Less obviously 'coniferous' are Yew (Taxus baccata) and the Maidenhair tree [Ginkgo biloba) with
sist
actually watery, habitats, arc not vn\ highly evolved. This implies that the) have not developed the range ol organs
moisture and shelter for the
alga. Foliose lichens are leafy, fruticose
has not held credence. As
each plant
is
background
we have
the product of
its
seen,
genetic
affected, gradually, over mil-
lions of years,
by
its
necessity to classify
environment. The to slot each into
and
the divisions already described requires a
smaller and
into
groups
through
sub-classes,
tribes, sub-tribes
and
smaller
subdivisions,
sub-orders,
orders, families.
Such
archical placings have been built
hier-
upon
study and research over centuries but as classification depends utterly
clature
(it
upon nomen-
has to be possible to
relet
to
33
BIOLOGY something by name low)
it is
for discussion to fol-
now universal practice to go back
only as far as the eighteenth century to Linnaeus. In his Species Plantarum, as well as offering a form of classification, he also
introduced a method for the naming of plants which has been adopted as standard. His book listed and described all the plants known at that time. He gave a two-part name to each, one for its genus (the generic name) followed by a species
name
(specific epithet).
the plant's
Hellebore
name,
for
The two make up
example, the Green
Helleborus
is
(genus)
viridis
(species). A plant (or animal) species can thus be referred to by a combination of
words which belong to it and it alone. Universality was and still is assured by the use of Latin.
To
be absolutely correct, such botanical names are followed by the names of the botanist who first described the species. Thus the Green Hellebore
THE STRUCTURE OF PLANTS A prime factor in the success of the flowering (and hence of the seed-bearing) plants
extraordinary diversity of of species, although great, cannot compare with that of the lower plant groups but their dominance in most habitats is paramount. This will lies
their
in
form.
The number
be discussed more fully when the adaptation of plants to their environment is considered. Some aspect of diversity of form is exhibited by almost every species. Indeed, it is largely these differences of form which, as we have seen, have been used to give a plant its specific status. Even though every plant specimen is a living individual and as such is subject to biological variation, each individual of a single species maintains enough characteristics of that species to be able to breed successfully with others of the same species
among
its
community.
The
destiny of an organism
lies in its
part in the successful continuance of the species. Atropa belladonna is a herb which
grows best on calcareous shade.
Under
soils in
the half-
these ideal conditions a
strong healthy plant
is formed (that is, the conditions are good for the health of the plant as an individual), but, concomitant with this, the plant makes luscious black
berries
which contain the seeds which
germinate
to
of the plant species. What is good for the individual must also be good for the species. Breeding or reproduction is the
end
to
which
all
life-cycles,
plant
animal, are conditioned.
Below
:
Parts of a generalized plant. All
flowering plants have the same general
arrangement of their parts but individual to their organs vary ,
modifications
enormously.
should properly be referred to as Helleborus viridis Linnaeus (often abbreviated
toL). terminal
which we would recognize as being identical - all the Green Hellethus have bores, to retain our example binomial. Other plants, for the same Stinking Hellebores, are example the similar enough to the green ones to be placed in the same genus {Helleborus) but have their own species name - foetidus. Still more plants have enough similar characteristics to be placed in the same All the plants
family (the next highest ranking in the hierarchy) as the hellebores but not in the
same genus, such as Monkshood (Acomtum napellus) and the Common Buttercup {Ranunculus
acris).
bud
flower
peduncle
lamina
shoot
.
leaf
petiole stipule
All these plants are in
the family Ranunculaceae.
By a similar process of comparison, this time with other families, these Ranunculaceous plants are placed in the order Tubiflorae, along with 25 other families, and the order Tubiflorae in the class Sympetalae. Sympetalae is a class within the
subdivision
Dicotyledones,
in
the
division Angiospermae.
Cultivar
is
soil line
the term for a category,
within the same species, of distinct culti-
vated
sorts.
They are
lateral root
usually referred to as
Hybrids in seed catalogues. between species of the same or even different genera occur and these are indicated by an x sign, for example, Tilia x europaea, being the hybrid derived from T. cordata and T. platyphyllos An inter-
varieties
.
system of rules now governs nomenclature. The necessity for this seemingly very complicated system of nomenclature is national
that correct botanical consistent worldwide.
34
names are thus
beginning of root hairs
will
provide the next generation
lateral root
or
PLANT STRUCTURE The
life-cycle of a flowering plant be-
Already diversification may be a huge cocoA seed apparent. is de-mer of the Seychelles weighing several kilograms, the mustard-seed used in the Bible to illustrate a tiny measure, or the gins with the seed.
seeds of certain
even smaller dust-like orchids
and begonias. Each
seed, regard-
less of its size, contains the vital ability to
continue its species for a further generation. It bears the full genetic complement of
its
parents,
making
it
what
it
will be,
similar to, but not necessarily identical
with, those parents. that
do occur take
Any slight
their
differences
chance
in the race
A
variant that helps, however infinitesimally, an individual to survive for
life.
habitat than
otherwise chance of stands better fellows a identical generation, subsequent continuing into a better in its
and
in so
its
is
less
to
likely
The
:
dispersal
growing
of these methods of seed
prevent young plants from
too close to their parents but rather
new ground.
colonize
to
object
is to
although diversity of form is extreme the basic parts have the same functions. The organs of an angiosperm may be classified as vegetative or reproductive. Vegetative organs are those structures of the plant which are concerned with growth, maintenance and development such as roots, stems and leaves. Those parts of the plant which are concerned with the production of the next generation are classified as the reproductive parts and include the flowers
which give
rise
the seed-containing
to
The
root of an angiosperm
is
are either utilized in the roots themselves
the
Variegated plants, for example, have reduced photosynthetic capabilities and only the efforts of gardeners in propagating them vegetatively keep them alive. Once the seed has found a suitable environment the new generation can begin to grow. The seed-coat opens and a first root emerges to give initial anchorage, and then a shoot appears to reach for the light. By the time this happens unicellular root hairs are abstracting water and salts in solution from the soil. As it breaks above ground, the shoot's greenness develops
or conducted via the vascular tissue to
other parts of the plant. In addition, they
may have
certain specialized functions: food storage, especially as starch (as in Taraxacum officinale, the Dandelion), or as aerial roots they
may
serve to support the
plant either by growing downwards at an angle from the stem to the soil (maize, for example) or by being especially modified as climbing roots to anchor stems to walls and rocks Hedera helix Ivy for instance (
(
album
i
)
some
Further,
species
Mistletoe)
,
such
Viscum
as
which penetrate the vascular
this first growth-spurt is obtained from the food-store within the seed itself, produced while the seed was still developing within the fruit on the parent plant. From this moment the plant develops and eventually attains maturity. As with any living organism its life is beset with dangers and difficulties: problems of competition, availability of food, unpredictability of weather, inevitability of predators. Yet if only because of the sheer number of any one species generally in-
plant host.
The stem is that part of the plant which rises above the ground and, together with the leaves, forms the shoot. Most stems are erect aerial organs but some remain underground and still others creep along the surface. The stem typically serves as a mechanical support for the leaves, flowers and fruits; a pathway for conduction of newly made- food to other parts of the plant, perhaps for storage, and of stored
volved, success for that species
manufacture of the food
is
assured.
Only geological cataclysms and man's interference -
ever before
now
a greater danger than
are likely to cause extinction.
Structure of the typical plant Depending upon the species concerned vegetative growth continues by extension of the primary shoot and root structures fall growth, of course, is by continual ell elongation and division) which branch and branch again. In a 'typical' plant aerial growth is paralleled by that underground growth which cannot be seen. But (
food to
stems
;
its
and
required
site;
a
tissues
site
itself
for in
the
green
as a potential reproductive
Certain underground stems be used for food storage as tubers, rhizomes, bulbs and corms. Modifications to aerial stems include stolons, ten-
may
and thorns.
Leaves, the characteristic photosynthe-
organs of higher plants, have their size. shape and structure expressly designed to promote maximum contact with light and air. Another important leaf activity is transpiration, the loss of water vapour tic
through the leaves.
dispersal
of a
structure.
drils
water
have parasitic roots
and photosynthesis begins. The eneruv for
dispersal
a subterranean organ whose functions are
reproduce.
to
is
strawberry cranesbil
animal
typically
A debilitating variant
survive
this
cotoneaster
fruits.
to anchor the plant to its growing medium and to take up water and other nutrients from the soil. These absorbed materials
doing gradually changes the
characteristics of the species
process of evolution.
Right
coconut
Leaves, like stems and roots, vary in
many
example, in their shape and size, their arrangement on the stem and their vein patterns. Certain basic features are, however, distinguishable. The leal blade or lamina is attached to the stem by means of a continuation of the stem itself, the stalk or petiole. At the base of the petiole are axillary buds which produce secondary branches or flowers or both. respects
-
for
Sometimes small
leaf-like structures, called
In some leaves, leaf and the leaves are said The blades of some leaves are
stipules, are found.
petioles are absent to be sessile.
deeply indented at the margins or edges while others are completely separated into individual parts called leaflets. II the
lamina remains in one piece even though deeply lobed, the leaf is referred to as a simple leal. Complete segmentation of the 35
BIOLOGY blade into leaf.
leaflets
produces a compound different examples
There are many
of both types.
Flowers are specialized branched stems with lateral appendages. The flower is supported by a stem or pedicel which enlarges terminally to give a receptacle, to
which the
floral parts are
attached.
The
sepals (collectively forming the calyx) are
joined to the receptacle and within them are found the petals (or corolla Together the calyx and corolla are termed the perianth. The next group of appendages )
.
are the stamens (the male parts, collectively called the androecium) each consisting of a
narrow
filament, topped by an
anther which produces the pollen. Within these, at the centre of the flower, is the female reproductive structure, the gynoecium. The basic unit of this is the carpel.
At the base is the ovary containing the ovules which develop into the seeds. The ovule is surmounted by a style culminating in a stigma. Extraordinary variation
of the relative size and arrangement of these structures is observed. Some (lowers so-called perfect flowers have both male and female parts, but other plants havi male flowers which are distinct from male ones. When both types ol the flowers are found on one plant, the plant is said to be monoecious (for example. Cucumber) when they are on separate It
;
plants, the species (for
is
known
as dioecious
example, Holly).
After fertilization, the flower structure develops into a fruit containing the fertilized ovules or seecis. The embryo within the seed consists of a short axis with one or
two seed-leaves or cotyledons which are food stores. After germination, sometimes the seed-leaves stay below ground (hypogeal germination), but in other species
they break through the soil surface to act as the primary photosynthesizers (epigeal germination). Monocotyledonous plants
produce only one cotyledon, dicotyledonous two. In addition the mature embryo contains a plumule which gives rise to the shoot and the radicle which becomes the root system. The seed is surrounded by a testa or seed-coat. The wall of the immature ovary gives rise to
the
main
structure of the fruit-wall
- the pericarp - which
is
generally divided
Right: Diagram of a generalized flower (all flowering plants have the same general arrangement )
,
which may be defined, simply,
as a specialized branched stem with a
number
of modified lateral appendages. The enormous variations in size, shape
and colour are
often attributable to the plant's adaptation to
a particular method of pollination.
36
into three,
more or
less distinct, layers:
and the endocarp. A very wide range of seeds and fruits exists. The variation in form and character the exocarp, the mesocarp
of each of the organs
is
useful in identifica-
tion and a brief description of each main type will be found in the glossary.
be realized that every plant is adapted to its habitat. The available resources of nutrients derived from the soil (both of organic and inorganic origins) restrict or promote the It will
perfectly
dominance of certain groups. do the amounts of water and the
success or So, too,
vagaries
Because
of climate.
they
are
plants they are able to harness air
and
sunlight. Herbs, as they have
defined, are plants used by
come
man
in a
to
be
num-
ber of different ways: only in a few cases does this detract from their efficiency as organisms. Their botanical classification,
however,
human
is
not necessarily determined b\
usage. Certain plant families con-
numbers of herb plants. The Umbelliferae, which includes Parsley, Dill, Caraway, Coriander and Angelica, and the Labiatae with Sage, Thyme, Mint, Savory, Rosemary, for example, have main culinary herbs. The tain
relatively
Solanaceae
large
include
a
disproportionate
number of drug plants Mandrake, monium, Belladonna and Henbane
Stra.
PLANT GROWTH The
growth are water, warmth, air and nutrients.
basic necessities for plant
light,
We will see shortly how plant forms develop in response to the search for these basic requirements, so making maximum use of the available resources. Air is the only essential factor for every phase of growth of the higher plants except in the short initial stage of seed germination. In normal conditions the ramifying root system possesses myriads of root hairs in contact with the soil. Each soil 'crumb" is surrounded by a film of water in which inorganic salts (the product of the continual weathering of inorganic rocks and decomposing organic remains; are disThe root-hair wall acts as a membrane through which water and
solved.
certain dissolved salts can pass. Osmosis,
the process by which two solutions (in this case cell sap
and
soil
a semi-permeable
water), separated by
membrane
(here, the
root-hair wall) attempt to equalize each other,
means
that
weaker solutions flow
into stronger ones. In this case, the cell
sap
is
more concentrated and hence salts) from the soil are drawn root hair. Its contents are now
the
water and into the
weaker than those of the adjoining inner cells
and
so the osmotic flow proceeds
inwards until
it
reaches the conducting
NUTRITION These are groups of specialized throughout the plant whose function it is to convey water and tissues.
extending
cells
dissolved minerals to all part of the plant
(both the nutrients and the products of photosynthesis in the green parts). The sophistication of these tissues is a feature
yffctrlM
«/.:,
»
^K^^^^*
^^
m
of the morphology of the higher plants. The conducting or vascular tissues are
capable of permitting nutrient movement in both directions (that is, both to and from the roots). In young roots and stems there are separate strands of xylem taking
pimmmmB'
1
(
nutrients
up from the
roots)
and phloem
J
Ij
(bringing the products of photosynthesis down). There is considerable variation in the form of these conducting elements (vessels
and tracheids are examples) and
may
be used for identification purposes. In more developed (older this diversity
plants, these tissues exist as rings
1
H
•xi
^|
^8^mr7nHvTTf ~^yij
^H
^m
^^H
which
develop as the stems and roots enlarge.
The nutrition of plants For efficient growth plants require a wide range of nutrients in solution, the main elements being nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. To these are added calcium, sulphur,
magnesium and
a large
number
of trace elements such as boron, iron, copper, zinc and
molybdenum which
are
equally essential but in minute quantities only. Deficiencies of these minor or trace elements show as physiological diseases; in excess, however, they can be positively
the crop has been harvested. Decomposi-
Above
tion of the root system with the nodules
kept in the dark
and the bacteria they contain
stem with small leaves
into the soil, so
Surprisingly, although nitrogen
a major constituent of the air with which most plants are in constant contact, only a relatively small number of them can make direct use of this source. Most nitrogen has to be obtained from nitrogenous compounds in the soil hence ui apply ammonium nitrate or sodium nitrate as fertilizers to supplement what is already there. But members of one plant family in particular, the Leguminosae, have developed a symbiotic 01 mutually beneficialj relationship with is
certain bacteria (notably Bacillus species or Rhizobium radicicola) which are able to this
is
for
with most crops which deplete soil nitrogen. The nodules are clearly visible on any carefully lifted legume root. Alders and a few subtropical trees such as Casuarinas also display this adaptation.
atmospheric nitrogen. The bacsmall nodules grown by the
teria live in
roots of the plant host
and provide
it
in
return with nitrogen. This is why crops of peas or beans, lor example, positively benefit the soil
provided that the under-
ground parts are
left
in the
ground
after
with
ted
reddish
a
tinge.
Phosphorus
energy through photosynthesis respiration, and without it both
transfers
and
body
reactions in the plant
to take
fail
place properly. Potassium seems to have a special part to play in carbohydrate
metabolism and a deficiency shows as pool general development in many parts ol the plant. Potassium also contributes to resistance against disease It is
the
not necessary to
inorganic
and
list all
nutrients
the roles of
which
plants
growing in a balanced soil. The vital part played by water as a pathway to nutrient is
also clear.
Water
is
also
biochemical processes in the plant, including photosynthesis. Most plants, however, take up more water than they actually require for these processes because the essential materials essential to all the
are generally only present in
very dilute solution, so that a has to
be-
taken into
the-
the-
lot
soil
in
ofwatei
plant for
it
to
obtain enough of its dissolved salts. This excess water is transpired from the surlae c ol
the leaf or
young
and
so has developed a long
- a good example of
a plant growing without light, one of the necessities for healthy
growth.
stems. Vast
of water pass through the plants in this way a summer crop of grass, for example, has been estimated to have transpired some 500 tons of water per acre 255 tonnes per hectare) between May and :
(
1
July.
The warmth needed
for
plant growth
relates directly to the species naturally
occurring in any one climate. Plants are seldom killed by cold in their own habitats. When a range of exotics is grown in a cold climate, however, it can be seen that the ability to withstand frost is not necessarily
plants
inherent.
much
greater
Among
primitive
extremes
appear
Certain unicellular algae, for example-, have- been recorded in Antarctica, while some species of bacteria may live at 77 C 71 F). In higher plants the life-cycle is also seen to be directly related to seasonal temperatures. A similar relationship is observed, in the higher or lower latitudes, according to the amount of daylight available. Flowering plants grow rapidly and seeds germinate in response- to increased temperature and day-length. These- growth patterns of vegetative development leading to flowering and seed production have evolved to capitalize upon or to work within the conditions that exist in their nativepossible.
frost.
obtain through their roots to appreciate the importance of a healthy root svstem
availability
This courgette seedling has been
in contrast
Plants lacking phosphorus appear stun-
Nitrogen is a basic constituent of all proteins but also of the vitally important chlorophyll, hence a lack of this elemenl produces weak, yellowish plants. An excess of nitrogenous fertilizers results in lush, sappy growth which is prone to
fix'
becoming available
the next season's crop. This
toxic.
disease.
compounds
nitrogen-containing
useful
releases
:
amounts
!
habitats.
1
The
stimulus for activity
may
however, be a direct one, such as this. Winter-hardy cereals, for example, flower not,
M
BIOLOGY Left: Tangles
fLaminaria digitataj,
with a smooth stalk and a strap-like blade
which
is slit
into several sections, is one
the oar-weeds.
of These are brown algae which
are specially adapted to live only in
particular zones along the seashore.
flowering plant divisions are predominant. Flowering plants which
now
live in
water have probably moved back to it from the land to cope with excessive terrestrial competition and have, therefore, had to develop very specialized structures. The floating leaves of waterlilies have stomata on their upper sides, not mainly on the lower ones as do most aerial plants.
The
merged water
cells
of the largely sub-
plants,
hydrophytes, are
wide intercellular spaces, for air is at a premium. If a plant is to succeed each problem has to be solved. The swamp large with
cypress of the Florida Everglades, Taxo-
dium distichum, grows snorkel-like structures, in the
warmth of
the early
summer
be-
cause their seedlings have been subjected to winter cold. Chrysanthemums only flower in
autumn
as the night-length in-
creases sufficiently to allow production ol
hormones which in turn cause the buds to develop. That we now accept as normal the permanent availability of chrysanthemums, and other the various plant
crops, out of season,
man's success
is
an indication of
in providing, particularly
in the highly controlled environments of greenhouses, the exactly right amount of the basic necessities for growth. Air is enriched with higher concentrations of carbon dioxide to accelerate photosynthe-
provided or denied, temperature is controlled, optimal amounts of water and concentrations of
sis,
extra
light
is
nutrients are given. All these factors must
be contrived to create the balanced regime that may accelerate, but cannot fundamentally alter, the growth pattern of the plant species concerned.
species)
Plants, no less than animals, are the result of each species' evolutionary response to its environment. Yet plants complement
and add
to their
environment
in a
way
that animals cannot.
A
climate which permits forest as a
vegetation climax (so called because this represents the peak of plant growth and
development;
is
itself
aided by the convapour from
tinual transpiration of water
the highest branches of the trees that form a forest canopy.
The
soil
the trees to attain maturity
annual 38
leaf-fall
(even
which enables
is enriched by from evergreen
In
in the root network of the Within such woodland a stratification of other plants, from shrubs to mosses, is encouraged and helps to develop its associated fauna. A fully developed habitat encourages a great richness ol plant and animal life. Yet the natural
being held plants.
balance
ecological
is
very
sensitive
to
man's interference. The aridity of the Sahara desert today, and the pollution of much of the Mediterranean coastal areas, is a reminder of the hazards of careless
human Not
exploitation.
all
natural environments, however,
permit the attainment of the woodland climax and yet in the areas of the earth which are able to provide even a minimum of the necessary requirements for plant growth, some such growth is always present. Its form reflects the availabilitx of the basic necessities and the external factors that It
may
limit their utilization.
seems probable that
moved
ADAPTATION TO ENVIRONMENT
and protected from erosion
terrestrial life
very slow evolutionary stages
in
from watery habitats, and thus in plants the ability to withstand drought can be seen as a highly developed (and late stage of this evolution. Thus the world of plants may be seen as an unbroken continuum from lake or even sea to desert. Each main compels plant habitat characteristic species to adapt to it (although the plants which are successful in this adaptation may be of widely differing families and of )
diverse evolutionary origin and age). This similarity of form in response to the
known
as
pneumatophores. which
protrude above the water level and so help in obtaining enough air. The mangroves of most tropical swamps have developed an invaluable seed-dispersal
method: seeds just dropped would fall into the sea and probably be carried awa\ with little chance of germination. Seeds of several species thus germinate on the parent plant, producing a heavy torpedolike first root;
the seedling
falls,
slicing
through the water to stick into, and so grow in, the mud below. Bog plants have no difficulty in finding enough water so long as it is not brackish, but aeration at the roots presents more of a problem. The plants of the saline marshes, halophytes, suffer from physiological drought. Water is available all around, yet because of its high salt concentration osmotic intake is difficult. Water-loss must thus be avoided at all costs and halophytes exhibit similar waterconserving characteristics to desert plants, where all water is scarce. Plants which
are
known
grow
best in
as mesophytes.
normal
They
soils
are in-
cluded in a broad band of morphological types reflecting every sort of habitat and micro-climate throughout the world. The great majority of herbs are mesophytic. In cultivation, however, the individual requirements of each species have to be considered: semi-shade and a moist soil suits Angelica and Sorrel, for example, while Sage and Basil like full sun and perfect drainage. In general all aromatic
as convergent evolution.
herbs thrive in warmth and sunlight. In areas of high humidity where plant growth is at its most concentrated, such as the
In watery habitats the simpler, non-
equatorial jungles, trees will be covered
conditions habitat
is
prevailing
known
in
a
particular
,
ADAPTATION TO ENVIRONMENT with flowering plants and ferns which have adapted themselves to enjoy an aerial life. These so-called epiphytes are especiallv represented in the Orchidacctie for example, Vanilla) and Bromeliaceae
Pineapple
The
families.
typical plants of desert regions are
They are generally leafless with stems and deeply moisture-retaining thick the cacti.
stomata to reduce water-loss. Cacti are good examples of the extreme
sunken
xerophytic
and
condition,
native
are
only to the New World. The problem of water retention and excessive water-loss (leading of course to wilting, desiccation is, however, worldbe a seasonal problem, as in the Arctic where although there is always plenty of water, it is unavailable to the plant in the winter because it is locked away in the form of ice. Plants have developed a vast number of ways of minimizing such dangers. Leaves always the most vulnerable of organs may have thick, waxy cuticles such as the Bay Laurel. The woolly covering of many greyleaved shrubs and their colour also helps to reflect excessive sunlight. Leaves may be greatly reduced ias in Lavender and Rosemary or be completely missing (Ephedra, for example Succulent leaves Purslane indicate their increased capacity for water storage. Variation in morphology is also clear in the type of life a species is programmed to live, and every possibility exists. Ephemcrals such as Corn Salad rush through
and ultimately death wide.
It
may
.
;
their life-cycle
(that
is
to
sav.
the seed
germinates, develops into the adult plant
which flowers and produces a new generation of seeds) in only a few weeks,
suitable conditions are available.
require a
full
summer
when
Annuals
season. Biennials.
on the other hand, take two years for the full cycle: during the first year the seed germinates and develops into a \ egetativc 'body' and an underground storage organ.
The mer
is used the following sumproduce a flowering spike which then produces fresh seed. Many vegetables and herbs do this, for example. Carrot, Pal nip and Parsley. 1'eiennial plants, which live horn three to four years to several thousands, have bifurcated into the herbaceous, which
stored food to
retire to a resting bulb,
bud
01
some other
inclement seasons
eithei
excessively hot or cold), or the
wood v.
root-stock
in
Shrubs, and especially
trees.
m< rease
theii
vegetative bod) yearly, and this in its turn has demanded the production of special
strengthening tissues to support the enormous weight of the tree trunks. Similarly in these cases, special water-conducting
mechanisms within the plant (to convey water and nutrients from below soil-level which to the tips of the highest branches may be a hundred metres above) have had
Above : Swamp cypress fTaxodium distichumj, seen here in autumn coloration, shows adaptation to its marshy
to be developed.
pneumatophores which come above wet
form of body and of lifesi v le a species has evolved, it must be seen as a preliminary to flowering and sexual reproduction. The range of flower types has evolved in parallel with the diversity of fauna which are available to pollinate them. Colour, scent, size and season arcgeared to the animate visitors such as insects and birds and the inanimate wind
water for
Whatever
the'
rain. Efficiency is all and the fact th.it a plant succeeds in the wild is proof that
and
methods adopted, however bizarre, u.dk work. Only distribution of the seeds remains be considered and the methods are as
the ,k
t
environment by having modified roots known as
air,
and a
special
soil or
method of seed
germination which avoids losing the seeds in the sea
where they may fail
to develop.
groups include suitable species which by trial and error have been discovered to possess useful properties.
The
alkaloids
which are now used from such species as Datura stramonium (Thorn Apple) and Hyoscyamus niger (Henbane) may be byproducts of the plant's normal metabolic processes or defence mechanisms. 1 1 would seem that the volatile oils of Rue or
The
Rosemary are in fact intended as a discouragement to browsing animals. Man, ironic ally, finds them attractive and both collects them in the wild and cultivates
its
them.
to
varied as those
employed
for pollination.
individual species demonstrates by existence the efficiency of the whole
organism. Each has reached success and continues to succeed in its ecological niche by a constant process of adaptation ovei many thousands of years. The- range- of species that man has used as herbs throughout the world as food, medicine or elves is enormous. As already indicated, almost all of the major plant
It is significant that few herbs are the product of intensive breeding or, indeed, selection. They are species that have been hist collected, then cultivated, and now even farmed with the development of horticulture. They have not, however, been changed genetically from their
original wild form.
39
CHEMISTRY
THE CHEMISTRY OF PLANTS
fundamental point of difference between
We know
plants
that
some plants are
useful in
and animals. The
latter take in
treating certain diseases or in cooking, but
large molecules such as starches, proteins
not sufficient to say that we know that they work or that they impart pleasing odours and flavours to food. The reason
and
it is
for their various actions is that they contain certain active chemical substances
and
it
is
these
compounds
that produce
various effects. This section is concerned with a consideration of what these active
how and why the plant makes them and how we can best use
materials are,
them. Before discussing the active substances, however, it is necessary to look at the chemistry of plants in general.
There are a number of similarities between plants and animals - both are composed ofcells, for example. The typical mature plant cell is a very small (about o.o
i
to o.ooi
cm
or 0.004 to 0.0004 ins
in diameter), many-sided compartment enclosed by a cell-wall. Within this wall is
contained the cytoplasm
(in
which most
of the life-giving processes occur) and the nucleus (which houses the genes and controls all activities
of the
cell).
Most of the
occupied by a cavity or vacuole containing a watery sap. Some of the most important components of the cytoplasm are the chloroplasts in which the plant assimilates its food. This is the
cell
is
(which contain many carbon atoms), and gradually break them down in a sort of controlled combustion process, thus obtaining their contained energy (required for growth, for example in small definite quantities rather than all at once as in a fire. They then reassemble these small fragments of the original food molecules to form their own substance. Plants, on the other hand, take in from the air a very small molecule, carbon dioxide, as their source of carbon and bring together several (sometimes manyi of these single carbon units, combined with water from the soil, to make up their own substance, releasing back oxygen into the air in the process. The energy required for this conversion is provided by sunlight which is trapped by the green pigment, chlorophyll, contained in the chloroplasts. Other pigments, usually yellow. trap light of slightly different wavelengths so increasing the efficiency of the conversion of solar to chemical energy. The initial product of these photosynthetic reactions is a simple sugar containing six carbon atoms, glucose, which may then be used in other reactions or stored as fats
starch.
Enzymes Plants are very efficient at carrying out this process because unlike in the chemical
when
laboratory
a great deal of energy has to be supplied to cause
(usually heat
a chemical change to take place which
is
very wasteful), reactions in living systems are controlled by complex protein cata-
enzymes.
called
lysts
These work
by
drastically lowering the energy required for
each stage in a complicated sequence
of reactions
(like the
process of converting
carbon dioxide to glucose] The protein of most enzymes is combined in some way with a metal atom such as iron or manganese which explains why small quan.
of these materials are essential for healthy growth. If that metal is absent.
tities
enzyme of which it forms a and the reacwhich that enzyme catalyzes cannot
the particular
part cannot be produced, tions
proceed so that the chemical constitution of the plant, hence its development, is impaired or even stopped. A little energy still is required for enzyme-catalyzed reactions and this energy is stored in special chemical bonds high-energy phosphate bonds hence the requirement for phosphorus. Enzymes are highly specific materials which can promote only one small reaction in a complicated sequence and the overall change from carbon ,
dioxide to glucose requires the presence of hundreds of closely related enzyme molecules.
The absence
or malfunction of
one of these means that the reactions cannot proceed normally. They are also extremely dependent, among other factors, on temperature the optimal temperature is usually 37 C or 98 F The sugars produced by the green
just
.
tissue in the first stages
of photosynthesis
may
be further metabolized in the same cell or transported, via the vascular tissue, to other parts of the plant. They may then Left: Parts of a typical rigid-walled cell. ( The cell-wall material
plant is
mainly cellulose but may be
impregnated with other materials such as lignin.)
A
choroplast
B C
endoplasmic reticulum
D
nucleolus
E F
chromatin
G
nucleus
nuclear
membrane
H
vacuole
I
mitochondrion
J
Golgi membrane
K
40
cytoplasm
L
cell membrane plasma membrane
M
thickened cell-wall
LIFE-GIVING PROCESSES Right: The enzyme ( i ) combines with
(2) to form an This breaks down
certain substrate molecules
activated complex (3)
.
and
give the products (4)
to
regenerates the
enzyme. Only some molecules will exactly which explains 'fit' on the enzyme surface their
high
specificity.
be assimilated
to give, for
example, cellu-
main constituent of plant
lose (the
cell-
important food walls) may be used in or they storage material), important biothe synthesis of other chemicals such as proteins (some of which may be used to make more enzymes), nucleic acids (which make up part of the genetic material of the cells - the chromo(an
starch
or
somes) and A plant
fats.
increases
substance,
its
or
grows, either by enlargement of the existing cells of which it is comprised or by
produce subsequently may which two further enlarge and divide themselves. Both enlargement and division are influenced by the environment as has been mendivision of certain of these cells to cells
tioned previously but it is at the biochemical level that control really takes place.
example, germinate as a temperature in the spring because the warmth activates certain enzymes which produce chemical Seeds,
for
of increased
result
substances whose function
growth by
become important
are to sion.
An
it
is
on
acting directly
to initiate-
cells
which
centres of divi-
increase in the length ol stems
and roots (as in germination), in the development of their branching systems and in the development of lateral growths such as leaves, Rowers and root hairs is known as primary growth. The regions ol extremely active, dividing ells which give c
these growths
rise to
arc-
called primary
meristems. Secondary meristems also occur and the most important of these is known as the cambium. It usually occurs as a continuous, annular layer ol small cells from just above the root tip to just below the stem apex. Lateral division of these cambial cells inwards towards the centre- of the stem produces xylem cells. which conduct water upwards from the loots.
Outward
nutrients to
all
energy and the energy stored as phosphate groups ma\ he released
ol 1
'active
cells,
parts of the plant. All cell elongation and requires the utili-
division
zation
same manwhich convex
division in the
ner produces phloem
and so become available- lor carrying out other processes by a sequence of reactions which
is
essentially
the-
reverse
breaking
synthesis
tin-
molecules to
much
e>l
photo-
down of
smaller ones
in the-
large pro-
Above
:
A
lack of potassium in the soil
produces browning and death of the leaves of this
Paeony plant. Other
give
rise to different
may proceed
deficiencies also
diseases but all
may
tually
The
soil
tilled or the fertilizer will be belli fit the
must be well
unable
ess
takes over as the
is
known
as respiration.
fundamental,
processes
an obvious chemical influence on chlorophyll production as well as inducing indirect chemical changes which promote in
inhibited
main growth
Primary and secondary metabolism
Light, vital as an energy source, exerts
flowering
and even-
to
plant.
which
previously
point.
All these(
at other levels
one of the
laterals
generally be rectified by application of the
appropriate fertilizer-
apex, and hence the hormones, are removed by pruning, for example growth
the
Chrysanthemum,
for
example, as has already been mentioned. In an established plant, cell division and thus elongation of the stem or branch occurs at the apical bud because it produces certain growth-retarding substane es hormones which suppress activity at the other buds lower down the- stem. If the
(the
literally life-giving,
assimilation
of food,
its
and hence growth) most plants, and their
digestion, respiration
are
common
to
biochemical control is essentially identical in all cells (whether they arc on the surface of a leaf or deep inside a root) of all species from microscopic, floating seaweeds to the giant redwoods. For this reason they areknown as primary metabolic processes and the compounds involved as primary metabolites.
Most
plants, however,
make other sub-
stances in addition to those they require 4'
CHEMISTRY
•
..
.
V->
&
I
,'
K
V
——
.
,
L
,
with low osmotic pressures called flavonoids, which happen to be red. A pink colour thus develops in the leaves. After some time when the plant has grown and so needs and can accommodate more sugar, the red substances are removed by reconversion into useful sugars so that the pink hue gradually disappears.
The main types of metabolites The 'active constituents' of plants may categorized according
to
their
be chemical
structure: Alkaloids are distinguished chemically
by
the fact that they contain a basic nitrogen
atom. An alkaloid-containing plant almost never contains just one alkaloid but rather a whole range of closely related chemical components. Thousands of alkaloids are known and they are very widespread in the plant world being present even in certain fungi.
the
Some
Solanaceous
of the best
group
shows
more may serve a protective function. Some compounds are extremely toxic (even in very low concentrations) and a
section through a holly leaf
the 'open' structure
of leaves with good circulation
large air-spaces to promote
bird, for example, which cats a bcrrv which contains these substances and as a result becomes ill soon learns to avoid the fruit from that particular species: the
of gases. Holly, an evergreen, possesses a modification to enable it to withstand drought conditions in winter by having a thick outer cuticle.
merely to exist and these are often ofver) complicated structure. They can sometimes be unique to a single species or a
group of very closely related species. Despite their wide diversity of character and distribution they all have one thing in common and that is that their function in the plant, if they have one at all, is very poorly understood. It is these secondary metabolites, sometimes present in an extremely minute concentration, which exert
the
physiological
logical effects
on
man and
or
pharmaco-
are responsible
and odours of some obvious that it is on these substances that an account of the chemistry of herbs should concentrate. for the strong flavours
species
and
it is
Biosynthesis
The secondary
may
be
regarded as 'end-products' of metabolism have an extremely wide range of chemical structure but their functions are largely unknown. Some coloured compounds have an obvious reproductive role in that they are responsible for the colour of
and the yellow carotenes of sunflowers are good examples and hence attract insects which pollinate and cross-fertilize. Others may have a role in growth regulation the hormones already mentioned while still flowers (the red flavonoids of roses
42
among other
Deadly Nightshade and Thorn Apple. Another much more complex group which includes morphine is found in certain species of poppy. Glycosides are compounds which consist of two parts: a sugar portion attached via a species,
special
linkage to a non-sugar residue.
chances of survival of the plant are thus
They may be
increased.
action of dilute acid. Probably the most
Some
evidence that
these secondary
substances are concerned, however indirectly, with vital processes is given In the fact that not
all
parts of those plants
by enzymes or by the
split
important group are those which exert a powerful physiological effect on heart muscle the cardio-active glycosides
which are special
steroids found,
among
which contain these materials have the same concentration of them. They may.
other plants, in the Foxglove and the-Valley. Second only to the cardiac
for
example, be concentrated in the bark Buckthorn) or the fruits (for example, Caraway). Their concentration, furthermore, varies with the season (and this has obvious important consequences regarding the collection of some medicinal plants and herbs which will be referred to later) and even with the time of day. The concentration of active principles in the
glycosides are those
(as in the
anthraquinone, the purgative substances of Cascara, Rhubarb, Buckthorn and Senna. Saponins are special glycosides which form stable froths or foams when shaken in water. Their physiological action depends on the fact that they break up red blood haemolysis). The Primula is one of cells
medicinally useful plants of the family Solanaceae (particularly the Deadly
the herbs containing saponins.
Nightshade) metabolites which
are
(atropine and
hyoscine, ibr example) from,
Above: This
known
for
instance
show marked
Lily-of-
compounds based on
i
mixtures of oils are complex quite small molecules which are volatile Essential
diurnal variation. Another example in which secondary metabolites may play a
and generally have a pronounced odour.
role in
fundamental metabolism is given by the so-called 'pink flush' of lettuces. When growth and photosynthesis is very active, in young seedlings for example,
many
high concentrations of sugars build up
including Dill, Caraway, Fennel and Anise and the leaves of certain species of Labiatae including Peppermint and Thyme). In addition,
increasing the osmotic pressure of the
some
cell
sap to dangerously high levels. If allowed to proceed the cells could literally explode at this point certain enzymes are activated which divert the metabolism to break
down
these sugars to aromatic
compounds
They
are responsible for the flavours of culinary herbs (for example, the
umbelliferous
fruits
have a therapeutic effect - for example, oil of Clove is antiseptic. Mucilages and gums consist of large molecules made up of several hundred individual sugar units linked together to form chains. They have the special propertv of oils
EXTRACTION being able to form gels with water and thus exert a soothing effect on inflamed
They may
tissue.
also act as laxatives
by
increasing the bulk of the contents of the intestines and hence induce peristalsis. A good example is Marshmallow root. Tannins are complex phenols which react
with protein. Just as a tannin solution is used to prevent putrefaction of animal hides by converting them to leather so may an extract of the Oak (which is high in tannin content) be used to promote wound healing by encouraging the formation of new tissue under the leathery layer formed on broken mucosal surface by the action of tannins. Because of their astrin-
gent
compounds
these
properties
also
have a marked effect on flavour - as in tea, for example. Bitten as the name implies have a strong bitter taste but do not belong to any one special chemical class. They are generally Gentian, used to stimulate the appetite for example, is included for this purpose in a
number of aperitifs.
can be seen that all these different of substances have very different chemical properties. Because of these It
classes
methods used in the preparation of extracts of plants also vary. The extraction procedures obviously dedifferences, the
pend on the types of constituent present and it is worthwhile examining the vari< ius procedures
in detail.
MAKING EXTRACTS OF PLANTS Although it is desirable for all purposes to have
and sometimes, though
not always, profitable
t<>
extract from
it
the active constituents.
important to choose the appropriate
It is
part of the plant, lor not theii active
all
plants contain
ingredients distributed evenly
throughout
each
organ.
materials in Bcarbcrry.
fol
The
active
example, are
the simplest
method of preservation. The
concentrated mainly in the leaves while the useful parts of Chamomile are the
layers
flower-heads.
bunches] and kepi
After collection the pro* edure ling the material
lot
depends on the
hand-
species,
pail ol the plant, active ingredients
and
whether or not the plant is to be used .it once or stored, fresh plant material contains a high proportion of water leaves and flowers usually lose up to about 85 pet cent ol their weight on drying)
and
foi
reason the fresh materials are ratek
this
used
in
the
preparation of cxtnu is. A extract may be ob-
more concentrated tained the
il
the plant
is first
added advantage
(hied, vvln< h has
that drying
is
also
fresh plant material
certain
in
01
cases
in thin
hung up
in
in a dry, well-\ cnlila-
Tubers and
ted place.
spread out
is
toots will obviously
take longer to dry than flowers
and
Above
:
The
volatile oil
being extracted. droplets)
is
The
of certain plants
oil (seen as yellow
driven off mixed with steam
condenses in the upper right-hand
arm
and
of
the apparatus.
leaves
even though the former are sometimes cut
accelerate decomposition by promoting
up
of the
enzyme
also vital.
Once
into
small
Selection
pieces.
correct drying temperature
Too high
,i
temperature ma) cause
active ingredients
volatile oils, for
name
their
as
ple,
is
suggests
loss ol
exam-
vaporize
above about 40 C or some chemical degradation 10 may oeeur as in Digitalis and most other readily at temperatures 1
1
,
glycoside-containing plants). On the other temperature ma) actually hand, too low ,1
activity within the plant
itself.
dried the plant material should
be stored in a dark, cool place in containers that ate as near airtight as possible.
Some
is bound to occur with and it is advisable to use only material which has not been Stored for longer than two years. The material is usually reduced to a moderate powder b\
deterioration
time, however,
grinding
just
before use.
43
CHEMISTRY Purification of the extract
The
next problem
is
the extraction ot the
There are two major the first is to choose a method
active substances. difficulties:
which in a
will extract the desired
high yield and the second
compound is
to ensure
unwanted impurities as possible are removed from the plant at the same time. As has been seen already the that as few
principles have very different chemical, and hence solubility, characteristics depending on the class of comactive
pound
which they belong. Since,
to
example,
oils
for
are insoluble in water, water
or solvents containing a high proportion
of water cannot be used in their isolation. Alkaloids are soluble in organic solvents
such as chloroform but so are the highly coloured pigments such as chlorophyll and carotenes. Glycosides are watersoluble but a great many other substance :s formed in plants such as the sugars and acids also dissolve in water.
Thus
it
is
extremely difficult to prepare an extract which contains a reasonably high concentration of the desired material and that material alone. A fairly satisfactory compromise may be achieved, however, by the use of dilute ethyl alcohol. Ethyl alcohol contains enough of the properties of water to dissolve the sugars and acids,
which arc polar compounds.
It
also be-
haves sufficiently like a non-polar organic solvent such as petrol to cause the larger organic molecules, such as polypeptides and steroids, to dissolve. This has the
advantage
in
that
in
most herbal
remedies the compounds actually responreported action are either not known or they are only, or sometime^ more, effective in combination with other substances either closely related or not which are found in that particular plant. This last phenomenon, known as synersible for the
gism,
is
discussed in the next chapter.
The
various ways of
is
making extracts follow. One of the simplest ways of using herbs as herbal teas or tisanes, which involves
simply extraction of the plant with water. If the active ingredients are very soluble in water, it may be sufficient to macerate the powder with water for several hours at room temperature. Maceration at higher temperatures (as in the case of
some hard barks; the drug
is
is
called digestion. If
boiled in water for half an hour
or so the result
is
lor several
days or longer. This
may
either
be by maceration in a closed \ essel with occasional shaking or stirring or by a process of percolation which involves packing the drug into a glass column and slowly pouring water through, over the
drug.
The
active ingredients dissolve in
may
be collected and passed through the column a second time. Concentration by evaporation results in a the water which
thick
residue
alcohol
is
known
as
an extract.
used the percolate
is
If
called a
tincture.
Volatile oils
may
be extracted
rather pure^state by a process
in
a
known
as
distillation. This method heating the powdered drug with boiling water which causes the oil to vaporize into the steam. The oil and the steam are collected together by condensation. The oil, being lighter than the water, floats on the surface and may then be collected.
steam
involved-
a decoction; but pro-
bably the best method is to place the plant in a pot, cover with water that is just boiling for about a quarter of an hour and strain the resulting infusion.
Not all plant constituents are soluble in water under these circumstances, however, and it may be necessary to leave the 44
plant material in contact with the water
This
METHODS OF IDENTIFICATION
quality.
relatively straightforward
when
whole, fresh condition either by direct comparison with an authentic specimen or by the use of book^ of plant descriptions floras Many recognizable characteristic features may be lost on drying, however, and certainly in is
in the
.
powdered condition further work is required and this is best achieved by a microscopical investigation. the
Microscopical examination Although most plants contain essentially the same sorts of cells cork, for example, or the elements in the xylem, the conducting tissue
form
which have broadly the same
in all species, the fine, microscopic
structure of these cells
is
often
highly
Examination of a powder under the microscope and the observation of xylem vessels shows that the powder contains wood, but from the fine structure individual.
may
be possible to identify the source size of the individual cells may be important: the width of the fibres enables powdered Cinnamon Cinnamomum zeylanicum\ to be distinguished from
it
plant.
As the activities of plants are very diverse and even quite closely related species often have completely different effects, it is important to ensure that the correct species is being used and that it is of good
is
the plant
Even the
the closely related Cassia
Cinnamomum
cassia).
The
botanical source of the plant
is
not
necessarily a sufficiently strong criterion
.
CHROMATOGRAPHY
Above
:
In this chromotagraphic separation,
the various constituents
with the spray reagent spots.
Unknown
of the plant react to
extracts
produce coloured
of plants may thus
be compared with those of authentic
specimens.
Left
:
Closely related plants in the powdered
state are often indistinguishable to the eye
but
may
be easily identified microscopically.
Fibres in powdered Cinnamon (near left) are rarely greater than
jo
micrometres in
diameter, while those in Cassia (far left)
30 and 40
are usually between
micrometres.
of identity. Certainly such techniques not be applied to the examination
Some
actually responsible for the
The second technique, which has been known lor about 30 years but only recently
logical activity of the plant, the pattern of
spots
is
applied to the study of plant extracts,
tic
is
called
ex-
which contain no plain
tracts or tinctures
material.
Chromatography
mav
<>l
further
means of control
obviously desirable, but the problem
complicated by the fact that although many plants have been thoroughly investigated referred to
and their biological activity one particular or more than
one group of constituents, many have nol and we still have very little idea of which components are the physiologic ally active ones. If
purify
we
did,
it
should be possible
to
crude extract and actually
the
chromatography.
into individual
with a suitable
and as it does components of the mixthe bottom of the plate
port by capillary attraction so the individual
is
nol
possible in the majority of cases, howevei and the solution to the problem may be approached in two ways. One is tin application of certain chemical tests. It an extract under investigation is suspce ted to be of, for example, Blueberry, which is
known
contain
to
chemical
tannins,
a
simple
with a dilute solution offerric chloride 'which gives a blue-black colour with such substances) would rapidly tell test
the investigator not. But
the
it
if
tannins were present or
would certainly not
extract
were-
truly
of
tell
him
if
Blueberry from what-
ause generally all tannins ever source) would give a similar colour. bee
ture applied to
move-
as
well,
depending on
but
at
different
rates
their affinity for the solvent
and the adsorbent. When the
solvent
reaches the top of the plate, the
plate-
removed and
dried. Coloured
is
compounds
are visible directly, but the plate
is
usually
sprayed with a detecting reagent which reacts with colourless compounds to give coloured spots. The pattern of spots produced by this technique is characteristic for
a
particular plant extract under a
particular
Although
of operating conditions.
set the
to the spots
ompounds which give mav not be those which e
none the
less
characteris-
compared
ditions, reasonably certain identification
adsorbent. The paper or plate is then placed in a tank which contains a solvent. This solvent gradually rises up the sup-
characterize them chemically. This
is
these patterns are
examined
techniques are available but essentially all involve placing a small amount of the sample on a sheet of paper
isolate the active substances so as to fully
if
components.
Several
or glass plate covered
produced
and
with those produced by an authentic specimen, obtained under identical con-
This enables very
small quantities of material to be
and separated
is
pharmaco-
rise
are
may be made. Extra evidence may be obtained by comparing the patterns made using different chromatography solvents. By this technique small differences in
biochemical make-up of plants may be is important both from the- quantitative and qualitative points of view the amount of extract of a certain plant which is low in active ingredient required for a particular pharmacologic al effect may be very different from the quantity of extract required from an apparently identical plant which contains a high concentration of active material. Such variations could lead to serious overdoses. Only chemical examidetected and this
nation
would
show
differences.
these
Qualitative differences will also be shown
up by chromatography. The chemical assessment
account
of a
crucial
herb
must
variables
take
such
as
into the
time of collection and the fact that plants of the same species can have completely different active constituents. habitat,
45
tsxv«l
W«»^S^»
M!?ti!SS
i*?fc<05
partem
^-Si^r
r**£
*
It.
The medicinal uses of plants i
^--«J!
last 50 years crude plant use has been central to medicine and there is little doubt that herbs are man's most ancient
Until the
therapeutic
aids.
We
are
still
heavily
western world for semistarting materials sources of as synthetic drugs or as the drugs themselves. Because there are still many conditions we
dependent on plants
in the
unable to treat significantly, and because synthetic drugs sometimes cause side-effects, there is a growing tendency to reconsider the traditional systems of healing as alternative medical treatment, and one such system is herbalism. Herbalism is now understood to be a collection of different methods for using
are
plants in healing: some of these methods use poisonous plants, some do not; some employ mixtures of herbs, others believe in
the success of 'simples' or individual
plants; others
combine
different forms of
treatment with a healing regime using plants. This situation is reflected in the names given to the various approaches to herbalism such as eclectic medicine, botanic medicine, physiomedicalism, plant healing, medical herbalism, phyto-
therapy and flower remedies. Their common denominator, however, is their derivation from the beliefs of folklore and origin in the observations of ordinary people. Left: Lonitzer's Kreuterbuch' a German herbal published in I In sixteenth century, '
appeared
,
in various editions until
1
783.
The left-hand page shows the Spindle tree f Euonymus,i, whose berries were urn e
Because plants were so central to medithroughout history they acquired
1
used as a purgative.
cine
many
of the
beliefs
of folklore, which
sometimes had nothing intrinsic
and
to
do with the
therapeutic qualities of plants,
order to re-evaluate the efficacy of herbs, we must, therefore, consider the development of a medicinal plants usage in
together with the influence of folklore on
on and disease of supernatural spirits, and
that use. All medical folklore converges
a
common
belief that illness
are the result
hence from the earliest times medicine and religion have been closely associated. As soon as primitive societies developed, the
man who became
the
priest
also
and medicine man and he started to employ a limited range of therapeutic methods which included predominantly herb-lore and suggestion (psychotherapy). The combination was an important one, and was effective for as
became
the magician
mankind associated disease with unknown. Indeed, the success of suggestive methods of treatment is shown to this day in the efficacy of placebos. long as
the
In these early days many of the most important plants used were those which acted on the mind - the so-called hallucinogens or narcotics, which temporarily relieved pain and which in combination with the suggestion of medico-religious ritual were probably of material benefit. Numbers assumed an importance which was initially derived from the astrological beliefs of the Babylonians. Seven and nine were believed to be especially powerful;
thus plants which carried the sign of these numbers were thought to be particularly
47
MEDICINAL USES Left: Alchemilla mollis readily seeds
and is used only as a decorative plant. Other Alchemilla species are of
itself
medicinal importance and of these none had
Mantle was once used treat painful menstruation, and in a greater reputation than Lady's ( Alchemilla
vulgaris,). It
to
veterinary medicine.
Below : An illustration of early surgery from the anonymous thirteenth-century Pseudo-Apuleius herbal, 'herb a papauer' or the
in
which
the use
Opium Poppy
of
is
described. Several herbs with the ability to lessen
pain were known
to
early surgeons,
the Opium Poppy and the Mandrake were undoubtedly the most
and of these
and ultimately it led to the fusion between Arabic. Graeco- Alexandrian and Oriental medicine that emerged in Europe at the end of the dark ages. It was in Alexandria that the best recorded experiments with poisons were conducted, and there Mithridates in the Syria,
second
century
B.C.
formulated
of succeeding centuries. of Mithridates and
beneficial.
lobes on the leaves
the ages to the present call
orthodox, which
day - those we now
initially
represented
the efforts by physicians to introduce logic
and experimentation into medical practice, and unorthodox, which represented a continuation of very old, traditional and often magical beliefs, but which until two centuries ago largely represented the medical treatment available to rich and poor respectively. Whether the unorthodox medicine of the Egyptians was conducted by the herb women who characterized so much of later history we do not know. But we do
know
that
much
of the knowledge of
Egyptian medicine was passed on to the Hippocrates (460-377 b.c. Greeks learned much from their works - and that the close association between medicine and religion was continued by the Greek physician priests. Hippocrates, however, began the process of careful observation which characterized the birth of science, and he laid down the laws which deemed
him the 'father of medicine' and which founded modern medicine. Information had largely been localized to this point but 48
both
and antidotes which remained famous as the 'theriacs' and 'mithridates'
poisons
The works
important.
Lady's Mantle with its nine is one such plant with numerical power; alternatively, plants with seven or nine roots or berries or seeds would be prescribed. These and many similar folklore beliefs must have already become associated with plants by the time the Egyptian physicians began to formulate their healing remedies because it was probably the Egyptians who began the orthodox rejection of magic in medicine. It is evident that by 1550 B.C. the orthodox physicians had begun to specialize, for it seems that the Egyptian doctors then restricted their treatment to one disease or one part of the body. Thus there arose the two levels of healing which have continued through
one of the first important movements of medicinal plant knowledge began with the establishment of Alexandria in 331 B.C. and with it the Alexandrian School. This signalled the introduction of Greek medicine into Egypt. Mesopotamia and
n aotmicinma ixCc&pttxf fcolorcrru rDclxi pafuucrftluAttcu oorrctum cum acuta irt£u n id fco Kibut colon •
tti'jo fbtnriw c\u x no £*>2rmu nt
lvUxipApaucrcuoieocvttSi^montt mouctaf
omm cqvfn mxrc1bmmtme£roaO£>ucvr,
all
before
MEDICAL HISTORY him were
distilled into four
with the 600 best
known
books dealing -i^ ^•s.'
plants by the
greatest figure in the history of herbalism.
•
t;
v>,
^O
^A
Pedacius Dioscorides. Following the col146 B.C. Greek lapse of Corinth in
moved to Rome, and from an army surgeon under Nero
physicians there as
Dioscorides travelled widely and described the herbs he saw in use in what was the first 'materia medica' or
(54-68 a.d.
"pharmacopoeia". Without doubt he was the first real medical botanist, and his work was for 1500 years the standard reference for the medical application of plants.
Galen
a.d.
- whose name meaning had enormous in-
131-201
gave rise to the term galenical, botanical drug - also
fluence until the seventeenth century, but
Galen was a physician, and
his
major
therapy was the introduction of a system of 'polypharmacy' or mixing herbal preparations to treat specific conditions; some forms of
contribution
plant
to
herbalism still retain this type of therapy. Following Galen and Dioscorides. and
and fall of the Roman Empire. European medicine entered a stagnant period which was to last several hundred the decline
years.
To a
large extent the moral ethics ol
physicians were replaced with greed, envy and quackery, and the old incantation and magic of previous ages resurrected. Folklore rose to the surface again, and individuals either treated themselves with
family
visited
recipes,
travelling
bone-
and herb women, or were helped by those in religious orders. Even tin medical work of monks, however, was stopped by the Papal decrees which were setters
issued regularly for a century,
from that
ol
Clermont council 130 to the council ol Le Mans 1247 In early Germany medicine fell largely into the hands ol 'wise women' or 'wild women who employed herbal remedies, magic and amulets, and to the lekeis who were the equivalent ol the Anglo-Saxon leech-men. In Russia the position was similar with the 'wolf-men' or volkhava employing herbs and spells, while the Celtic order ol Druids and Druidesses did likewise. The 1
.
Druids
favoured
seven
magic
herbs
of
which the Mistletoe held pride of place. In the dark ages, however, between the ninth and twelfth centuries. Arabic mechc
ine rose
on the tide of
Mohammedanism,
and physicians ol the standing ofRhazes, Haly ben Abbas and Avicenna. and the Jewish physician Avenzoar, combined the previous Greek work with their own observations and studies ol botanical drugs and pharmacology. Much ol this work was recorded in the thirteenth-
century compilation of Ibn Baitar whose materia medica described 1400 drugs. The proximity of Arabia to the- East led Arabian pharmacists (or sandalani) to the Stud) ol a wide- range of plants and plant products which became of immense importance to later European medicine: they developed the use of Cassia. Senna.
Rhubarb, Camphor. Myrrh. Cloves, and used
the-
flavouring ability
ol
rose-water,
orange and lemon peel and other aromatics
id
mask
unpleasant
medication. Before the advent of printing
tastes
in
the mid-
had already begun the internal wrangling in the medical profession to be exacerbated by the printed word which continued until the nineteenth
century.
Initially
concerned the relative status
in full judicial
The Druids had an
excellent
knowledge of the medicinal application of local herbs, and considered some to possess magical qualities.
Of all plants,
the
Mistletoe held pride of place.
and barbers; the
being increasingly persecuted by the surgeons who tried to pi event them from treating wounds. In latter
England in 1368 the Master Surgeons formed a separate guild, and in 1421 joined forces temporarily with the Physic-
in
fifteenth century there
late
Above: An Arch Druid costume.
ol
this
surgeons
ians,
although
even
these
two
bodies
treated each other with suspicion. This
move
forced
the
barbers
to
obtain" a
separate charter (1462) and led to the beginning of barber-surgery or surgery of the
common
place-
in
people. Similar events took
France and Germany. Under »'•
MEDICINAL USES Henry YIU's act of and surgeons
151
ians
licensed practitioners,
1
While herbal traditions based on
English physic-
became the only and all others were
lore continued, the effect of printing to
mark
folk-
was
the beginning of the Renaissance
excluded from practising medicine, but b\ 1542 the greed shown by the profession caused another act to be passed to allow those common people having knowledge of herbal and folk medicine to minister to
and the continuation of the
scientific
method
The
the poor.
its
started by Dioscorides.
teenth century was
marked by
six-
the emerg-
ence of both 'proto-botany' books and herbals, although the herbal did not reach
peak
in
England
until
1633 when enlarged
Thomas Johnson improved and Below
:
The sumptuous
interior
sixteenth-century apothecary.
of a
As some
apothecaries charged very high prices, people
sought the services of herbalists.
the herbal of
John Gerard,
itself
mostly
employed by apothecaries; the 'materia medicas', pharmacopoeias and dispensatories (the first edition of the
Pharmacopoeia,
for
London
example, appeared
1 6 1 8 Apothecaries were originally drug and herb traders, who managed to develop a special relationship with the medical fraternity. In England they had been associated from 1378 with the Grocers' Company who also sold herbs and drugs,
in
.
derived from a translation of Dodoens.
and who were the
This period also saw the beginning of printed works devoted to those substances
Both the grocers and apothecaries purchased herbs and roots collected from the
original
drug vendors.
HOMEOPATHY countryside, and they also imported drugs and spices from abroad. The apothecaries frequently established their own physic gardens and thus served as a link
between horticulture and medicine by growing their own medicinal herbs. The Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London was incorporated in 1617 and the apothecaries soon began to diagnose and prescribe without associating with a physician. They continued to do so until 1886 when medical registration was finally only granted to those candidates qualifying by examination in surgery, medicine, and pharmacy. By the middle of the seventeenth century therefore, herbs were being used in many different ways by physicians, apothecaries, manufacturers of proprietary medicines and a host of traditional country herbalists and town quacks. During the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, although herbs continued to play an important role in medicine, their importance slowly declined.
The
botanic writers
who amassed
details of plant use included
information
from a host of sources - the Greeks, the Arabs, folklore, early botany, and information received by the grocers or apothecaries from foreign lands. In some cases
mentioned was unand while the real advances of medicine such as anatomy, physiology and clinical diagnosis were progressing, plant-lore became increasingly confused with an assortment of chemical compounds, mixtures, electrical and magnetic treatment, and blind faith in tradition. By the beginning of the nineteenth century scientific investigation was growing apace, and with it came the realization the identity of plants certain,
that specific effects could be demonstrated
when
or
isolated
particular,
purified
substances were applied to living systems.
known
as pharmacology, owes work and inspiration of 803-1 873 ), the father Justus von Liebig
This study,
much
to
the
1
of physiological
chemistry,
who
to
medical
therapeutics:
on
the
effect
specific cells,
Samuel Hahnemann (1 755-1843) and the work of American physicians of the early nineteenth century
medicalism,
a
Homeopathy
is
and
known as physio-
branch
herbalism.
of
a system of healing based
on the supposition that infinitesimally small quantities of a given substance, such as a medicinal plant, will cure a condition in which symptoms exist that would be identical to the symptoms produced in a healthy person who is given large quantities
of the same substance. doctors had an open
Many American
intro-
duced the concept of 'metabolism', and carried forward the development of organic chemistry which had already produced such important isolated substances as morphine ,1806; from the Opium Poppy, strychnine (181 8) from Strychnos nux-vomica and quinine (1820) from Cinchona bark. This approach is the modern rationale specific substances
orthodox practitioner was as eager as the research worker to move away from crude plants to the more 'exact', isolated chemical. Notable exceptions to this in the West were the introduction of homeopathy by
approach to medicine which was unfettered by the historical trappings of their colleagues in the Old World; certainly
them
the early settlers took with
when
traditional remedies
they
their
Eur-
left
ope, but they soon adapted to the rigours
of
new life by adopting some of the remedies of the North American Indians. All these remedies were in continuous use by an oral culture, rather than a culture
in
which
of their
upon
depended
written
(and,
and
the excitement of the nineteenth-century
therefore, often erroneous) records,
development of organic chemistry the
be reliable. This led to many reliable drugs being incorporated into the first American materia medicas and dispensatories.
were therefore found
One group
to
of physicians, led by
Thompson, decided
Samuel
not to interest them-
selves in the isolation of active ingredients
of plants, as was being done elsewhere in
America
and Europe, but simply to administer tinctures of the whole plant, a
system which became known as the physiomedical concept, and which was concerned with assisting the natural power of tissue regeneration which the body possesses. Schools specializing in pliysiomedicalism flourished for a while,
mainly
Chicago, but by the beginning
in
of the twentieth century their influence
declined and retained in
this
concept
now
is
only
some forms of unorthodox
herbalism.
Herbalism as a system of healing exists today in name only as there are various approaches which range from the use of all types of plant material to the use of non-poisonous herbs only. In the West the orthodox employment of medicinal plants is largely restricted to those with strong I.i
ft
:
rural
The less opulent interior of the Swiss pharmacy of Michael Schuppart, an
eighteenth-century apothecary.
examining
the urine
sitting in front
He
is
of the patient who
is
of him. ")'
MEDICINAL USES Right: The Opium Poppy (Papaver somniferum). The latex, which is obtained by excision of the immature capsules,
25
contains
-
is
of which modern medicine
different alkaloids
morphine - indispensable the strongest
pain
to
reliever (analgesic)
pharmacological action, such as Opium Poppy, Foxglove and their derivatives. The great dependence of Third World nations on traditional plant use has, however, recently stimulated the beginnings of a modern medical appraisal of
and
herbs,
scientific
possible
that
future
reassessment will
lead
to
it
is
the
orthodox utilization of ancient herbal remedies and the discovery of new
wider ones.
MYTHS AND TRADITIONS Many
magical and religious ideas associ-
ated with plants have survived almost unaltered to the present day. In Crete the fat
onion-like bulbs of the Sea Squill maritima) are
(
i'rginea
hung up by farmers
at tin-
entrances to their vineyards to protect the
ripening grapes from harmful influences, a superstition which seems pointless but
which is explained by tracing the Squill back to the days when it was sacred to the god Pan who protected mortals from evil spirits. Similarly, in some parts of central Europe villagers still plant the succulent Houseleek (Sempervivum tectorum) on the roof tiles to prevent their houses from being struck by lightning. The Romans called
Iovis
it
caulis
or Jupiter's
plant
ancient times, and even todav in
plants were thought not only to protect
are tannins, malic acid and mucilages, and while they may have some minor effect in treating superficial burns and
man from the dangers of the outside world,
diarrhoea they are completely ineffective
but also to preserve him from disease and
in shingles,
In
some
health, so
ill
properties
wielded.
protect plants were carried on the person
for the benefit of their protective qualities.
A
leaf of
Betony
{Stachys officinalis) carried
pocket or purse was said to offer protection from witchcraft. A sprig of in the
Mugwort
[Artemisia vulgaris)
worn
inside
the shoe was thought to prevent a traveller from becoming tired, an old practice which, surprisingly, persisted in East Anglia until the beginning of this century. In southern Europe walking-sticks cut from the boughs of the Chaste tree Vitex agnus-castus) were carried by pilgrims because they believed they were magical and could protect them from both robbers (
and the bites of venomous creatures. These primitive beliefs in the talismanic qualities of plants are, however, by no means confined to the ancient cultures of the world; they abound today in Third World countries, and you can still be stopped in the heart of London by gypsies hawking sprigs of 'lucky heather'. 52
was considered
it
wear a magical plant
because they believed Zeus or Jupiter had given it to man to protect his property from the destructive bolt of lightning he
Some
many
parts of the world,
infusion of
or
better
with
still
of these
The
protective
balism
is
this
partly due to the fact that early
drink
to
an
believed to
thatched roofs of medieval fire from the sky, was also considered to be effective against fire in the body - medicine in the Middle Ages the
houses from
classified diseases into hot
and
cold,
wet and dry. So William Salmon, writing on the medicinal virtues of the Houseleek as late as the end of the seventeenth century was able to say - 'Herba iova is Glutinative and Segnotick; it quenches thirst, allays heat, stops fluxes
and abates
the violence of cholerick Fevers, being
given in a spoonful or two of Wine, or the juice mixt with Sugar.
Balsam
it
is
on the subject received their information by hearsay or accepted without criticism what they read in the works
Outwardly
in a
cures burns, scalds, shingles,
of other authors. This early attitude led to the publication of a large number of
accounts of plants which did not even exist, such as the 'Scythian Lambe' described by John Parkinson, and the 'Fountain tree of water' which Lewis Jackson maintained grew on the CanaryIslands. There was even thought to be a 'Barnacle tree' that bore fruit which eventually hatched into live geese. Of the plants which did actually exist, many were attributed with medicinal properties because of their association in previous a
inflammations.'
examples
these
therapeutic indications are
concerned with other,
and
vividly
how
the
plant
the
in some form or example demonstrates
'heat'
the magical 'primary' use of
dictated
its
'secondary'
or
medical use. We now know that the Houseleek's principal active constituents
who governed One of the best common Myrtle Myrtus
ages with a god or goddess
pains of the gout, creeping ulcers and hot All
of myths and false ideas, and
full
writers
it.
The Houseleek. which was
still
gout and fevers. history of medical botany or her-
logical to
particular
communis
is
disease.
the
.
Myrtle was known
to
the Greeks as
and was sacred to the goddess Aphrodite ^who was also known as 'myrsini'
Myrsini), the goddess of fertility, simply because the pointed elliptical leaves of this plant closely resembled the shape of
METABOLISM As a result of this was chiefly employed in Greek medicine as a herb for treating female complaints - a practice the female genitalia.
association the Myrtle
which was not discredited
until the nine-
teenth century.
Another medicinal plant which earned reputation by association with the Greek gods was the Black Hellebore its
a plant sacred to the
iHelleborus niger |,
'kthonoi' or gods of the underworld. deities, spirits
deified
These
whose number included cave and the souls of the dead and physicians, belonged to an older
and darker
than the
cult
celestial
Olym-
was believed that they possessed the power to inflict enormous suffering on mankind in the form of disease and madness. Black Hellebore, which became linked with their worship, was considered to be the specific remedy for the diseases for which they were held responsible, and the root was. used for pian
deities.
It
treating epilepsy,
and
melancholia, hysteria disorders. In
neurological
other
Shakespeare's time and beyond it continued to be used for 'the falling sicknesses' fepilepsyi,
melancholicke
'all
diseases'
and 'convulsions', besides being employed as a poison, an abortive and a local anaesthetic. Modern examination, how-
Animals,
including
man,
are
very
ever, has suggested that Black Hellebore
similar to plants in this respect, the funda-
neurological
mental difference between the two groups being in the way in which they obtain
does
the general
in
assist
conditions for which the Greeks employed
homeopathic tincture is prepared from the rhizome and used to treat epilepsy, certain psychoses, eclamp-
and today
it,
sia
a
(convulsion
with
associated
preg-
nancy), meningitis and encephalitis. After a period in which herbal medicine
was regarded with the greatest suspicion by the medical profession, many of the
now being
claims of herbalism are
by
stantiated
scientific
sub-
observation and
reinstated.
up their own food from small molecules whereas animals take in large molecules and break them down. All materials ingested by the animal are treated in exactly the same general way: the food is digested in the their food. Plants build
Above: The evergreen Myrtle fMyrtus
communis ) it
was
is
now of little
importance, but
once sacred to the Greek goddess
Aphrodite. In the Middle Ages Myrtle berries It
was
were used as a condiment, also used in the treatment
like pepper.
of
female complaints.
Below : The Christmas Rose or Black Hellebore fHelleborus niger,) contains
gastro-intestinal tract, the small molecules
powerful substances which act on the heart
formed are absorbed through the gut wall and transported via the blood to other parts of the body where they are used to build up new enzymes or cell
rather like Digitalis. These
so
much
too strong for
make
modern herbal
the plant use.
material or act as essential catalysts in
THE INTAKE AND ACTIONS OF
these reactions. Certain foodstuffs contain
MEDICINAL PLANTS
ingredients such as minerals and vitamins
Plants
are
very complicated
composed of millions of
cells
structures
many
per-
forming extremely specialized functions and each contributing to the existence of the organism as a whole. Organisms are 'alive' because of the many chemical reactions which are carried out in each of these cells; thus life is essentially a series of highly controlled chemical changes which consist of building up (anabolismj or breaking down (catabolism processes
known
which are
essential
process to occur.
our diet in
for
some enzymic
deficiency of these in
likely to lead to
some of our
just as
to
is
A
an impairment
basic metabolic functions,
mineral deficiencies
visible
in plants lead
abnormal symptoms such
as
and yellowing. digestive and transportation proesses described above are not capable of discriminating between materials which spots
The
i
way Thus
find their
into the gut from different
metabolism these changes are initiated by chemical catalysts. All these reactions are under the
sources.
direct
because they contain substances which after absorption enter certain biochemical
(collectively
found
as
;
influence of the genetic material in
the nucleus of each
cell.
certain plants are
'good'
foodstuffs because they are rich in starch
or
protein and
some plants are
'toxic'
53
MEDICINAL USES Right
A
:
magnified section through the wall
of the small intestine showing the folded mucous membrane (top, pink) through which food and drugs are absorbed. The rate
of absorption depends on the nature of drug molecule and on the other
the food or
substances present in the tract.
and disrupt them. Similarly the which are medicinally useful contain materials which act in some beneficial way on the fundamental processes in animal cells, either by promoting processes
plants
certain reactions or inhibiting other pro-
may
which
cesses
abnormal.
be
The
practice of medicine with herbal products
no fundamental chemical way different from treatment with synthetic drugs. Both act by the introduction of a foreign molecule into the body (sometimes at a more or less in
this
respect
specific site) so that
The concept
in
is
it
may
exert
its effect.
of herbalism does, of course,
differ theoretically
from the orthodox
in
that herbal medicine attempts to treat the
patient
as
whole,
a
rather
than
the
condition in isolation.
Pharmacology Pharmacology is the study of the manner in which the functions of living organisms can be modified by chemical substances. Since living cells are very complex, many of the factors which control their activities are completely unknown. For this reason a
new
been
science,
pharmacokinetics,
developed
to
study
the
has
factors
hence on the body. This goes to
a long
wa\
explaining the highly specific nature of
some drug actions, as well as why some compounds possess powerful, often dangerous, side-effects, since some drugs may by chance interact with more than one
which would decompose in the acid stomach juices. Other routes which invoke passage of active materials through a mucosal layer are those via the vagina or urethra. Drugs may also be administered by slowly dissolving a lozenge under the orally, or
affecting the absorption, distribution and eventual elimination of drugs from the
type
body and
Routes of drug administration The oral route is the one most frequently
nasal
cheap, easy and convenient and the patient can administer himself tablets which can be manu-
cation
it
largely employs mathematical
models. A theory which has been advanced from simple experimental evidence and has found considerable success in explain-
why
drugs exert their effects is the It was proposed originally by Paul Ehrlich who believed that mammalian cells possessed side chains ing
receptor theory.
which contained receptors (reactive chemical groupings) which combine with another active group on the drug molecule (in a more or less reversible way) to cause the drug effect. This proposal was a great advance and much modern research is based on a modified form of the theory. Simply,
drugs
can
be
considered
as
and the receptors on which may be opened
of
tongue (sublingually) or as snuffs (whereby absorption is effected through the
receptor.
used because
it
is
factured to contain an exact dose. ever,
if
the medicine
liquid or powder,
is
in the
and most herbal pre-
parations are, the dosage inaccurate.
How-
form of a
The drug
is
likely to
be
will also be diluted
by the contents of the stomach and intestine. Since the stomach juices are strongly acid and those in the intestine alkaline this may lead to decomposition of Absorption the active ingredients. through the gastro-intestinal tract may be slow or irregular due to the presence of
precisely cut keys,
the partly digested or undigested food,
the cells as locks
thus delaying the effect.
only by the appropriate keys.
When
the
key turns the lock (that is when the drug reaches and combines with the receptor on the cell) processes are initiated which cause chemical changes and so induce the
drug 54
to exert
its
effect
on the
cell,
and
Some
materials are given as suppositor-
ies and the active ingredients are absorbed through the delicate lining (mucous membrane) of the rectum. This may be
particularly useful for giving substances
which would cause vomiting
if
given
mucosa
When is
i.
a local effect
made
is
required appli-
to the surface
of the skin in
the form of a cream, paste, ointment, lo-
In these cases some occur by penetration through to the subcutaneous tissues. Sterile solutions may, of course, be injected directly into the bloodstream which removes the initial absorption step. The rate and efficiency of absorption of tion
or liniment.
absorption
may
is largely dependchemical nature but also on the method of formulation ^how it is presented for administration). The most obvious factor is the solubility of the substance in
a material from the gut
ent on
its
the gastro-intestinal contents. No substances can be absorbed from the fluid in the gut unless they are soluble in the first place.
Secondly,
the
passage of drugs (that
is
barriers
to
the
the intestinal cell
walls) consist largely of fatty substances,
hence drugs which dissolve well in fats are absorbed more rapidly and completely than those which do not. There are some
DRUG ADMINISTRATION exceptions to this and these depend on the existence of a specific transport mechan-
ism for a particular type of chemical. In addition, some drug molecules contain acidic or basic groupings
which
may
be
ionized (electrically charged) in aqueous solution. Since only non-ionized or elec-
molecules are fat-soluble, governed to some extent
trically neutral
absorption
by
also
is
this factor.
Finally, the presence of substances in
whole plants other than the active ingredients may considerably modify not only the physiological effect of the active substances themselves but also their solu-
and hence absorption.
bility
The
It will
sweat and milk. that when one medicine many-
now be apparent
takes a dose of herbal
the blood
meate
and
drug exerts
its
effect.
but
ingredients
the
also
sub-
'ballast'
body via compounds that perthrough cell membranes
freely
evenly distributed in all parts of the body. Some, however, tend to concentrate at particular sites. Compounds are often bound to carrier molecules - for example, proteins in the blood plasma - or become strongly attached to specific
binding
less
sites
in
tissues.
such active transport processes
Where
exist, the
ordinary physico-chemical principles no longer apply. One particularly effective
mechanism is known as barriei which prevents
the blood-brain
passage of most molecules from the bloodstream into the central nervous system and the the
cerebro-spinal fluid.
Metabolism a drug enters the body,
it
is
acted
upon by enzymes which usually change its chemical structure into substances which have less effect (pharmacological activity on the body. This is why the effects of drugs wear off gradually. These enzymatic reactions
which may exert a modifying on the 'active' substances have first to be made soluble, then absorbed and distributed (perhaps via an active binding process throughout the whole body, to stances effect
reach their active site (receptor) before they can produce an action. Later they are usually metabolized to inactive sub-
and then excreted.
are
known
as
detoxification
and the most important organ concerned is the liver. This does not always happen, however. Pharmacologically active metabolites (products that have been produced l>\ the breakdown of the drug; may be formed from an inactive substance a precursor or or sometimes the metabolites 'pro-drug' may have a type of activity which differs from that of the 'active ingredient in the drug originally administered. The principal route of excretion of drugs and theii detoxified metabolites is the urine. This may be facilitated by metabolic changes
Biological variation
,
measurements
Repeated
of
same
the
quantity do not always give identical results. While this may be due to variations in accuracy, with living systems it is
more
be the result of biological its very nature biological variable. This produces prob-
likely to
variation - by
material is lems in the quantitative biological evaluation of all medicines, and these difficulties are particularly severe in the case of medicinal plants and their extracts. Medicinal plants are usually administered
as tinctures of the
whole plant, which
many different chemical substances, only some of which are active pharmacologically. Not only may the presence of the so-called inactive substances modify the absorption of the active ones (mixtures are in general more soluble than pure compounds), but they may actually modify the pharmacological activity of the active ingredients, either in a potentiating
way
or
former
is
oppositely
known
as
The
retardants.
The modifying substances need come from the same plant.
sometimes found that the particular plant extract
as the detoxification rea< lions
generally produce
than
compounds which
are
soluble in water (hence in urine in fat.
Alternatively, drugs
may
be
excreted into the intestinal trad via the bile and so eliminated in the fae< es. Minor
One
of the problems of this
is that haphazard administration of different plant extracts can produce undesired effects. For this reason orthodox medical authorities sometimes consider such herbal prac-
tices as unscientific
and inexact.
the-
presence
In recent attempts at the scientific evalu-
of one
effect
considerably of greater or
is
therapy, often quite complex,
is
the rule
the
exception.
This
is
the
fundamental difference between herbal and orthodox medicine. Whereas the latter is often symptomatic in approach, the former essentially treats the patient as
whole rather than
isolated
effect.
ation of this approach
amounts of extracts of other plants. This is of paramount importance in herbal medicine where combination
a
bined
herbal combination therapy
not
1
much
helps digestion.
It is
smaller
rather than
Above: Magnification of secretory cells of the stomach, which secrete the fluid which
Evaluating herbal medicines
necessarily
by
*r.flL
as the s\ net gistic effect or
synergism.
altered
J*£
will
consist of solutions in dilute alcohol of
processes,
more
**
r/m&L
and after the Not only the active
processes intervene before
stances
the
become more or
in as
4.
active materials, once absorbed,
are transported throughout the
When
routes of elimination include the lungs, saliva, tears,
conditions.
as a collection of Hence- preparations
containing several different plant extracts are administered with the intention that each component will exert its own specific effect which will produce an overall com-
that
some of
the
it
has been realized
compounds preset
minute concentration
in plants
in
often so
low as to be undetectable by standard techniques may themselves by extremely potent pharmacological agents. This
phenomenon
is
often referred to as the
effect of ballast material.
must be emphasized that everything body can be considered as a drug. This is an easy concept to accept when an active material exerts a pronounced, readily observable pharmacologic al effect on the body such as producing anaesthesia, but some compounds may act in a more subtle way, for example, by promoting efficient working of certain enzymes or by encouraging the development ol a good immunological defence It
ingested by the
55
MEDICINAL USES Plants
system.
belong
the
to
currently
know
producing these effects group about which we least:
traditionally they
were the panaceas or tonics - Ginseng being the best-known example. Today
DISEASES OF THE
HEART AND
blood vessels
The cardiovascular system
is
concerned
difficulties
with the circulation of blood. It consists essentially of a pump, the heart, and a system of tubes, the arteries, veins and capillaries - comprising the blood vessels. Circulation involves two joined systems one in which blood passes from the heart to the lungs where it is oxygenated, and then back to the heart; and another in which this oxygen-rich blood is pumped to the furthest parts of the body, gives up
ticism will
some of its oxygen
they are
known
All these difficulty
in
as
adaptogens.
problems have led deciding
how
to great
herbal pre-
parations should be examined, tested and
standardized and this has contributed to the current scepticism about the efficacy of the herbal approach. When these
have been overcome this scepundoubtedly decline and some aspects of plant medication will assume an even more important role in medicine. Having described briefly the uptake and actions of herbs, four groups of diseases, including their physiology and their treatment with medicinal plants, are
now examined. The
mentioned orthodox and
plants
have found use both in herbal methods and no distinction is made the examples simply between them emphasize the importance of plan's in medicine as a whole.
The commonest
vessels.
CIRCULATION
to the tissue's cells,
and
then returns to the heart. Besides oxygen, which
all tissues need biochemical reactions, the blood carries foodstuffs absorbed from the alimentary tract, and is also responsible for carrying the waste products of metabolism to sites of excretion, such as
for certain of their
the kidneys.
is
disorder of the
arteriosclerosis 'resulting in
narrowing of the arteries), the commonest site being the blood vessels supplying the heart (coronary arteries). This leads to a reduced oxygen supply for the action of the heart, especially during exercise, resulting in chest pain (angina pectoris The coronary blood supply is sometimes so |
.
drastically obstructed that a portion of
and this is known as Another common disorder is in which the blood pressure is
the heart wall dies, heart attack. hypertension,
abnormally raised, causing excessive strain on the heart, rupture of cerebral brain blood vessels causing a stroke, and
damage
to the kidneys.
Both coronary artery disease of which arteriosclerosis is one and hypertension
may
cause heart failure : this action of the heart
pumping
cope with the work load:
is
when
is
unable
the to
this results in
and retenand water (causing ankle swelling, for example) due to a reduced blood-flow to the kidneys. Other causes of
shortness of breath, tiredness,
The treatment of disorders Cardiovascular diseases are concerned with disorders of the heart and blood
of
tion
heart
salt
rheumatic
include
failure
fever,
congenital defects, diseases of the valves
which separate the chambers of the heart, infections and chronic respiratory disease.
The treatment of heart failure includes oxygen, cardiotonic substances (which improve the function of the heart and (substances which cause an increased excretion of salt and water by the kidneys The leaf of the Foxglove Digitalis purpurea is an effective cardiotonic for the treatment of heart failure and millions of people throughout the world diuretics
i.
|
are
still
(or
its
of the
treated with this material today
derivatives
The
|.
active principles
Foxglove are complex steroidal
substances
known
as cardiotonic glycos-
Many
ides or cardenolides.
very closely
Left: Diagrammatic representation of the cardiovascular system
A
Superior vena cava
B
Aorta
D
Right
F
Blood exchange
G
Blood supply within the
C
Right atrium
E
ventricle
Inferior vena cava
in the liver
H
of Pulmonary
vein
I
Pulmonary
arteries
J
Left atrium
K
M A"
the upper part
body especially the brain
Left ventricle
L
Blood exchange
Portal vein in the intestine
Blood exchange within the kidneys and
within the lower parts of the body. Areas of blood exchange consist of arterioles and venules which meet at the smallest subdivisions or capillaries.
v>
DIGITALIS THERAPY compounds of this type are present plant and some of these have a pro-
related in the
nounced strengthening ing heart.
They bind
effect
to heart
on the
fail-
muscle and
increase the force of contraction of the
heart at each beat without increasing
its
for
efficiently.
The need
is
enormous and much modern research
is
for cardiotonic
concerned with the chemical modification of these active molecules in order to produce better drugs. The major glycosides digitoxin and of digoxin are often isolated from
of Digitalis purpurea |
the dried leaves by complex and costly chemical procedures to enable administration to the patient in the form of tablets, but better results, however, are sometimes obtained by treatment with the whole powdered leaf. It is found that the
combined
effect
of
the
highly
active
glycosides together with the less potent
compounds found in the crude drug may provide therapy which is less harsh, more easily controlled, and therefore safer than the
use
minute
A major problem with Foxglove therapy
of isolated
active
compounds
lanata,) which contains steroidal glycosides.
63 different The most important of
these substances is digoxin, often used in
modern medicine
to treat
heart failure.
and diosphenol, Wild Carrot
volatile oil
(Daucus carota) which contains both volatile oil and an alkaloid, daucine, or
which
Dandelion
dangerous side-effects occur). This may be overcome to some extent by the use of the whole dried leaf, as mentioned above. Similar cardiotonic activity is found in the closely related D. lanata and the Yellow Foxglove. D.lutea. Hedge Hyssop
advantage of containing large quantities of potassium salts - substances which are often lost from the body during the process of diuresis, and which need replacing. Several medicinal plants may be used
which belongs
to the
as the Foxgloves, the
Scrop-
(Gratiola officinalis)
same family
hulariaceae, has also been
cardiotonic action, but
shown
it is
to possess
considered too
Almost identical compounds are present in certain Apocytoxic to use medically.
including members of the genera Strophanthus. .Xenum. and Acokanthera),
naceae
which
possesses
cardiac
more genera containing any
than
glycosides
other
so
compounds have been identified in members of the Ranunculaceae, the Nymphaeaceae, the Celastraceae and the Bignoniaceae. Similar
studied.
far
Below: The Woolly Foxglove ^Digitalis
Juniper, however, is too powerful to be used when the kidneys are inflamed, and it can in this case be replaced with Buchu leaves {Agathosma betulina) which contains
that the therapeutic dose (the dose required to produce the desired effect) is almost as high as the toxic dose (the dose which undesirable and sometimes at is
substances
D. lanata
compounds
present in the leaf in concentration may completely alter the physiological effect of the glycosides - this is a good example of synergism. certain
oxygen; the heart thus pumps
need
more
Another explanation may be that
alone.
Digitalis glycoside-like active principles
possesses
make
Taraxacum
(
several
officinale)
substances that
active
one of the most effective of
it
treatment of hypertension, some of which have been shown to be remarkably effective. Hypertension has long been treated in Asia by the root of a shrub, Rauvolfia serpentina, but it was not until
in the
the 1930s that the agent largely responsi-
was isolated. This comon the central nervous system
reserpine,
ble,
pound
acts
by depleting the stores of a vital transmitting substance called noradrenaline (or norepinephrine as it is known in the United States) without this material nerve impulses cannot travel and the resultant loss of smooth muscle tone in the walls of the blood vessels causes their relaxation and so reduces blood pressure, ;
are also found in the morphologically far
thus acting as a hypotensive.
removed monocotyledonous Liliaceae and Cactaceae.
with
Rauvolfia
families, the
Convallaria
all
plant diuretics. Dandelion also has the
alkaloids
synergistically
act
such
hypotensives
other
as
the
and
this
majalis, of the Liliaceae
alkaloids from
the most powerful of
potentiation of the combined effect (syner-
Family, is in fact the cardiac glycoside-containing plants growing in temperate zones, and has an important place in both the folk and orthodox medical treatment of arrhythmia flack ofa regular heart brat especially in eastern Europe. all
.
the
exactly
In
same way
that
gism)
Veratrum species,
very useful since
is
it
enables rela-
low doses of both materials to be used - an important fact since both sub-
tively
stances
may
cause side-effects
when used
on their own.
the
Foxglove glycosides promote regular beatan ing of the heart so does quinidinc
New Treatments
alkaloid isomeric with quinine, the anti-
that only recently has detailed investi-
malarial substance from the same source,
gation of their activity been started. This
the bark of the
Cinchona
tree.
This
dis-
covery was made quite by chance when it was noticed that patients being treated with Cinchona bark for malaria were tree from arrhythmias. As well as cardiotonic agents, diuretics are
essential
failure
and
in
cinal plants possess
Although there
arc-
certain effective
treatment of heart number of medi-
the
a very large
this
is
some
diuretic action.
often not very powerful
Many other
herbs have similar histories in
has shown the presence of other chemical groups in plants which have a beneficial effect on the cardiovascular system. The plants under current investigation include the is
Hawthorn
widely used
{Crataegus monogyna), in the
which
treatment of angina
arteriosclerosis, heart failure, hypertension and coronary thrombosis.
pectoris,
Its
major constituents are flavonoids. Buckwheat Fagopyrum esculentum) (
also
several herbs, notably those with
contains substances beneficially affecting
contents,
which are
The
fruit
cardiovascular system, as well as vitamin P. Hawthorn and Buckwheat are often combined in the treatment of hyper-
volatile in
oil
diuresis.
ripe
of
Juniper Juniperui communis), for example, contains up to two per cent ofa volatile oil plus resins and a bitter principle which, together, act directly on the kidneys.
the
tension they are frequently also ;
with Yiscum
I ilia
x
album
europaea
(Lime
(Mistletoe-
1.
combined tree
Main
and herbs 57
MEDICINAL USES with cardio-active properties contain kaloids.
The hypotensive
tains several, of which the
are protoveratrin
A
and
is
blood pressure
Motherwort
most important B.
Broom
(Saro-
possesses
the alkaloid
employed
to raise the
thamnus scoparius) sparteine
and
al-
Veratrum con-
in
cardiac insufficiency.
(Leonurus cardiaca), however,
Below : A schematic representation of the human digestive system which consists principally of a hollow tube about
g
produced initially by the liver, not only facilitates digestion but is also an important route for the elimination of certain waste products in the faeces. The pancreas, in addition to producing a Bile,
metres
(jo feet) long from the mouth to the anus. Each part, with its specialized structural or cellular form, plays one or
more
digestive juice
roles in the
which
is
discharged into the
gut, also releases directly into the blood-
processes of mastication, maceration,
lowering the blood pressure, and help in angina
processes which all contribute to the
stream a hormone, insulin, which regulates the blood-sugar level. The condition
eventual elimination of unwanted waste
where
insufficient insulin
pectoris.
matter from the body.
known
as diabetes.
contains alkaloids which
assist in
With further detailed study of itional remedies,
it
is
digestion
and absorption offoodstuffs,
is
produced
trad-
possible that new-
groups of compounds will be discovered or certain plant combinations will prove to be useful in cardiovascular disease. cavity of the
DISORDERS OF THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM AND LIVER The
mouth vestibule
tongue
digestive system consists of the ali-
pharynx
mentary canal and the accessory digestive organs. Food passing along the tract is broken down by enzymes into small units which are then absorbed into the blood stream by passage across the gut cell-wall. Some substances in the diet need no digesfor example, tion before absorption water, certain vitamins and minerals - but the most important foodstuffs - fats, proall require teins and carbohydrates extensive degradation before they may be
trachea
absorbed.
Some
dietary
constituents,
however,
such as the cellulose of plant cell-walls are not digested at all by man because the appropriate enzymes are lacking, and so these pass through the gut to be expelled
unchanged in the diet
in the faeces; their inclusion is
none the
less
important be-
cause they add bulk to the intestinal con-
and improve peristalsis - the rhythmic contractions which propel the contents from one end of the gastro-intestinal tract
liver
spleen
tents
all
bladder
pancreas
to the other. pyloric orifice
duodenum
The
digestive system alimentary canal comprises the mouth, pharynx, oesophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, rectum and anus. Although digestion begins in the mouth while the food is being chewed,
The
since saliva contains the
enzyme
ascending colon
descending "colon
ptyalin
which breaks down starch into sugars, by far the most important digestive organs are the stomach and small intestine. The stomach produces a secretion which provides the optimal degree of acidity for the operation of the
enzyme The
pepsin, also secreted in the stomach.
sigmoid colon
appendix
rectum
partly digested food passes to the small
where it meets an alkaline secrecomposed of juices provided by two
intestine tion
glands - the bile from the gall-bladder
and the digestive juices from the pancreas. 58
small intestine
(jejunum and ileum)
is
DIGESTION is thus completed in the small and most of the small molecules so produced - amino-acids, sugars, fatty acids, and glycerol - are absorbed by the time the mass of food (bolus) has reached the far end of the small intestine.
Digestion
(Iceland Moss)
Overactive acid-producing cells in the stomach initially produce heartburn and indigestion. If the excessive secretion of gastric hydrochloric acid is prolonged, peptic ulcer of the wall of the stomach or the
duodenum may
Here a small mucosal lining is
result.
portion of the delicate
digested away, exposing the lower layers
together with their associated nerve-endings,
which are
irritated
by the acidic
produce pain. Ulcers have long been treated with Liquorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra) and a semisynthetic derivative of its major constituent, glycyrrhizin, has been introducgastric contents to
ed with useful results.
Hops
which was the traditional remedy of North American Indians, and Carlina acaulis (Stemless Thistle). In Europe a favourite is Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) which is often combined with Althaea officinalis (Marshmallowj. The latter contains up to 20 per cent mucilage, which protects the stomach lining, acting in a similar way to the natural mucus. For the same reason (Humulus
the
lupulus)
mucilage-rich
it
Cetraria
islandica
similarly employed.
may
be
desirable
in the elderly
stimulate
to
the
appetite. Usually the agents used for this
ipecacuanha). Ipecacuanha (Cephaelis Other plants have been used in this respect but their effect was due mostly to their toxicity - the body simply reacts to the
purpose are bitter tonics containing bitter principles, which increase glandular secretions. Many plants have a history of this use and the most popular come from the family Gentianaceae (which characteris-
presence of a noxious substance in the
contain bitter principles), for ex-
by inhibiting the overactivity of the vomiting centre in the brain. Some of these are found in the family Solanaceae. Their action is drastic however, and often
tically
known and
ample, Gentiana lutea, the best most widely used bitter tonic, phylla, G. punctata, G. purpurea,
G. macro-
Menyanthes
(Buckbean) and Sabatia angularis (American Centaury). Because the tone of the muscle in the
trifoliata
gastro-intestinal
tract
as
well
secretion of the digestive juices
as is
the
con-
by nervous as well as chemical stimulation, an increase in nervous activtrolled
ity
may
acidity
Plants used for indigestion include
is
During convalescence or
intestine
lead or
intestine,
either
spasm
known
in
to all
as colic.
may
in
of
and
is
vomit-
often
com-
bined for this purpose with Filipendula ulmaria, Chamaemelum nobile and Peppermint (Mentha x piperita).
and Wild
Yam
constipation.
cerns
divided
into
Below
Purgatives
main
may
classes
:
be bulk
:
The
performs several
liver
important functions besides producing bile
for use
in the digestive process
:
the removal
of waste products from blood, the destruction
of
substances.
tincture
three
purgatives, which simply increase the volume of the intestinal contents and so
Emesis (vomiting) cases of poisoning by the
effective, especially in
preparations for digestive problems con-
villosa).
be induced
and
safer
ing during pregnancy
parts
Many members
gently acting herbs include mints, Acorus and gentians
administration
associated with side-effects. Ballota nigra is
Purgatives The major use of herbal
More
root (Dioscorea
act
hyper-
which are powerful antispasmodics. Good examples are Atropa belladonna, Hyoscyamus niger and Datura stramon-
calamus, Alpinia ojficinarum
Anti-emetics include some herbs containing anticholinergic properties which
of the
hyos.cine,
certain
by the most
it
gastric
of the Solanaceae family contain simple tropane alkaloids, such as atropine and
ium.
stomach and removes rapidly effective means.
of worn-out blood
vital detoxification
cells,
and
the
of drugs and harmful
vena cava
hepatic veins liver
-
spleen
ortal vein
hepatic artery
common bile
duct
intestine
59
MEDICINAL USES promote a
'natural' peristalsis
defaecation act
and hence
lubricant purgatives, which
;
by generally loosening and softening epiglottis
and irritants, which exercise a localized irritant action on the wall of the large bowel, inducing the impacted faecal mass;
reflex evacuation.
Foods which contain a high proportion of indigestible cellulose or 'roughage' such
blood vessels of heart
bran or seeds of Plantago species are not destroyed by digestion and swell by absorbing water; when they reach the lower intestine, therefore, they act as bulk as
right
bronchus
purgatives.
As the name tives
suggests, lubricant purga-
include mucilages and
oils
which are
lobes of right lung
heart
extracted from a variety of plants, including the Psyllium species, Athaea
officinalis.
(Castor Oil Tree) and
Ricinus communis
Olea europaea (Olive Tree). Irritant purgatives are used either because they are toxic hence causing a violent reaction to the presence of the poison, for example, Ricinus communis
and certain Podophylsome specific physiological action. Toxic irritant purgatives are seldom used because they are danseeds (Castor
oil)
lum species, or for
aorta
gerous.
Of those which
cause a specific physio-
most effective are the which contain glycosides based on the anthraquinone nucleus. The main examples are Senna Cassia angustijolia and C. acutifolia), Aloes (Aloe ferox, for and example), Rhubarb Rheum spp logical action, the
species
certain
members
of the
Rhamnaceae such
Rhamnus frangula Alder Buckthorn and Rhamnus purshiana (Cascara
as
|
.
Injection
of extracts of these
plants
Diseases of the liver
may
lead to the
impairment of the metabolism of all kinds of foods and. since the liver is the main organ of detoxification in the body, to an accumulation of waste products. As the liver is closely associated with the gall-bladder problems of these organs are
as Anise.
Fennel and
and certain Labiatae Rosemary, for example).
Mint and
Umbelliferae such Dill,
DISORDERS OF THE RESPIRATORY SYSTEM When we
breathe, air
is
taken
first
into the
Hence
nasopharynx and then into the chest via
but orally they take eight hours or more to exert their effect. This is because the active principles are in the form of inactive
some herbs are accredited with both
the windpipe, or trachea. This divides into two bronchi one for each lung and then
tion of bile,
further into smaller tubes, bronchioles.
These are well absorbed from the small intestine and are then hydrolyzed by enzymes in the blood to give the active aglycones. These latter compounds are excreted into the colon where they irritate the mucosa to produce evacuation.
the liver itself,
The
results in
purgation
in
about 30 minutes
glycosides.
This process takes several hours and for this reason extracts of such plants are best taken at night. Diarrhoea, an increase in the fluidity and frequency of the stools, has usually been treated with plants which predominantly contain astringent tannins.
The
action
of these
compounds
is
to
coagulate protein in a thin layer of the gut lining thereby stopping its secretory action.
Common
Potentilla
examples of such herbs are Agnmonia species.
species,
Rubus idaeus, Polygonum and Ulmus campestris.
Quercus species, bistorta
60
usually considered in association.
choleretic action (stimulating the produc-
and thus working directly on and cholagogue action increasing the release of bile from the gall-bladder Important cholagogues are .
Berberis vulgaris
Balmonv
Barberry Chelone glabra Taraxacum officinale ,
and
Dandelion).
The Dandelion action
and
is
also possesses choleretic
one of the most useful plants
for treating liver disease. It
is
employed
gall-bladder
.
inflammation of and cholelithiasis
also relieve the
first
as alveolar ducts,
each
leading to an alveolar sac. These alveoli
and they commain body of the lung itself. They
are small hollow spheres prise the
have very thin cell-walls which are well supplied with minute blood vessels called capillaries.
The respiratory system Oxygen from
the air contained in the
it
alveoli diffuses across the cell-walls into
stage of cirrhosis.
the blood and in exchange waste products, notably carbon dioxide, are expelled into the air. This exchange of gases is known as respiration. At even breath the air con-
(stones in the gall-bladder or bile duct
may
known
in
jaundice, cholecystitis the
bronchioles branch further into very
fine tubules
;
Another important choleretic is Cynara scolymus Globe Artichoke which has also been shown to promote liver regeneration, following damage by poisons. Flatulence can be treated with the carminative plants which contain volatile oils. Important here are the aromatic
tained in the lungs
is
partially
exchanged
for fresh air from the atmosphere. Oxygen is required for nearly all the biochemical processes which occur in the
RESPIRATORY SYSTEM to
bronchiole
lung
air
pulmonary vein
passage
from pulmonary artery
alveolus
:fY
bronchus
^bJ^m ess, ** capillary
alveolus
Left
Diagrammatic
:
representation
of the respiratory system. Increasing magnification of a portion of one lung (above)
show
to
its
internal structure,
and
relationship between blood vessels
which allows
alveoli,
the air
the
an increased activity of these glands. There may, in addition, be spasm of the muscle in the walls of the bronchi adding to the
Arabs.
obstruction.
tussive agents
Another condition of the bronchial system which causes considerable suffering is asthma. This is frequently of allergic
rest
tion
exchange of oxygen
The
blood
is
in
a
high
therefore vital.
rapid removal of carbon dioxide is important because high blond
contribute
also
to
that attacks (pro-
equally
origin,
or tissue concentrations of this substance
nounced constriction of the bronchi and excessively viscous secretions which lead to the characteristic wheezing of asthma
depress many enzyme processes. Most of the oxygen in the blood is not simply dissolved in the body fluid but is actively bound to a special molecule called
may
haemoglobin, found within the red blood corpuscles. This is complex organic ;i
molecule, rather like the light-absorbing of green plants in its structure,
chlorophyll
but
instead
magnesium
of containing
an atom of
as in chlorophyll
it
is
bound
This is the main reason that our diet should contain an adequate quantity of this element, for a deficiency of iron or to iron.
its
to
inefficient utilization in the
body leads
anaemia. As blood passes around the organs ol oxygen from the oxygenated
the body,
haemoglobin passes into the cells to be used up in their chemical processes, and each cell exchanges its waste carbon
The commonest
chronic disordei
ol
the
chronic bronchitis inflammation of the bronchi), which may tract
be associated with
ment
of
that
is
sufferers) are
a
specific
particular
to say
induced by the inhalation of
foreign
type
of
substance, pollen.
often
a
Treatment
bronchi using bronchodilators, and some of the best known of these are Ephedra species.
consists of the relaxation of the
is
emphysema
enlarge-
may
be caused
the alveoli). This
as
Cough
is
foreign
materials.
tussives (like alkaloids
is
effective
in
chronic
asthma for which purpose the North American Indians smoked the leaves. In India the and
related
nicotianaefolia
L.
bronchial
is
used in
the
same way. The following plants are also commonly employed in both asthma and bronchitis often in combination with each other: Drosera rotundifolia
,
Euphorbia hirta,
Polygala
senega,
Symplocarpus foetidus and
Urginea maritima.
A relatively new treatment for asthma depends on the administration of a semisynthetic substance which is a derivative
from Opium, the
dried latex of Papaver somniferum) act by
suppressing
this
reflex.
They
are
thus
widely used in cough syrups. Also used are extracts of Wild Cherry bark (Prunus serotina or P. virginiana) which was once frequently used with a complex bitter compound produced by the Greater
Wild Lettuce (Lactuca virosa) combined action is sedative as well as
Prickly or the
;
phlegm
infiata
may
and promote sleep. Cough is conby a reflex from a centre in the central nervous system, and many anti-
to treat this condition.
Lobelia
and
Anti-cough or antibe needed to facilitate
trolled
anti-tussive.
bronchitis
a natural reflex to help clear
the respiratory system of secretions
which contain ephedrine. Ephedra has been used for 5000 years by the Chinese
Grmdelia camporum, Sanguinaria canadensis,
dioxide-.
respiratory
an anti-asthmatic agent among the
viscous secretions.
and the maintenance of level in the
air pollu-
the
in the blood.
body,
Smoking and
compound isolated from the mediterranean umbelliferous plant Ammi visnaga - a plant which has a long history
of khellin, a
and
with waste carbon dioxide
oxygen
by recurrent episodes of infection which lead to an increased number of the mucus glands and therefore an increase in
For difficulty a
in clearing the chest
class
known
of agents
of as
may
be used. These act cough or by increasing the fluidity of an excessively viscous bronchial secretion. The best-known irritant or cough-inducing expectorant is tincture of syrup of Ipecacuanha used in a much weaker concentration than that for promoting emesis. Other expectorant herbs include Cowslip (Primula verts), Soapwort (Saponaria officinalis), Mullein Verbascum thapsus) and Snakeroot (Polygala senega), all of which contain saponins
expectorants
either by inducing
(
(detergent-like substances) that aid dissolution of sputum.
employed
as
Viola odorata
an expectorant;
it
is
also
contains a ()t
MEDICINAL USES glycoside, violarutin, as well as saponins.
Primary infection of the upper respiratory tract is in go per cent of cases caused by minute living particles called viruses. These may be highly infectious (demonstrated by the occurrence of the common cold), and so far few plants have been shown to possess specific anti-viral activity. General resistance to these and other infections in the body may be increased, however, by employing Phytolacca americana, which stimulates the immunological defence system. Where primary viral infection is followed by bacterial infection a
number
of plants are
is
The nervous system That part of the peripheral system which is under active control is called the voluntary system and is concerned with the skeletal muscles while the involuntary or
acts
on the muscles
from min-
controlled by will, such as the heart or the
(Allium
bladder.
Messages are conducted by changes
strongly antibacterial as are
Cone flower Elecampane
autonomic system
of the organs and glands which cannot be
ute plants, the moulds). Garlic sativum)
pulses in the reverse direction.
power of
used, although few possess the antibiotics (originally isolated
and the peripheral nervous system comprising the major nerves which connect the spinal cord with the minute nerve-endings in every part of the body. The peripheral system conducts messages from the organs to the central nervous system and also conveys controlling imcord,
and
{Echinacea angustifoliai, {Inula helenium).
in
the electrical balance of the nerve cells or
neurones concerned. More than one cell involved with each pathway, and the electrical change is transmitted from one cell to another by the release of tiny amounts, or quanta, of a special chemical substance called a transmitter. This process can be illustrated with a specific example. When you burn your
two in
The nervous system grates
all
controls
and
the activities of the body.
inte-
There
are two main parts: the central nervous system consisting of the brain and spinal
hand, temperature-detecting Below
:
showing
The autonomic
nervous system,
the opposing actions
of the
parasympathetic and sympathetic parts on various organs of the body. receive nerves
Most organs
of both systems
and
are
controlled by impulses from each.
cells in the
skin activate nerve-endings. This is
message
passed along afferent or sensory nerve
fibres
to
changes.
spinal
the
When
cord
by
electrical
the message arrives at the
spinal cord, a chemical transmitter passes it
across the synapse
the junction
between
activates another
cord.
The
'perceived'
and
down
as
a result an impulse
down
the spinal cord
the efferent or
are controlled in distinct regions of the
ies
and brain by two sets of nerve - the sympathetic and the parasympathetic - which, generally speaking,
spinal cord cells
The parasympathetnervous system is responsible, for example, for increased blood-flow to the digestive system after a meal, and the decrease in size of the pupil in bright sunlight. The transmitting substance for these act in opposite ways. ic
is known as acetylcholine. The sympathetic nervous system, which
nerves uses
mainly adrenaline and noradrenaits transmitter compounds, comes
line as
into effect in conditions of stress such as fear
and anger, and
acts antagonistically
of the parasympathetic sympathetic stimulation causes increase both in pupil size and to
stimulation
system.
Thus
heart-rate but, at the
same
time, constric-
and abdominal viscera. All these actions prepare the body for intense activity. tion of the blood-vessels in the skin
At a higher level of activity functions such as consciousness, thought, memory.
saliva
saliva
glands
glands heart
heart
lungs
lungs
stomach
stomach
intestine
intestine
bladder
bladder
spinal
cord
sympathetic trunk
is
and then motor nerve to the muscles of the arm and hand - which is withdrawn involuntarily from the heat. Function of organs autonomic activit-
passes
pupil
pupil
neurone
"message"
sympathetic
parasympathetic
62
and
spinal
transmitted up the spinal cord to the cerebral cortex in the brain. The pain is
is
DISORDERS OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM
cells)
the
THE NERVOUS SYSTEM touch receptors central nervous
in
the skin
system
* ^
'6^
K.
effectors and receptors in the muscles and tendons
and reasoning
reside
in
the superficial
layer of the cerebral cortex in the brain. In
man, with
his
high intellectual capacity,
dominate
these portions of the brain
all
Co-ordination of the reflexes is carried out in a smaller region of the brain called the hypothalamus. The mid-brain and medulla are concerned with the maintenance of the wakeful state land hence also sleep temperature regulation,
the
Passion-flower
[Passiflora
incarnata)
which contain the alkaloids passiflorine, harmol. and harmine, are also used as sedatives. Other popular medicinal plants category include Lady's Slipper
others.
in
respiratory regulation
American Valerian; and Tilia species. Drugs acting on the peripheral nervous system may be divided into two groups depending on whether they exert their effect on the sensory or motor neurones. In
.
and maintenance
of blood pressure.
this
(Cypripedium
the
first
pubescens\
class
fall
also
nervous
central
the
which
relieve
pain,
the strongest of these
system
are
those
the analgesics,
known
and
in the plant
kingdom are derived from Poppy Papaver sommjerum
Opium
the
Historically the best-known pain-killer
Mandrake
which,
like
root
Mandragora
Henbane
i
officinarum
Hyoscyamus
nigei
.
contains the alkaloids hyoscyaminc and
scopolamine. Both were used during early
Other analgesics include Bos-
surgery. wellia
serrata,
Chrysanthemum anemijolium.
Ervatamia dichotoma and '
ontain
certain
many
essential
herbs which
oils,
such
as
Erythroxylum
irritants
coca
,
American
the
physiological
of Physostigma venenosum
its
active ingredients arc terpenoid
pounds
t
is :
com-
ailed \;de pot notes, present in the
root-Stock The Indian spe< ies V. wallnhn is even more effective. Extra* ts of fresh
linking with the
via the central nervous system.
The
reflex
response causes the cigarette to be dropped.
Below: Henbane fHyoscyamus rarely used today since
it
contains
niger,)
is
many
powerful substances but, historically,
it
has
been very important.
.
Drugs which act on the parasympathetic autonomic nervous system in the opposite way, that is by inhibiting or
Adrenergic drugs, or those acting on neuromuscular junction, include stimulants such as ephedrine from Ephedra species) and drugs acting
officinalis
pain of a cigarette
pathway (red) effector pathway (green)
the receptor
such as nicotine in the leaves oi .\icotiana (from Pilocarpus jaborandi) or eserine isolated from the beans
hallu-
depressant
and
tabacum.i, pilocarpine
and
A well-known
the reaction to the
burn,
autonomic system include stimulants which act like an excess of acetylcholine
simu-
tincture of Valerian {Valeriana
show
of tin
transmitter
tranquillizers; and, conversely, the
cinogens.
reflex consists
and counter-
antagonizing the effects of acetylcholine, include the tropane alkaloids from many species of the family Solanaceae, for example, Atropa belladonna and Hyoscyamus
lants such as antidepressants
:
from, for example, the seed of
Wintergreen whose oil comprises mainly methyl salicylate. Other central nervous system drugs include the depressant group comprising the anaesthetics, hypnotics, sedatives and Caultheria procumbens
A
of the and an involuntary muscle movement. The diagrams left
stimulation of a receptor neuron
Mustard and the oil of Wintergreen. Drugs which act predominantly on the cholinergic nerves that is those in which the chemical compound, acetylcholine, is
.
is
shrub,
as
the local anaesthetics
(such as cocaine from the South
Treatment of nervous disorders The most widely used drugs which act on
known
Above and
niger.
the sympathetic
way (antagonists such as from both Rauvoljui rpentina reserpine and R. vomitoria) and ergotamine (from in the
opposite
\
(Jlaviceps purpurea).
63
SELF-HELP
SELF-HELP WITH HERBS
are frequently described as a diuretic, but
mainstream medical profession and unorthodox practitioners have tended to dissuade ordinary people from treating themselves or obtaining the means or information for doing so. This opposition was often concerned with the profit motive and, equally, no doubt because of the need for secrecy to
they must not be used where there is a kidney inflammation. Similarly, some
history both the
Throughout
lack of knowledge, ineffective remedies or even outright charlatanism. The strongest argument today against self-medication is the danger of misdiagnosis. Certain commonplace symptoms, such as vomiting, stiff neck, head-
conceal
ache,
fever
themselves
or
earache,
may seem
in
complaints. But, con-
trivial
sidered in the perspective of other associ-
symptoms and dispositions and case
the
ated
patient's
pre-
symp-
history, such
toms may indicate a much more serious problem. Since any complaint is best treated immediately, it is important to remember that if symptoms do not disappear very quickly, proper qualified advice must be sought. Children must never be treated with herbal remedies, or with any other form of home medication; in children ordinary symptoms such as those of the common cold may develop into a potencondition
tially serious
in as
quickly as 24
may
herbs
person
blood pressure in a suffering from hyper-
raise the
already
more than 12 hours as they may deteriorate. Even under ideal conditions herbs lose their activity: leaves, flowers and fruit
seeds,
should be used within one year; roots and rhizomes within three
and there are some plants which must never be taken internally by preg-
years.
nant women.
weight of remedy used is 30 g. For those remedies containing more than one herb, the combined weight is still 30 g.
tension,
There
is
also the question of correct
how and when the dose should be administered, and the length of time for which a remedy should be taken. Lack of dosage:
In both infusions and decoctions the
Used
Infusion
water-soluble dense parts of leaves, stems and
to extract the
knowledge of correct herb combinations, and the use of incorrect doses, can produce
substances from the
adverse
is also sometimes employed on thin, small or chopped roots and fruits. The method consists of pouring 500 ml
Simply because herbs are natural prodoes not follow that their use in medicine is any easier than the use of
ducts
it
substances - in
It
method
oz to of boiling water on to 30 g (or 20 fl ozs) of the finely cut material con-
for these reasons, therefore, that
tained in a porcelain, stone or glass vessel,
it is
is
many
the
as
the
ways,
synthetic
indeed,
such
herbs
flowers,
effects.
more complicated.
recommended many popular modern 'herb-
1
self-medication cannot be
fitted
and why
volatile substances
als'
less
may
so
be considered with interest, but
be
with a tight
lost
The
lid.
lid
keeps in the
which would otherwise
during the required
not as medical manuals. In this chapter
normally
some examples have been given of plants
straining the liquid
10 for is
or
minutes
15
After
infusion.
allowed
to cool to
below blood heat before the dose
medically effective in disturbances of the
just
cardiovascular, nervous, respiratory and
taken,
demonstrate the effectiveness of herbal medicine as administered by a properly qualified prac-
one cup of infusion taken three times a
systems
digestive
titioner.
Some
to
or
it
completely.
may be allowed The normal dose
to is
is
cool
up
to
day, usually before meals.
of these plants are poison-
Hard
hours.
ous even in only moderate doses. There
Decoction
Apart from mis-diagnosis, some individuals do not tolerate certain plant material either because of an intrinsic allergic problem, or because an organ or system in the body is malfunctioning to some extent. Juniper berries, for example.
are,
however, many simple conditions which can be treated at home so long as the warnings above are fully considered.
rhizomes, bark, seed, and
PREPARATIONS
500 ml (or oz to 20 fl ozs) of cold water an enamel or glass vessel and allowing it to soak for 10 minutes. The temperature is raised to boiling point and the mixture then simmered for 10 to 15 minutes; this is
purposes of self-care, only three methods
need be employed. Infusion involves
external application only.
Left
:
There are many
different
ways of
preparing herbal remedies but for the
extraction
tin
of water-soluble substances from
the less dense parts
of a herb, such as
leaves, stems or flowers.
Decoction
extraction
its
is
best
for hard plant parts which will release their
water-soluble parts only after being soaked in hot water. Poultice simply
means
the use
afresh plant by bruising or crushing pulp, which
is
then
it
Other
of
into a
mixed with a
methods
of specific
to
groups of active
materials from a plant, so that alcoholic
may
indicate all three methods, kettle, a
and
include a
good mortar and
of wooden spoons, storage jars, and, most importantly, a wide range of dried and fresh herbs. 1 Other methods
pestle,
<>)
a fine strainer,
lots
preparing herbal remedies require a
greater knowledge of
pharmacy and
are best left to the experts.)
entire
process
usually one cup
Still
other methods are related to the
physical nature of the herb
itself;
pouring
its
may
constituents,
whereas the same procedure is perfectly satisfactory for most leaves and flowers. A complete understanding of all the
methods of preparation of herbal remedies requires a knowledge of phar-
different
macy, and is thus not relevant to self-care. For this purpose only three methods need be employed, namely infusion, decoction and poultice. These should always be made fresh before use, and never kept for
the
(or slightly less)
Poultice
extract only a fraction of
saucepan and
the
vessel
should be kept covered. After straining and cooling the dose may be taken; this is
released or solubilized in water.
of hot water,
body surface. The variety of containers and implements assembled here
followed by a further 10 minutes steeping.
times a day before meals.
be
boiling water over a thick hard root
in readiness for application
1
1
in
needed to remove therapeutic chemicals which would not be
solutions
moistening material, such as small quantities
directly to the
the
release
more prolonged hot water treatment. This requires adding 30 g of the herbal remedy
During related
are
wood
their water-soluble constituents only after
i(
remedies may be prepared in several different ways. Some methods are directly related to their form of administration - poultices, ointments, creams and salves, for example, are obviously for
Herbal
plant parts such as roots,
This method
may
three
utilize either
which is bruised and a pulp, and then mixed with a
fresh plant material
crushed to small quantity of hot water; or dried herbs which are softened by mixing with host pastes, which act as a suspending material, made from flour, bran, corn meal or other suitable vehicles. If the latter method is employed 60 g of dried herbs are mixed with 500 ml (or 2 ozs to 20 fl ozs) of fairly loose paste. Both fresh and dried plant poultices are best applied indirectly to the skin by sandwiching the paste
between thin cloth prior to application the affected part of the body surface.
to
65
SELF-HELP TABLE
Left
Herb farms, such as
:
the one
shown
here,
can supply the herbs used in the following recipes.
Below
:
is for adults - children Herbal remedies should
The dosage
must not be
treated.
be taken daily for two to three weeks.
No
medication should be taken continuously
sometimes better
The figures
; it is
vary the formulations
to
indicate the proportionate parts
by weight.
Key
ACIDITY
see Dyspepsia
1
1
ANAEMIA
Golden Seal Myrrh rs
Dandelion
Spinach Watercress
As salad herbs,
rs
resin
bd
buds
hb
herb
rt
root
bl
bulb
If
leaf
sd
seed
cl
clove
Witch Hazel,
distilled
Wormwood
1
Angelica
1
Nettle
water of
If
1
If 1
Walnut Sage If
If
Peppermint
Gentian
hb If
Marigold fl Black Bryony hb
cup
1
hr before
European Centaury hb 1 St Johns Wort hb Infusion: 2 cups per day
Linseed sd rt
Sweet Flag Caraway sd
Cuckoopint If Lime bk Herb Robert If Rue hb Fenugreek sd Sanicle hb
rt
1
Agrimony hb
1
Gentian
1
Calumba
1
European Centaury hb
Hemp Agrimony hb Apply hot poultices of any of the
rt
rt
Decoction: ^ cup meals
7
1
Bogbean hb
1
Blessed Thistle hb
1
Mugwort
Infusion: \
If
cup
1
hr before meals
Globe Artichoke If 1 Gentian rt Decoction: \ cup 1 hr before meals 1
Garlic
Rosemary hb
cl
Echinacea rt Juniper by
Poultice or Decoction
Renew
hr before
(external use)
1
above, alone or at least
in
combination.
4 times a day
BURNS
1
1
If
Comfrey If St Johns Wort hb
cups per day
European Centaury hb 1 Thyme hb 1 White Horehound If 1 Hyssop hb Infusion: 2 cups per day
If
Oak If Cabbage
Decoction: ± cup \ hr before
2
fl
Cowslip
meals
Infusion: 2
ANTISEPTIC
hr before meals
cups per day 1
Birch
I
meals
If
2 Nettle
Hyssop hb Arnica
rt
Infusion: 5
Infusion: 2
BAD BREATH
see Halitosis
1
Cucumber
2
Comfrey
1
Oak bk
1
Marigold
ft
If
fl
Johns Wort hb Poultice: renew frequently 2 St
1
Marigold
1
Sanicle hb
1
Plantain
fl
If
Comfrey If 2 Lady's Mantle hb 2
1
Onion Myrrh
1
Melilot hb
1
Thyme hb
1
BILIOUSNESS
bl
see Nausea
rs
Poultice:
Plantain
1
If
2
Poultice 1
Golden Rod hb
1
Wintergreen
1
If
Rue hb Southernwood hb
Poultice or Infusion
66
renew
frequently
BLEEDING
Poultice or Decoction
1
petals
(lack of)
1
or vegetables:
frequently
1
Pt
fruit
Apply on cotton wool
Agrimony hb Infusion: 1 cup
Moss
Iceland
1
flower
ft
BRUISES APPETITE
Nettle
1
ft
berry
Decoction, use diluted
Comfrey
1
bark
by
rt
Chives
1
bk
1
Cranesbill
rt
1
Raspberry
If
1
Bistort
1
rt
Decoction: as a poultice or wash
Chickweed hb Golden Seal rt Irish Moss hb
Poultice:
Burdock Marigold
renew rt fl
frequently
SELF-HELP TABLE
Coltsfoot Plantain
If
Flag
If
Eucalyptus
1
Garlic
1
If
cup before
1
retiring
Severe 3
CONJUNCTIVITIS
1
2
Eyebright hb
1
Infusion: apply as lotion or
Senna If Marjoram
If
Chamomile Sweet Flag
fl
rt
eyewash
Peppermint If Decoction: 7 cup before
Marigold fl Fumitory hb 1 Eyebright hb Infusion: apply as lotion or
4 Senna If 1 Ginger rt 4 Sweet Flag
eyewash
Decoction:
1
retiring
Blessed Thistle hb
Rue hb Mugwort hb
2 Horseradish
1
1
rt
2 Blessed Thistle
Mallow Sage If
1
Coltsfoot
Walnut
2
hb 1
Golden Seal Rose pt
1
Elder
1
If
1
If
2
fl
1 1
2
Chamomil?
4 Slippery Elm bk (powder) 1 Cayenne (powder) 2 Blessed Thistle hb
1
1
Cornflower
Poultice
1
Melilotfl
2 Plantain
Golden Rod hb 2 Yarrow hb 1 Hawthorn fl Infusion: 2 cups a day
Coltsfoot Fennel sd
If
1 1
and
1
Sundew hb Thyme hb Aniseed sd 3 cups per day
Infusion:
Fennel sd
2 Irish
1
Rue
1
If
Moss hb
Thyme
If
4 Elecampane rt 2 Aniseed sd 4 Liquorice rt 4 Lungwort If 1 Fennel sd Decoction: 3 cups per day
Mild
Fruit juices, especially
rt
Elecampane rt White Horehound. hb
fl
4 Slippery Elm bk (powder)
Blood Root
retiring
Decoction: 3 cups per day
Decoction apply as eye compress
prune
Cabbage
Poultice
cup before
Suppressant
1
CONSTIPATION
7
fl
apply as lotion or eyewash
2
rt
rt
If
Infusion: dilute 1:3 with water
Angelica rt 2 Lady's Mantle hb
2
Rhubarb
COUGHS
rt
Decoction: dilute 1:5 with water and apply as lotion or eyewash
If
Poultice
1
Angelica rt Alder Buckthorn bk
Infusion:
cl
the vapour
Poultice
1
1
2 If
Couch-grass hb Borage If Dandelion If
rt
CHILBLAINS
1
1
rt
Decoction: wash carefully with any of the above, alone or in combination
1
Sage If Marjoram
1
Pour on boiling water and inhale
Tormentil
1
1
1
Willow If Elm bk Avens rt
2
2
1
Hound's Tongue Lady's Mantle If
Sweet
Rosemary hb Peppermint If
1
If
Figs
COLDS
Expectorant
Dates Prunes 1
Yarrow
1
Elder
1
Peppermint
1
Raisins
Bran
If
3-4 cups per day
Infusion
2 Coltsfoot
Rhubarb
fl
fl
1
Hyssop hb White Horehound. hb Infusion 3 cups per day
in the diet,
1
2 1
or their intake
2
increased
1 1
Elder
fl
1
Lime
fl
Psyllium sd Alpine Plantain sd Decoction: do not strain, drink 3 cups per day
1
1
Bayberry bk 1 Ginger rt Infusion 2 cups per day.
in
doses
small
1 1
Liquorice sd
Fennel sd Linseed sd
1
Ginger
rt
3 cups per day
Infusion
1
Liquorice
2 Elder 1
Meadowsweet hb
2 Violet 1
rt
fl
Garlic
fl
cl
Decoction 2 cups per day
1
fl
Marshmallow rt Soapwort hb or
rt
Mullein hb Balm of Gilead bd
cups per day
Sage If Marshmallow
1
Coltsfoot
1
Comfrey
rt
If If
Infusion 3 cups per day
Decoction 3 cups per day 4 Boneset hb 4 Elder fl 4 Yarrow fl
rt
1
1
1
1
Cowslip
Infusion: 2
1
Infusion 3 cups per day
Liquorice
Decoction 3 cups per day
Spinach Apples The above should be incorporated
1
If
White Horehound. hb
Turnera hb
Yellow Dock rt 1 Dandelion rt Decoction: 3 cups per day
CUTS
see Bleeding
DIARRHOEA
1
2 Alder 1
Ash
1
Alder
1
Buckthorn bk
Bilberry
If
Bistort
fl
Peppermint
Infusion:
bed
Tormentil
1
If
cup before
retiring to
rt
Agrimony hb Ground Ivy hb Oak bk ft
rt
Elm bk Yarrow hb Lady's Mantle hb
67
MEDICINAL USES Cranesbill
GARGLE
rt
Decoctions of any of the above, alone or in combinations. Up to 2 cups per day taken in small doses
1
Red Sage
1
Valerian
2
Chamomile
rt fl
If
Myrrh rs Marigold fl Decoction: as required 1
Lavender fl Infusion: 2 cups per day 1
1
1
Jambul
1
Oak bk
ft
2 Raspberry
Sweet
1
rt
hb
2 Tormentil
Peppermint
2 Marigold
1
day
hb Rosemary hb Infusion: 3 cups per day 2 Blessed Thistle
fl
1
Marshmallow Sage hb
rt
INDIGESTION
3 or more cups per day
Infusion: 1
If
Marshmallow If cups per day
Infusion: 3
Sanicle hb
1
Lavender
1
Thyme hb
1
Tormentil
1 1 1
If
1
to
fl
2
Dandelion
1
Meadowsweet hb
1
Limefl
1
Marshmallow
rt
Infusion: as required 1
Meadowsweet hb Lemon Balm
Peppermint
cup as required, not exceed 4 cups per day
in
Meadowsweet hb
1
rt
If
Herb Robert hb Decoction: as required
DYSPEPSIA
1
Hops hb Valerian
1
1 Ginger rt Decoction: 3 cups per day, small doses
1
1
1
Infusion: 2 cups per
If
Infusion: as required 1
rt
Thyme hb
Infusion:
1
2 Blackberry
Decoction. 3 cups per day. in small doses
1
Cleavers hb
If
Flag
2 Plantain
1
Golden Seal rt Herb Robert hb Sage If Sea salt
If
rt
Infusion: 4 cups per
Decoction: as required
1
Parsley hb
1
Sage
day
If
Fennel sd Decoction: 2 cups per day 1
1
Sweet Flag
1
Meadowsweet hb
HALITOSIS
rt
Decoction: 3 cups per day
Anise sd
Cardamom
1
sd
Sweet Flag
rt
Ginger rt Decoction: \ cup as required, not to exceed 2 cups per day 1
1
Gentian
1
Chamomile
1
Angelica
1
Lemon Balm
Clove Angelica rt Fennel sd Peppermint
rt fl
rt
If
If
Decoction: 3 cups per day
1
Parsley
If 1
Sweet
Flag
rt 1
1
Wormwood
2
Coriander sd
2
Sage
hb
Dill
If
Liquorice rt Infusion: 7 cup per day
see Coughs
sd
of any of the above. combination. Consider the need for a laxative, dental care. treatment of flatulence or stomach little
alone or
in
1
Wormwood
1
Chicory
1
1
Anise sd Fennel sd
1
Orris
1
rt
1
Meadowsweet hb
Caraway sd
in
Sweet Flag
Decoction: gargle frequently 2 Lavender
Peppermint
2
Caraway sd
1
Garlic
1
Yarrow
If
cl
2
Sage
fl
If
to
exceed
Lemon Balm hb Chamomile fl
Peppermint If Infusion: 2 cups per day
HEADACHE
Irish Moss Chickweed
Carrot
1
Lime
1
Lemon Balm hb
Coltsfoot
Borage
1
Rosemary hb
Linseed
Cucumber
Houseleek
Slippery Elm
fl
Infusion: as required.
1-4 cups
per day 1
Caraway sd
1
Fennel sd
1
Mugwort hb
Anise sd Decoction: 3 cups per day 1
1 1
1 1
Lovage
1
1
3 cups per day
Vervain hb Scullcap hb
Infusion:
3 cups per day
rt
Cumin sd Thyme hb
Decoction: 2 cups per day
68
Catmint hb Rosemary hb
Infusion:
1
Winter Savory hb Angelica rt
1
5 cups per day
INFLAMMATIONS cups per day
1
1
7
Myrrh rs Decoction: gargle 3 times per day
Apple
1
rt
Turnera hb 1 Cola ft 1 Ginger rt Decoction: \ cup as required, not
1
fl
Infusion: 2
1
taken
small doses
1
Decoction: 3 cups per day 2
rt
2-3 cups per day.
2 Sarsaparilla
rt
hb
rt
hb
2 Basil
acidity.
1
4 Sweet Flag Ginger rt
If
Woodruff hb Decoction: 2 cups per day
Infusion:
FLATULENCE
2
If
1
Chew a
1
EXPECTORANTS
Tarragon
Fennel sd Gentian rt Peppermint
1
Yarrow
1
Scullcap hb
Infusion:
fl
2—3 cups per day
Oats
Purple Loosestrife
Onion
White Pond Okra Lungwort
Parsley
Comfrey Pumpkin
Lily
Marshmallow
Watercress Iceland Moss Any of the above may be crushed and pulped with a little hot water to produce a poultice suitable for application to inflammations or
swellings
INFLUENZA
see Colds
SELF-HELP TABLE Black Horehound hb 1 Decoction: 3 cups per day
INSECT BITES Houseleek
Parsley
Leek Olive
1
1
Golden Rod hb
1
1
Meadowsweet hb
Sage hb Black Horehound hb 1 Vervain hb 1 Pennyroyal hb Infusion: 3 cups per day (not during pregnancy)
If
fl
If
bl oil
Plantain
cl
If
Rue If St Johns Wort Marigold
Garlic
Eaten raw: 2 per day
Infusion: gargle
Summer Savory Infusion: gargle
If
Pennyroyal
If
Comfrey If Crush the fresh plant of any of the above and rub on the sting
Red Sage
1
Raspberry If Ginger rt Peppermint hb
1
Lemon Balm hb
1 1
Bayberry bk
cups per day
Infusion: 2
If
Infusion: gargle
Decoction: gargle
Repellent
Clove
Lavender of Pennyroyal
Oil of Oil
Elder
TONICS
Chew one
slowly
(crushed)
If
see Burns
INSOMNIA SEDATIVES Valerian
Lime
Betony hb
1
Scullcap hb
fl
Fennel sd Aniseed sd Passion flower hb (i cup only)
Infusion:
1 1 1
1 1
1
1
sd Fennel sd Dill
3 cups per day
1 1
1 1
Lime
fl
Hops hb Lemon Balm hb Valerian
Infusion
cup
(see also Gargle)
Poke Root
Lady's Slipper hb
TOOTHACHE
Hyssop hb Lemon Balm hb
Mallow
Eaten raw. 2 per day
Clove
oil
to tooth cavity,
rt
1
Mistletoe hb
2
Scullcap hb
but avoid
gums
cups per day.
in
small
Chamomile
fl
Infusion: repeatedly rinse
doses 2 Mistletoe hb 4 Lime fl
Hawthorn
ft
VOMITING or
2
fl
Decoction 2 cups per day. small doses
in
1
Lavender
1
Orange
1
Lemon Balm hb
1
Basil
fl
1
1
Valerian
2
(see also Nausea)
Peppermint hb Spearmint hb European Centaury hb
2
Chamomile
1
Wormwood
fl
hb
Infusion sip as required, to 3 cups
fl
hb Hops hb
2
mouth
per day
1
Chamomile Lemon Balm hb
1
Peppermint hb
1
Fennel sd
1
European Centaury hb
1
rt
fl
fl
1
Mullein hb Coltsfoot If
1
Marshmallow
1
If
and chew gently
Apply
cl
Mallow
4-5 cups per day
.
2 Valerian
1
Infusion 4 cups per day
1
ft
If
Turnera hb Saw Palmetto by 1 Cola ft 1 Oats sd Decoction: 2 cups per day. in small doses
Hedge Mustard hb
1
Sace
rt
Decoction: gargle
Garlic
1
fl
Soften,
at night
8 Coltsfoot If 4 Blood Root rt 4 Balm of Gilead bd 1
Dog Rose
1
Oats sd Hops hb
Infusion: 2
LARYNGITIS
Hibiscus
Lavender fl Infusion: 4 cups per day
rt
I
1
1
1
3 cups per day
1
1
ft
Infusion 3 cups per day
1 Peppermint hb Decoction I cup at night
1
Dog Rose
Infusn
Lady's Slipper hb Oats sd Scullcap hb
Infusion:
1
1
2
If
Peppermint If Infusion: 3 cups per day
1 fl
Lavender fl Woodruff hb Thyme hb Infusions of any of the above. cup at night
Dandelion Chicory rt
1
rt
Hops hb Chamomile
1
1
SCALDS
Liquorice
Infusion 2 cups per day. Or take alone. 2 cups per day
any one rt
Infusion: as required
SORE THROAT
rt
Infusion 3 cups per day
LAXATIVES
see Constipation
NAUSEA
1
Golden Seal
1
Thyme hb
2
Sage
During Pregnancy
rt
1
If
Iceland
Moss hb
Black Horehound hb Decoction: 2 cups per day
Myrrh rs Decoction: gargle
1
1
Black Horehound hb Infusion: 2
cups per day
1
Galangal
1
Marshmallow
rt rt
1
Bistort
1
Balm
rt
of Gilead
1 Sanicle hb Decoction, gargle
bd
1
Chamomile
1
Meadowsweet hb
1
fl
Black Horehound. hb cups per day
Infusion: 2
69
\
*
'--
c
v
;
•••
*Jk-<'~
-/
\ag
UP
Herbs in the kitchen
y
n
Herbs and spices have had an important role in cooking tor more than 5000 years. No doubt herbs were eaten for their flavour long before it was recognized that
Proverbs (xv:i7), we find 'Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith'. Classical
various other beneficial
herbs and spices. Theophrastus, born in Greece in 372 B.C. and a student of Plato
possessed
they
properties.
An
organized
international
literature
is
similarly rich in references to
many
trade in spices already existed by about
and
1550 B.C. The Ebers Papyrus, an Egyptian medical work, contained references to Indian spices as well as locally grown plants. In about 950 B.C. King Solomon
of herbs in his writings. Pliny, born in a.d.
was visited by the Queen of Sheba who brought gifts of Arabian spices and herb seeds. Ancient Babylon already grew its own Bay, Saffron, Thyme, Cumin and Juniper. In 450 B.C. Herodotus described Indian spices then
known
in
Greece.
It
was from the mediterranean regions that many plants came to northern Europe as the Roman empire expanded. Native herbs were augmented by Roman favourites such as Mustard, and spices were imported. South Indian Pepper was the most popular import and this pungent spice was sprinkled liberally over dishes both sweet and savoury. Even today freshly milled pepper is sometimes added to
strawberries to heighten their flavour.
Ginger was next
in
popularity
cuisine
of first-century
used
many
in
in
the
Rome and was
spiced mixtures, sauces and
stuffings as a digestive
and
laxative.
Biblical references to herbs
and
spices,
obtained from them, abound in both the Old and New Testaments. In
and
oils
Aristotle, includes
23, included natural history in his writings
and referred to the custom of sprinkling egg-brushed bread dough with Poppyseeds prior to baking.
In a.d. 812 the
HerbSy bread
I
and eggs
simple
Emperor Charlemagne
issued an edict instructing his people to
grow certain herbs and vegetables
in their
gardens - probably the earliest 'permitted list' of herbs. Perhaps the Emperor's best tended garden, stocked according to his plan, was in the Benedictine monastery at St Gall in Switzerland. In Britain, the Guild of Pepperers was in existence in 1180. The guild then became the Mistery of Grossers, Pepperers and Apothecaries, later the Guild of Grocers and finally the Grocers' Company. From the fourteenth century the guild acted as a watchbody, controlling the quality of spices,
with
adulterated
which could easily be or low grade water was another
spent
material. Adding means of defrauding
the buyer.
Only
in
1875 did the necessary legal machinery come into the hands of the law with the Sale
of Food
rendered guild
Left:
descriptions
the
and Drugs Act, which watchdog powers of the
less vital.
The
fifteenth-century
from
term
'pepperoccasional
materials that can provide cooks with all the
torn
variety they need.
practice of paying rents to landlords in
rent'
arose
the
7'
HERBS IN THE KITCHEN SI'
ICE
PLANTS
I'
late
ma
Above: Herbs have been used for hundreds of years, and
it is
only in recent times that they
have been neglected. Here a cook seasons one
of his dishes -
illustration from a cookery
book published
in
1507. For
the
GINGER
medieval
BLACK PEPPER piper nigrum,.
:in
cook herbs were an essential part of cooking, 4
most often for heir preservative powers.
Right : Ginger, Black Pepper, Caper and
Cayenne : four spices that have been used kitchens for
many
in
centuries.
A peppercorn rent signified a trivial amount, but realistic rents paid in pepper consignments meant that the landowner's annual pepper expenditure could be avoided. Rent paid in peppercorns was often preferred because it held its value better than unstable coinage - suggesting problems with inflationary currency even in those days! The staff of monastic gardens, kitchens and distilling rooms, the cultivators of the farms of the Knights of St John of Jerusalem and church missionaries (often selected because of their botanical acumen) all played important roles in promoting the knowledge and use of herbs and spices. The Arab conquest of Spain
his first
meant
Arabian spice traders operated from Spain to the borders of China. At about the same time Greek, Levantine and Arabian traders were busy establishing trading stations and factories along
years later Vasco da
the west coast of India.
navigated the Cape of Good Hope and was transformed, the legendary overland caravan routes being replaced
Colombo, Ceylon. In 1600 the British East India Company was founded. The Dutch formed a similar trading company two years later, the Danes following in 6 6. In 65 the Portuguese were driven out of Malakka, in 1658 out of Ceylon, and for some 200 years London was the
by sea journeys. In 1492 Columbus made
leading spice market.
specified weights of peppercorns.
The
that
period between
the blossoming of the
1
100 and 1290 saw
North
Italian spice
trade centres. In i486 Bartholomew Diaz trade
7^
CAYENNE PEPPER
C AJ' F. R
capsicum
capari.i apinosa
voyage
to the
New World and Gama landed
six
As trade
annuum
in spices slowly
developed,
ref-
in
erences to their culinary use were gradu-
15 10 the Portuguese estab-
lished a base in
Goa and a year later they entered Malakka in the Spice Islands. In
documented. The fourteenth-century book Forme of Cury published in England is evidence of the widespread use of herbs
151 7 the Portuguese established a base in
in cookery.
Calicut.
1
1
In
1
1
ally
liberally
herbs.
The
plays of Shakespeare are
sprinkled
with
To quote just one
references extract,
to
from A
Midsummer Nighfs Dream (II.ii.249): 'I a bank whereon the wild thyme blows, where ox-lips and the nodding
know
violet
lush
grows; Quite over-canopied with woodbine, With sweet musk roses
and with
eglantine."
FINDING YOUR HERBS The
sixteenth
and seventeenth-century
Andrew Boorde, Gervase Markham and John Evelyn made frequent references to culinary plants. The indulgent use of herbs and spices may well writers such as
have been necessary
to
mask
the taints of
partially rotten and rancid food (storage and preservation techniques were primitive, to say the least), and to add greater
variety
the
to
of basic
flavour
foods.
Today, though methods of food storage and preservation may be technologically sophisticated, factory and battery-farming methods of rearing cattle and poultry
much
be desired in terms of fruit and vegetable crops (notably apples and potatoes have come under fire, and the plant breeder is often reproached for breeding uniform, unblemished items, designed to suit the packer's boxes rather than to delight the leave
flavour.
in
The
function of herbs and spices
transient in dishes
may
be
which are quickly pre-
salad decorated with Nasturtium blooms;
addition at just the right
herbs have more of an effect on diet
necessary.
if,
for
coming
Herbs are often associated with
specific
The
earliest
dates, often religious festivals.
Shrove Tuesday pancakes were tansyflavoured; bitter herbs still symbolize the Jewish Passover; on Good Friday (tradfree of devilish
itionally
tings of Bay,
Thyme
influence)
cut-
Lavender, Sage, Rosemary are planted to ensure their
healthy growth; on
May
i
German
the
cooking process are
all
important
Steeping, distilling, infusion, or
The
dish
moment may be may be needed for
immediate consumption, or
chutneys, preserves, wines, vinegars, hon-
storage or (as in the case of certain pickles, chutneys and wines) it may need time to
eys
and
oils.
for
freezer
mature.
AVAILABILITY OF HERBS Most herbs are grown and harvested
aluminium
when
to the cook's aid.
the
instance, they are used in stored pickles,
in
though nowadays many flourish in town plots and window-boxes or pots. For those without access to the fresh form, the cool cabinets of some chain-stores now have a limited range of freshly packed containers or freeze-dried herbs in jars and ring-pull
spices are
whether it is in the fresh and the method and time of
itself,
or dried state, factors.
rural settings such as country gardens,
again, herbs and
of the herb
pared, served and eaten, such as a herb omelette, Elder flower fritters or a bowl of
to
Once
Adding herbs to dishes needs exjudgment and care. The nature
perience,
diets.
Even certain
consumer's palate.
and
min B complex can be a dietary hazard vegan
cans. Until relatively recently,
upsurge of interest in herbs began, many cooks were using herbs which were not always packaged and stored in the best manner. Often they were too old, and so generally poor results were obtained. Today the situation has much improved. There is more interest in growing fresh herbs and the home freezer enables the grower to store herbs
the
much more
effectivelv.
Four main botanical families supply the majority of culinary herbs, the Umbelliferae which include Angelica, Caraway, Dill, Fennel and Parsley, the Labiatae (the Mints, Basil, Sage and Thyme), the Compositae (Chamomile, Tansy and Yarrow) and the Cruciferae (Mustard).
Gathering fresh herbs Pick or snip the young
leaves or whole from the ends of stems if the plant is large enough. Avoid over-picking too many leaves from one stem or from very sprigs
Below: This flourishing herb bed contains Marjoram, Lemon Balm, and two types of Fennel, together with
many
other plants used
by man, which together provide an attractive kitchen garden.
(The
table on
page 123
lists
some herbs suitable for a cook's garden.)
Mai-Bowie - a white wine cup flavoured with Woodruff and early Strawberries - is prepared. August crayfish parties in Swe-
den and Finland would not be traditional without the flavour of Dill and decorative Dill heads which are used to garnish the
mounds of succulent
red
pre-
shellfish
viously boiled in a Dill bath.
HERBS AND DIET As a source of nutrients herbs and spices are usually consumed in too small quantities
enter
to
the
calculations
concerned
dietician
mended
intakes.
with
The
C
plant
only significant
is
the
of
recom-
contribution
vitamin
to the diet
daily
of
from a particular if
a bowlful
is
consumed. Used as a garnishing herb, the same plant may contribute little in nutrient terms but a good deal in visual and palate appeal, thereby playing an essential role in stimulating the appetite
and aiding digestion. Gertain plants, however, are known to be rich sources of nutrients. For example, vitamin C is present significantly in Rosehips,
Sweet
Peppers.
Nettles
and
Watercress. Nutritional claims are for certain
and
herbs: for instance,
Alfalfa
source- of
Deficiency
shoots provide an
vitamin B12 oi
tins
in
made
Com In
\
essential
vegan
diet.
component of the
vita-
in
the
73
HERBS IN THE KITCHEN Left
:
Garlic, onions
these are three
of the
popular herbs used onions belong
—
and
chillies
best
known and most
on sale
and same family and both
in the kitchen. Garlic
to the
have a very wide culinary use, ranging from soups
to
meat. Chillies are an integral part
of Indian cooking and are responsible for that distinctively hot, spicy taste.
made of dark glass or plastic with well-fitting lids so that direct light and air do not shorten the storage life. Do not store over a warm cooker but in a dry cool spot. When the herb loses its aroma it is of doubtful use in cooking and should be replaced. containers
Freezing herbs Perhaps the most satisfactory domestic
method of
storing herbs
in the freezer
is
since variable results are obtained bv dry-
ing and not
all
herbs dry well - Chives
'Allium schoenoprasum)
and leathery
Dill
(Anethum graveolens) and Fennel Foeniculum vulgare), for example. Freeze the (
clean herbs in small quantities suitable
average size dishes. Blanching may be dispensed with if the freezer storage time is to be brief, say six to eight weeks. For longer storage, blanch the herbs by immersing them in boiling water for about 45 seconds, then plunge them for use in
water, drain, and pack in wrapping material or freezer bags. An alternative method of blanching herbs is to steam-blanch them by placing the sprigs in a steamer above rapidly boiling water. Allow about i£ minutes blanching into
chilled
freezer
The recommended
time.
blanched
Whole young Use at once or wrap in foil and keep in the refrigerator. Sprigs of Mint (Mentha spp) and Parsley (Petroselinum crispum) may be kept in a jar of water plants.
in an airing cupboard or in a barely
warm
oven, leaving the oven door open. The temperature should not exceed 34°C
frozen
sprigs
may
freezer
life
for
months. be crumbled while
herbs
is
six
frozen.
Frozen herbs can be added to many dishes without thawing. Defrost before
herbs on wire cooling
using in salads and spreads or for garnish-
racks covered with muslin, cheesecloth or
(95°F).
Lay
the
Picking and drying Herbs are usually harvested when the flowers are just coming into bloom as they
storage jars, preferably of tinted glass, and
Bouquets garnis and portion-wrapped sprigs of herbs can be protected in the freezer by placing the labelled foil- or polythene-wrapped parcels in covered
cover with a plastic screw cap. Should
plastic
are then richest in aromatic
signs of condensation
for a
few days.
nylon
ably a certain
amount
of
loss
oils.
Inevit-
of these
occurs during drying and storage.
when
oils
Some
bloom, namely Hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis), Lavender {Lavandula spp), Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), and Thyme (Thymus vulgaris). Sage (Salvia officinalis) is harvested when the earliest buds are seen. Pick just after the dew has gone and discard any yellow or damaged herbs. herbs are harvested
in full
Handle with care and only
move obvious
rinse to re-
Pat the herbs dry gently with kitchen paper. Dry them
74
dust or
soil.
When
dry the herbs are brittle and crumbly. Put the dried herbs into net.
jar, the
appear inside the
herbs are incompletely dried and
should be returned to the drying cupboard or oven.
Long-stemmed herbs may be dried by hanging them in a warm, dry, airy place for a
loose
in small bunches in a Cover the bunches with
few days. Tie fashion.
dark paper if direct sunlight is liable to reach them. Crumble and store the dried herbs as above. Avoid purchasing large quantities of dried
avoid
herbs as
shelf-life
paper-packaged
is
and Choose
limited
brands.
ing.
boxes or screw-top
jars.
Chopped herbs can be mixed with
soft
breadcrumbs and frozen for use as toppings or in stuffings and dumplings. Place the chopped herbs in ice-cube containers and top up with stock. Transfer the frozen bags for storage. Likesprigs of tiny Mint leaves in ice-cube trays, top with water and freeze for use in wine cups and some aperitifs. Chopped herbs can be mixed
cubes
wise,
to freezer
you can put small
with butter, rolled into cylindrical rolls or flat blocks ready for slicing and served with grilled meat or fish, or as part of a sandwich filling. Herbs commonly used in
TEAS AND TISANES such savoury butters are: Parsley (Petroselinum crispum),
{Ocimum
Basil
basilicum).
Chives {Allium schoenoprasum), Tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus), Watercress [Nasturtium
officinale),
folium),
Garlic
Chervil
Mustard
Anthriscus cere-
Capers
(Allium sativum),
(Capparis spinosa), Dill
Horseradish
i
(
Anethum
.
and
armoracia
Cochlearia
[Brassica nigra.
graveolens
Lemon juice and
may also be added. Similarly, store Rose petals (Rosa spp in butter and spread on sweet scones for tea. Remember that ready-prepared dishes stored in the freezer should be seasoned more lightly than dishes for immediate consumption. Herbs and other aromatic seasonings become more pronounced in flavour during freezsalt
)
er storage.
USING HERBS IN COOKING Fines herbes are mixtures of three or four
chopped herbs used
to flavour particular
dishes, the classical
mixture consisting of
Parsley
Petroselinum
(Anthriscus cerefolium
dracunculus
i
,
crispum
Chervil
.
Tarragon
Artemisia
and Chives (Allium
schoeno-
prasum). Fines herbes are used in soups,
and cream cheese. Herb bouquets are small bunches of herbs added to food usually only for the duration of cooking. They can easily be removed if they are tied together with white cotton thread or bound in cheesecloth. A bouquet simply consists of a lew sprigs of Parsley [Petroselinum crispum and sauces, omelettes
a few Chives
Allium schoenoprasum
(hop-
.
ped and added to sauces, salads or (ream A bouquet garni is made of two two Parsley stalks Petroselinum crispum
cheese.
.
sprigs of
Thyme
Thymus
vulgaris
.
one
Marjoram
of
sprig
(Origanum
onites),
and half a Bay leaf (Laurus nobilis). Such bouquets may be added to stocks, soups and stews or put into roastoptional)
Ready-made
ing birds.
sachets of the dried
completely dissimilar tastes, the action of fermentation producing quite different flavours.
Whether you plan
to
make
or
teas
you should always pick the herbs
tisanes,
come
into full flower. This
herbs are easily obtainable. Generally speaking, herbs and spices
just before they
should be used carefully and sparingly. There are exceptions to this rule; for example in the use of fresh Dill sprigs
flavour.
Anethum graveolens) in the preparation of dill-marinaded salmon when liberal amounts of the herb bring the best results. Herbs and spices play a major role in enhancing rather than overpowering nat-
The range
includes Rosehip, Rosehip and
Hibiscus,
Fennel, Peppermint,
ural food flavours in the various foods
and
which they are added. The addition of one tablespoon of chopped fresh herbs usually suffices in a four-portion dish. Correspondingly less of the dried herb is used (j to f teaspoon if coarsely chopped. 5 to 7 teaspoon if ground This last amount also applies to ground spices. Freshly ground spices are more flavoursome than those purchased ready-ground particularly if they have been stored for some time. Commercially prepared freeze-dried herbs, such as Chives and Dill, are almost the equal of fresh herbs in colour and flavour. They are expensive to buy but excellent in quality. Store at room temperature in welldishes to
1
.
sealed containers.
Dried seeds are usually bruised prior
to
will
ensure
Individual
sachets
storage period.
Iu frozen foods die flavours of herbs
storage,
become stronger during them with discretion in destined for the freezer. Some
dishes
si.
should
Do
last for
about a year.
10
making
a tisane, as the tannin deposits
inevitably
infuse for three to ten minutes, strain
listed
in
table
the
on pages
HERB TEAS and
tea
tisane arc often used
synonymously, but the distinction vital importance. A tea is a drink
is
of
made
adding boiling water to the fermented leaves and stalks of One or more plants. A tisane is made by adding boiling water to the fresh or dried but unlermented f>\
normally
plant material
green leaves Left
Making
:
The
.
i/b
1
resulting drinks have
Thyme, Marjoram and
and
casseroles.
bih cotton thread
bubs
Ibi i\
,.
00k id.
the form of
Tisanes are drunk without milk. They can be sweetened with a little sugar or honey according to taste. Some people
1
an
to
add a
Among suitable
little
juice,
and
herbs which are most
those
for
lemon
as well.
use
as
tisanes
are
Lime,
a
In
ni\ily
to
If tied together
f» example, removed whin the /nod <»
string,
Hibiscus, Chamomile, Lemon Balm, Sage and Marjoram. Certain herbs, such as Bergamot and Lemon Balm for example,
need to be boiled for at least a few minutes to extract the full flavour. Aromatic seeds may also be used in the preparation of infusions. They need to be bruised and crushed and then simmered gently for at least ten minutes to draw out
Use four teaspoons of 560ml (20 fl oz). Strain and
their full flavour.
seeds to every serve hot.
Teas The characteristic
flavour of Tea (includ-
ing herb teas) results from the high tannin
content of the leaves used; the aroma is not naturally present in the fresh leaves
This makes a delicious addition
leaf.
toups, slews ,,
in
a bouquet garni which
includes Parsley,
Bay
and
serve hot or cold.
Peppermint, Garden Thyme, Rosehip,
90 91.
The terms
it
contain will mar the delicate flavour of many herbs. Take about two to three teaspoons of fresh herbs (or one teaspoon of dried) to each 140ml (5 fl oz). Pour on boiling water,
will
Angelica, Bergamot, Green Buckwheat,
obtain good culinary results, and
are
these
when
not use an ordinary tea-pot
use
herbs, however, must be used in die fresh si, tie
Chamo-
to
tend
s|)k es
and
to use.
Simply pack the herbs loosely on a wire rack in the airing cupboard or any other warm, airy place out of direct sunlight for about 48 hours. When they are completely dry and brittle, store them in airtight jars made of dark glass. They
like
recommended
are
teas
Tisanes
sometimes spices
within the
of herb
and Green Buckwheat.
mile,
herbs retain most of the flavour
used
aroma and
and convenient
readily available
use to help to release their flavour. Frozen if
very best
the
but
is
formed
during
the
process
of
fermentation.
Due
to their high tannin content the heih teas include Lady's Mantle, Strawberry, Raspberry, Blackberry and Rose-bay Willow herb. The leaves should
best
75
HERBS
THE KITCHEN
IN
1
•
Angelica leaves Aniseed Anise leaves
Bergamot Borage Burdock Caraway
•
•
Agrimony
•
:
• •
(red)
• • •
•
•
•
Celery seed
•
•
Chamomile Clove pinks
•
•
•
^
G ( flo
•
rs )
1
• •
Coltsfoot
•
Comfrey Cowslip
1
1
•
Cumin
•
Dandelion Dill
Elder flowers
Fennel Hibiscus
Hops Hyssop Jasmine Lemon Balm Lime Lovage Mate Marjoram
• • • •
•
•
• •
• •
•
•
• •
•
•
•
•
• •
• •
•
•
•
•
•
•
• •
• •
•
Mints
•
• •
•
• •
Mugwort
•
Nasturtium
•
•
Nettle
Orange-flower
•
•
Parsley
• •
•
Pennyroyal Peppermint Primrose Raspberry leaf
Red Rose petals Rose-Geranium Rosehip Rosemary
1
1
•
•
i
•
• • • •
• •
•
Saffron 1
Salad Burnet Savory
•
•
Sage
•
•
Sorrel
Sweet Cicely
•
•
•
•
Tansy
Thyme
•
•
•
•
•
Vervain Violet
76
•
• •
Watercress Wild Strawberry
Woodruff Yarrow
• • •
•
• •
'
,
SOUPS Left :
Most people
think ofjust the everyday
Chinese and Indian varieties when making
There are a great number ofplants, - such as Aniseed, Dandelion,
tea.
however
Lovage and Vervain refreshing drink.
-
that can
Many
make a
of them are also
medicinally beneficial, while others possess cosmetic properties.
Right: Yerba Mate (Tlex paraguariensisj being gathered in Paraguay. Once gathered, the leaves are dried on a
wooden frame
placed over afire and then pounded. The
made from the leaves contains both and tannin. Mate tea should not be prepared in advance but drunk when freshly brewed. It is an effective tonic and mild tea
caffeine
stimulant.
be collected from the time they start to unfold until they begin to flower. It is necessary to use large quantities of the leaves as small amounts will ferment only with difficulty.
Leave the
fresh leaves in the
shade
for
24 hours. The temperature should be sufficiently high to make them wilt but not so high that they dry out. Then bruise them with a rolling pin, spreading them out in thin layers. Fold the bruised leaves in a cloth. Store the cloth in a warm place 3 Fj for 24 to 48 hours; (20-45 C, 68 12 to
1
1
during
this
generate
time the leaves will start to
own
their
Finish
heat.
the
process by drying the leaves in the shade
temperature of not more than 54 C 29°F) The tea leaves should be more or less brown. Much the best way of producing satisfactory herb teas is by experiment, both with the fermented leaves of different plants and with different blends. Take about one teaspoon of the dried leaves to Pour on boiling each 140ml 5 II oz
SOUP DISHES Gazpacho
.
.
water, infuse for 3 to 10 minutes, strain and serve hot or cold. As with tisanes, a little
lemon and honey or sugar may be
added.
Some
blends are as
established
Serves 4 half a
2
1
Soak the dried peas in cold water overnight. Rinse and drain. Brown the pork or ham in a heavy saucepan adding a little oil if the meat is lean. Add the celery and onion and cook for a few minutes. Add the cold water, drained peas, ham bone and the herbs and spices tied in muslin. Simmer for about 2 hours. Remove the ham bone and the muslin bag. Taste and
1
to taste)
3 tablespoons olive oil
tablespoon superfine or castor sugar
1
4 tablespoons wine vinegar
280ml 25g salt
10
1
fl
oz
1
oz)
tomato
juice
fresh Parsley
adjust the seasoning. Serve sprinkled with
and white peppei
Parsley accompanied by fresh bread.
Peel and dice the vegetables. Gut cucumber lengthwise and remove seeds.
mix
sin^
I
.1
sieve or an electric blender,
with
vegetables
the
the
wine vinegar and a
sugar,
tomato
juice.
Add
the
making sure
sparingly,
the
the
oil
olive
little
Norwegian Caraway Soup Serves 4
oil,
of the
and vinegar
that the mixture
becomes neither kxj oily nor too sharp. Pour into a bowl, add the remaining tomato juice and seasoning to taste. Stir together and put in the refrigerator.
2
Blackberry 8 parts Strawberry 4 parts Raspberry 2 parts Peppermint 2 parts Blackberry 8 parts Raspberry 4 parts
Thyme
Serve (hilled sprinkled with Parsley.
Pea Soup Serves 4-8
2 parts
25g i5g
Rose-bay Willow herb Raspberry 4 parts
Lime
(flowers
2
pans
4 Lady's Mantle 8 parts Raspberry 8 parts
Peppermint 2 parts All parts by weight
450^ \
parts
y>£f 1
1
1
2
dried
diced
7og ib oz) jog (6 oz)
2l
70
II
oz) butter or margarine
plain flour (unbleached,
(\ oz)
(35 fl oz) good veal stock 225g (8 oz) chopped Caraway leaves egg yolk 2 tablespoons cream litre
1
salt
ground black pepper 4 poached eggs or 2 hard-boiled
eggs,
sliced
lb
OZ
( 1
enriched
2
3 Blackberry 8 parts
Mace
and pepper tablespoons chopped Parsley
cucumber
medium-sized onion green pepper 2-3 large ripe tomatoes 1-2 cloves Garlic (according 1
1
follows:
whole Allspice
piece blade
salt
at a ( 1
10 1
peas pork or
salt
(hopped celery chopped onion
oz) cold
tablespoons finely chopped
Caraway
split
water
ham
leaves
Melt the butter or margarine in a saucepan. Stir in the flour. Gradually add the Stock, stirring constantly, and bring to the
1
ham bone
boil.
1
Bay
gently for 5 to 10 minutes. Beat the egg yolk and cream together and add a
leaf
6 Parsley stalks
Add
the
Caraway
leaves
and simmer
77
HERBS IN THE KITCHEN spoonful of the soup to this mixture before pouring it into the rest of the soup. Keep the soup hot but do not let it boil once the cream has been added. Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary. Garnish each serving with a poached egg or slices of hard-boiled egg. Sprinkle with chopped
Caraway
leaves, serve with buttered toast.
Garlic Soup Serves 6 6 tablespoons whole Garlic cloves (i oz) butter tablespoons olive oil 4 i litre (35 fl oz) chicken stock
25g
3 e gg y° lks salt
pinch Cayenne and ground
Mace
6 rounds French bread (fresh or toasted 2 tablespoons chopped Parsley
I
Heat and a tablespoon of the olive oil over a low heat for about 15 minutes. Avoid browning the cloves. Pour on the stock. Bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Peel
the
Garlic
them
in a
heavy pan
cloves
carefully.
in the butter
Beat the egg yolks with a whisk until Add the rest of the oil drop by drop. Stir a few spoonfuls of the soup
they thicken.
into the egg-oil mixture,
then add this
the saucepan Heat but do not boil. Rub through a sieve into a warmed pan or tureen. Season to taste and add the spices. Place a slice of French bread in each warmed soup bowl and pour the soup over. Sprinkle with Parsley and serve.
cream. Serve hot or chilled.
Sorrel Soup
MEAT AND POULTRY DISHES
mixture
very
slowly
to
stirring constantly.
3-5 minutes. Stir in the pureed vegetables and lemon juice. Check seasoning - adjust with a little sugar if preferred. Pour into bowls and divide the sour cream between them. Sprinkle Chives on the
Chicken Legs Hunter's Style
450g (1 lb) French Sorrel leaves 450g (1 lb) spinach 50g (2 oz) onion 40g (1^ oz) margarine 40g (i-jr oz) plain flour (unbleached,
Serves 4
225g (8 oz) button mushrooms 50g (2 oz) margarine small onion 8 chicken legs 2 tablespoons plain flour (unbleached, 1
enriched) (35 fl oz) chicken stock black peppercorns and salt litre
enriched)
lemon juice oz) sour cream
7 tablespoons dry white wine 420ml (15 fl oz) chicken stock 2 tablespoons tomato puree
2 tablespoons
140 ml (5 finely
fl
snipped Chives
Trim and wash
the Sorrel
and spinach
very thoroughly. Put the leaves into a large saucepan and cook until tender. Drain and puree in a blender or rub
through a onion and
and chop the fry in the margarine until softened and clear. Add the flour and stir to blend. Remove from the heat and stir in the stock. Return to the heat and bring to
the
fine sieve.
boil
gently,
7 £ 1
^ 1
Peel
stirring
Season with pepper and 7«
dishes.
chicken legs in the rest of the margarine until golden brown. Sprinkle the flour over the chicken and onion and fry
Pour on the wine and stock and tomato puree, salt, pepper, Chervil, Thyme and Bay leaf. Cook gently for 20 minutes or until the chicken gently.
add
Serves 4-6
1
Above: Garlic, one of the most popular kerbs of all. It is most often added to meat
salt.
constantly.
Simmer
for
^ 1
teaspoon salt teaspoon ground black pepper teaspoon chopped fresh Chervil or teaspoon dried Chervil teaspoon chopped fresh Thyme or teaspoon dried Thyme and 1 Bay leaf tablespoon finely chopped Parsley
Rinse and chop the mushrooms and fry in half the margarine in a heavy saucepan. Lift the mushrooms out of the pan and fry the chopped onion and the
them
is
the
Add
tender, stirring occasionally.
mushrooms and simmer
for
a
the
further
couple of minutes. Stir in the Parsley just before serving. Serve with boiled rice and haricots verts or a green salad.
Chicken with Rosemary Serves 4 1
chicken, about ikg (2-25 lb)
25g 1
1
(1
oz)
margarine
tablespoon chopped Rosemary or teaspoon dried Rosemary
cream 2 tablespoons tomato puree pickled cucumber, finely chopped salt and pepper 200ml
(7
fl
oz) sour
1
to 425 F (2i5°C) or Gas Divide the chicken into quarters. Place them in a fireproof dish and brush them with melted margarine. Season with
Heat the oven
Mark
7.
FISH Turkish
Lamb
Serves 4
goog
(2 lbs) best
3 large
end of neck of lamb
onions
22
4 fresh or canned tomatoes 1 green pepper 4 diced potatoes 1 teaspoon Fennel or Dill
teaspoon Sage
1
Bay leaves 2 chopped cloves Garlic 700ml (25 fl oz) stock 2
(2 oz)
50g
lard
flour
and pepper
salt
Melt the lard in a thick pan. Peel and roughly chop the onions and fry them with the Garlic until they are golden. Divide the meat into chops, coat them in seasoned flour and fry them for a couple of minutes on each side. Add the carrots, tomatoes, green pepper, Bay, Sage, Fennel or Dill, stock and seasoning. Cover the pan, bring to the boil, skim and simmer for
1
Add
1 hours.
the diced potatoes
and
chopped onions and Garlic and simmer for a further
45 minutes.
FISH DISHES salt,
Pepper and Rosemary. Roast the in the oven for about 45 minutes until the meat is thoroughly cooked and nicely browned. Mix the sour cream, tomato puree. ( lucumber and seasoning if
Above
chicken
Rosemary, Garlic and Bay leaves
required. Serve the sauce with the chicken
same time masking
accompanied by boiled potatoes and
a
Goose baked
:
in a
nay of serving
unusual
moderate oven with is
an
this bird ; this
combination of herbs brings out to the full the delicious flavour of the meat, while at the
which tends
to
the slightly fatty taste
be a characteristic of goose.
Chicken may be used instead of goose
salad.
Fish au Poivre Vert Serves 5
28o~340g (10-12 oz) plaice, flounder or any white fish fillets, fresh or frozen 7 tablespoons double or whipping cream 7 tablespoons sour cream 2 teaspoons salt
in this
and will
be just as delicious.
Chicken Paprika Serves
Goulash
1
Serves 1
25g 25g
()75g
margarine or butter
ozj
(l
oz) lard
2
chopped or sliced 4 teaspoons Hungarian Paprika 560ml 20 OZ) stock 280ml
10
(1
oz
Sprinkle chic ken pieces with
margarine and lard
1
<
1
ream
salt.
1
Melt the
covered frying pan. Add onions and cook gentk until they Stan to brown. Add Paprika and stock, bring to the boil and add the in a skillet 01
chicken. Cover pan and simmer until lender, about 1] hours. Stir the coinlloui into the sour
Cook gently
cream and for
a
few
noi bring to the boil.
made
fillets
under running cold
stir
into
tin
pan.
minutes, but do
This dish can also be
with turkey breasts.
lb
lean stewing beef cut into
\
shallow pan.
large onions, sliced
dripping heaped tablespoon Hungarian Paprika
Whip
together the cream,
and herbs and pour the sauce over the fish. Cover with a lid and simmer for 5 minutes. Serve with freshly cooked vegetables and boiled potatoes. sour cream,
salt
salt
cornstarch)
carton sour
I
")Og (2 oz)
11
teaspoons cornflour
1
cubes
3 onions,
2
frozen
water. Fold them and place them in a
salt (]
\\ teaspoons chopped Chervil or Parsley 1^ teaspoons chopped Basil
Thaw
;
or 5 chicken pieces
chopped green peppercorns
\ teaspoons
1
recipe
2
teaspoon ( larawa) seeds teaspoon Marjoram crushed cloves ol Garlic
stock
55og
Potted Shrimps Serves 4
225g (
i^ lb
Fry the onions and Garlic in a casserole or pan lot a lew minutes in dripping. .Add the Paprika, salt. Marjoram and Caraua\ seeds and cook briefly. Add the meat and COVei with stock, (lover the pan and cook in a slow oven lor at least 3 hours. Hall an hour before serving add the potatoes.
(8 oz) freshly
cooked peeled shrimps
(or frozen)
potatoes (optional) 1
iog (4 oz) butter
pinch ground Nutmeg pinch ground Mace pinch Cayenne Pepper salt
Clarify the butter by adding small knobs
of
it
to boiling
When
water
the butter has
in a small all
saucepan.
dissolved,
remove 79
HERBS IN THE KITCHEN
EGG DISHES Parsley and Garlic Eggs Serves 2 2
eggs
25g (1 oz) butter j tablespoon chopped fresh Parsley 1
clove Garlic, chopped
salt
and pepper
Melt half the butter
in a
heavy-bottomed
saucepan. Break the eggs into the butter and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Leave over the heat until the whites of the egg have almost whitened and formed, then remove. Meanwhile cream the remaining butter with the Garlic and Parsley and a pinch of salt and drop this mixture in small lumps over the eggs. Serve at once. This is a delicious and unusual dish to start a
meal.
Herb Omelette Serves 2 the
pan from the heat and
let
it
cool. Lift
Above
Fennel stalks and leaves make a
:
off the solid butter, dry the undersurface
delicious vegetable dish, while the seeds are a
on kitchen paper and divide the but to into two equal portions. Heat half the butter in a frying pan to-
pungent flavouring.
gether with the spices. Add the peeled shrimps and toss them in the butter. Transfer to small pots and allow to cool. Melt the rest of the butter and pour over the shrimps to seal them. Chill before serving with hot toast.
1
boiled or left-over [l
sea-bream or porgy, about ikg (2-2|
slices
lb
Bay
fl
oz
fish
fl
oz
vinegar
oil
dry with kitchen paper. Fill the fish with Fennel sprigs or chopped Fennel root and place it on a large sheet of aluminium foil brushed with the oil. Warm the Pernod, set it alight and pour it over the fish. Season the fish with salt and fish
pepper and wrap in the foil parcel and it on a baking dish. Bake at 350F
place
C
or
Gas Mark 4 fish
for
30 minutes,
parcel after the
first
15
minutes.
Check that the fish is thoroughly cooked before serving with boiled potatoes
and a green
sea-bream haddock. If
80
is
1
:s
salt
lemon
fish
stock with the vinegar
lemon and
and the
Pour over the fish fish becomes thoroughly saturated. Refrigerate and serve with thin slices of brown bread.
and
Gut and scrape the sea-bream thoroughly to remove the scales. Rinse and pat the
180
1
peppercorns and' salt
herbs,
black pepper
'
<
salad.
not available use bass or
leave
medium-sized boiled potato tomatoes teaspoon chopped Lovage teaspoon chopped Chives teaspoon Tarragon
teaspoon Thyme teaspoon Marjoram 1^ tablespoons olive oil
stock
leaves
3 slices of
1
1
(
up the
salt
turning the
approx 45og
Place the pieces offish in a deep dish. Boil
of Fennel root
2-3 tablespoons olive 4 tablespoons Pernod
fish
lbj
280ml 10 280ml (10
12 i
clove Garlic, chopped
Serves 4
2 Clo\ es
a few sprigs green Fennel or
medium-sized onion
1
2
3
Serves 6
1
1
Soused Fish
4 Fennel lea\
Sea-Bream (Porgy) with Fennel
4 large eggs
so
salt.
that
the
and pepper
Roughly chop the onion, Garlic, potato and tomatoes. Heat the oil in a frying pan and gently fry the onion and Garlic until soft. Add the tomatoes and potato and few minutes. Break the eggs into and beat them, adding the herbs according to taste and season. Mix quickly with the vegetables in the pan and
cook
for a
a mixing bowl
cook until the underside is setting. Then finish the omelette under a hot grill.
Pickled Mackerel
Oregano Flan
Serves 4
Serves 4
4 mackerel
280ml (10 fl oz) malt or 140ml (5 fl oz) water 6
Bay
1
teaspoon Allspice
salt
distilled
vinegar
leaves
and pepper
12 peppercorns
Clean and wash the fish and remove the bones. Place in a baking dish, sprinkle with salt and pepper, add Bay leaves, peppercorns, Allspice, vinegar and water. Bake in a cool oven for about an hour. Allow the fish to cool and serve in the liquor.
Pastry i40g (5 oz) whole wheat flour
70g (2^ oz) mixed
fats
(butter or
margarine and lard) salt
Filling
x 400g (14 oz) can Italian peeled tomatoes grated Cheddar cheese 1 iog ^4 oz 1 small can anchovies 50g (2 oz) black Olives 6 teaspoons chopped fresh Oregano or 2 teaspoons dried Oregano 1
F
VEGETABLES AND SALADS whole wheat flour, salt and fats bowl, adding water to make the pastry lightly and Knead a stiff dough. chill for 15 minutes. Roll the mixture out on a pastry board and cover the base and sides of a flan case with it. Drain the tomatoes and chop all but one in half. Place the whole tomato in the centre of the case and distribute the halves throughout the case. Drain the anchovies and lay them like the spokes of a wheel across the
Mix
the
together in a
case.
Scatter
the
cheese,
Olives
and
Bake for 45 minminutes at 400" (200°C) or Mark 6. For the last 30 minC utes lower the heat to 350 F (i8o°C) or Ores^ano over the
utes,
Mark
the
for
first
15
Rosmarino
1
lb
)
spaghetti
the
pan of water. Meanwhile, melt
spaghetti
salted
in
a
large
the butter in another pan. If dried Rose-
mary
is
leaves
25mm
(i
in)
Cinnamon
stick
VEGETABLES AND SALADS
4 peppercorns 4 crushed Cardamom seeds 20-30 blanched almonds
Aubergines (Eggplants) with Herbs Serves 4
20-30 sultanas (or raisins 50-85g (2-3 oz) butter 2 2
tablespoons cooking
teaspoons
salt
(less
4 aubergines (eggplants) 3 slices of streaky bacon
oil if
salted butter
is
used, fry
it
gently in the butter for
a minute or two. Drain the spaghetti well
and toss it thoroughly in the Rosemary and melted butter before serving.
and
\\
560ml (20
j teaspoon of dried Basil and Marjoram
fl
monds and
Add
4 tablespoons olive salt and pepper
When and
stirring to prevent
it
Then add
it
has melted add
fry for
a few minutes,
Wash two
Basil
oil
but do not peel the aubergines. Cut lengthwise in each. Chop the
slits
mix with herbs, pepper and salt. Dice the bacon and fill the slits in the aubergine with bacon and Garlic. Pour the oil over the vegetable. Bake slowly in a shallow, covered dish for 1 hour. Garlic,
sticking to the base of
and and reduce the heat to just above the minimum. Cover the pan and let it simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. The water will evaporate and
Below: Spring
the rice will cook without being stirred or
following two pages.
the pan.
fresh
or
mixed
sultanas for a few minutes.
the butter.
chopped
teaspoons
Marjoram mixed
oz) water
the drained rice
the water, salt
sugar. Bring to the boil
.V>* '
2 small cloves Garlic
used 2 teaspoons sugar
1
iog (4 oz) butter
boiling,
Bay
4 Cloves
the rice and soak in cold water for about hour. Heat the oil in a thick saucepan and fry the Bay leaves. Gloves, Cinnamon, peppercorns, Cardamom, al-
6 tablespoons chopped fresh Rosemary or 2 tablespoons of dried Rosemary
Cook
2
rice
Wash
Serves 4 ('
during the first 5 minutes. Decorate the with slices of tomato, hard-boiled egg or fried onions
rice
onions hard-boiled eggs tomatoes
PASTA DISHES
45°g
disturbed in any way. Test the rice by eating a few grains, but do not lift the pan lid
(1 lb)
450g
flan.
4.
Spaghetti
Herb Rice Serves 4
M
herbs
to taste
Summer
Risotto, an Italian dish with
such as Basil, Oregano
and
Savory.
Overleaf: You can select suitable herbs for each dish you cook from the chart on the
HERBS IN THE KITCHEN
Alcoholic beverages
Apples
• ••• •
• ••
o o
•
••• ••
Apricots
•
•
Artichokes, globe
•
•
• •
Artichokes. Jerusalem
Asparagus Baked goods Beans. Broad
•••
••
o
••• •
•
••
•
•
• •
Beef
•••• ••
o
•
Beetroots Brussels sprouts
•
•
Carrots
• •
o
•
Citrus fruits
•
•
•• ••
o
• •
• •
Cocoa Coffee
•
•• •
o
• •
•
•• •
• •
• • •
• •
••
•
• •
•
•• •••
•
•
• •
Dairy foods
o
o
•
Eggs
•• ••
•• • •
o
Fish
Game
• •
Lamb Marinades Mayonnaise Onions Pasta sauces Peaches
•• ••
• •
o
• • •
•
•
•
•
• •
•
•
•
• ••
•
•
•
•
•
••
•
•
•
• • •
•
•• • •
• •
•
•
Pears
o •o •
•
• • •
• •
••
•
•
Gooseberries
• •
•
Peas
•
Pickles
o
•
•
Pork
o o
•
Potatoes
•
Poultry
•
•
Salads
•
• •
Spinach
Stews
• • ••
•• • ••• • • • •o •
o• •
• •
•
• • • • • •• • •
•
• •
• • • •
•
•
••
• •
•
• •
• •
•
•
•
Swedes (Rutabagas) Sweet sauces Tomatoes
• •
•
•
• •
• • •
•
•
o
o
•
• ••
• •• •
• •
rice
Tea
••• o • • • • •
•
Salad dressing
Soups
•
•
Pumpkins Rhubarb
••
• ••O •
o
o o
o
• o
• •
• • • • •
•
•
Turnips
o
O indicates herb must be used fresh % 82
•
••
Currants
Veal Vinegars
•
•
•
•
Chocolate
Condiments Cream Cucumbers
•
•
•
Cherries
•
• •
•
•
•
Cabbages
•
•
•
•
Beans, French
Savoury
•
•
• •
• • • • •
indicates herb
may be used
•
• •
•
•
• •
• •
• • fresh or dried
• • •
•
and sometimes candied
••
SELECTING YOUR HERBS
•
•
o
••
• •
•
•
•
• ••
•••• o
Artichokes. Globe Artichokes. Jerusalem
•• •
•
Asparagus Baked goods
••o
•
• •
•
Apples
•
•
•
•
o
•
Beans. Broad
Beans, French Beef
•
•
•
Beetroots
• • •
Brussels sprouts
•
•
• •
•
•
• • •
•
Alcoholic beverages Apricots
•
• •
•
•o
• •
•
Cabbages
••
•
o
Carrots
• •
Cherries
Chocolate
•
Citrus fruits
•
•
Cocoa Coffee
•• • •
•
• • •• • •
•
• • •• •• •• • •
• • •
•
•
• •
•
•
•
o
Condiments Cream Cucumbers
o
Dairy foods
Currants
••• • • •• • o • •[• o • o • • •i
• • ••• • • •••• • ••
•
• • •• •
• •
Eggs
o
Fish
Game Gooseberries
• •
•• • • • • •
•
• •• • • • • •
•
•
• •
•
•
Lamb
• •
• •
Marinades
Mayonnaise Onions
•
Pasta sauces
• •
•
Peaches Pears
• ••
Peas
• ••
•
•• •
••••• • •• • •••• •
• • •
•
•
• • •
•
•• • • • • •
•
•
••
•
•
•• •• ••
• • •• • • • • •• • • ••
• ••
•
•
•
•
••
•
•
•
Pickles
o
• •
Pork
•
Potatoes Poultry
Pumpkins Rhubarb
• •••
•
• •• • ••
•
o•o
•o •
•
o o o
•
•
• o
•
•
••
Stews
Swedes (Rutabagas) Sweet sauces
• • •
•
••
•
•
• •
•
rice
Soups Spinach
•
• •
•
Salads
Savoury
•
•
Salad dressing
•
o •
•
Tea
Tomatoes Turnips
• •
• •• •
••• •
•
• •
•
Veal
•
•
Vinegars
83
HERBS IN THE KITCHEN Cinnamon Spinach
and cook briefly. Pour the wine into the pan and cook slowly until the mixture is bubbling gently. Peel and roughly chop the tomatoes, wash the mushrooms and halve them if they are the field variety
Serves 4
2kg (4^ lb) spinach 50g (2 oz) butter a\ tablespoonfuls cream
(button ones can be
Cinnamon
the Parsley stems.
salt
whole).
Chop
mushrooms, Parsley stalks and a the
tomatoes, Bay leaves, sprinkling of Thyme to the mixture in the
sugar
lemon rind
Trim and prepare
the spinach
and wash
several times in a lot of cold water. Place
saucepan with very
in a
left
Add
water and minutes until
little
salt to taste. Boil for 5 to 10
pan and cook uncovered for about 15 minutes. The mushrooms and carrot should be tender but refrigerator
still
and serve
Put in the
crisp.
slightly
chilled,
Horseradish Sauce 25g (1 oz) Horseradish 140ml (5 fl oz) double or whipping cream pepper and salt prepared English Mustard vinegar superfine or castor sugar
Wash, Whisk
and grate the Horseradish. cream lightly. Fold the Horseinto the cream and add the
peel
the
radish
seasonings, sparingly, to taste. Serve, with
boiled
fish, beef,
tongue or
sprinkled with finely chopped Parsley.
cheeses such as
Mint and Grapefruit Cocktail
Poppyseed Sauce
as a garnish to
Edam.
tender.
Strain
of water.
and press the spinach until free Over a low flame, melt the
Add
butter in a frying pan.
the cream, a
salt and Cinnamon to and a teaspoon of grated lemon To this add the spinach and stir
pinch of sugar and taste,
rind.
Serves 4
well. Serve at once.
1
3 fresh grapefruits
chopped
Sweet and Sour Tomato Salad
the grapefruit into small segments
in a bowl. Add a little gin, about tablespoon will be sufficient. Sprinkle with chopped mint and serve chilled. This makes a delicious hors d'oeuvre.
medium-sized onion
Herb Dredge
malt or distilled vinegar 2 tablespoons granulated sugar water
Franco's Dip
Wash and
and place in a chopped onion. Add of freshly chopped Chives and
dice the tomatoes
bowl with the a lew sprigs
finely
a few torn Basil leaves. Prepare the dres-
combining equal parts of vinegar and hot water with the sugar. Pour over
sing by
the tomatoes, sprinkle very lightly with freshly milled black
bunches of Parsley, chopped \ medium-sized red pepper, cleaned and chopped a small can of anchovy fillets, drained and chopped 2 large
ground black pepper
freshly
pepper and place
in
breadcrumbs vinegar or lemon juice fresh
Chop
olive
Mushrooms lb)
(1
a la Grecque
fairly
large onion
1
large carrot
and an-
Add enough oil and breadcrumbs to make a stiff 'dip'. Then add a very small together thoroughly.
amount of vinegar or lemon juice but not to make it tart. Season to taste.
mushrooms
1
the Parsley, red pepper,
chovies as finely as possible, and then mix all
enough
2-3 dozen Coriander seeds (according
This is delicious eaten with really good old fashioned home-baked bread. Don't to
leaves
black pepper
280ml 140ml
Chop
(
\o
(5
fl
fl
oz) white
wine
1
oz) olive oil
the onion finely
the olive oil until
it
is
lightly fry in
beginning to turn
golden. Dice the carrot and add
it
to the
onion, frying for a further 5 minutes. Add the salt, black pepper and Coriander seeds 84
tablespoon lemon juice
5 teaspoon salt
and
Grind the Fennel and Coriander seeds and mix together with the Cinnamon and sugar to taste. Add a few breadcrumbs and a very
j teaspoon Basil
Mix
a pestle and mortar. Use in sandwiches or or meat.
Score the side of a joint this seasoning in
lamb and rub
before roasting. A'ioli
Provencal Garlic Mayonnaise
4-6 Garlic cloves ground black pepper teaspoon
salt
French Mustard
y° lks
wine vinegar or lemon juice
Pound
the Garlic cloves with a pestle in a
mortar together with the Pepper, salt and Mustard until smooth. Add the egg yolks and mix well. Add the oil, drop by drop at first. If the sauce becomes too thick add a vinegar or lemon juice or a teaspoon of hot water. When the aioli has reached a firm consistency pour it into a bowl and serve chilled with fresh vegetlittle
the ingredients in a blender or with
on hot French bread or with
little flour.
of pork or
olive oil
iog (4 oz) butter or margarine 3 tablespoons finely chopped celery leaves 3 tablespoons finely chopped Chives or spring onion greens 1
salt
flour
3 e gg
Herb Butter
Thyme
breadcrumbs
2 teaspoons
sprigs Parsley
3 large tomatoes
Cinnamon sugar
1
put butter on the bread.
taste)
Bay
Fennel seeds Coriander seeds
(quantities to taste)
olive oil
them
the refrigerator. Serve slightly chilled.
3-4
Mix the ingredients in a small heavy saucepan over a gentle heat. Serve as an accompaniment to hot cooked carrots,
SAUCES AND DRESSINGS
Basil
or 3
pinch Paprika \ teaspoon salt
cauliflower or peas.
Chives
2
chopped Marjoram or
Thyme
Mint
1
6 tomatoes
450g
1
and place
Serves 4
1
fresh
2
5 teaspoon freshly
gin to taste
Chop
(2 oz) butter or margarine, melted teaspoons Poppyseeds tablespoon lemon juice
50g
400g (14 oz) can grapefruit segments or
grilled fish
ables, eggs or fish.
SAUCES AND DRESSINGS Forcemeat
Herb Sauce i
tablespoon of grated Horseradish
2 finely
chopped
shallots
a few sprigs each (or
Winter Savory, Tarragon.
i
Basil,
teaspoon of dried)
Marjoram, Thyme,
6 Cloves thinly peeled rind
280ml (10 560ml (20
Wash
and juice of
fl
oz) strong vinegar
fl
oz)
i
lemon
and remove
stalks
from the herbs. Put all the ingredients into saucepan and simmer gently for 20 minutes. Strain. When quite cold pour into bottles for storing.
Make
The
Garlic, black
:
of
artichokes, tomatoes,
and green
all
the dry ingredients together.
Add
egg and enough milk to moisten. Season with salt and pepper. This is suitable for pork, duck or veal.
Mustard Dressing
traditional ingredients
Provencal cooking
Mix
and pepper
sure they
are securely corked.
:
e gg
salt
a
Below
1
milk
water
the Horseradish
4 tablespoons grated suet 8 tablespoons white breadcrumbs 2 teaspoons chopped Parsley teaspoon powdered mixed herbs 1 \ teaspoon Nutmeg \ teaspoon grated lemon rind
olives, olive oil,
Parsley and wine and, of course, a variety of
aromatic flavouring herbs including
Marjoram, Basil and Bay.
i\ tablespoons olive or cooking oil 2j teaspoons dry English Mustard juice of j
Add
lemon
Mustard to the oil, beating until all the lumps have vanished. Add the lemon juice and mix thoroughly. The the
Above: Basil
leaves provide one of the most
distinctive flavours.
ingredients of this dressing can be varied
according
to taste. It
is
especially tasty on
a salad of lettuce alone.
Sage and Onion Stuffing 3
medium-sized onions
10 Sage leaves 1
iog (4 oz) breadcrumbs
40g 1^ oz) margarine or dripping egg yolk salt and pepper (
1
Peel the onions, put into boiling water
and simmer for 10 minutes. Just before you take the onions out, put the Sage leaves in for \ minute. Chop the onion and Sage leaves very finely and then add
the breadcrumbs, seasoning, or dripping,
and egg
yolk.
Mix
margarine together.
Pesto Basil,
washed and
Cheddar
cheese, finely
3-5 small bunches dried
25g
oz) strong
fi
grated
25g 25g
(1
oz)
50ml
Parmesan cheese,
finely grated
oz) Pine mils
1 I
(2
fl
oz) olive oil
of Garlic, finely chopped pinch of salt
2 (loves
Chop (lie (
lombine
oil.
Let
PestO
Crush and mortar.
(he Basil into very fine pieces.
Pine
is
nuts in a
pestle
the ingredients with the olive stand for 2 hours before using. used as a sauce with spaghetti. all
it
85
HERBS IN THE KITCHEN Left
Gathered from
:
-from
the plant
the
hedgerows, rosehips
Rose - can be used
Dog
make a tasty dessert soup, syrup and rosehip wine.
to
Gooseberry Fool Serves 4
as well as rosehip
gooseberries
(1 lb)
450g
6 tablespoons water 2
Elder flewer Fritters
1
i7og (6 oz) plain flour (unbleached, enriched)
25g 2
1
280ml (10
tablespoons vegetable
140ml
oil
to
white wine (or
cider) vinegar for use in salad dressings
and marinades. Pour the warmed vinegar onto the chosen herbs (560ml or 20 fl oz vinegar to 8 tablespoons herbs). Cover the container and allow to infuse for 14 days in a warm place. If the flavour is strong enough, strain the vinegar, bring to the
140ml
(5
oil for
frying
oz)
fl
lukewarm water
of the
and
Dip the flower-heads hot
ing sprig of the appropriate fresh herb.
Rosehip Soup
Cap
Serves 6 -8
in
a
cool
place.
fused.
Use
14-Og
Garlic cloves to
(5 il
oz) (35
peeled, fl
ozi
bruised
hot white
wine vinegar. Cloves, peppercorns and
Caraway after
seeds
may
also be
added. Strain
one week.
Christmas Day Pudding Serves 4 pkt raspberry- jelly (3 oz pkt gelatin (2 oz) crystallized Ginger
50g
iog (4 oz) glace cherries 1 iog (4 oz) well-drained pineapple pieces i70g (6 oz) mixed dried fruit
chopped walnuts Cinnamon and Nutmeg whipped cream (2 oz)
Soak the dried fruit in orange juice and a water overnight. Make the jelly with
little
of hot water.
Chop
Ginger and soak it in a little hot water for 5 minutes. As the jelly is about to set, pour the dried fruit and orange juice, pinethe
a tiny sprig of fresh Mint.
BREAD AND CAKES
kg (25
(8 oz) each whole wheat and plain white unbleached, enriched flours iog (5 oz) lard, rubbed in
3 litres
Rosehips (105 fl ozi water lb)
cornstarch
50g (2 02 cornflour 25g (1 oz) almonds sugar
2 teaspoons
salt
and sugar
1
1
If possible, collect the Rosehips following an overnight frost. They should be well ripened and have a good red colour. Trim off the stalks and rinse the Rosehips thoroughly. Simmer the hips for a couple of hours in the water, strain and return the
liquor to the heat.
Cream
each
teaspoon Dill seed 2 teaspoons chopped fresh Savory or teaspoon dried Savory teaspoon chopped fresh Dill weed or teaspoon dried Dill weed j 1
cream
Add
sugar to
the cornflour with a
water then whisk
it
Cook
constantly.
little
taste.
cold
into the soup, beating for
3
to
5
minutes.
Scald the almonds and remove the skins. Slice the nuts lengthwise and add to the soup. Serve with cream and sweet rusks.
5g (j ozj fresh yeast or 2 teaspoons dried yeast 280ml (10 fl ozj warm water 1
To make the
the
dough with
mix and sugar
fresh yeast,
herbs,
lard,
flours,
salt
together in a bowl. Blend yeast in the all at once. Mix to a soft dough (adding more blended
water and add scone-like flour
if
necessary so that
it
leaves the
bowl
clean.
To make
the
dough with dried
dissolve a teaspoon of the sugar in a
Ginger Jelly
yeast
on
Serves 4
until
frothy.
water
to the flours,
pkt lime jelly (3 oz pkt gelatin 4 to 6 pieces Ginger preserved in syrup,
lard, herbs, salt
top.
and and sprinkle with Cinnamon and Nutmeg. Wet a mould and turn the jelly into it. Chill and serve with cream.
Leave
Add
1
drained and sliced Reconstitute the jelly according to the instructions on the packet and allow to
When
cool.
sherry into
and leave
86
(1^ lb)
225g 1
apple, walnuts, Ginger, glace cherries it
Ginger. Pour and decorate each with
into chilled glasses
1
amount
cold fold in the cream
crystallized
yeast,
cup of
the hand-hot water. Sprinkle the dried
4 tablespoons medium dry sherry can unsweetened orange juice
half the usual
electric blender. Stir in
When
and chopped
1
50g
an
in
the custard.
Makes about 675g
sweet rusks
DESSERTS
1
into the batter
and puree
Whole Wheat Herb Bread
Popular vinegars include French Tarragon, Basil, Thyme, Marjoram, Rosemary Mint and Sage. Garlic may also be in-
the
Rinse the gooseberries. Simmer gently with the water in a heavy, partially covered pan with the chopped Mint and peeled, chopped green Ginger. Stir in the sugar. Rub through a nylon sieve or cool
oil.
castor sugar.
store
melted beaten white of in
Drain on kitchen paper. Serve immediately sprinkled lightly with try in
and pour into suitable hot, sterilized bottles, adding a decorative and identify-
and
parb
Mix
water.
boil
tightly
(flat
butter. Fold in the stiffly
egg.
)
whipping cream,
4 young Mint sprigs
Place the flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Put the egg yolk in the centre and a little of the water. Mix to a batter with a wooden spoon or fork, gradually adding the rest
eggs and Vanilla sugar
oz) double or
fl
4 pieces crystallized Ginger, chopped
Elder flower-heads
Herb Vinegars
(5
whipped
salt
egg, separated
superfine or castor sugar
Most herbs can be added
oz) custard sauce (preferably
fl
made with
oz) melted butter
(1
pinch
1
tablespoons chopped Mint piece fresh green Ginger iog (4 oz; sugar
almost
set, stir in
the
Ginger
ly
rest
of the sugar. light-
floured board. Half-fill two well-greased
loaf
tins.
(The inside of the pots may be
sprinkled with cracked wheat after greas-
Serve chilled, decorated with whipped
cream and
dough
crystallized Violets.
and the
Mix to a soft scone-like dough. Knead the dough thoroughly on a
Place the polythene bag,
in a cold place until fully set.
for about 10 minutes with the rest of the containing rubbed-in
ing.)
tins inside a large, oiled tie
to rise until
loosely it
and allow the
doubles
in
volume.
BREAD AND CAKES
Remove
bag. Bake on the middle shelf of a
hot oven at 450°F (230°C) or Gas for
Mark
8
30 to 40 minutes. Serve hot with soup
or salad
and cheese.
Above
Freshly baked bread decorated with
:
Sesame
seeds.
Sesame seeds may also be used
in
combination with Cinnamon, for example,
to
flavour bread.
Many
other herbs can be
dough. Spread the mixture out in the prepared tin and level the top. Sprinkle evenly with topping. Bake at 400°F (200°C) or Gas Mark 6 for approximately hour. 1
used as a flavouring, notably Garlic with or
Gingerbread 1
without some finely chopped green herbs such as Parsley.
iog (4 oz) margarine
i70g (6 oz) black treacle 50g (2 oz) golden syrup
Cardamom Cake
140ml
fresh
breadcrumbs
340g
(12 oz) self-raising flour
2
(5
fl
oz) milk
eggs
225g
(8 oz) plain flour
(unbleached,
enriched)
1
(2 oz) sugar teaspoon mixed spice tablespoon ground Ginger teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1
1
This quantity
is
teaspoon baking powder
(7 oz)
3 teaspoons
granulated sugar
ground Cardamom or Cinna-
mon 1
suitable for the following
joml
90ml
(5
(3
fl
fl
oz
cream
tins;
oz) milk
(
the size of the tin.
2
i5g
(j oz) plain flour
almonds
(1
oz) flaked
(1
oz) granulated sugar
teaspoons
(unbleached,
enriched)
140ml
(5
fl
oz) milk
£ teaspoon Garlic salt 1
optional
teaspoon Poppyseeds
salt
and pepper
Grease and flour a 20cm Roll
out
the
floured board to
(8 in)
sandwich
dough on a
fit
the
tin.
lightly
Place in the
cover with a lightly oiled polythene bag and allow to rise until double in size (30-45 minutes at room temperature). tin,
Topping 25g 25g
225g (8 oz) white bread dough 225g (8 oz) onions, peeled and sliced 50g (2 oz) butter or margarine
tin.
18cm
(7 in) or 20cm (8 in) round cake two 18cm (7 in; square tins, 2.5cm deep; two 18cm (7 in) loaf tins. (1 in Using a large saucepan, warm together the margarine, treacle and syrup. Add milk and allow to cool. Beat eggs and blend with cooled mixture. Sieve dry ingredients into a bowl, add the cooled mixture and blend with a tablespoon. Turn into prepared tins and bake on the middle shelf of a slow oven 300 F I50°C) 0T Gas Mark 2 for i£ hours depending on
tins:
level
iog (4 oz) butter or margarine
200g
50g 1
1
Onion Kiichen
Cinnamon
Grease a qoog (2 lb) loaf tin and line with fresh breadcrumbs. Mix the flour and baking powder together. Cut the butter or margarine into the flour and rub in with the fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Mix in the sugar and Cardamom. Add the cream and milk and Stir well until the mixture forms a stiff
Cook
the
margarine
in
onions
Stir in the flour
Add
the
in
the
butter
or
a saucepan until just tender.
milk
stirring, boil for
and cook for one minute. and bring to the boil 1
minute. Stir
in the salt,
pepper and Garlic salt. Spoon the onion mixture onto the risen dough base and sprinkle with Poppyseeds. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven at 375°F (io,o°C) or
Gas Mark
5 for 30 minutes.
87
HERBS IN THE KITCHEN Garlic Bread i
French
85g
stick or
Vienna loaf creamed with
Soaking
Beaume
Balling
Herb and spice sugars
Time
Reading
Reading
hours hours hours hours hours
25 27 28
46 50
Vanilla sugar is made by inserting a piece of Vanilla pod into a jar of superfine or
30 32
da Y s
35
65
for use in
5
24 24 24 24 24
6
3
1
1-2
butter
ozj
^3
Day
2
cloves Garlic 3
and chunkily, leaving the base layer intact. Spread both sides of each slice with the creamed garlic butter. Spread garlic butter over the Slice
the loaf obliquely
crust of the loaf.
Wrap
the loaf in alu-
foil and heat in the oven at 400°F (200°C) or Gas Mark 6 for 10 minutes. Serve this delicious bread crusty and hot either with soups, cheese or salads.
minium
4
castor sugar. Seal the jar during storage. It
55
cakes and
60
and
Remove and
drain the Angelica (Angelica
beverages
Store in covered jars in a cool
5.
added
their original
A
syrup
petals into jars. Cool
a
boiled to soft ball
is
sugar
280ml (10
to
Use 450g
fl
oz)
lb)
1
(
of
Add
water.
a few of the leaves or the (lowers at a
time and boil (at 234°F or 94°C) for one minute. Drain using a frying spoon and transfer to a tray covered with aluminium foil. Allow to dry thoroughly in a warm
atmosphere such
more than Markf). (not
as a barely
ioo°F
1.
taining the bruised herbs, spices or flower
col-
warm oven
(38 C)
or
Gas
warm
following
brief
list
This method requires the use of a hydrometer. Use green tender young stems picked in April or May. Trim the stems and cut them into—femr (3 in) lengths.
Soak for and boil
15 minutes in cold water. Rinse
water for 5 to 10 minutes, Drain and scrape off the outer skin. Prepare a syrup by boiling 450g (1 lb) of sugar with 560ml 120 fl oz of water. (If you use a Beaume hydrometer, the strength should be 25°, or 46° until
when
in
tender.
Balling or Brix hydrometer
a
is
Grange in his book The Book of Home Food Preservation
Cyril
used.)
Complete
prescribes the following eight-
Cassell)
day sugar-boiling programme for Angelica. Each day more sugar is added and the syrup
is
boiled to the prescribed degree of
strength,
and the stems are soaked
prescribed time.
88
lor the
gives
a
possible additions to honey:
in
The
few of the
Lemon Balm
Monarda Bergamot officinalis, Borage Borago officinalis CardaCinnamon Elettaria cardamomum,
mom
.
.
(
(irmamomum zeylanicumu gium aromaticum sat/nun Fennel .
Cloves
Coriander
,
1
Syzy-
[Coriandrum
Foeniculum vulgare
.
Gin-
ger (Zingiber officinale .Mints Mentha spp Rose \Papaver somniferum petals (Rosa spp Sage (Salvia officinalis
.
Poppyseeds
.
>,
.
Savory (Satureia hortensis), Sesame seeds Sesamum indicum), and Thyme (Thymus vulgaris
.
(left)
and Cinnamon
of their It is
specific
surprising to
how many of the drinks
most and reserve
for
that
special
we oc-
although they may not always be immediately identifiable. Some of the most popular alcoholic drinks, ranging from sweet mead to mulled wines and exotic liqueurs,
derive
their
special
qualities
American iced juleps are made of bourbon whisky, sugar, Mint sprigs and ice and American cobblers and coolers are similarly flavoured with pleasantly additive herbs.
Pimms No.
1
is
decorated with
Borage officinalis and Mint Mentha spp Spices such as Cinnamon sticks (Cinnamomum zeylanicum), Cloves [Sysprigs (Borago .
zygium aromaticum tana cardamomum
1,
Cardamom
seeds (Ele-
and
sometimes root Ginger (Zingiber officinale are added to mulled red wines and Swedish gldgg.
Many Below: Coriander
much
with
from herbal additives.
Melissa didyma
istic
aperitif
wines owe their character-
flavours to herbs.
(right) plants. Both of these herbs can be
misia absinthium
used for flavouring hone) and mulled nine. Coriander and Cinnamon have both been used
anisum
for thousands ofyears.
Candied Angelica
and cover. Stand
place for one week before use.
sugar
casions owe their desirable taste and smell to the judicious use of certain herbs -
(
and
and newly opened flowers or buds should be good specimens young and unblemished. A sugarboiling thermometer is a useful aid in candying.
may be warmed honey clover or orange blossom Pour the warmed honey conBruised fresh herbs and spices
delicious
leaves, stems
stage (234°F or 94°C).
prize
to
in
Herbs have always provided alcoholic flavour and properties.
Additional
ouring and flavouring can occasionally be added, and the crystallized, as opposed to the candied, forms are encrusted with a surface layer of fine sugar crystals.
can be infused
for use in fruit dishes.
Mark
The leaves, stems, Mowers and buds of many herbs and fragrant flowers can be
The
puddings. Sprigs of Lemon Balm officinalis
realize just
attractively preserved using sugar syrups
be mixed with sugar
HERBS IN ALCOHOL
Herb honeys
and then dried to retain colour and shape making
Ground Cinnamon
biscuits.
Cardamom may
archangelica stems on a wire cake tray. Dry on foil-covered baking trays in a barely warm oven at about 100 F 38 C or
HERB AND FLOWER CONFECTIONS
confections.
is
(Melissa
dark cupboard.
decorative
delicious in ice cream, egg custard,
51
is
Wormwood
(Arte-
used in vermouth and
Anise (Pimpinella Pernod, bitter herbs in Campari, and globe artichokes (Cynara scolyabsinthe
in
production,
HERB WINES Mead
mus) are used in Italian Cynar.
is
flavoured with herbs such as Rosemary [Rosmarinus officinalis and spices such as i
zeylanicum), (Cinnamomum Cinnamon Nutmeg (Myristica jragrans Mace, .
Transfer to a cold place for a further two days. Strain and bottle using robust flasks. Screw the tops down firmly only when fermentation has ceased. Store for
about one week only.
not a brew for
It is
long storage.
with herbs. Creme de Menthe, for example, is flavoured with Mint oils (Men-
Mrs Tritton's Dandelion Beer
Kiimmel is Cumin [Cuminum cyminum) and Caraway flavoured (Carum carvi) and Green Chartreuse may contain over one hundred different plant flavours. spp
.
Aquavit
[Cuminum
Cumin-flavoured
is
cyminum) and gin
is
flavoured with Juniper
Juniperus communis).
Dandelion plants with taproot demerara or light brown sugar i5g (j oz) crushed root Ginger juice of 2 lemons liquid ale yeast
water
to 4.5I
(
1
berry leaves
Rubus
i
idaeus
Chamomile
,
nobile Burdock Arctium and leaves, Betony \Stachys Agrimony Agnmoma eupatona
(Chamaemelum
,
root
lappa)
officinalis.,
,
Dandelion Nettles
(Taraxacum
(Urtica
officinale)
Hops
dioica\,
leaves,
[Humulus
lupulus, Dock Rumex crispus< and Horehound Marrubium vulgare) leaves. Ground (
•
Ginger Zingiber <
Botanic Beer 50g 50g 50g 50g 25g
A
typical
sugar.
then bottle.
Allow
Meadowsweet
(2 ozj
Agrimony
(2 ozj
Raspberry leaves Hyssop
oz) 2!
SUgai
11)
litres (2 galls
water
ale yeast Boil the leaves in the utes. Strain.
add a
Add
water
the sugar.
ale yeast
little
and
15
min-
When
tepid
for
herb wine-makers task since equipment for fermentation and storage is readily available. A wide range of plant material may be used in herb winemaking such as Cowslip flowers (Primula
and bring
Simmer
nale
,
offici-
Elder flowers (Sambucus nigra Com(Symphytum officinale Coltsfoot
for
the boil, adding the
about
10
minutes.
Decant into a Add the lemon juice
to cool until tepid. flask.
yeast. Stir to mix. Bottle after four
Marigold Wine 2.3I (4 pts)
flowers
(
Marigold flowers
2 oranges
lemon
1.4kg 13 lb) sugar
.
root
frey
to
months, tying the corks down.
1
Dandelion flowers (Taraxacum
veris),
4.5I
(i
gall)
water
.
Tussilago farfara
Lemon Balm
,
Rosemary
I5g (j oz) baker's yeast
Rose petals (Rosa spp RhuRheum rhabarbarum Burnet Poterium sanguisorba and Bramble tips. Note that measurements in wine-making are usually by volume. Do not press the herbs down in the jug but firm them by 'bumping' the jug once or twice.
Put the flowers, the thinly pared orange and lemon rinds and the juice of the orange and lemon into a large bowl. Pour on the water which has been brought to the boil with the sugar. Allow to cool. Add the yeast. Stir thoroughly, cover and leave in a warm place for one week. Strain into a fermentation jar, cover and leave in a warm place until fermentation
Dandelion Wine
ceases. Store in a cool place for three to
Melissa
officinalis
.
(Rosmarinus |,
.
four weeks before bottling.
Dandelion (lowers 4.3I gall water 2 large oranges pts
2.3I
bottle.
J
large
lemon
V>g (2 oz) raisins 2
1
Stir
1
Nettle Beer
2
facili-
stir.
the
tates
1
1
home wine-making
and
leave for three days, stirring occasionally.
and in
barb
Betony
(1
The upsurge
Pour on Cover and
into a large bowl.
fermentation
Herb wines
officinalis).
(2 oz)
Put the flower-heads and thinly peeled
washed roots in some of the water, and add the rest of the ingredients. Ferment until most of the sugar has gone,
recipe for
is:
(2 oz)
.2kg
1
9
often used to
officinale) is
flavour the brew.
of tartaric acid will suffice).
the boiling water
Boil the
.
i5g (\ oz) yeast (preferably champagne activated two days before being added, but baker's yeast creamed with some of the sweetened must and a pinch
lemon rinds
gall)
cool
Alcoholic beverages Herb beers and ales can provide the amateur beer-maker with new experimental lines based on herbs such as Meadowsweet [Filipendula ulmana Rasp-
water
yeast
lb)
( 1
(tightly
'•4 k g (3 Ib ) su g ar
(8 oz)
225g 450g
560ml (1 pt) Elder flower-heads packed into the measure) 2 lemons 4.5I (1 gall) boiling
Cloves (Syzygium aromaticum and Ginger (Zingiber officinales Liqueurs are flavoured
tha
Elder flower Wine
kg (i\ lb) young Nettles
tops onl\
1.
tablespoons ye, 1st
6kg
(3^ lb
sugar
lemons Put the flowers into the water in a large
teaspoon ground Ginger
4.5I
water demerara or light brown sugar cream of tartar
gall)
fi
45<>g
1
lb
25g
Bring the rinsed Nettle tops, the peel
lemon and the Ginger water
in
a
large
pan.
ol
the
pan and bring to the boil. Add the orange and lemon rinds and sugar and boil for one hour. Strain, cool until tepid then add the yeast. Next day add the orange and lemon juices and raisins. Bottle. Cork loosely about a month later when fermentation has ceased.
*'
to the boil in the
Simmer
lor
20
Right: Elder flowers
minutes, strain onto the sugar and (ream another large (lean vessel. Stir and allow to cool. Add the lemon juice
variety
and yeast. Covei with linen tea towels and have in a warm place lor three days.
garnishing.
ol tartar in
in the wild.
Overleaf: The chart shows the tremendou
'
\
and may well you new ideas for flavouring and of uses fin your herbs,
89
HERBS IN THE KITCHEN
• •
Agrimony Alecost (Costmary) Allspice (Pimento. Jamaica Pepper) Angelica leaves Angelica root Angelica seeds Angelica stems Anise
•
•
•
•
• • o
O
• •
•
•
•
•
•
•
o
o
• o
• o
• o
•
•
•
•
•
•
• •
• •
• • • •
•
• o
Lemon
Balm.
1
•
•
Aniseed
1
•
•
•
o
• • •
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Basil
•
Bay Bergamot Borage
•
•
•
•
Burnet (Salad Burnet) Capers
Caraway Caraway seeds
o o •
o
o o
•
•
•
•
o o
o
•
•
o o •
o
o • •
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Celery
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
o
•
o
•
o
o
•
•
•
•
o
• • o
powder
Chives Chive salt Cicely seeds
Sweet Cinnamon, ground Cinnamon stick Cicely.
Clove Pinks (Gillyflowers) Cloves (whole or ground) Coriander leaves Coriander seeds Cumin seed Cumin, ground (Jeera) Curry powder
Dandelion Dill
seed, ground
Dill
seed,
whole
• •
• •
•
• •
• •
o • • • •
• •
• • • • • •
o • • •
o • •
• •
• • •
• •
• • • • •
• o •
• o • • • • •
•
•
• • • •
• • • •
•
• •
• •
• •
• •
•
•
• •
Elderberry
• •
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
o
o
• •
•
•
• •
• •
•
• •
• •
:
• •
•
•
• •
Garlic Garlic
•
•
•
• •
•
• • • • •
•
•
• • •
•
Elderflower
Fennel Fennel seed
• •
•
Dill
• •
powder
•
Garlic salt
Geranium Ginger, ground
o • •
Ginger, root
Hops Horseradish
Hyssop
90
•
• • • • • •
Chamomile Chervil
o o •
•
salt
Celery seed
Chili
o o •
Cayenne (Pepper, Tabasco) Celery
• o
•
•
Cardamom
o
o
o
1
o
o
• •
• • •
• • O indicates herb must be used fresh #
•
• •
• • • •
indicates herb
• • • •
o
o
o
o
•
• •
•
•
• •
•
may be used
fresh or dried
and sometimes candied
USING YOUR HERBS
9'
gflfc
Wma. U*
*?.
5PH/
,v,v
vV „ -^Cv-JS »«
V
^
i^
rat-
•:i3S
.
-*-«—---"
•
w
£«fc
i
-
w
*
J
The domestic
.
and cosmetic uses of herbs
a**
i
•
^
$**
^^M The multitude
of uses
man
has found for
including medicinal, demonstrates his domestic and culinary close association with nature. plant
material
Apart from their traditional use for all man's ills and ailments, herbs have proved invaluable in many other different ways in the domestic context. They have provided shelter, floor coverings, fire, weapons and utensils; imparted colour, flavour and decoration to a great variety ol commodities; proved beneficial to health and been used to enhance man's natural
'//>
~
m
beauty.
And
it
has been since the very
IN
THE HOME
Reeds, grasses, heather and turf have all been used as roof coverings, while a variety of plants, man) of them still to be found to
be useful
home itself. Birch twigs Betula spp) still make the strongest and most effective broom or garden besom, though Heather >c"v*
and Ling long-lasting
Sarothamnus
Calluna
and
vulgaris
effective.
Koparius
Broom
received
its
employed
variety
economy and from
of ways,
bridges to buildings and furnishings, for utensils, vehicles
and decoration.
Often the vernacular names of plants provide a clue to their use. The main applications of Equisetums or Horsetails are belied by their prehistoric appearance.
of beautiful natural dyes, producing a
huh imparts
its
different plants,
ou n individual
.
formerly exported from the Netherlands. has been
known
Pewterwort.
It
will
Scouring Rush or clean pewter and form
as
a substantially effective scourer for sauce-
pans, baking utensils and surfaces.
It will
wooden kitchen
also polish because ol
its
preparation of food and washing materials
range of subtle and vibrant colours. These
garments have been dyed with
are deposited in their stalks render-
them invaluable for polishing and scouring. Dutch Rush [Equisetum hyemaU
itself
Left: Herbs form the basis of an infinite
fragrance.
a
in
com-
from being used as such. Birch bark can be fashioned into a waterproof The North American tray or basket. Indians made household dishes and trays from Birch bark, which they stretched
each of u
{Phyllostachys spp) has
to oriental
abrasive action. Several fresh Horsetails tied together form an effective whisk in the
are equally
mon name
variety
Bamboo
ing
in the
:-<
pouring.
always been basic
silica,
growing wild, have been found
zFqrZ'O,
edges
Large quantities of the abrasive material,
earliest times.
HERBS
i.
so
shape and decorated around the with grasses. It was also the Indians who used Birch bark rolls as roofing materials, and formed small rolls into funnels which could be used for into
but do not use the dried plant since fall off the stem. Plants
pieces are liable to
of a high acid content such as
Rhubarb
[Rheum palmatum or Rheum officinaL and Sorrel Rumex acetosa) can be boiled in water and used as pan cleaners, often bringing a high polish to the surfaces; but
do not leave a strong rhubarb solution in aluminium pans as it may bum a hole through the bottom. Soapwort [Saponaria known as Latherwort,
officinalis is
.
almost
also self-
<;
DOMESTIC AND COSMETIC USES 4
Above: Soapwort, as
its
name
W,"'
implies, has
traditionally provided an effective cleansing
agent ; however,
it
has a somewhat astringent
lather.
explanatory.
It
useful
is
as
a cleaning
agent, especially for old or delicate fabrics that require gentle treatment.
The
leaves,
and to a lesser extent the root, produce a somewhat astringent green soapy solution when decocted (covered and boiled) in hot water which restores old fibres and vegetable dyes to their former strength and clarity. The green coloration soon washes out in the rinsing process. Soapwort has been specifically employed in the restoration
of valuable
and
tapestries
brocades.
Above
:
Rushlights were once the most
economical source of domestic lighting in
many
The rushes are gathered Then fat - in this case mutton fat shown being melted (left). The rural areas.
(above)
-
is
.
rushlight
(below
is
left)
dipped once only into the fat ,
and finally (below)
it is
placed in a traditional holder. One rush
CANDLES
candle will last for about an hour indoors.
Chandling has long been a home
craft, the
They provide a
simplest of candles being created from
the particular
kitchen by-products, such as beef
any wax.
fat
or
marrow bone grease (obtained after boiling). The low melting-point of tallow demands a rather larger wick and this is best obtained from rushes.
Rush dipping can be mastered with a practice. It is best to use the soft Rush
little
[Juncus
Both
effusus
grow
pasture, bogs pecially
or
Juncus conglomerate).
fairly
and
on acid
abundantly
in
damp woodland,
soils.
wet es-
After gathering,
soak the rushes for a few hours and then dry out of doors, preferably in the sunshine. Strip the outer husk
away and then
hang the pithy centre part
to dry before dipping in hot tallow or wax. Dip repeatedly, drying the tallow or wax before each operation.
When them 94
using reeds as candles, secure
safely as they are longer in length
lovely soft light
and have
advantage of not dripping
.
POT-POURRI less stable than household candles, but they have the advantage of not dripping wax. They are best contained in special holders which take several at one time and can be adjusted as they burn down. They can be burned indoors or out-
and
One
doors without excessive guttering.
candle will last approximately one hour when used indoors; outside any breeze reinforce the burning but will will
probably cause flickering. Some nuts with a fleshy kernel such as Coconut (Cocos nucifera) can be threaded onto a reed wick and burned to provide light. Though adequate, they will smoke and smell fairly strongly, however, so they should be kept for barbecues or summer evenings when this will not matter. For such festive occasions, the reeds can be coloured before they are dipped. Either
one colour may be used, or bands can be created along the length of the reed. A modest range of various tallows and waxes is available from most craft shops, but it is far more satisfying to manufacture all the raw materials from plant matter.
TO SWEETEN THE AIR and Santolina
spica)
as well
Tansy Tanacetum (
as
(Santolina chamaecy-
the tough, resilient
vulgare),
were tradition-
strewn about the house to act as sweet-smelling anu absorbent floor coverings. Their scent helped counteract the fetid atmosphere of less hygienic days. Air fresheners have always been popually
lar
because
of the
alleged
properties of certain herbs
fully
(Lonicera periclymenum)
common (Iris
salt
or bay salt
and Orris root
germanica) These fixatives are the key .
to the long life of pot-pourri.
ing
up the
common
fixative,
salt
When mak-
use twice as
much
or bay salt as Orris. Rose
petals traditionally comprise the greater
bulk, but the other ingredients invest the
mixture with a lasting individual fragrance, and any combination of attractive scented leaves, flowers and flower buds can be used. No single perfume should predominate.
There are two kinds of pot-pourri, the dry and the moist. The former is easier to make, and quicker too, but is not as enduring or as fragrant as the moist variety. The materials for both need to be assembled over a period, and this is why the recipes are intentionally flexible. Generally, the flowers should be gathered as dry as possible immediately prior to being
blown and
day when they are that
Honeysuckle
like
if, ,
there
at their
is
a time of
most fragrant,
the time for harvesting.
is
For moist pot-pourri pull apart the petals and scatter them on trays or flat boxes covered with foil, then cover with sheets of greaseproof paper or cheesecloth. If it is not too windy, dry them out of doors in a shaded position; otherwise a shed or spare room is ideal. Once the petals are limp and leathery, they can be used to
make
the moist pot-pourri.
Dry pot-pourri The
must be dried thoroughly papery but not brittle; they should still retain some colour and, of course, their scent. Drying time varies petals
until they are
moisture content of individual petals. Carnations (Dianthus caryophyllus) and Roses (especially Rosa
according
rugosa,
to
the
Rosa damascena and Rosa
example,
take
(Lavandula spica) or
gallica), for
Lavender Rosemary (Rosmarinus
longer
than
officinalis)
Ingredients to choose from
Sweet rushes, evergreens such as Juniper (Juniperus communis), Lavender [Lavandula parissus),
POT-POURRI This is essentially a homogeneous mixture of dried sweet-scented flowers and leaves with aromatic spices and stabilizing agents or fixatives - the most usual of which are
antiseptic
and
their use
was promoted to counteract disease. There were many different methods some were held in the hand; others placed among linen and clothing; many simply placed in bowls around the house.
Seeds and Spices Grind very coarsely
Flowers Carnations (Dianthus caryophyllus) Elder flowers
(Sambucus
nigra)
Honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum) Jasmine (Jasminum) Lavender (Lavandula spica) Lily-of-the-Valley (Convallaha majalis) Philadelphus spp Pinks (Dianthus p/umahus)
Rosemary (Rosmarinus Rose (scented) spp
officinalis)
Cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum) Cloves (Syzygium aromaticum) Coriander (Coriandrum sativum)
Nutmeg
Stocks (Matthiolas) Sweet Peas (Lathyrus odoratus)
Thyme (Thymus
the following seeds and spices in any combination, in a coffee grinder. Alexanders (Smyrnium olustratum) Allspice (Pimenta dioica) Aniseed (Pimpinella anisum) Cassia (Cinnamomum cassia)
(Myristica fragrans)
Parsley (Petroselinum crispum) Vanilla (Vanilla planifolia)
vulgaris)
:
The talum
Sandalwood Cedarwood (Cedrus
subtle scents of
album),
Lavender flowers
(
(Lavandula
spica)
Tilia x vulgaris)
and
scattered
Lime in
a
cupboard permeate the contents and maintain freshness. Even the common custom of bringing fresh flowers into a sickroom not only delights the eye but freshens the atmosphere as well. Sweet (Asperula odorata) scattered be-
Aromatic leaves Rub leaves through them in an electric
a
sieve or grind
blender after drying Bay (Laurus nobilis)
Bergamot (Monarda didyma) Choisya (Choisya ternata) Coriander (Coriandrum sativum) Lavender (Lavandula spica)
Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) Sage (Salvia officinalis) Sweet Woodruff (Asperula odorata) The scented-leaved Geraniums such as Pelargonium quercifolium and P.
wood
crispurn
will dissipate mustiness,
(Artemisia
drawers
fresh
abrotanum)
and pleasant, while
same time discouraging
insects.
them, however, pot-pourri al
favourite.
keep closed
is
at the
Of all
of
the tradition-
retain the
essential for a successful pot-pourri.
Gum Benzoin (Styrax benzoin and Styrax spp,) Orris root powder (Iris germanica) Storax (Liquidamber orientalis) Sweet Flag powder (Acorus calamus) Violet root powder (Viola odorata)
Melilot (Melilotus officinalis)
while sachets, pomanders, lavender bags and nosegays of dried herbs such as Pennyroyal {Mentha pulegium) and Southern-
hind books
These are substances which aroma of the pot-pourri components and help to release them slowly into the air. All are themselves fragrant materials and they are Fixatives
(San-
spp),
closed
Woodruff
Wallflowers (Cheiranthus) (Thick-petalled flowers such as Lily (Li/ium spp,) and Hyacinth (Hyacinthus spp,) are not really suitable.)
The sweet-scented Artemisias such as Artemisia abrotanum
Thyme (Thymus
vulgaris)
Verbena (Verbena
officinalis)
Note: Ground citrus peel can be added as above, or a whole Orange (Citrus sinensis) or Lemon (Citrus limon) can be stuck with Cloves (Syzygium aromaticum) and immersed in the pot-pourri mixture to absorb the scent
95
DOMESTIC AND COSMETIC USES The dry
mixed
recipes can be
as the
season progresses and, provided they are not
left
their
uncovered
fragrance
Though some
for too long, will retain
for
up
to
two years.
varieties will lose
some of
containing
coumarin, such as Woodruff Asperula odorata and Melilot Melilotus officinalis develop their
strength,
others
.
new-mown
a scent like
hay.
Dry
scented leaves and flowers you wish.
usually superior
are
because they last longer and ingredients can be accumulated over the growing season. Once petals are dry and leathery, store them in a mixture of common salt, coarsely
ground
Iris germanka Pack a layer of petals
Orris root jar.
(
|
jar, then sprinkle
6
mm
5 in
is full.
in
in the
base of the
with a generous layer of
cover the petals to a depth of
fixative, to
jar
bay salt and a wide-necked
sea salt or
.
Repeat
in layers until the
Place a weight on the top and
then cover to exclude light and air. Treat aromatic leaves in exactly the same way, harvesting them prior to the plant flowering - this is when the essential oils are at their peak. As the season draws to a close, assemble all the dried plant matter, checking that they bear no hint of mustiness.
mix pot-pourri
will
about two years. The moist varieties last longer and need not be stored in covered containers. They can be revived very quickly by adding a few generally
last
for
drops of essential
such
oils,
i
Cananga
or
odorata
as
oil
of
Ylang-Ylang Spike Lavender
Bergamot Monarda didyma
pot-
pourri can be improved by the addition of both these herbs. Use any combination of
Moist pot-pourri The moist recipes
Keeping pot-pourri The dry recipes for
.
Once the drier kind however, the mixture cannot be restored to its former fragrance. Use one of the many specially designed porcelain bowls or jars for storing potpourri. The lids of these are pierced with Lavandula spica
\.
fades,
holes or
the scent,
release
to
slits
and
sometimes there is an inner lid with a fitted cover to keep in the fragrance.
Connoisseur's pot-pourri Mix a jug full of dried Rose one handful of
and then leave (
thus
a
in
.
officinalis
,
,
Pinks
and Wallflowers
or bay
Cheiran-
and some scented
salt
Prepare wedges of citrus fruit peel by sticking them all over with Cloves (Syzygium aromaticum and allowing them to dry naturally for a few weeks.
leaves.
When
all
the ingredients are ready,
thoroughly mix the petals with the lea\ the citrus fruit and Cloves whole or grind them in an electric blender and add handfuls to equal the quantity of salt used. Add a teaspoon of Cinnamon C.innamomum .zeylanicum and another of
Add Below:
Orris.
The
dried powdered root
used with other herbs in pot-pourris and
some dry shampoos.
is
Allspice
Pimenta dioica
quarter of a 9 litre 2 gall bucket filled with Rose petals 85g 3 oz common salt 50g 2 oz fine rubbed bay salt 50g 2 oz Allspice Pimenta dioica 50g 2 oz Cloves Syzygium aromaticum
Mix
.
Then add
well
and
50g
brown sugar
oz
2
Gum
Benzoin Styrax benzoin 5g 5 oz oz Orris root Iris germanica 2 50g 2 tablespoons brandy iog
Lavender heads Lavandula
4 oz
spica
iog
Verbena
4 oz
leaves
Verbena
officinalis
50g
2
Rose-Geranium
oz
leaves
Pelargonium graveolens
Sprinkle the fresh Rose petals with the
common salt and in the
leave for three days. Stir
remaining ingredients, then place
the mixture in a stone pot. Stir every three
days
two weeks, adding a few drops of the mixture appears too dry and
for
brandy
if
lacking in scent. this will
A quick Throw petals spica
.
A
moist pot-pourri
like
have a more lingering perfume.
pot-pourri
together handfuls of dried Rose
and dried Lavender Honeysuckle Lonicera
Lavandula periclymen-
Carnations Dianthus caryophyllus um Rosmarinus officinalis and Rosemary .
.
Lavender Lavandula spica Bergamot Monarda didyma and Geranium Pelargonium spp Store in a closed
Sweet William Dianthus barbatus flowers. Ensure that you have twice the bulk of the flowers in Rose petals. Add some powCinnamomum zeylanidered Cinnamon
container for eight to ten weeks.
cum. Nutmeg
leave overnight.
a few drops of
essential oils:
.
:
.
(Syzygium
Lemon
Traditional pot-pourri 9
litre
3_L0g
1
2 gall
12 ozi
bucket of Roses
common
salt
for a
2
oz
Orris root
Iris
peel
|
,
Cloves
and some dried
Citrus limon
,
at the ratio of
month
or so before using.
Using pot-pourri
An
i
50g
Myristica fragrans
aromaticum:
about one teaspoon of the mixed powders to every two handfuls of flowers. Add a few drops of brandy and or pot-pourri reviver, and then store the mixture tightly packed
225g (8 oz) finely powdered bay salt 85g 3 oz Allspice Pimenta dioica 85g 3 oz Cloves Syzygium aromaticum 50g 2 oz brown sugar iog (4 oz) Gum Benzoin Styrax benzoin germanica
attractive alternative to putting pot-
pourri into an open container
j cupful of brandy Several handfuls of dried fragrant flowers and leaves such as Carnations Dianthus caryophyllus), Pinks Dianthus plumarius Wallflowers [Cheiranthus and Jasmine .
Jasminum). Place the Rose petals and salt in a jar in layers, then add the other ingredients and
96
.
coarsely ground
salt.
RoseDian-
the
A
petals with
or bay
separate containers, together with
little salt
Elizabethan recipe
i
Lavandula spica
mary Rosmarinus
An
Open and
room
is to be perfumed. If the pot-pourri appears to dry out too much, moisten with a few drops of brandy.
weeks. Store
for several
dried Lavender thus plumarius
salt
when
occasionally
i
common
well. Store in closed jars.
stir
into a porcelain
a
cupboard or
sachets
using
of the scraps
cutting
required,
is
to tuck
it
pomander and hang it in wardrobe You can make
of
sweet-smelling
mixture
pretty
fabrics,
light,
them to the size and shape and then embroidering them or
adding beads, lace or ribbon. Cut two pieces of fabric to shape and
,
:
SCENTED ARTICLES or two of an aromatic (Citrus
aurantium),
spied),
Patchouli
such as Neroli
oil
Lavender (Lavandula (Pogostemon
patchouli).
The most widely used herb
pillow to
promote
sleep
Hops (Humulus
one containing dried
is
and it is certainly Hops are replaced months after which they
lupulus)
effective providing the ever)' four to six
lose their strength.
Rosemary herb Mix
pillow
a sufficient quantity of herbs in the
following proportions 4 cups dried Rosemary leaves [Rosmarinus officinalis)
cup
i
Lemon Verbena
dried
leaves
(Aloysia triphylla) i
cup dried Pine needles crushed
tablespoon
i
(Pinus)
Orris
root
(Iris
germanica) 2
crushed Cloves (Syzygium aromaticum)
When
adding the Pine needles to the mixture, be sure that you make the
Note: Above dried
may
Sweet-smelling Lavender
:
and used wherever
enhance the household
-
its
plaiting
be
aroma will
corn dollies. Incorporate a narrow ribbon in a pretty colour as you work, not only to add decorative interest but to help hold the dolly
as scented
accessories to aid sleep, as a fragrant
pot-pourri or placed with clothes.
size,
them
place
together,
then stitch
facing,
all
right
sides
round leaving a
Turn
small opening for stuffing.
to the
seam allowances around any curves and cutting across corners to achieve an even shape. Tack any trimming into the seam before right side, clipping the
stitching.
Turn
to the right side, stuff
with pot-
pourri and slip stitch the opening to close.
Trim Place
the edges afterwards
among
linen
where it will remain two years.
if
preferred.
among
or
clothes
effective for
up
to
LAVENDER BAGS You
can
make
sachets
similar
Lavender [Lavandula
spica).
It
is
with
best to
gather the flowers just before they open so that they are still firm. The drying process will not alter the shape of the flowers and
you will find them easier making up the bags.
to
them to make Lavender dollies, in same way as you would make
exactly the
handle when
weave small capsule-shaped cylinders and fill them with dried Lavender flowers for an even more powerful together; or
aroma.
pillow slip of strong, closely woven cotton, otherwise your sleep might be interrupted
by
their prickly escape into the bed.
Fragrant herb pillow
Mix
i
i
cup dried Rosemary leaves and flowers
i
(Aloysia triphylla)
HERB PILLOWS an extension of the idea of stuffing mattresses with sweet-smellinggrassesand aromatic herbs. They are usually small and cushion-like in appearance and are mainly used today to add fragrance to bedclothes. Many people believe that if a herb pillow is tucked under a pillow proper or used as a neck rest, the fragrance of the herbs will encourage a deep and restful sleep; if trimmed with lace and made up in pretty prints, herb pillows make delightful bed-
(Rosmarinus
Historically, herb pillows are
room
accessories
You can
and charming gifts. any fragrant and or petals, and assemble
i
,
Lily-of-the- Valley (Convallaria majalis),
Jasmine (Jasminum)
Ground Note:
aromatic leaves them in any combination that
2
from
Oranges
The Lemon
powdered Orris
Lemons
2
Make
is
person-
is added as a add two teaspoons germanica), or Sweet
peel
(Iris
a pillow slip in a plain
OTHER SCENTED ARTICLES The number of ideas for creating other scented articles is wide ranging. Here are
cotton fabric, decorated to taste. Choose from dried petals, flower-heads
gifts
Rosemary {Rosmarinus officinalLavender (Lavandula spica), Roses, Lemon Verbena {Aloysia triphylla), Thyme
and then
a separate cover in an attractive
just
a few suggestions to stimulate en-
thusiasm for making your own
and
or leaves of
Clove oranges
sneezing agent.
is),
These are surprisingly easy
and smell
so
{Thymus out so well
good that it is a pity not to remain fairly soft, try
use them. As they
vulgaris),
and
Marjoram {Origanum
Rose-Geranium [Pelargonium graveolens), enhancing their stent with spices, ground citrus peel and a drop vulgare)
home-made
accessories.
wear a mask of some sort over the mouth and nose as Lavender is a powerful
Lavender dollies The stalks of Lavender dry
(Citrus
(Citrus sinensis)
Flag (Acorus calamus) root or three drops of oil of Bergamot (Monarda didyma).
flowers from the stalks.
make
and
fixative. Alternatively,
cotton, stuff with the mixture
advisable to
citrus peel
limon)
use almost
ally pleasing.
is
officinalis)
cup other dried flowers, for example, Carnation (Dianthus caryophyllus) Honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum)
Hang up the stalks in bunches in a dry place for a week or so; once dry, rub the It
together:
cup dried Rose petals cup dried Lavender (Lavandula spica) cup dried Lemon Verbena leaves
i
will last well
when hung
prepare and wardrobes or
to
in
on a Christmas tree for a spiry festive atmosphere. Use thin-skinned Oranges (Citrus sinensis) preferably
and make
around the
in
fruit
working
slits
both direc97
DOMESTIC AND COSMETIC USES - top
to bottom and left to right. These will hold the ribbon in place for hanging the finished article. Dry the Orange for a day or two above a stove or domestic boiler, then push Cloves
tions
(Syzygium
aromaticum)
into
the
entire
place and hang so that the
room
its
spicy scent
fills
Tussie-mussies The name 'tussie-mussie'
ha« been
known
touch. If you find
ally,
first
them hard to push in, with a sharp needle or
bodkin. Roll the Orange in a powder of equal parts of Cinnamon
powder (Cinnamomum zeylanicum) and Orris powder (Iris germanica), then leave wrapped in the powder for two weeks. Remove the wrapping after this time, shake off the surplus powder,
Below
:
tie
A pomander
First the orange
is
makes a delightful
gift.
cut so that the ribbon can
eventually be tied on. into the
a ribbon or cord in
The
orange (below)
.
cloves are stuck
It is
then rolled in
powdered Cinnamon bark and Orris root and left to dry, wrapped in greaseproof paper, in a
warm
in
the
is
is
tied on
making an attractive and fragrant pomander (bottom). (below right)
,
Sweet Flag root powder
tablespoon
(Acorus calamus
a sweet-scented nosegay, small
to carry
travellers in
around,
its
bad odours and
carried
infection.
Collect fragrant leaves and flowers,
and
form a tiny Victorian posy-like bunch. Use a Rose-bud (Rosa sppi or a feather of Artemisia foliage as the centrepiece, and arrange the other leaves and flowers around it. Tie or bind with a ribbon and back with a paper frill or doily (or an especially pretty finish.
Give them away as presents, tuck into cupboards or drawers, or place in a small vase to decorate a dressing table.
Lavender-scented pomander beads By making up beads of herbs and (lower materials and then stringing them to-
tablespoon ground
Gum Benzoin
(Styrax
benzoin
origins being
by judges and the Middle Ages to ward off
posies
place (such as an airing cupboard or
above a stove). Finally, the ribbon
i
i
it
Lavender flowers
(Lavandula spica)
fifteenth
enough
made up
2 level tablespoons dried
multitude of different forms since the
in a
make
holes
or wrist right
through wintertime.
century when it appeared as 'tumose of flowrys or other herys'. Basic-
surface of the skin so that the heads almost
you can wear your memories of
gether,
summer around your neck
or cupboard.
2
teaspoons Sandalwood powder (Santalum album)
6 drops essence of Lavender (Lavandula spica)
3 drops essence of Ambergris teaspoon powdered Gum Tragacanth Astragalus gummifer 8 teaspoons Orange-flower water i
Lavender
oil
Grind the dried Lavender flowers to a fine sift into a bowl with the Sweet Flag, Gum Benzoin and Sandalwood powders. Mix them all together thoroughly, then add the essence of Lavender and Ambergris. Make a mucilage of Gum Tragacanth by mixing one teaspoon of the Tragacanth with eight teaspoonfuls of Orange-flower water. Then use the mucilage to mix all the ingredients into a paste. If you find the powder does not form a paste easily, add a drop or two more of Orange-
powder and
flower water.
Moisten your hands with a few drops of Lavender oil and break the paste into small equally sized pieces. Roll each one into a round, oval or cylindrical shape.
Pierce with a large needle. Either string
immediately and place in a dark cupboard or drawer for about a week, or dry the beads first and string later.
Aromatic beads i
tablespoon finely ground
level
Benzoin i
level
Gum
(Styrax benzoin)
tablespoon Orris root powder
(Iris
germanica) i
i
heaped tablespoon Sweet Flag root powder (Acorus calamus heaped tablespoon Mace powder (Myristica fragrans)
heaped tablespoon Nutmeg powder
i
(
Myristica fragrans)
heaped tablespoon dried powdered Basil (Ocimum basilicum) Syzygium aro4 finely ground Cloves i
maticum) 2
drops
i
drop
oil
oil
of
Cedarwood
|
Cedrus spp
of Spike Lavender (Lavandula
spica)
3 drops essence of Ambergris
Gum
Tragacanth Rose-water
98
(Astragalus gummifer)
NATURAL DYEING Tin (Stannous chloride)
powdered herbs and spices and blend thoroughly oil of Cedarwood, Spike the Add bowl. in a Incorporate all Ambergris. and Lavender Pass
all
the
through a
these oils into the mixture.
Make
a brightening
agent used to brighten colours. Iron (Ferrous sulphate) - usually called a 'saddening' agent because of its dulling
fine sieve
and darkening
a thick
mixture of Gum Tragacanth and the Rosewater, add to the other ingredients and stir thoroughly to form a paste. Lubricate your hands with a fragrant oil, pull off a small piece of the paste about the size of a cherry pip and roll into a ball. Before it becomes too hard, pierce with a bodkin or large needle, then thread on a
effect
on colours.
Chrome (Potassium dichromate) - deepand creates a more lasting dye. sulphate or blue vitriol - adds a Copper blue-green tinge to a colour. ens colours
Household ammonia- the clear kind-and white vinegar can also be used as mordants, providing an alkaline or acid
string.
medium respectively, as required. The chart suggests some plants suitable
have strung warming.
for dye extractions, plus the effects you can expect to obtain when various mordants are added. The acid or alkaline content of the dye-bath will affect the
Lubricate the piercing instrument and the string with oil to make both jobs easier. If the paste hardens before you all
the string, soften
by
it
fastness of the colour
Moth bags You can protect your
washed clothing and linen
by making up small bags or sachets to hang in wardrobes and scatter in drawers. The perfume will deter insects. Mix equal quantities of dried Cotton chamaecyparissus) (Santolina Lavender Tanacetum vulleaves with dried Tansy gare) or Costmary {Chrysanthemum balsamita) leaves. Put them all in a grinder or chop and pound together in a mortar. Make up as required - their effectiveness will last for about three to six months. To increase effectiveness, add a small quantity of Pyrethrum powder or, even better, Pyrethrum flowers {Chrysanthemum cine-
to a
was
:
The
use of
Tansy as an
insecticide
once essential as part of the day-to-day
running of a home.
It
can be hung up in
general guideline of
textile or yarn. to
cram
bath,
bunches and will effectively repel flies and
Spread wool -
other insects.
too
different plants to achieve the colours here. Saffron, for
shown
example, has been used
to
produce the deep, rich yellow tones. (See the table overleaf for dyeing at
home.)
to
much
the
(35 fi oz) oz) of woven
litre
i
(1
A common
resulting
failing
is
textile into the
patchy
in
material
out
in the liquid
and
to try
dye-
colouring. especially
so that the fibres are
immersed in
Sri Lanka. Their robes have been dyed with
Natural dyes are the pigments obtainable from plant matter. They are soluble in water and have the capacity of imparting colour to fibre. Fibres of animal origin such as wool and silk are essentially protein-based, while those from vegetable sources such as cotton and linen are predominantly cellulose in structure. The former take natural dyes especially well, as the structure of the fibres expands when the temperature of the dye-bath is raised, thus providing an increased surface area for the dye to permeate with colour.
is
alkaline fixed dye, for
of liquid dye for each 25g
Above
Below : A procession of Buddhist monks
TEXTILE DYES
the fabric
example, can be washed very successfully with soap which is alkaline based. Dyes are extracted from herbs by boiling or soaking; the plant matter is then removed and the textiles or fibres to be dyed immersed in the dye-bath together with the mordanting agent. Work
|
rariifolium).
An
later.
when
stir
completely constantly
ensure even dyeing.
Natural dyeing
is
not usually cheaper
and certainly not easier than using commercial dyes, but the colours are beautifully subtle and impart a delicious fragrance to woven or natural yarns.
Mordants are generally employed in natural dyeing process. These are chemical substances that combine with the dye and fix the dyestuff in the fabric or fibres, and they can also be used to control the
the colour, either by shade or strength.
The range
of chemicals suitable for
use-
mordants is as follows: Alum (Aluminium potassium sulphate) this is usually combined with cream of tartar in the ratio of three parts alum to one part of tartar. as
'.<>
DOMESTIC AND COSMETIC USES Guide to natural dyeing Colour
Plant
Mordant
Colour
Plant
Grey
Horsetail {Equisetum
alum
Acid yellow
Pseudocyphellaria
sylvaticum)
Black
thouarsii
st
Onion {Allium cepa)
chrome (on bleached
sk
wool)
lemon yellow Coreopsis
wp
chrome and alum or
fl
rt
Onion {Allium cepa)
chrome
sk
Pale lemon
Rhododendron spp
Greenish yellow
Dyer's
tin
iron Iv
chrome
fl
{Daucus carota)
Carrot
Madder {Rubia tinctorum)
iron
alum and
Iv
Greenweed
{Genista tinctoria)
Coreopsis
tin
iron
[Fili-
pendula ulmaria)
ammonia
wp
Evernia spp Bright
Meadowsweet
Dark brown
Mordant
rt
+
Iv
chrome
chrome
Murky yellow
If
Evernia spp
wp
copper sulphate and
ammonia Chocolate brown
New
alum and washing soda
Zealand Flax
{Phormium tanax)
rt
Mid brown
Rhododendron spp
Warm brown
Madder {Rubia
chrome and
Iv
Rhododendron spp
Dark green
alum and iron and copper sulphate
Iv
iron
Pseudocyphellaria tinctorum)
rt
+
If.
alum
rt/lf
Light golden
New
{Phormium tanax)
brown
New
Zealand Flax
Carrot
Pale green
Rhododendron spp
Blue-green
Evernia spp
tin
and cream of
iron
Apricot shades
fl
+
bd
Pseudocyphellaria thouarsii
New
tartar
murky blue
and copper
Elder
{Sambucus
tin fl
+
and vinegar
and cream of
{Sambucus
Lavenders and
Elder
purple
nigra)
Rich rose purple
Umbilicana spp
chrome and cream
vulgare)
tartar
Golden yellow
Onion {Allium cepa) sk
and
fl
.
tin
Chestnut red
alum
Onion {Allium cepa) sk
alum and
Tansy {Tanacetum
alum
H. perforatum)
ft
Dyer's Greenweed {Genista tinctoria)
alum and If
tin
rt/lf
Wort {Hypericum maculatum
alum and cream of tartar
H. perforatum)
(dried)
Magenta
Dandelion {Taraxacum
soda
alum and
Onion {Allium cepa) sk
tin
Rose
Umbilicaria spp
Pink
New
wp
tin
alum and iodized
Zealand Flax
{Phormium tanax)
alum
Marshmarigold
alum
rt
ammonia and washing
wp
salt
Iv
Dandelion {Taraxacum
none
fl
officinale)
Greenwood
{Genista tinctoria)
Umbilicaria spp
wp
ammonia
alum Pink-fawn
Iv
Carrot {Daucus carota) Iv
Iv
alum alum
none
Madder {Rubia tinctorum)
Birch {Betula spp)
rt
none
fl
Rose pink
IOO
+
tin iv
Pse udoc yphellaria
Creamy yellow
rt
St John's
officinale)
Dyer's
-fbd
Madder {Rubia
ft
Coreopsis
fl
tin
none Bedstraws {Galium verum and G. mollugo) n
and
(Caltha palustris)
and vinegar
iron
Brownish red
Clear yellow
tin
rt
St John's
tinctorum)
Bright yellow
alum and ammonia
Wort {Hypericum maculatum
Red
Rusty red
alum and
Coreopsis
thouarsii
wp
Iv
Gold
vulgare)
salt
of
chrome
Greenweed
alum and
rfr
Dandelion {Taraxacum
Purple
Tansy {Tanacetum
{Genista tinctona)
none
tartar
bd
ft
nigra)
sulphate
tin
Zealand Flax
Dyer's
copper sulphate
rfr
officinale)
Orange yellow
copper sulphate iron
Iv
wp
wp
{Phormium tanax) Orange
Iv
rt
Zealand Flax
{Phormium tanax) Copper
{Daucus carota)
Bright green
Soft of
and copper
sulphate
chrome
brown Shades
tin
wp
rt/lf
Madder {Rubia tinctorum)
thouarsii
New
rt
+
If
rt/lf
alum
Zealand Flax
{Phormium tanax)
fl
or
aluminium soda
+ bd and washing
WRITING MATERIALS PAPER AND INK New
transformed the
techniques have
making of paper from an ancient craft to a modern industry, but the basic proremain the same.
cesses
The Chinese
are attributed with the
invention of paper in about a.d.
105,
though papyrus and parchment had been comparable forerunners. The Chinese used bark fibre and Flax (Linum usitatissimum), steeping the raw materials in water and beating them to a paste with stones and hammers to produce a sheet that was
Some 700 years Japanese perfected the process of making hand-made paper from the wood of the Paper Mulberry (Broussonetia then dried in the sun. later, the
papyrifera)
in
,
known
the fibre being
as kozo
Japan.
Many plants have fibres substantial enough to provide the basic ingredient for making paper in the home, such as Nettle (Urtica dioica), Flax (Linum usitatissimum)
and Pineapple Ananas i
sativus).
Pineapple
used extensively in the production of textiles, but the waste from this material is excellent for making paper. Woods such as Magnolia {Magnolia
fibres are
sppj
and Poplar are
also used, particularly
and
Populus tremula, P. alba
P. italica.
The
Cotton plant (Gossypium hirsutum) offers another suitable fibre. Plants of the grass family (Gramineae) which possess long, straight, conductive are excellent too. Suitable species
cells
from
range
bamboos
tall-growing
cultivated cereals
to
Common Oat
the
-
(Avena saliva), Barley (Hordeum sativum
Common Wheat
Maize
(Secale cereale),
(or
Indian corn
i^ea mays), Esparto (Stipa tenacissima) the
Danube Weed
can
all
when
was invented, pulped Left:
A
selection it,
,
and
{Phragmites communis)
be used with good
Prior to 1800,
results.
chlorine bleaching fibre
was treated
dyer's chart to facilitate the
of the right herb, or specific part of mordant which will
together with the
combine
from a
to
produce the
.
Rye
(Triticum vulgare),
specific colour required
plant.
Above:
Key skin
Iv
leaves
ft
flowers
ft
flower tops
section from the ancient
but
with a range of animal and vegetable glues during the process of sizing to prevent wetting and the penetration of the paper by inks and paints. The Chinese first painted on paper with a short stick of hardened Pine wood (Pinus spp) using a mixture of soot and glue, which was rubbed on an inkstone with a drop or two of water to produce the required con-
The Romans used reed pens, the Egyptians made use of rushes for writing, while styli of all kinds have been fashioned from wood through the centuries. Today, the best quality artist's charcoal is made from the Willow (Salix sppj. A writing ink has been made in Europe since the Middle Ages from the Bullet Gall
Oak
These are not the commonly known Oak Apples, but galls, formed by insects, which mature in August and remain on the tree throughout the winter long after the insects have left the tree. They are to be found on the Pedunculate Oak (Quercus robur and Q. pedunculata), and nut.
the Sessile
St
stalks
Oak
(Quercus petraea syn.
G\
ft (dried)
dried flower tops
both commonly to be found in the scrubland, copses and hedgerows of Europe. On the whole, northern European-grown galls do not contain enough
fl+bd
flower and buds
tannic acid to
ripe fruit
a
try.
450g
(1 lb)
bruised galls
gall) boiling water I55g (5^ oz) ferrous sulphate 85g (3 oz) Gum Arabic (Acacia Senegal) previously dissolved in a few drops of antiseptic such as a five per cent carbolic acid solution, or Tincture of Myrrh (Commiphora molmol). (1
Macerate the
The
ingredients.
bottling
by steeping for 24 and add to all the other
galls
hours, then strain
and
ink
is
then ready for
use.
sistency.
root or leaf
whole plant
worth
certainly
Black ink
4.5 litres
word paper comes from papyrus.
rtllf
rfr
are
suggested in later recipes.
of the .Vile. The writing material was made from the pith of this strong, reed-like plant, and ink was applied to it with reed pens. The
root
wp
they
Alternatively try some of the scented inks
wrote
an aquatic herb which grows along the banks
rt+lf
and leaf
Egyptian
on the material they obtained from Papyrus,
or
sk
A
Book of the Dead. The Egyptians
sessiliflora),
make
really successful ink,
Lemon Verbena
scented ink
You can use this basic recipe with other herbs and flowers such as Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) and Lavender leaves (Lavandula spica).
\ cup tightly packed and crushed
Verbena
Lemon
leaves (Aloysia triphylla)
55 ml (2 fl oz) bottle of ink \ cup cold water Place the Lemon Verbena leaves in a small saucepan with the cold water. Bring
and then simmer for 10-30 minutes with the pan covered. Do not let the water evaporate completely; when it becomes opaque and brownish in colour, remove the pan from the heat. to the boil rapidly,
Strain the liquid, allow
add
to
a
bottle
of ink.
it
to cool,
The
then
resultant
aromatic ink
will vary in potency according to the freshness of the dried leaves.
101
DOMESTIC AND COSMETIC USES Smoking
ingredients,
The American
Indians used to call their
smoking pipes 'tabaco'. These pipes were Y-shaped and hollow, the two points being inserted into the nostrils to inhale
smoke from burning Tobacco. So closely identified with Tobacco has smoking become that the word now describes any variety of plant matter which is smoked for pleasure.
Herbs
such as Coltsfoot Tussilago farfara) are rendered into a smoking mix(
commer-
ture by a process similar to the
production of Tobacco. This involves drying or 'curing' the leaves, and then mixing or blending them with other materials. Smoking tobacco mixtures include Liquorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra), salt, saltpetre and sugar. Herbal mixtures can be blended with other leaves and seeds. Coltsfoot tobacco is rubbed in the hands much as a pipe smoker prepares his cial
guarded
many
secrets.
of which are closely
After fermentation has
taken place, the mixture is dried and ground, and then sometimes fermented a second time to enrich the flavour even further.
Whether of
the dry or moist variety,
damp, though not damp. Throughout the nineteenth
snuff needs to be kept too
century flavours were refined to newer heights of sophistication, and today an enormous range of blends exists, and the habit is again becoming popular. Many incorporate such plants as Mints [Mentha
Jasmine (Jasminum sppj, Rose {Rosa Bergamot (Monarda didyma), Violet
spp),
spp),
odorata), Geranium Pelargonium and Carnation (Dianthus caryophylMost powders ground from Tobacco
(Viola
spp) lus).
are so fine that a moistening agent
is
required to prevent the powder blowing
away.
tobacco.
Above
nicotine
shown
Tobacco leaves drying
:
and
tar-rich tobacco has
now
been
be harmful, the traditional praclit
to
Contemporary thinking blames the smoking of Tobacco for chest complaints and cancers, but it should not be for-
As
in (he sun.
gotten that
i
of mixing and blending plant smoking mixtures has once again become popular. large
number of
the herbal
A
smoking mixtures
many 'poisonous' plants are when used correctly. The
galus gummifer), Ghatti
smoking of leaves to relieve pulmonary congestion and coughs has been recom-
latifolia)
mended
Coltsfoot.
2000 years ago, when he smoked through
since
the days of Dioscorides,
a reed.
Scented notepaper is
'British
made by
easily
sheets of paper
in a
storing several
box with
a liberal
sprinkling of either dried pot-pourri or
one of several powdered aromatic substances.
Use Orris root
(Iris
germanica),
Sweet Flag root (Acorus calamus), and Violet root (Viola odorata); or even powdered Allspice (Pimenta dioica), Aniseed (Pimpinella
momum
anisum),
zeylanicum),
teryx odorata),
folia) or
Cinnamon (CinnaTonka beans (Dip-
Vanilla pods (Vanilla plani-
Sandalwood (Santalum
album).
A
achieved by spraying; an aromatic water (Rose-water or RoseGeranium water, for example) by means of a fine hand spray, and then hanging the sheets to dry in the sun before storing.
crinkled effect
is
LEISURE AND PLEASURE The knowledge tabacum)
and
its
of Tobacco uses
(Nicotiana
derives from the
Americas where, in 1492, a party of Columbus's men reconnoitring Cuba reported seeing men carrying lighted firebrands and perfumed herbs. Tobacco chewing was also observed on the coast of
South America in 1502. On Columbus's second visit from 1494 to 1496, he noted was that snuff a derivative of Tobacco in popular use. 102
Fairly simple glues can be
foot
is
Herb Tobacco', of which
a principal
cludes Buckbean
Evebright
(
Thyme
ender (Lavandula flowers
Menyanthes
[Euphrasia
(Thymus spica),
(Matricaria
also
in-
trifoliata),
officinalis),
Rosemary
Stachys officinalis'. officinalis),
ingredient,
Colts-
Betony
Rosmarinus
(Anogeissus
colostomy bags to the body. The quantity of powdered gum to water varies according to your requirements and the gum used. Usually half a teaspoon of gum to half a cup of water is sufficient.
Several plants contain natural mucil-
and Chamomile
ages which can be used as simple gums.
recutita).
In
pleasing herbal smoking mixture
France, is
a
made up
of the leaves and roots of Arnica (Arnica folium)
Gum
and Carob Gum (Ceratonia siliqua). Karaya or Katira Gum (Cochlospermum gossypium) is especially effective and is still used in some countries to attach
Lav-
vulgaris).
tabacs des Vosges or tabacs des Savoyards
Yarrow [Achillea milleand Mallow (Malva sylvestris) can
montana).
made from
powdered gums such as Gum Arabic (Acacia Senegal), Gum Tragacanth (Astra-
quite harmless
commercially available today are based on
This
GUMS AND GLUES
Both
be used for herbal tobaccos too.
The
berries of Mistletoe (Viscum album)
and the bulbs of nonscriptus) are
the Bluebell (Endymion
examples.
In the Middle Ages small birds were caught on sticks coated with birdlime, a practice which is still carried on in such
countries as Portugal
and
Italy.
Today the
glues are obtained from the petro-chemi-
Snuff Parliament acted to 'Prevent the Mischiefs by manufacturing In
1
7 15, the British
leaves and other things to Resemble Tobacco, and the Abuses in Making and Mixing of Snuff. The bill notes that 'It is found by experience that of late Several Evil Persons have Cut, Cured, Manufactured and Sold Wallnut-Tree-Leaves, Hop leaves, Sycamore Leaves and other
Herbs, Plants and Materials resembling Tobacco.' Snuff is made by a complicated and intricate process of fermenting Tobacco with salt, Liquorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra), Tonka bean [Dipteryx odorata) and other Leaves,
400 years ago one of the most effective birdlimes came from the Holly tree (Ilex aquifolium). The Holly's young bark was stripped from the tree, soaked and boiled, and the inner layer allowed to ferment - sometimes this was done by burying the material in a closed container. This fermentation produced a mucilaginous mass, which was then ground, washed and refermented, finally being mixed with a fatty substance to produce an extremely effective sticky cal industry, but
paste.
Birdlime from Holly is a useful glue in greenhouses or animals' quarters, and can be incorporated in fly papers.
GARDENING the
GARDEN AND VETERINARY
A
number of herbs can be used in garden to deal with pests and have the
Below:
advantage of not producing the chemical insecticides. The moles, Clover
Quassia
is
is
side-effects
Mole Plant
in particular
- have
a number of parts to play in the natural cycle. Some decompose to form valuable
of
repels
fertilizers; others control pests or act as
a good fertilizer , and
an excellent pest deterrent.
makes much
Plants - and herbs
and there are some plants other plant and insect without there being any known
insecticides;
It
seem
that
better sense, ecologically, to
to affect
use herbs such as these judiciously in the
life
garden.
scientific basis to their success.
COMPOST ACCELERATOR Home-made compost is a valuable asset
can be made into an accelerating material that rapidly breaks
Mix equal officinalis),
quick guide to successful gardening
Fertilizers
green manure sativa)
Clover {Tri folium pra tense)
green manure
Wrack
mulch manure
Pyrethrum
{Chrysanthemum
aphids. leaf-hoppers,
cinerariifolium)
spider mites, etc controls:
{Denis elliptica and D. malaccensis)
aphids, leaf-eating caterpillars,
mosquito
larvae
Quassia {Picraena exelsa)
controls:
mealybugs,
leaf-
hoppers, thrips. slugs
plants, leaves or
bark
box or bin
is
ANIMAL CARE Animals benefit from medicinal herbs in the same way that humans do, and there are many substances which are effective but considered too powerful for human use. Examples include some of the stronger plant purgatives and vermifuges used to expel worms. plants history
(POISONOUS)
aphids, leaf-hoppers.
{Nicotian a tabacum)
thrips. spider mites.
White Bryony {Bryonia has been used supplement horse and
sativus) skins, floor
3-4
left
on
nights
Angelica {Angelica archangelica) -
lathyrus)
planted crops
among
salad
Parsley {Petroselinum cri spurn)
ex-
for
traditionally
to
fodder to dried root of the
cattle
The
traps:
can also be used as a purgative. lice in animal coats can be treated very easily and successfully with a decoction of Walnut (Juglans regia) leaves or Stavesacre {Delphinium staphisagria) seed, soaked overnight. Pyrethrum {Chrysanthemum cinerariifolium), Derris {Derris
earwigs
disperses:
rodents
hides. It
Fleas
elliptica)
and
or
Wormwood
{Artemisia absin-
each mixed with water are also very effective. Soak the coat thoroughly with the liquid, then brush and comb well once dry. If used in large quantities, use as a dip rather than a lotion. Horseheal or Scabwort {Inula helenium) has been used in veterinary medicine in the effective treatment of sheep scabs. thium)
repels:
moles
Onions {Allium cepa)
dioica),
ample,
same plant can be used directly to polish the coat, while tanners use it to thicken
and over the garden
Mole Plant {Euphorbia
employed
supplements.
condition their coats.
root into pieces
scatter
been
food
as
repels:
hollow stem among herbaceous plants
chop
have
cockroaches, woodlice in sheds and greenhouses
scatter pieces of the
White Hellebore {Veratrum album) -
form thin
essential.
Many
Cucumber {Cucumis
to
layers, and then alternate with any green garden rubbish and soil, dampening the pile with water as it is made. Compost manufacture is greatly assisted by a warm
through
whitefly
Plant associations
whole
controls:
Nicotine
from folklore
officinale),
Yarrow {Achillea milleand Oak bark (Quercus spp). Use
folium)
post
controls:
Derris
Traps and controls
DandeChamomile
Nettle [Urtica dioica),
temperature, and a well-ventilated com-
(Fucus vesiculosus) Insecticides
waste.
{Matricaria recutita),
Lucerne
{Medicago
down
parts of Valerian [Valeriana
{Taraxacum
lion
A
to
the gardener, making use of green waste and enriching the soil. Some herbs decompose more quickly than others and
discourages: rabbits
repels:
Rose beetle repels:
HERBS FOR BEAUTY
Chives {Allium
blackspot, mildew,
The
schoenoprasum) - near Roses
aphids
reflects
Garlic {Allium sativum)
repels:
an individual. Healthy skin and hair cannot be obtained by
or Chives {Allium
aphids
Garlic {Allium sativum) or
lettuce or peas
Hyssop {Hyssopus officinalis) - near beans
the inner physical
and psycho-
logical health of
schoenoprasum)
- near
health and appearance of the skin
repels:
blackfly
cosmetic use alone and attention should be paid to well-balanced diet and adequate exercise, rest and general health. Herbal or natural cosmetics are, however,
of material
especially
if
benefit
to
the
body
used on a regular basis. 103
DOMESTIC AND COSMETIC USES
HERBAL BATHS The
scenting of water is a long practised custom, and it renders the water refreshing for bathing. The Romans threw
Lavender {Lavandula spp) into
their baths,
not only to scent the water, but to act as a
name
disinfectant. In fact, the
Lavandula
from the Latin lavare, meaning to wash. Herbal baths are taken today for one or
is
more of
They
several reasons.
stimulate
the action of the pores, relax the muscles
and soothe the
joints,
and perfume the
water.
Bath bags The best results
are to be obtained by
using a herb sachet.
A
square or circle of should be
or muslin
either cheesecloth
with herbs and tied securely. Fix the bag under running hot water, agitating and wringing it out to release the oils and filled
perfume, then allow
it
to steep in the
bath
water.
Oatmeal can be mixed together with the herbs to help soften the water and impart smoothness to the skin. Use in the proportion of twice the amount of finely ground oatmeal to the amount of herbs. The herbs can be chosen from what is available or they may be mixed according to
stimulating effect,
Some
herbs have a while various others
personal preference.
Tonic baths
Above
Herbs
astringent for oily skin
when
only yield their essential oils subjected to heat, so those rich in will
fragrant
used
sauna:
a
Elder flowers
,
flowers
(
(Matricaria
Sambuciu nigra
recu-
Lime
.
Tilia x europaea or T. x vulgaris
.
Sage leaves (Salvia officinalis Thyme {Thymus vulgaris and Verbena leavelerbena officinalis, or Eucalyptus Euca-
are relaxing.
.
|
Herbs
for the bath
Stimulating
(Ocimum
basilicum) Bay (Laurus n obilis) Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) Lavender (Lavandula spica) Lemon Verbena (Aloysia triphylla) Basil
Lovage (Ligusticum officinale) — also considered to act as a deodorant
Meadowsweet
(Filipendula ulmaria)
Mint (Mentha sppj Pine (Pinus sppj Rosemary (Rosmarinus
Sage (Salvia
officinalis)
Thyme (Thymus
cataria)
Chamomile (Matricaria recutita) Jasmine (Jasminum officinale) Lime flowers T.
(Tilia x
europaea or
x vulgaris)
Vervain (Verbena officinalis)
Healing
Comfrey (Symphytum officinale) Lady's Mantle (Alchemilla vulgaris) Mangold (Calendula officinalis) Mint (Mentha spp,) Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)
104
to look really
Collect
is
required
when
dingy and tired will prove
new young
shoots
after
the skin tends
Blackberry invaluable.
leaves
(Rubus)
and
is
an ingredient
'
cleansers.
Bath oils Very few oils
will disperse completely in you do not want to emerge glistening from top to toe, use a specialist oil. Castor oil (sometimes sold as Turkey Red oil from the Castor Oil plant
water, so
if
Ricinus communis
disperses
and does not
and
and
leaves,
Sandalwood (Santalum
Allow to infuse for three to five minutes, and then strain and add the
bath.
1
i5°F).
warm
bath
Similar tonics are easy to
make
using
album).
teaspoonful of the
cum
officinale)
every 3-4
(1 lb)
litres
for
It
is,
quantities of various essential oils until
water Allow
you find ones which suit you. The different fragrances are supposed to affect the emotions differently, a theory which is practised by aromatherapists who use
(6-8
pts) of
30 minutes, then strain and add to a bath.
essential oils in the treatment of a
Left: This chart details the properties of various herbs which can be infused
added
to the
bath.
the skin's pores, relax muscles
number
of physical and emotional conditions.
and
the action
Bath salts You can add
and
turn the routine bath into a luxurious ex-
Herbal baths are taken
for many reasons : they stimulate
of
there-
advisable to experiment with small
of dried plant matter to
the flowers or herbs to steep in the liquid
warm
the
Aromatic oils can be used, of course. Just a drop or two will prove sufficient since pure plant oils are powerful and fore,
Allow 450g
Pour into
oil is sufficient for
some may cause headaches.
.
it
screw on the lid, shake to mix thoroughly and then store until required. Shake each time before using - one
Nettle (Urtica dioica), Dandelion (Taraxa-
or Daisies (Bellis perennis
Mix
with your favourite aromatic oil in the proportion of half a cup of Castor oil to ten drops of aromatic oil such as Rosemary Rosmarinus officinalis!, Pine (Pinus spp) or a jar,
liquid to the
particularly efficient as an
of many natural' facial
dry and crush them with a rolling pin. To each 560 ml (20 fl oz) of water, add yog (6 oz) of plant matter, and then heat the two together to a temperature of 45°C
vulgaris)
Relaxing
Catnep (Nepeta
winter, for example,
(1
officinalis)
a real tonic that
is
is
leave a dirty ring around the bath.
lyptus globulus).
If it
Yarrow
when
[Ocimum
Basil
try
Chamomile
basilicum). tita
are especially effective
oils
in
:
soothe
a handful of bath salts to
The soda
base
of the
joints, and, additionally, impart a pleasant
perience.
perfume.
neutralizes the acids secreted by the skin
salts
:
SOAP perfume clings to the body and it softens even the hardest of waters at the same time. so that the
Right : Summer Savory
afterwards,
value in the home. Apart from
Mix
the following ingredients together
i40g
(5 oz)
&5g
(3
A
Bicarbonate of Soda
salads, sauces
broad beans,
Applied
powdered Orris root
to
is
of great practical its
use in
and as a complement
it
to
also has medicinal properties.
a bee sting, the crushed fresh leaf
germanica)
of Summer Savory relieves pain, and it can also be added to aromatic bath mixtures.
few drops of essential oils such as oil of oil of Rosemary or oil of
recipe can be followed very easily:
oz)
[Iris
Xeroli,
Lavender Once mixed together, pound in a pestle and mortar, and then store in an airtight tin. They will keep for about three months so long as the container
is
firmly sealed.
After-bath cologne Use this fragrant cologne rub
as
a friction
after a bath.
\ cup
- Roses (Rosa
fresh flower petals
'Take a pound of fine white Castile Sope, shave it thin in a pinte of Rose-water, and let it stand for two to three days, then pour all the water from it, and put to it halfe a pinte of fresh water, and so let it stand for one whole day, then pour out that, and put half a pint more, and let it stand a night more, then put to it halfe an ounce of powder called Sweet Marjoram, a quarter of an ounce of powder of Winter Savory (Satureia montana two or three drops of Oil of Spike, and the Oyl of ,
sppi, Carnation (Dianthus caryophyllus),
Jasmine
(Jasminum
any
or
officinale
other strongly scented species. \ cup deodorized alcohol* 1 j cups very hot water 3 tablespoons ground citrus peel tablespoon dried Basil Ocimum basilicum) or Lemon Verbena (Aloysia triphyl1
la) 1
(crushed)
tablespoon Mint
{Thymus *Note: In excise
Mentha spp or
|
(crushed
vulgaris)
many
Thyme
make
difficult
to
obtain certain alcohols normally used in cosmetics. As a substitute use food-grade isopropyl alcohol which can be obtained from most chemists.
Soak the flowers in the alcohol lor one week in a tightly closed jar. On the sixth day, make an infusion of the citrus peel and herbs in the hot water, then allow to stand for 24 hours. Strain through cheesecloth or muslin; then drain the petals. Combine the two
ajar or
resulting liquids in
screw top and shake well.
bottle with a
Use a
little
whenever required.
Soap balls Perfumed or medicated balls of soap were popular in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries before soapmaking was industrialized. The most sophisticated kinds were made in Italy and incorporated exotic perfumes and a wide range of aromatic powders. Soap balls were made in most homes, either in the still-room or pantry, and the traditional recipes can be adapted to modern day extremely
requirements very
easily.
Use Castile or simple (unperfum* :d soap as a base. After grating it, add a variety
of perfumed
powdered
roots.
The
Ambergris and the same of
The almond cake could macaroon or
it
petals,
and
as
much
Ambergris, work all together in a fair Mortar, with the Powder of an Almond cake dryed, and beaten as small as fine flowre, so roll it round in your hands in Rose-water.' (Ambergris and Musk can be substituted by three drops of essence of oil
leaves
or
following traditional
i5g \\ oz) Plantain [Plantago lanceolata) leaves
i5g r
oz) Cornflowers (Centaurea cyanus)
(-j
5g
(2
420ml (15
(Melilotus
flowers
oz) boiling water
fl
Make an
ratafia biscuit.)
Melilot
oz )
officinalis)
of Musk.
be replaced by a
and
countries customs
regulations
Cloves, three grains of Musk,
infusion of the
herbs in the
boiling water. Allow to stand for an hour,
Modern washballs 1
then strain and use
large bar simple soap or Castile soap
cup of Rose-water (Rosa spp) drops oil of Lavender (Lavandula 3 i
when
tepid.
A
few
drops in the eyes will relieve tiredness, while it can also be used as an eye bath to soothe soreness and inflamed eyelids.
spica)
Crate the bar of soap into a suitable container, then pour the Rose-water over it. Allow the soap to stand in the liquid for 15 minutes, and then transfer to an electric blender or pestle and mortar, adding the oil of Lavender, one drop at a time. Once smoothly blended, pour the mix-
1
Cornflowers (Centaurea cyanus)
(j oz)
5g
or Eyebright (Euphrasia rostkoviana)
420ml
(15
oz) water or rain-water
fl
Infuse the flowers in the water by boiling.
Strain and allow to cool. liquid
The
add sparkle and
will
resulting
vitality
to
tired, sore eyes.
ture into a basin, then allow to stand for a
Form
by breaking off pieces and rolling them in your hands. Allow the soap to dry and harden. To obtain a smooth and attractive finish, moisten your hands with Rose-water and roll the balls into shape in the palms of your hands.
day or
so.
into small balls
BODY POWDERS The best known of all the body powders Talcum powder. The word 'talcum' from the Persian
talk,
and
strictly
powdered Hydrated Magnesium Silicate. soft greasy powder was first introduced to European toiletry in the sixteenth century.
The term 'talcum powder'
is
A quick and
includes mixtures containing
requires
(£ea
(ucumis sativus) over each eye and resting
now
used
mays),
rather
loosely,
precipitated
and often Corn starch
chalk
(light
Calcium Carbonate) and various other
in a
darkened room for five to ten minutes. For those with more time, try either of the
substances.
following recipes, noting that they have id be used fresh and stored no longer than 12 hours. Decomposition takes place aftei
toilet, face,
powdered
period of time and can cause even greater irritation to the eyes.
best.
this
is
means
This
EYE BATHS simple remedy for eye strain placing a slice of Cucumbei
is
It
is
relatively easy to
make
scented, cosmetic
a range of
and talcum
powders, either using a chemical base, a herbal material or a combination of the two the latter is often
[05
DOMESTIC AND COSMETIC USES Frangipani (Plumeria
rubra)
Lavender (Lavandula spica) Ylang-Ylang [Cananga odorata)
Lime
(
x europaea or T. x
Tilia
Lemon
vulgaris)
grass (Andropogon spp)
Neroli (Citrus aurantium)
Rose-Geranium
(Pelargonium graveolens)
Aniseed (Pimpinella anisum)
Bay (Laurus
nobilis)
Add
the essential oil to the base drop by drop and mix thoroughly, using a pestle and mortar for the best results. Supplement with powdered aromatic seeds or herbs to a proportion of two parts base to one part additional ingredients. Experiment with different aromas for the one that suits individual taste.
Foot powder Foot care
both
important,
is
for
their
health and to relieve general soreness.
This powder
and
the toes j
will
reduce friction between
so eases walking.
cup Talc
j cup Corn starch (%ea mays) \ teaspoon Peppermint (Mentha x piperita) extract
Traditionally,
known
a
powder
cosmetic
as poudre de chipre
was made by
Above
:
The
oil
be added to a dry pot-pourri
macerating Oakmoss in running water for two to three days. It was then dried and reduced to a powder. Oakmoss is now rarely available, and the most
fragrance or
common
Frangipani
plant
Orris root
(Iris
powder
bases are either
germanica) or
Corn starch
mays).
(Zjea
Chemical base: 30% French chalk;
40%
Orris root;
30% Corn
Rice flour. (These percentages refer All the ingredients
an old mixture ;
starch;
10%
(2
to weight.)
must be reduced
to as
powder as possible. Combine these chemical and herbal bases in any proportion you wish, or use them separately. fine a
Experimentation will reveal the best type powder for your skin type.
of
powdered Tonka
oz)
(Dipteryx
beans
Poudre a
la
Mousseline
Lavender
450g
described)
i70g
(6
(1
lb)
50g
50g
powdered Mace
oz)
(2
25g
powdered Cloves (Syzygium
(1
ozj
25g
(1
oz)
powdered Cassia {Cinnamomum powdered Sandalwood
talum album) Mil)
powdered Lavender flowers
(2
Gum
powdered
oz)
Benzoin
(1
fl
oz)
Lavender
oil
(San-
teaspoon Myrrh (Commi-
1
Place the mixture on an
open tray and heat at
a
oven
in the
medium
for
about
temperature.
Remove and allow to cool for ten minutes then grind very finely in a pestle and mortar or electric grinder. Press the mixand store the powder; throw away any lumps
in the sieve.
This
is
gently abrasive at
first
(until the
components dissolve in the mouth) as well as being an effective antibacterial. Use it with a soft action on the teeth with an ordinary toothbrush.
CLEANSING THE SKIN
essential oils:
Bergamot (Monarda didyma)
the skin.
450g
(1
lb)
base (chemical or herbal, as
described)
cassia)
and
sea salt
phora molmol).
4 teaspoons Sage leaf teaspoons rock salt or
Everyone knows the importance of keeping the pores of the skin unclogged and clean. This often requires more than a quick wash with soap and water, and steaming the face is the quickest and cheapest way to improve the cleanliness of
aromaticum)
25g
lb)
Simple scented powder
oz)
(1
(1
{Myristica
fragrans)
made by mixing
(Salvia officinalis), 3
(Styrax benzoin)
25ml
(Coriandrum sativum)
simple and very effective tooth powder
is
left
base (chemical or herbal, as
(Lavandula spica)
powdered Coriander seed
oz)
Tooth powder
A
resulting
base (chemical or herbal as
lb)
(1
all the ingredients together thoroughthen keep in a jar with a tight-fitting lid. Use after drying the feet thoroughly.
ture through a fine sieve
graveolens)
described)
450g
Mix
30 minutes
4 drops Neroli oil (Citrus aurantium) 4 drops Bergamot oil (Monarda didyma) 4 drops Rose-Geranium oil (Pelargonium
450g
food-
aroma
iog (4 oz) powdered Sandalwood (Santalum album)
odorata)
(or
ly,
1.2kg (2$ lb) base (chemical or herbal, as described)
50g
teaspoon rubbing alcohol grade isopropyl alcohol)
it is
iiog (4 oz) powdered Vanilla (Vanilla planifolia) beans
precipitated chalk.
1
enhance the
sun-tan lotions.
starch;
Herbal base
60%
to revive
to
often used in body powders, perfumes and
1
30% Corn
of this plant, Bergamot, can
8
drops
of any
one of the following
Patchouli (Pogostemon patchouli)
Provided your skin
is
fairly
normal
-
:
CLEANSERS
Chamomile flowers {Matricaria recutita) or Lime flowers Tilia x europaea or T. x
try gently pushing out the blackheads with a tissue and clean fingertips. Steaming should unblock the pores - a blackhead is only a blockage of grease (sebum) secreted by glands under the surface of the skin, with a layer of dirt trapped on top. Excessive pressure may cause local skin damage, and the formation of spots or
vulgaris) for the best results.
pimples. If this happens, add 50g (2 oz)
Place a towel over your head, lower your face until it is just above the bowl
Burdock root {Arctium
not too dry or sensitive, with no thread veins visible - begin by making an infusion of herbs in a large bowl. Use three tablespoonfuls to two
litres
(3^ pts) of boiling
water. Choose between Sage {Salvia offici{Mentha x piperita), Peppermint nalis,
(
and allow the vapour skin.
The
to rise to
meet your
towel forms a tent that traps the
vapour, and you should allow the treatment to continue as long as you can bear the heat; ten minutes is about the right length of time. After steaming, the skin will be pink
and glowing. Splash with tepid and then cold water to close the pores, or use an astringent lotion dabbed on with cotton wool or tissues. Stay indoors for an hour or so after steaming, and do not repeat the
560ml (20 fl oz) cold water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Allow to cool, strain and apply to the infected spot. lappa)
to
MASKS FOR OILY SKIN Most people have
some
at least
oily areas
of skin on their face, and blackheads and whiteheads tend to congregate where there
is
an excess of grease. Steaming
one method masks and packs,
is
of attack, but there are others
designed to clear
for
this
example, that are grease away.
Oatmeal {Avena sativa), Almond meal dulcis) and Corn starch {^jea mays) are all substances that when mixed with
Above:
Herbal butter-milk cleanser
Lemon
as a cosmetic,
No
water or tepid milk or butter-milk, and then rubbed over the face, will act as cleansing agents. Beaten egg white and/or yoghurt can be used to control grease,
treatment
Primus
for at least three days.
beauty routine should be without a lotion to cleanse the skin at the end of the day. This recipe
most
its
action, but
effective.
140ml
(5
Elder
Lime
nigra) or
or T. x vulgaris
Sambucm
flowers
flowers
(
applied
either
oz) butter-milk
fl
tablespoons
2
gentle in
is
Tilia
x europaea
{Citrus limon) juice, cider vinegar,
directly
to
the
combined with any one of
face
the
or
agents
described above, together with herbs such as
Yarrow
{Achillea millefolium),
Chamo-
A woman from Mozambique
wearing a herbal face paint. Though valued
flowers
it
also protects her skin.
{Sambucus
nigra),
Sage
{Salvia
Lady's Mantle {Alchemilla officinalis) vulgaris). Yarrow tea - made by infusing two tablespoons of dried Yarrow in a glass and a half of boiling water -- is or
especially
recommended
for clearing ex-
cessively oily skins.
.
mile flowers
Heat the butter-milk, add the flowers and boil gently lor approximately hall an hour. Leave to infuse lor two hours. Strain before using;: apply to the hue with cotton wool and remove all traces of dirt, grease and make-up with gentle movements.
{Matricaria
recutita),
The
Elder
action of a face pack rids the skin of
impurities by drawing
Below
own
to
:
An
oatmeal face pack
draw
out impurities
is
from
used on
the skin, or
as a binding agent in combination with other cosmetic herbs.
its
It
them to the surface. and stimulates the
also tightens the skin
circulation, thus encouraging the skin to
glow. The use of masks on drier skins should be undertaken with care. Although they can humidify the skin and restore natural oils, masks must be blended carefully to fulfil these functions.
Fragrant cleansing lotion 420ml (15
fl
oz)
warm Rose-water
handfuls dried Rose petals
2
preferably
Rosa gal I a a
5g
I
Mix
i/iboz the
Gum
Benzoin
si run benzoin
warm Rose-water
Rose petals
with the dried
an earthenware jar. Leave to infuse for one to two hours, and then strain off the liquid. Leave a day or so before adding the Cum Benzoin. Use to in
cleanse the skin as
in the
previous recipe.
Blackheads Blackheads are a problem even on a unblemished skin. If rubbing
relatively
Tomato Marrow iC.ucur-
the affected spot with a slice of {
Ly copersicon
esculenlum) or
bita pepo var. ovifera)
and then rinsing
There are a wide range of herbs and that can be utilized for making packs for the face and neck. Milk, yoghurt, egg white or egg yolk, Oatmeal {Avena sativa), honey or Fuller's earth are all spreading or thickening agents, though fruits
in
tepid water does not work, give the face a steaming treatment as described, then
simple treatments exist such as rubbing the skin with fresh Cucumber {Cucumis sativus) or Strawberry {Fragaria
quite
vesca).
The
usual
method
for using a face
mask
back the hair or protect it in some way, lie down on a bed or lean back in a chair and spread the pack over the face and neck. Avoid the skin around eyes and lips as these areas are too delicate to be stimulated in this way. Raise the level of your feet above your head, then rest for is
to fasten
10 to 15 minutes. The mask should then be washed away using tepid water and tissues
or cotton wool. 107
DOMESTIC AND COSMETIC USES The most renowned gentle common Cucumber. It
Right
:
of all
is the
astringent
favourite
fruit.
also
(Fragaria
vesca),
provides a quick remedy for eye strain slice
-
and soothing
Peach (Prunus
Water Melon
a
of Cucumber placed over each eye has a
cooling
Incorporate Strawberry
apple
(Citrullus
(Ananas
Pine-
Cucumber
and
sativa)
persica),
lanatus),
(Cucumis sativus) with or without the white
ejfect.
of an egg and reduce
Astringent
all to a pulp in a blender or pestle and mortar. The flesh of the fruit should be as smooth as possible. Spread over the face and neck, relax for a few minutes, then wash off.
mask
for oily skin Blend together equal amounts of Tomato juice and the pulp of a Lemon. As an alternative, you can steep the Tomato juice in the pulp of the cut halves of the Lemon, and then scrape away the
NOURISHING THE SKIN
combined pulp. The end result is exactly the same, whichever method you use.
Some skins require when exposed to
Splash the mixture on your face, paying particular attention to the greasy areas,
weather. All the recipes that follow are for
then wash off with tepid water after the
sensitive or has a
Egg white and cucumber mask Egg white is renowned for tightening the skin and temporarily firming away lines and lifting sagging skin. It works most
Mix 2 i
i
Yeast face
as 'orange-peel' skin.
together:
1
egg whites
1
Cucumber (Cucumis sativus) teaspoon Lemon juice [Citrus
1
limon)
5 teaspoon Peppermint extract x piperita
teaspoon
50%
rubbing alcohol
1
1
(or
isopropyl alcohol) ice
with
the egg whites, then blend together
all
the other ingredients in an electric
blender. Anything
left
over can be stored
your refrigerator. Dab the mixture on to your face and leave for approximately eight minutes. If there is an excessive tingling effect before this time, remove the pack with tepid water and tissues or cotton wool and splash the skin once more with tepid water afterwards, or omit the alcohol. in
MASKS FOR DRY SKIN It is not advisable to use any drying treatment on skin that is either naturally dry or ageing. Egg white is particularly
damaging, since it dries on the face and becomes a powerful astringent. Use fatty substances such as egg yolk as a spreader, and incorporate such agents as Sunflower (Helianthus annuus) or Wheat
germ
(
Triticum vulgare)
oil,
Almond
(Pru-
nus dulcis) or Linseed (Linum usitatissimum)
Other ingredients such as Apple Malus spp) juice, Peach (Prunus persica) or Pear (Pyrus communis) juice, mixed with ground Almonds (Prunus dulcis) will help oil.
revitalize the skin to secrete
100
by stimulating the pores
more natural
oils.
mask
are well
known
for their healing,
1
tablespoon brewer's yeast teaspoon Comfrey infusion (Symphytum
(35
fl
teaspoon sugar \ teaspoon tincture of Benzoin 1
Mix
teaspoon Marigold infusion (Calendula teaspoon skin
this
oil
oil
thus annuus),
Avocado
oil
(
can be a favourite
or Sunflower
proprietary
Olea
oil
(Helian-
(Persea americana),
europaea)
or
(Styrax
almonds with the Rose
the
water
or rain-
mixture resembles a fine paste. Then filter through fine muslin. Add sugar and a few drops of tincture of Benzoin (Styrax benzoin) and bottle ready until the
for use.
Peanut
(Arachis hypogaea) oil
Combine
litre
benzoin)
teaspoon milk or yoghurt
Olive
ground almonds ozj Rose-water or rain-water
4-Og (1^ oz)
teaspoon honey
officinalis) 1
cubes
Whip
oil
Almonds
officinale)
(Mentha
i
i
Almond
skin.
nourishing and soothing effect on the skin and were used extensively in ancient Greece for facial and hand creams.
powerfully on. ageing, oily skin with large
known
drying effect of
the
If your skin is tendency to blemishes, do not use before seeking medical advice.
on
use
allotted time.
pores
normal
nourishing, especially
Cucumber
honey with a few drops of very hot water. This will thin the honey down and make it easier to use. Blend in the yeast, then add the milk or yoghurt and the herb infusions. Stir until it becomes a thick paste. Pat your face with the oil, and then spread a layer of the paste. Allow to set for approximately 15 minutes, then wash off with tissues and splash with tepid water. the
This
is
oil
also cooling in effect
and
is
an
excellent protection against sunburn.
You
will
2 ripe 1
need
Cucumbers
litre
(35
fl
(Cucumis sativus)
oz) cold water
(35 fl oz) rain-water dessertspoons glycerine \ teaspoon tincture of Benzoin 1
litre
2
(Styrax
benzoin)
Cut the Cucumbers
into
small
pieces,
For dry
including their rinds. Put them in a pan with the cold water. Bring to the boil
ing
gradually and simmer
Oatmeal
facial
skins, Oatmeal makes a nourishand somewhat bleaching base when mixed with a favourite flower water -
Rose-water, Elder flower-water, for example. Work the ingredients into a paste, then pat onto the face and neck. Allow to dry for up to 15 minutes, then wash off with tepid water or clean off with tissues and pat with a damp face flannel.
When
a jelly bag. water,
This
is
a recipe to try in the height of
summer when
there
is
a glut of your
cold,
glycerine
the
20 minutes.
mix with the rainand tincture of
Benzoin. Apply to the skin as required.
Cold cream
A
of this applied every night before
little
sleep will feed
Fruit sundae special
for
Strain and squeeze through fine muslin or
70g 25g
(2-j (1
340ml
and
revitalize
your
oz) spermaceti
oz) fresh (12
fl
beeswax
oz) sweet
Almond
oil
skin.
HAIR CARE 40ml (i£ 40ml (ij 40ml 1| 1
fl
oz) glycerine
fl
ozj
Rose-water
fl
oz)
Cucumber juice
Melt the spermaceti in a double boiler with the fresh beeswax and the sweet Almond oil. Stir continually with a wooden spoon or spatula. Once the ingredients have melted and amalgamated, add the glycerine, Rose-water and Cucumber
Anti-wrinkle lotion Drop 15 to 20 Poppy (Papaver rhoeas) petals into 280ml (10 fl oz) boiling water and allow them to infuse for approximately ten minutes. Filter or strain and then allow the liquid to cool belbre bottling.
Use night and morning;
is
it
especially
kind to dry skin.
Cocoa-butter neck smoother
juice.
the
until
Stir
cream
is
quite
cold.
Note: Cold cream derives its name from the very fact that it is stirred until it is cold. It is at the point when it sets that it
becomes ready
1
cream recipe
50g (2 oz) fresh beeswax 435ml (i-jj fl oz) Almond glycerine 25ml fl oz 25ml fl ozj Rose-water io drops Rose essence 1
(
1
(Theobroma
cacao) 1
tablespoon lanolin
j cup
W heat germ
oil
(
Triticum vulgare) or
or
mays)
Peanut
\Arachis
hypogaea) oil
4 tablespoons water (optional)
iog (4 oz) spermaceti
1
tablespoon Cocoa butter
Corn (£ea
for use.
Alternative cold
1
Melt
all
three
oils in
a double boiler until
oil
completely dissolved. (The addition of water makes the cream easier to spread.)
for
Allow to cool, place in jars and refrigerate. Shake before use. The mixture may be cloudy but this in no way impairs the power of the cream.
any
other
fragrance preferred)
ducts have classified the general public into three categories: those with dry,
greasy or normal hair. The herbal trichologist, however, claims that all hair is normal - normal to the individual that is and that dryness and greasiness should not be treated as an isolated condition, but as part of a larger problem. Anyone who feels they have severe problems with their hair, either with an excess of oil or hair that
their action.
On
the other hand, a natural
always leaves a certain amount of grease, dirt, on the hair. By modern standards, of course, this would not be considered clean enough. The first step towards using herbs for hair health is to get a good shine - nothing else may be necessary. Make an infusion
Below
then bottle until required.
lating the circulation.
substance, keratin,
Night cream Use this very rich and nourishing cream every night youthful and
to to
keep your skin looking help smooth out
contains lanolin which
is
a
lines,
h
waxy substance
obtained from wool grease and is used widely in cosmetics lor its moisturizing effect on the skin.
beeswax
2 teaspoons
2 teaspoons lanolin
4 teaspoons Almond oil Prunus dul
Benzoin (Styrax benzoin capsules teaspoon Wheal germ (
(
1
oi
of Rosemary (Rosmarinus
through the use of a variety of herbal
recutita
preparations.
favour.
Hair
is
warmed distilled water, then allow both liquids to cool. Mix them together, then beat in the Wheat germ oil. Note: Add infusion of Comfrey Symphytum officinale) or Marigold Calendula t
officinalis) to assist cell
regeneration.
It
of a re-
The majority of proprietary herbal hair products have a synthetic basis, an attractive perfume, delightful packaging and a pretty name. However, purely herbal shampoos, among other things, have been made in the past, and even today herbalists still base their range of hair cosmetii s and medicaments on completely natural substances. Apart from shampoos, you will find that they stock hair and scalp conditioners, rinses and dyes. If you make them yourself, you will derive far more satisfaction and save money, too.
to
dioica),
Nettle
{Matricaria
or any herbs you particularly Measure 560ml (20 fl oz) of water
each 25g
( 1
oz) weight of herb. Boil the
water. Place the herbs in a suitable container such as a jug or basin
Although hair
:
the condition cells.
The
(right)
.
is
composed of a dead
health depends upon
of the scalp and underlying diagram shows a hair in the
top
and frightened' The bottom diagram shows how a
normal position itnc hair
its
and pour the
is
(left)
produced from the
follicle.
Shampoos certain plants which contained soapy sub-
stances called saponins.
and Almond oil in a double boiler until they have melted and combined. Dissolve the borax the beeswax, lanolin
in the
made up
cannot be
a dead substance
Urtica
officinalis),
Chamomile
Pure herbal shampoos of the past relied on oil
Triticum vulgare)
Warm
Throughout the centuries, man has improved the health and beauty of his hair
protein called keratin.
shampoo
and therefore
juvenated. No amount of wishful thinking will bring it back to life, though massage will encourage healthy growth by stimu-
HAIR HEALTH
so dry that the
ends are badly split, should consider their general health. Greasy hair can be associated with diet, while those with dry hair should look first to their shampoo: it could be far too strong. Synthetic shampoos leave the hair unnaturally clean, the acidic balance of the hair being upset by
Melt the spermaceti, beeswax and Aloil in a double boiler. Pour into a basin and mix with a wooden spoon or spatula. Leave to set in the refrigerator. Pound for 45 minutes in a mortar, or blend in an electric mixer until it turns into a thick white cream, add the glycerine and Rose-water. Blend again for two to three minutes to emulsify the cream. Add the Rose essence and mix again for one minute. Refrigerate until it solidifies, and
mond
is
One
of
the best
an attractive flowering perennial bush called Soapwort (Saponaria officinalis). This type of shampoo produces very little foam and gives dry astringent wash. It was last produced commercially in 1930. Those with greasy hair will find a decoction of Soapbark sources of these substances
is
.1
(Quillaja saponaria) very effective.
Manufacturers of commercial hair proIO()
domestic: and cosmetic uses Left
An
:
An
Indian lady displays the palms of
lotion can be derived
with Henna. Henna was also used
Pyrus cydonia). Measure 50g Quince seed and boil in 280ml
dye
to
(
nails red.
last
rinse for deliciously scented results.
Even
would be white wine, white or
better
cider vinegar.
An
Rosemary
Rosmarinus
can also impart shine
to hair. It
has the advantage of acting as a mild anti-
Steep the spikes
septic.
water
in boiling
lor
is
ill-advised
Chamo-
of
parts
recutita
.
Rosemary
officinalis;,
Nettle
.
millefolium
Place 25g a container
root
was
also used as a
teenth century.
Wheat
(
Triticum vulgare)
whiten wigs and in 1748, the year of the Great Famine, a quarter of a million pounds weight of hair
and
lichens
were used
powder was used
to
to
indulge fashion while
These are usually acidic taining
Lemon
(Citrus
limon).
Aloysia triphylla).
designed
to
Verbena
rid
officinalis:
the
hair
To
\
of the
common
Urtica dioica:,
a non-volatile
Below
:
the hair
called
oil
Herbs were powders
the
only herb contains
It
apigemn u Inch
so
essential constituents for
much
in
vogue in
elaborate coiffure probably contained
powdered Orris
root
and Rosemary
leaf.
.
1
and then
c
and
ssels
lustre.
make an
stinging strain
in-
Nettle
and
cool.
encourage healthy growth.
so
The
stimulant plant Jaborandi Pilocarpus microphallus from Brazil was once the most
^^^ELj< :
'
1
popular herbal scalp conditioner and hair restorer, but it is no longer considered safe enough to use. If a massage is preferred, take equal quantities of herbs such as Fennel Foeniculum vulgare Nettle Urtica .
1
Chamomile and Yarrow 'Achillea
Matricaria
dioica.
recutita
millefolium), or
any
of those previously mentioned, and steep in
560ml 120
of Sunflower
oz
fl
^
Place in the sun-
oil.
encourage the release of Note the results for future
reference.
They
oils.
1
Lemon are
all
of residual
made from the juice of all citrus fruits, though Lemon is the most popular. Lemon has traditionally been used, along with vinegar, in a final rinse to remove scum", so allowing the hair to shine with a
10
is
reallv lightens fair hair.
the scalp to dilate the blood
to
vinegar.
or
Rinses for use after shampooing can be
1
and
condition the scalp,
the herbs'
the natural acidic balance of the skin.
Add
which
and Henna [Lawsonia
nigra
Chamomile
.
Elder berries
dry shampoo.
con-
alkaline after shampooing, or to restore
natural lustre.
Sambucus inermis
recutita.
light if possible to
in reaction,
Verbena Verbena
Matricaria
eighteenth-century Europe. This lady's
usual way. Use as a final
in the
(Helianthus annuus)
Hair and scalp conditioners
mile
then strain
them
most of the populace starved.
coastlines.
similar kind of preparation can be used as a
Apply
Powdered Orris
pean
boiling water over them. Steep until cool,
mary
sweet-scented hair powder in the eigh-
less
1
fusion
then out again.
add
oz of the mixed herbs into and pour 560ml 20 (1 0/. of
purchased in the form of a white powder, ground from Orris root {Iris germanica), Arrowroot (Maranta arundinacea), RoseQuassia officinalis) chips (Picraena exelsa), and each designed to remove grease from the hair by absorption. Brush it into the hair, and
a
.
Achillea
light hair
more Chamomile, and for dark hair Chamomile and more Rosemary.
rinse for general health
or
Horsetail
.
and Yarrow
For blonde or
.
Rosmarinus
Urtica dioica
or timed, try a dry shampoo. These can be
(Rosmarinus
include Kelp Fucus vesicuseaweed found on many Euro-
this recipe to
rinses tor
equal
Equisetum arvense
occasion where hair washing
much mucilage as possible is squeezed through. The liquid will jellify and set when cold. Apply either hot or warm, as preferred. You can also adapt as
dull hair, turn to those stalwarts
officinalis
of illness or an unexpected
making sure
press through muslin,
Chamomile
Salvia
eases
and
Brightening and lightening For three quick and brightening
,
In
oz
commercial natural hair cosmetics. Another pleasant rinse is one made by Fennel Foeniculum vulgare), and Lime flowers 1 da x europaea or T. x vulgaris together with some Sam
muslin or cheesecloth. Allow to cool. Mix the infusion with your usual shampoo and wash your hair in the normal way.
fl
losus
Matricaria
30 minutes. Strain through
10
30 minutes, then strain and cool. Use as a rinse as required. Rosemary, incidentally, is one of the major herbs added to
gathering
to steep for
of
oz)
(2
of water for 15 minutes. Make up the quantity of liquid as it evaporates. Strain that
infusion of
officinalis
boiling water over them. Allow the herbs
based setting from the Quince
naturally
excellent
her hands which have been delicately painted
a teaspoonful to your
Setting lotions Vegetable sources can be used to encourage the hair to curl, or at least to hold a curl in place once it is set. Gum Tragacanth, an exudation from an Asiatic plant. Astragalus gummifer, setting
lotions
is
and
used as the basis for as
certain hair conditioners.
Sodium
Alginate,
a
weeds, has been used
commercial setting
an
additive
More
derivative to
of sea-
provide a basis
lotions.
in
recently.
for
;
m
4ltm
v V
v
*
r
i
m *7i
fe
1
4T"
HAIR COLOURS hair
light
gives
a
yellow tone.
lighter
Dves containing quick-lime, of a similar nature to the depilatories, were used by
Roman women
as
bleaches, often with
To make
disastrous results.
a
Chamomile
make an
infusion from 50g (2 oz) of the herb to 560ml (20 fl oz) of water. rinse,
Steep, strain
and use
made
Romans as
.
a pack
grey hair and, used in this way, will impart a bluish hue. You can either buy Elder berries pre-dried, or gather your for
own between September and November when they are ripe and before the birds get to them. Make up an infusion and add a pinch of
brightness.
And
and alum
salt
so,
Use
additional
for
Henna
to
(
Lawsonia
brown
spp). For those of you with light
through red, dark brown Henna is the perfect herb
to black hair
condition
to
highlight and give shine to your hair
Weigh out 25g
(1
Henna
oz) of
type will do - and
make an
history, but
is
what they have, make a strong Rosemary (Rosmarinus officin- or preferably the oil - and rub into
leaf- any
Excessive
or dryness should be rebeing associated with general
oil
as
health. Dandruff, however, is the flakingoff of the top layer of skin on the scalp. Its cause can also be linked with diet, climate, environment and stress: any one of these factors or several in combination. Useful remedies include massaging Olive oil or Sweet Almond oil gently into
the scalp to soften
could
use
an
alternatively you
it;
infusion
of
Chamomile
Marigold (Calendula mixed and whipped into a officinalis) cream (cold cream) for this. This is then (Matricaria recutita) or
applied to the scalp. An itchy scalp is a
common complaint. This is usually associated with stress rather than with any physical cause. An infusion of
Chamomile
smells delightful
and
is
(Matricaria recutita
a
weak
sedative, as
well as soothing the scalp
itself.
can also be attributed
lice.
Itching
Vinegar rinses are often effective in the removal of nits (the eggs of the louse that cement to
themselves to the shaft of the hair. Altern-
an infusion of Poke Root (Phytolacca decandra), Quassia chips Picraena exelsa) or Juniper berries Jumperus communis; can be used to rinse the hair; then atively,
(
comb
beards to a youthful blue-black. is an integral part of the Eastern culture. Arabic women are given a sack of Henna on the eve of their wedding with
Herbs tend to have a slow colouring effect, and none act directly as a bleach. Commercially produced hair dyes and colouring
rinses
are
products and were teenth century.
first
coal-tar
by-
used in the nine-
A large range of synthetic
organic dyes are rinses
on
based
now
available,
(Lawsonia spp) was used to render
brown hair auburn and to help mask greying strands, while acting as a marvellous conditioner at the same time. It is easily absorbed, the colour being assimilated through the cuticle of the hair into the cortex.
(Salvia officinalis) has in
dead
in
Henna,
while a hennaed beard has great religious significance for Muslims.
The powdered leaf gives a hair when mixed with
rich red tone
water. It is applied for two to three hours and has to be maintained at a regular temperature; to
cling film or silver
quality of the
foil assist in this.
Henna and
The
the colour
imparts to the hair depends on and country of origin. Persian
its
it
source
Henna
is
producing a deep rich red;
Below: A branch from the Egyptian Privet or Henna tree ( Lawsonia inermisj, the powdered leaf of which provides Henna which has traditionally been used as a colouring agent for both hair
and body.
fl
oz) for
and the several
months. Use as a final rinse. Powdered Rhubarb root (Rheum officinale) will add attractive golden tone to light brown or fair hair. It should be made into a pack mixed with hot water and applied to the hair for 30 minutes; but care must be taken as it will dry the scalp. Another
remedy which is effective in masking grey or white hair is to crush Black Walnut leaves and husks (Juglans nigra). Soaking in water will result in a dark brown stain that will add tone to grey or white hair. Other recipes can include Marigold (Calendula officinalis) traditional
petals to brighten blonde hair, (
Quercus
robur)
for
a
reddish
Oak
bark
tone and
Alkanet (Anchusa officinalis) for a lighl pink lor those who want that colour. Many other herbs (and spices) have been tested over the years for their colouring properties and found to be effective in varying degrees. These include Woad (Isatis
tincloriaj,
There baldness have been sought
their
Berber
Certain
patterns.
embalm
needs to be strong
iog or 4 oz to 560ml or 20 process repeated weekly 1
Turmeric
lor
intricate
families
been greatly recom-
ticular, has antiseptic qualities that repel
Cures
in
the past to disguise greying
hair, but the infusion (
colour hair and
herbs and spices to
and Chamomile Matricaria recutita) were popular. Neither penetrate the hair shaft, however, and such sources are therefore used as colouring rinses and shampoos rather than as direct dyes. Sage
mended
to
which they make a thick paste to colour the hair and decorate their hands and feet
the finest,
The Romans used
tinctoria)
was used
false
available. Before
became commercially
reng,
Henna
Colouring and dyeing
campechianum), Saffron -Crocus
r.
shoots, called
alis)
out the corpses. The procedure should be repeated after two weeks, and again two weeks later. Quassia, in parli(
Mummified remains from Egyptian tombs show that a mixture of Henna and
years.
Henna
sativus)
garded
is the powdered leaf of Egyptian and has been in use for over 5000
Indigo (Indigo/era
colour their hair, of which Saffron (Crocus
Problem hair
privet
protect
infusion ior a
final rinse.
Henna
infusion from
Henna
as a final rinse.
briefly,
accept that there
a rinse
from Elder berries (Sambucus nigra
These were used by the
to
the scalp four or five times a week.
as a final rinse.
Grey hair can be coloured with
we have no magic cure for hair loss which can be for any number of reasons. For those who require a potion to and pursued through
favourite
Logwood (Haematoxylum sativus)
and
Curcuma no doubt, however, that the colouring agent is Henna. longa).
is
1
1
t
DOMESTIC AND COSMETIC USES Right:
A
Herbal
oils
modern perfumery
thousands ofyears ago are the
France.
in
which were prized and used still
employed by
most exclusive perfume manufacturers.
Ranged
Lavender, Oak-
in this laboratory are
moss, Patchouli and Neroli. There are four oils from
methods of extracting the
plants
distillation, maceration, absorption
and
enfleurage.
Egyptian Henna gives more orange reChinese is the cheapest, being of
sults;
inferior quality.
Another major virtue of Henna, makit even more versatile, is that it can be mixed with other organic substances to coffee, wine. eggs, modify the colour lemon juice and onion skins are modern ing
may
variations. Traditionalists
preler to
experiment by adding Indigo shoots
(for
reng), Walnut husks (darkening), Lucerne (Medicago sativa) (darkening), Catechu (darkening), the extract that is so rich in tannin
nut (Piper
from Acacia
betle)
catechu, or Betel
PERFUMERY
(reddening!.
To henna your hair, select your variety, then weigh out the Henna powder. For a head of short hair, 70g (6 oz) will be sufficient. Shoulder length hair or longer will require 2253 (8 oz). For further 1
The word perfume comes from
the Latin
meaning 'through smoke". This is probably derived from the custom of making burnt
sacrificial offerings to the
those times, as practised by the
gods
<>!
Romans
conditioner; a glassful of red wine, or
and Egyptians. The latter were especially generous in using perfumed oils, and the Greeks followed the tradition, so gaining an understanding of the many herbs and
ground
plants in
or
benefits
to
colouring,
the
affect
a
modifying agent should be selected. An egg will act as a secondary and nourishing
cum)
coffee or Cloves (Syzygium aromati-
will
result
colour; while
variations of
slight
in
Lemon
juice (Citrus limon)
or vinegar will aid the release of the dye, so
increasing
the
colouring
Have
effect.
ready a couple of old towels, a plastic bag, a saucepan, a pair of rubber gloves and set aside a couple of hours of your time. Mix the modifying agent with the Henna and sufficient water to mix to a thick
creamy
then
set
paste.
Heat
to boiling point,
aside to cool slightly.
the scalp, rub vegetable
To
protect
into the skin
oil
to act as a protective barrier. Wearing rubber gloves, apply the Henna. Do this thoroughly by making numerous partings
from one side
to the other or
to the front or vice versa.
from the back
Wrap
in cling film to seal in the
the hair
Henna and
maintain a warm temperature. your head in a towel and sit in a place to 'cook'.
The
Wrap warm
longer you leave
it,
the stronger the colour, so only increase the length of time after you have experi-
mented with leaving
it
for, say,
one and a
water runs shampoo. Your hair then quite clear and will glow with colour, and it will shine as never before. I
12
until the
part of the Medi-
Europe.
The numerous
delights of perfumery from Europe during the Middle Ages, though Charlemagne tried hard to recreate the luxury enjoyed by the Romans by using sweet-smelling plants
disappeared
and
scenting
streets for the
public
fountains
in
the
peoples pleasure.
and early eleventh Avicenna brought the art of making Rose-water from Persia, and the Crusaders brought back phials of Rosewater from Asia together with many other In the late tenth
centuries,
strongly scented products.
By the fourteenth century, it was customary to offer perfumes to guests in any noble house. They were offered after meals for freshening the hands and fingers after eating - without implements of course. During this period, alcoholic perfumes were being tried in Europe and quickly found favour. 'Hungary water' was particularly
half hours.
Wash thoroughly
own
their
terranean world. As a result, the Romans spread this knowledge to other parts of
teenth
century,
senteur pour
publiques festivals.
successful. les
embaumer
herbes les
By the et
plantes
six-
de
eaux des fontaines
were commonplace
in
France
for
There are four methods of extracting oils from plants: distillation, from whole plants maceration, absorption, and finally, expression of rind essential
.
or skin
which is a process known as which combines maceration
i
'enfleurage'
and absorption. Distillation This is a steam-assisted process, whereby the plant material is placed in containers above water vats so that the steam carries some of the oil away and forms a condensate containing the essential oil. Because many of the oils in plants are to a greater or lesser degree water-soluble, the
distillate
distilled.
is
skimmed
off
and
re-
Plants that cannot be treated by
the steam distillation process are treated
with various substances (mainly alcohols
which, acting as solvents, remove oils, and break down pigments
dissolve fats
and other
cell
components.
Maceration This is literally the steeping of flowers and herbs in water to release the essential oils.
Absorption This method
involves the plant
absorbed by
fat
oil
being
or grease, traditionally
either tallow or lard.
It is
used for plants
which continue producing oils after being picked like Jasmine [Jasminum spp and Tuberose [Polianthes tuberosa) and plants whose oils would be damaged by steam or whose odour would be altered by steam. water or volatile solvents.
The
usual
on both
method
is
to
spread the
fats
sides of a sheet of glass held in a
PERFUMERY and then
to
spread
fresh flowers over the grease every
morn-
frame called a
"chassis',
represented bv Tobacco
of days. The chassis are hours in a darkened room. stacked 24 the fat or grease this period, Over absorbs the flower oils and becomes iming for a
number
for
pregnated with their perfume. The resulting scented grease is called a 'pomade'. The quality of the pomade can be recognized by the number attached to it.
changed 20 times, the pomade is known as 'Pomade 20* if changed 30 times, 'Pomade 30' and so on. Originally they were used in their greasy
now usual to extract the pomade by means of from the perfume form, but
it
is
alcohol, the resulting scents being called 'Extrait 20' or 'Extrait 30'. If the alcohol is
than evaporated, an
called 'absolue de
A
residue
oil
left
is
pomade'.
simpler method involves immersing
176F)
45 -80
from
ranging
ature
for several hours.
The
C
1
13
resulting
pomade
is
and sometimes
20'
may
'absolue'
plants are
known
an
be produced as already
nique
for
rinds or
a relatively simple tech-
is
extracting the peel of fruit
oils
from the
and other plant
The matter is subjected to mechanical pressure and grinding to release the oil. A more traditional method involves pressing the whole fruit into a sponge, which is then wrung out to yield
make
to
Add
at
15 drops
of essential
oil to
and shake the
560ml (20
bottle.
fl
oz) of
The most
water
are Rose-water, Orange-flower water
Lavender water, and
all
and
three of these can
be used to scent the body directly and as an ingredient for many other cosmetic products. The more complex perfumes depend on blending carefully measured amounts of oil with pure alcohol. Pure alcohol, however, is not for sale to the
and isopropyl alcohol (which is itself somewhat scented must be used in the making of toilet waters.
storing.
25ml
(
fl
1
Orange-flower essence
oz)
Citrus sinensis)
4.5I
1
gall) distilled
1
water
public,
Mix
the two together
at least a
week.
and allow
to
age for
You can make Rose-water
same way.
in exactly the
Eau de Portugal 420ml
(15
fl
oz)
proof alcohol
45
(isopropyl alcohol)
20ml (f fl oz) essence of Orange 6ml (5 fl oz) essence of Lemon ml re fl oz essence of Rose 25 ml I fl oz) essence of Bergamot 1
)
1
oil
Lavender water Mix 25ml
(i
oz
fl
oil
of Lavender
Lavandula
all
bottle.
the
ingredients
The mixture
together
and
stores well.
spica)
840ml
30
fl
Ancient 'spice' perfume
ozj isopropyl alcohol
Shake the ingredients together in a large bottle and leave to settle for about 48 hours. Shake well again. After a further 48 hours the liquid can be put into small bottles with tight-fitting lids.
This
is
not really a 'perfume' at
was traditionally known
all,
but
it
as such. It has a
splendid spicy scent. 2 cups Rose-water (Rosa spp) i5g (j oz) bruised Cloves
(Syzygium
aromaticum)
Hungary water 1
tablespoon fresh Mint leaves [Mentha
1
table-spoon fresh
marinus
10ml
2
2-3 Bay leaves (Laurus 2 cups wine vinegar
Combine
spp)
i
Classifying perfume odours Perfume is classified according to one or more identifiable odours, and these fall
and leave
store for a week,
(Monarda didyma)
50ml
oil.
Cover well and
versatile
materials.
the
the ingredients together
all
shaking each day. Strain into dark bottles which should have tightly fitting lids for
1
'Pomade
as
sold as such; or
explained.
Expression This method
are the toilet waters.
—
then filtered off and the immersion repeated up to 20 times. In this case, the
Mix
to soak.
Orange-flower water
The simplest fragrances
home
general
plant matter in molten fats at a temper-
\icofiana tabac-
.
category.
If the flowers are
;
I
Clover [1 njolium pratensei and sweet grasses. Oriental scents usually combine woody, mossy and spicy perfumes, with Vanilla (Vanilla planifolia) and Balsam Myroxylon spp) being considered in this iini
fl
4
Rosemary
leaves
Ros-
officinalis
oz, alcohol fl
grated peel
oz of
isopropyl alcohol
Rose-water
Orange and Lemon
nobilis)
the Rose-water, Cloves, chop-
ped Bay leaves and vinegar, and boil. As it reduces, add water to make up the quantity. Strain and place the liquor aside in a well-sealed jar for several weeks or
more
before using.
into
six categories: floral scents from plantssuch as Rose Rosa spp Lily-of-theValley (Convallaria majalis j, Jasmine Jas.
minwn spp;, Gardenia (Gardenia oide.s);
spicy scents that include
{Myristica fragrans),
mum
zeylanicum
lus);
woody
Cinnamon
jasmin-
Nutmeg Cinnamo-
Clove Syzygium aromaticum) and Carnation (Dianthiu caryophyltalum album)
)
,
Sandalwood Sanand Cedarwood (Cedrus spp stints like
:
mossy scents such (Evernia
from Oakmoss (now very ran
as those
fmrpuracea)
.
Herbal scents are considered not so powerful and pungent, and these are Right
:
Women
in
France at the beginning
of this century sorting thousands
oj rose
petals in preparation for the manufacture 0/
perfumes.
13
/
V
jut
/
<***
r>'
!
4*
•
"%
,;^
•3P"
&fc -
.
> >
i
.
mi 6-^ly
:,-•;
\Jgr 13/ <:
Cultivation,
:
collection
and
preservation
I
of herbs
H
£&C s2*r
_*
.
ft
< :-_=,-_-~
Herb gardens were traditionally attached to monasteries and provided substances for the treatment of ailments, and flavouring for food, and often the colour and the scents of monastic life as well. Over the
warm,
centuries herbs have been relegated to garden plots, then retrieved for their oldworld charm and associations, forgotten again, and now in the twentieth century
which would form a of perennial weeds and with good drainage is an essential factor of any site selected for herbs, unless a bog-type herb garden is being planned. Shaded shrub borders and rock gardens do not usually make suitable sites, except
they are enjoying a revival of interest. In
decorative value most of them fail to reach acceptance, bul used in conventional herb
which
been exclusively designed, there is an appeal redolent of ancient atmospheres in which an illusion of simple antiquity can be
garden
settings
have
achieved.
Herbs were first used decoratively in Europe in the sixteenth century, where the practice began of growing herbs in
tected
air on a site adequately profrom prevailing winds, but not
still
shaded. If the land slopes, a south or south-west facing slope is preferred, and without a hedge or wall running across the base of the slope frost
pocket.
A
soil free
range of herbs such as Thyme, pinks, violets, Sedums and Arnica that like the sharp drainage of the rock work. A level site is normally best, or perhaps a site on two levels with a refor
the limited
taining wall between the two to
example, ferns, Pellitory and Centranthus.
modate,
for
accom-
Feverfew,
knot gardens. But the progression of horticultural practice the finer achievements
immense
of the art of cultivation, and the influx cil new decorative plant material
superseded the lowly herbs. Household economy has continued to know and to need these plants however unassuming
though main of them appeal
to be.
SELECTION AND PREPARATION OF SITE Herbs are undemanding plants, then stamina is good, and their natural appeal can be strong. Most are at their best in 1. 1 1 1 :
A
t
of the season herb this which includes Chervil
the height
borders, such as
and Mint, provide an array of both and decorative plant material
useful
Preparation of site Time is well spent in first
clearing a pro-
posed site thoroughly of perennial weeds and even fallowing (backsetting) if time allows. The crop of eager weeds that appear following soil disturbance can then be eradicated before the herb seedlings and young plants are introduced. Ideally the soil should be fertile, but not
too
rich,
and some form of moisture-
retaining material will probably need to
be added but not food material such as artificial fertilizer.
Humus can be provided in the form of compost made from garden and kitchen waste and forked in to improve the soil in Thus both texture and composition. adequate moisture and warmth are en-
"3
CULTIVATION Left
:
The gardens of the
sixteenth century
provide excellent blueprints for the design of a formal herb garden today. The simple outline
of the beds
is
important and the
relationship of one bed to the others should be carefully considered.
sured. Leaf mould, spent hops, peat or animal bedding straw may also be used to produce humus - they are all organic in composition and gradually break down to encourage a friable (crumbly well-drained soil. Lightly fork or hoe in the material to the surface of the soil and the frosts will do the rest. If this kind of soil improvement cannot be achieved or if the soil is very light or dry and chalky, the gardener must be content to grow those plants that will tolerate a dry, baked soil such as Rosemary, Thyme, Marjoram, Sage. Broom and pinks.
be removed, the soil
site levelled
and the top
then replaced.
Paths As with all workable gardens, the herb garden is best served by well-constructed paths which will give a firm, dry access. Gravel,
concrete,
paving or bricks
all
provide these requirements and the choice
dependent upon the cost and availability of material and labour. If beds are to be marked out in turf, where the turf is
will finally
well laid
provide the paths,
it
should be
and established before beds are
cut out.
Levelling
On a site of any considerable size levelling
Marking out the beds
has to be carried out properly, especially
The
where two levels are envisaged, and the work has to be done before any planting
out on paper, then measured carefully on
starts.
On
a small
site,
the surface level
can be corrected by forking and raking and there are no difficulties in keeping the top soil on the surface. Where there is a marked discrepancy in existing surface levels, the top soil of the entire area has to i
if,
outline of beds should
first
be drawn
to the site and marked out with pegs and cord - and, even at that stage, again considered before proceeding. Sufficient
space should be allowed between beds so that
when
there will
plants spread towards the path still
be enough room for easy
passage with wheelbarrows and
tools.
CLASSIC HERB GARDENS Left and overleaf: Based on the principles of classic design, this herb
garden indicates the
immense range of available material. Paving adds simplicity to the overall design and affords ease
of maintenance. Repetition of
planting patterns ensures unity and allows the design to be used within a
The key
small area.
(overleaf) shows which plants
may
be used, taking into account their relative
habits of growth
and
colour.
This plan can
be adapted to meet the requirements
smaller
site,
of a
as shown on page 123.
"7
CULTIVATION Key to Herb Garden ground plan
Bed 1
A
Bed
Bergamot
or
Oswego
tea (red)
Lamb's Lettuce or Salad
Cowslip Lovage Salad Burnet Sorrel
Cotton Lavender (border)
61
62 Corn 63 64 65 66 67 68 Bed 69
Bed B
Chives (border)
Chamomile Annual Clary Sage Lavender Rose (red. scented) Violet
Golden (wild) Marjoram Clove Carnation Cotton Lavender (border)
8 Purslane
Bergamot or Oswego Tea (pink) Fennel
Cowslip
Rue Lavender Parsley (border)
Vines (on the Dergola)
Bed C 16 Woodruff 17 Wild Thyme (border) 18 Bird bath or tub of plants
Bed D 19 Golden Marjoram
70 Vervain 71 Bush Basil 72 Lavender 73 Violet 74 Rose (red. scented) 75 Wormwood 76 Clove Carnation 77 Oregano or Garden Marjoram Left-hand border
78 Bay 79 Violet 80 Foxglove 81 Sweet Woodruff 82 Morello Cherry (on 83 Common Mint or
(border)
French or Pot Marjory
Common
Sage Cowslip Tansy Lady's Mantle
Sweet Cicely 26 Tarragon 27 Juniper Bed E 28 Pinks (border) 29 Purple Sage 30 Lavender 31
I
Lady's Mantle
32 Mallow 33 Hyssop 34 Juniper 35 Bush Basil 36 Clove Carnation Bed F 37 Pinks (border)
84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91
Lilv-of-the-Valley
Morello Cherry (on wall)
Lemon Balm Periwinkle
Foxglove
(borders)
94 95 96 97
Scented Pelargonium Lavender Myrtle
Lemon-scented Verbena Right-hand border
98 Hop
(in
angle of
pergola)
99 100
Violet
101
Juniper Apothecary's Rose
102 103 104 105
(pink)
Spearmint Ivy (behind fountain) Apple Mint Foxglove
92 Rosemary End beds and terrace 93 French Marigold
Wormwood
Narrow-leaved Sage
wall)
Rue
Elder
Chervil
Winter Savory Borage Rose (on wall) Florentine
Iris
Honeysuckle
(in
arbour)
106 Jasmine (mixture of yellow and white) Common Thyme 107 Florentine Iris Common Sage 108 Rose (on wall) 109 Southernwood Bed G 48 Lemon Thyme (border) 110 Woad Curry Plant Pot Mangold
111
Bush
112 Myrtle 113 Fig (on wall) 114 Rue 1 1 5 Tree Germander
Basil
Clove Carnations Narrow-leaved Sage Rose (red or pink. scented)
Service area
Hyssop
116 Marrows and Courgettes
Pot Marigold
Golden Sage Lavender Bed H 58 Woodruff 59 Wild Thyme (border) 60 Sundial or tub of plants
i
18
Catmint
Juniper
117 1 18 119 120
Rhubarb Onions
121
Lettuce
Comfrey French Sorrel
122 Garlic 123 Espaliered
fruit
(on wall)
SELECTION OF PLANTS
Above:
A
Hardwick
traditional garden at
Hall, Derbyshire. Height tripods upon
is
garden
provided by
which honeysuckles or jasmine
SELECTION OF PLANTS grow mm is
for
herbs to
indeed for any plant, a suitable environment. In the w ild state
own
plants seleet their
location
and often
indicate the type and condition of the
soil,
the drainage and the intensity of light. Observation will thus suggest which plants can be expected to flourish in. or at least tolerate, a
given situation. While the
demands of herbs
are lew
often thrive without results will be far
<
can
the)
attention,
more rewarding
requirements are
basii
,iiid
much
il
tin
some
out
<
On
essfully, as
(
(anied
subsequent judicious thinning is always possible. Small plants. such as Thyme, Pennyroyal, and Chamomile used perhaps as an edging, need to be planted more losely. be
can be grown.
The primary requirement
being planted for immediate effect, closer planting needs to
is
decorative
strong or rich
soils
be produced than on
.1
more growth poorer
can be expected to establish themselves more The table overleaf indicates the easily. arly, if plants like the soil type the)
requirements ol a number ol plants, and man hing a plant to its needs in a selected position greater success can be achieved. The ultimate size of a plant should be (onsidered in proportion to the b\
size ol the hei
b garden.
onsidered befon
starting to plant.
The type of garden
Number
The second major decision herb garden that is required.
When
of plants
a sp.ne has
been cleared, and the Selection ol plants has been made, a decision has to be taken as to whethet a short or
long-term
effect
is
required. In
general, ten plants per square metre one plant per square foot with the exception .
ol all
but the tiniest plants, will give inter-
est in
the
first
yeat
and subsequent
and
effei
years.
will
soil; simil-
I
in
When-
the
se<
the
ond herb
to
representative 01
collection
drawn
1
frequently sufficient to buy
each of perennials such as Rosemary, Mint. Tarragon. Lovage and Lemon Balm and propagate them to build up the necessary stock. Many herbs are stem rooters and soon form clusters of roots along their runners and stems, so that new plants can be obtained quite quickly by separating these from the parent plant. In this
wav
it
will take
two or three years
establish a reasonable stock of plants
to foi
an interesting herb garden. There is the that losses can be replaced, the general plan can be amended, and should any plant prove not to Incompatible with its position, no great loss
added advantage
the garden
Annuals like marigolds. Dill, Basil. Borage and Summer Savory need to be raised from seed each spring. Some will
it
to
be
a
medicinal,
Once
these
the plan
(
gained by haphazard planting; l<>i effect and foi usefulness herbs need to be considered with (are.
It is
plant
Is
an be acquired and an begin. There is nothing to be
up, the plants
planting
one
to
is
made and
decisions have been
achieved.
is
the sort ol
ol
scented plants.'
way, but often the most buy plants so that an immediate air of organization can be quickest
expensive,
is
be de< orative or utilitarian? Is
culinary
Stocking the garden
The
sustained.
seed themselves, but often
appeal
at
where general need
to
the-
seedlings
the other end of the garden, so effect
is
important they w
ill
be transplanted as soon as they
are sufficiently established to be able to
cope wnli
change. Biennials, such as foxgloves, Verbascum and Angelica do tin
1
19
CULTIVATION not flower until the second season after sowing, but once established they provide generations of seedlings.
Market
stalls
and garden centres are the and there are
best sources of herb plants, also a
Buy
number
of well-run herb nurseries.
and ensure that they are free from insect and fungus attack. They should be well grown and sufficiently hardened off, if bought during the early the best plants
A
well-grown plant
be shortjointed, of good texture and colour and spring.
will
ought not to be in flower. Buying from herb nurseries and farms may mean buying by mail order, but most establishments have their reputations at stake and
SMALL HERB GARDENS
are careful to dispatch clean stock. Doubt-
places.
ful
specimens ought always to be returned.
A stock of plants can also be made up of from other gardens each plant a reminder of a friendly visit. This exchange of plants is one of the most traditional ways of making a plant collecsnippets
and
gifts
tion of individualitv
and
interest.
Moist situations
Box (clipped)
Acorus Bergamot
Valerian
Sedum
Bistort
Sempervivum
Comfrey
Hyssop (clipped)
Thrift
Meadowsweet
Lavender (dwarf)
Thymes
Mints
Lungwort
Violet
Wall Germander
Veratrum Watercress Yellow Flag
(last
1
walls an d paving
Blessed Thistle
Pennyroyal
Borage
Pinks
Chervil
Chamomile
Sedums
Feverfew
Sempervivum Soapwort Thymes Wall Germander
Coriander Corn Salad
Alchemilla spp.
Catmint
Hyssop Lavender (dwarf) Pellitory
real
Thyme and Lemon
Thyme, Houseleeks, Chamomile, Chives. Dwarf Lavender and Feverfew are ideal for
trough or sink gardens. Containers in a
wide range of shapes and sizes are obtainable from garden centres; alternatively, very attractive herb gardens can be estab-
Larger plants like Lavender. Rosemary, Rue and Sage can easily be included in the scheme for containers, such as stone jars, any large pot or even an old bucket, by growing rooted cuttings and
Cumin
Florence Fennel Marigold Marjoram, sweet or knotted Nasturtium
pruning and cutting back. Many herbs can be kept in check simply by nipping off shoots as required for the kitchen. A good
Purslane Savory. Summer
to leave the
trick
is
Left
By
Poppy
Sunflower
Dill
them when they grow out
of proportion to the scheme or b\ judicious
year )
Anise in
adequate light, Small plants like
either replacing
Annuals Basil
Planting
sometimes, unlikelv requirements are and space for their roots.
The only
and birdbaths.
Sweet Cicely
Catmint Chives Feverfew
Parsiey
and,
such as wheelbarrows, drinking troughs
Front of the border. or edging plants
Marjoram, golden
confined
in
lished in all sorts of disused containers
Selection of herbs for the garden
Pinks Santolina (clipped)
The undemanding qualities of manv herbs make them ideal plants for growing
:
selecting plants appropriate to a
situation, a greater degree
of success can be
assured. Plants that normally soils, for
Flax
rooted cuttings in their
grow on
example, will thrive best
garden with sandy or well-drained
Hedges Box Hyssop
Biennials (last 2 years)
Lavender Rosa gallica
Alkanet Angelica
Caraway
Woad
Alexanders
(common) officina
lis
Rosemary Rue
Chalky soils Calamint Chicory Chives Hound's Tongue Juniper Lavender
Lemon Balm Lily-of-the-Valley
Marjoram Mignonette Mullein Periwinkle Pinks
Rosemary Sage Salad Burnet
Alecost Alkanet (evergreen) Arnica Artemisias
Bay Bergamot Bethlehem Sage Bistort
Chenopodium Chives Coltsfoot
Light soils
I
Below : Balance of design
Melilot
borders
Mullein
front of larger ones and restricting the
Parsley
numbers of plants.
Perennials (continue year after year)
Santolina
Lavender
Lemon Balm Liquorice
Lovage Lungwort Marjoram, pot
Marjoram (wild) Mignonette Mints Pinks
Rhubarb Rose Rosemary Rue Sage
Alkanet
Marjoram
Cowslip
Borage
Marjoram, pot
Broom
Melilot
Daphne Dyer's Madder
Bugle
Mugwort
Elder
Chervil
Elecampane
Chives
Rosemary Sage
Garlic
Savorys
Hound's Tongue Hyssop Lavender Lemon Balm Lemon Verbena
Southernwood
Fennel Gentian
Tarragon
20
English
Mace
soil.
Foxglove
Santolina Savory. Winter Sorrel
Sweet Cicely
Tarragon
Helichrysum
Thymes
Thymes
Jasmine
Wormwood
Wormwood
Juniper
Yarrow
is
in
light
in a
one-sided
achieved by keeping small plants in
SMALL HERB GARDENS and sink the whole pot below the soil and then as the plants grow both pot
pot.
level,
and plant can be replaced. A variety of containers can be maintained in this way.
Window-boxes This method of replenishing pots can also
adopted for window-boxes, though good effect and considerable success is
be
possible
the
when
soil in
plants are
the box.
grown
directly in
The boxes should be
10 to 12 about 25 to 30 centimetres inches deep and be filled with a moisture-
retaining potting compost, such as
John
Drainage is provided by a layer of rough material, such as broken brick rubble, clinker or gravel, being Innes Xo.
2.
spread over the entire base of the box. which is then covered with about two centimetres an inch of rough peat and then
with
the
potting
compost.
This
ensures that the roots of the plants have food, space
and drainage.
Dampen and
firm the compost before planting
and
in
the spring put in rooted cuttings or small
plants
which were cut back
autumn and have
in the
previous
started to break into
growth. Most plants can be connew growth constantly to encourage a bushy growth. The fresh
fined in size by nipping
plants selected should be the smaller ones
or smaller-growing cultivars varieties
Lavender mints.
Chives.
cultivated
thvmes. cuttings of Sage, and and Rosemary, the smaller
Parsley. Selfheal,
Tarragon.
Marjoram.
scented-leaved geran-
iums. Dill and Mignonette are
all
well
suited to box cultivation.
Patios and balconies
Above: Low-growing herbs or rooted
patio and roof any other plants, depends upon the proper selection of container and of plant material which must be suited to the size and position of the area. A simple effect is always more successful than an elaborate one. Troughs
Success with herbs gardening, as with
along
base
the
of
in
patio
screens
are
and the plants benefit from some shelter, but adequate light must be ensured. Boxes or troughs which are raised
effective
or attached to balustrades or walls with firm brackets
and hooks are probably the
most successful. Hanging baskets, cither of the conventional bowl-shaped kind used for
summer
display or country baskets,
and garden
trays lined with grey or black
plastic
prevent
to
leaking,
can
maki
delightful tiny herb gardens to decorate
balconies and rooi (gardens. The) require regular attention and occasional replen-
ishment with new effei
plants to maintain the
1
B,i\
is
one
oi
the most popular choices
cuttings
of larger ones can be assembled in an Here Angelica, Chives,
attractive container.
Sage and other culinary herbs have been tucked into a decorative bowl, which
is
small
enough
to
be carried from one part of the
garden
to
another.
for patios
and balconies and
clipped to a formal shape.
it
It
is
usually
is
best to
purchase these already trained, and with care they can be expected to last several years. Cold winds are the chief enemy of these potted trees and they appreciate being taken into a porch or light hallway, or even a conservatory during the winter. in all I
but the mildest
districts.
he golden rule for container-grown
plants is to try to keep the compost evenly clamp, not overwatered - which leads to sourness - and not parched. As most small
herb gardens are grown for summer effect and usefulness, watering will be the major task, for it is during the summer months that (Ik \ require the most water. 12
1
CULTIVATION A
Right :
Herbs
for
troughs and containers
small culinary border can be
contained in a run of j or 4 metres (about
Borage Catmint
half repeated, where a longer
Coltsfoot
There
10
Chamomile
to 1
5 feet)
is
,
the design being repeated, or
nothing
to
site is available.
be gained by
making
border deeper, as culinary herbs need
to
the
be
Chives readily accessible.
Clary
Lemon Balm
In the house
Lily-of-the-Valley
Lungwort
Rooted
Mint (round-leaved kinds) Pulmonaria
decorative
Rosemary (rooted cuttings) Sage (rooted cuttings)
vation.
window-boxes
pots
and
Alternatively,
as
for
window-
Fennel 1 2 Rosemary 3 French Tarragon 4 Angelica 5 Sage 6 Golden Marjoram 7 Lemon Balm
8 Sorrel 9 Mint
10 Thyme Savory 12 Chives 13 Parsley 1
pots.
Basil
Seed can be sown early
Black Horehound
Broom
in
containers
boxes or patio troughs, many plants can be cut back and once the fresh growth starts and the plant has recovered, they can be transferred to indoor cultivation in
Violet
for
grown
provide the best method of starting plants for indoor culti-
Thymes
Herbs
cuttings
in the
year for
and Clary, while nasturtiums and marigolds can be sown in either spring or autumn. Plants of the Parsley, Cress, Purslane
(seedlings)
Chives Corn Salad Catmint (small divisions)
can be purchased from garden centres and maintained as room plants provided that they are judiciously pruned from time to time. A large bowl decorated with several small pots of herbs sunk among pebbles, or covered with peat, makes a most attractive, aromatic bedside garden for an right size
Clary
Geranium (scented-leaved) Hyssop Lemon Balm Marjoram Mignonette Nasturtium Parsley
invalid.
Rosemary (rooted cuttings) Rue (rooted cuttings) Sage (rooted cuttings)
When grown
in the kitchen, plants
such
are
grown
for culinary use, they are best
treated like the remainder of the kitchen
garden, and planted in rows. easier to
It is
then
run the hoe along to keep the bay and to harvest the crop as
weeds at and when required.
LARGE HERB GARDENS The name
'herb garden' conjures up a
tranquil plot sheltered from troublesome
winds, bathed in sunlight and fragrant
with delicious scents. All the denizens are humble plants of ancient cultivation,
which have no need of flamboyant flowers
Savory Tarragon
Mint, if cut back and potted up to confine their roots, will provide a long succession of fresh shoots for the cook.
Violet
Good
some knowledge of
as
light
is
essential
and watering must
never be neglected.
Herbs to plant
in a
garden
for the
blind
Scented and textured leaves Alecost Angelica
Bergamot Chamomile Feverfew
Lavender
Lemon Balm Lily-of-the-Valley
Meadowsweet
(for treading)
Rosemary Rue Sage Southernwood Sweet Cicely Tansy
Thymes
(for treading)
Wormwood
122
it
is
When
plan-
necessary to have
the plants themselves requirements and their effect when fully grown. A herb garden can be formal or informal, there are no salient requirements, but one of formal design has an added atmosphere of authenticity because the herb gardens of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries were formal plots - usually
kitchens,
Whatever the details of the design, some form of shelter is needed to enclose the garden; this can be a hedge of Broom. Rosemary or roses, or a dry wall, with Lavender, Hyssop, or Artemisias growing
square. (for treading)
Geraniums (scented-leaved) Hyssop
Mignonette Mints Pennyroyal
difficult to generalize in
ning a herb garden their
about plants however, because atmospheric conditions vary so widely from one kitchen to the next. As the plants cannot be expected to thrive simply because they are indoors, the right conditions have to be provided for them. It is
grown
to advertise their presence.
Small herb borders
A
square metre (about 10 square
feet)
of
suitable soil can be transformed into a tiny herb plot, but, again, proportion
is
most important. Small plants grouped together will flourish provided they are not in a draughty passage way or in a shaded corner under dripping trees. A plot so small would usually be used to provide fresh culinary herbs and could well support as much as two clumps of Chives, two plants of Thyme, two of Marjoram, one of Winter Savory, a patch of Mint with its roots confined in an old, deep biscuit tin to prevent it from becoming invasive, one plant of Tarragon and at the back a small Sage bush. Where small herb borders are virtually part of the vegetable garden and the herbs
along the top. Best of all, but seen all too infrequently is a walled garden, where Clematis, honeysuckles. Jasmine and other sweet-scented plants can scramble up the walls. The accompanying plans suggest a roses,
simple treatment
to
achieve formality.
Restraint in planting few kinds of plants rather than an extensive range will ultimately give the best result. Further, careful thought needs to be given to the central feature of a formal garden - proportion obviously being the main consideration for this is what gives each herb garden its individual character. Choose a container-
KNOT GARDENS for a cook's
Herbs
choose a tree such as Hamamelis, Sambucus or Prunus for the central feature, or make an arbour which can be covered in
garden
Alecost Angelica
Garlic
Basil
Lovage
Bay
Marigold
Bistort
Borage
Marjoram Mint
Caraway
Nettle
Elizabethan knot gardens The Oxford English Dictionary
Chervil
Oregano
knot garden as
Chicory Chives Coriander Corn Salad
Parsley
Rosemary Sage
Cumin
Savory
Jasmine, hops, Ivy and "roses. If authenticity is desired, a knot garden should form the central attraction.
Lemon Balm
defines
flower bed laid out in an - the term was first used in 1494. Designs can be complicated or relatively simple. They are usually symmetrical, and as they are intended to be looked down upon, they should be formed of low-growing plants like thymes, pinks, violets, chives, savories, marigolds, mar'a
intricate design'
Purslane
Dill
Shallot
Fennel French Sorrel
Tarragon
Thyme
jorams,
Lungwort and Feverfew. The
design of each bed needs to be outlined
grown Rosemary to
be brought
or
Bay which
will
need
into a frost-free place in
with Box, Santolina, Feverfew or Dwarf Lavender planted closely to form a firm
Box
severe weather) or a sundial, birdbath.
line.
fountain, beehive or statuette surrounded
choices because they are both evergreen
Rue -
by Lavender or Rosemary or
as
evergreen they will give an air of permanence. In a larger garden. these are
all
Below : This plan, for a garden,
is
culinary herb
based upon the central part of the
plan for a large herb garden which on page
i
ij.
The
is
shown
central feature can be a
sundial or bird bath, for example.
Bed D 1
Thymes
Bed in
variety
2
Pot Marjoram
3 Sage 4 Eau de
Cologne Mint 5 6 7 8 9
Bed
Angelica Chives
Sweet Cicely Tarragon Parsley E
10 Thymes 1 1
12 13 14 15 16 17 18
in
23 24 25 26 27 28 29
designs can be copied, or individual schemes may be composed, but it is best to keep designs simple. The design should be drawn on to squared paper, scaled and then drawn out on to the ground. An original design can be executed
simpler central
alternating squares like a chess board. All
paved and each one of the 'white' squares is filled with one kind of plant - so there might be the 'black' squares are
Marjoram
in one,
Mint
in another,
Parsley in a third. Repetition
is
and
attractive
form of garden, but the taller plants such as Fennel and Angelica ought to be avoided. An even simpler central bed can be
in this
made on
the cartwheel design,
where the
rim and spokes of the wheel are picked
Lemon Balm Lovage Apple Mint
Poppy Basil
Bed G 30 Thymes 32 33 34 35 36
Cumin
Parsley
Winter Savory Apple Mint
and can be clipped. The site on which the knot garden is to be made must be level. Traditional
much
formed on the traditional chequer board design, where a central paved area is broken up into a series of
Chives
Purple Sage
Basil
favourite
variety of very
features can be
Purslane
Parsley
Fennel
are
Central beds
A
F
31
Spearmint
Santolina
then diagonally from the centre. On the paper doily principle, a pattern can be made by cutting away pieces. Once the design has been transferred to the ground and the outlines of the beds formed by planting Box or whatever has been chosen, the 'colouring' can begin, and the final effect planned. Two or three years are needed for the knot to become effective and, apart from clipping and replacement planting, or attention to annuals, the upkeep is not arduous.
19 Thymes in variety 20 Golden Marjoram 21 Summer Savory 22 Parsley
variety
Lemon Balm
or
quickly from a square piece of graph paper, folded first into two, then into four,
in variety
Corn Salad Pot Marigold
Rosemary Narrow-leaved
Sage 37 Sorrel 38 Sweet Cicely 39 Bowles' Mint
Bed H 40 Pennyroyal 41
Thrift
123
CULTIVATION A
/,
wide variety of design of knot
gardens can be achieved, but the basic concept must be one of geometric symmetry.
In their Elizabethan heyday the patterns had
names such as
delightful
cink-foil, trefoyle,
crossbow and flower-de-luce, and were often formed
of intricately twisted designs.
Today simpler patterns
are preferred, but the
use of compact plants
achieve the general
effect
to
cannot be over-emphasized.
must be chosen and
A
level site
the smaller the area the
simpler the design must be.
Some
spaces can
be filed with shells or coloured pebbles to
provide a permanent foil for a range of plants,
Crossbow ; 2
i
fine knot ; 4
New
New
knot ;
3
Curious
knot for a perfect garden;
j Flower-de-luce ; 6 Trefoyle ; 7 Flower of Deluce ; 8 Good pattern for a Quarter of herbs. out in clipped Box or Santolina or per-
GXmm mmw.
haps even Golden Marjoram and each space is filled with a different herb. Again, the taller growing kinds should be avoided as this destroys the design. For the best results, select plants
of different colours.
Informal herb gardens not imperative to have a geometricplanned garden and where the right environment is available an informal herb garden can be very attractive. Visually such a garden is more successful if the L'mbelliferae tribe are excluded because they become untidy and many of them
It
is
ally
seed themselves very easily.
bank may be transformed by working on two levels, or a sheltered
An
existing
corner
with a roughly triangular
filled in
is a winding grass two borders of mixed planting. 'See page 126. The only essen-
Most
bed.
path
am'
successful
between
tial
feature in the choice of site
not
overhung bv
and drip from the
trees,
is
that
it is
because both shade
trees discnuratjrs rjn
>\\
1
h.
Growing herbs commercially Before
starting
commercial
to
gjrow
herbs on any
scale several lactors
need
to
be considered. Apart from enthusiasm, capital
and
a suitable
site,
thought must
be given to labour, selection of crops, and the market
plants or
-
whether
embark upon
and. above
all,
to
market
fresh
large-scale drying,
to the relationship
between
acreage, yield and profit. Undoubtedly,
markets are the most important single crop has
factor, for the destination of the
be assured, and the choice of crops is in turn dependent upon the market demand. to
bunches of herbs going to market is the whole harvest destined a distillery? Are herbs to be disposed of
Are
fresh
regularly, or for
fresh or dried, retail or wholesale?
long will 124
it
How
take to establish a paying crop
?
COMMERCIAL CULTIVATION
of fresh material should yield 450 grams lb of the dried herb, and the harvest
Some experience of herb growing is necessary because the bulk of the harvest could easily be lost - a
of fresh material will vary with crop,
good case
Three and a half kilograms eight 1
lbs
1
and
season
situation.
Prevailing
soil,
local
ditions vary widely.
growing several different
for
Above:
A
reconstruction
of a renaissance-
style knot garden at Villandry, France.
Clipped Box forms some oj outlines others.
the
shapes and
Such patterns are the basis oj
sorts of plant.
modern knot gardens and are often symbolic.
PROPAGATION AND GARDEN MAINTENANCE
typical
There are several ways
plant.
conditions differ, but reasonable averages to
expect are up to 500 kilograms per half (half a ton per acre) of say,
hectare
Angelica or Caraway Seed and three to four tonnes per half hectare or acre of fresh Mint. Lavender bushes in their prime would probably yield a tonne of
should be clean plants.
all
known
cuttings, layers or divisions
plants.
visor\
used
con-
method of producing new
is
ensure health of the
Starting with seed
Many
Whichever method of propagation it
to
as vegetative propagation, or b\
Advice should be sought from appropriate government departments and adprevailing local
a supply
namely from
seed, the sexual
as
which
stock and to select only and not deformed parts of the Knives, pots, boxes and compost
pest-free
of plants can be maintained or increased,
flower-heads.
services
in
and
is
essential to use onl\ diseasc-lree
herbs can be grown from seed.
Some produce
their
own seeds quite easilv.
while others need to have special climatic
125
CULTIVATION and some
conditions,
with
readily
progeny
their
not
is
will
hybridize so that
relatives
necessarily
good.
the
The
annuals and biennials, or plants cultivated as such, have to be raised from seed, and the time of sowing depends upon the hardiness or frost-sensitivity of each kind of plant. Once the ground has warmed up in spring, seed-sowing can generally begin
An
can be made where greenhouse or frame protection is available, and seeds can be sown in pots, boxes or flats, pricked off, hardened off and later planted out. This earlier sowing out-of-doors.
earlier start
does not bring forward the harvest appreciably,
but the method can prove con-
venient in a late spring for such plants as
where the ground has not been prepared for seed sowing or if it is one in which a good tilth the texture of cultivated surface soil) cannot be achieved. Notable exceptions to spring sowing are Basil, or
Cowslip, Chervil,
Woad, and Angelica.
These seeds need to be sown as soon as ripe to produce a crop of fresh young leaves in late spring. Obviously where winter conditions are unfavourable to
5m
seedlings, as in mid-continental gardens,
cannot be followed. Selfhowever, will sometimes germinate quite quickly with the melting snow. General rules for seed sowing include covering the seed lightly with soil, and sowing thinly cither in rows or broadcast scattered In either instance. the resultant seedlings will need to be thinned out to allow adequate growing this
practice
sown
seeds,
.
space.
Parsley
seed
is
notoriously
slow
to
germinate, but watering the seed drill with boiling water immediately before
sowing seems
to
encourage germination.
Vegetative propagation Perennial plants with good clump-forming or shrubby habit can be propagated by cuttings or division or both. made of hard or soft wood, according to the type of plant, or can be stem cuttings, root cuttings or leaf cuttings. In each case an entirely new plant is formed and each new plant will resemble the parent plant in every way. Broadly speaking, cuttings of such evergreens as Lavender, Rosemary, Santolina and Rue can be taken in spring and struck in a frame, or. if made with a heel of old wood, in open ground in July. (This requires tearing the cutting away, bringing with it a small slip of old wood from the base. Cuttings are always best made from non-flowering shoots with the base leaves removed. Trim the stem cleanly below a node ^the point at which a leaf stalk joins
either
Cuttings can be
126
Plan for a decorative herb garden
Number
Key 1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Eucalyptus gunnii Lavender. Mitcham Foxglove
of Plants
Catmint Chives
6-1 2
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
6
21
Brooms
1
7
12
Rosemary
3
Alchemilla
5
Bergamot
3
Lavender. Dwarf Munstead Mint, Bowles'
6
Rosa gallica officinalis 10 Artemisias 11 Eau de Cologne Mint 12 Golden Thyme
Number
Key
of Plants
Golden Marjoram Costmary Pinks
Marigold Papaver somniferum Foxglove
6
12 8 6
25 18 8
12 2
6
15 24
The chart on pages 1 32-1 39 gives information on each plant
further
PROPAGATION Left: Plan for an informal decorative herb garden for early to midsummer. The planting
scheme for the border can be repeated if a greater length is required. Unity of design
is
achieved by repetition, rather than by introducing a number of new ideas.
Right : The simplest way perennial plant
is to
to
increase any
divide the whole
crown
autumn. Thus two or more
in spring or
pieces, complete with roots, are obtained
(see far right)
from
one plant.
Each piece
can be set out separately and will eventually
form a new
plant.
the stem), dip the tip of the cutting into
rooting
powder and plant firmly
in
a
cutting compost or a sharp sandy compost. Where space is limited and pots not available, the base of several cuttings can be packed around with dampened sphagnum moss and firmly folded into a polythene strip, rolled up and held firmly in place by a rubber band or string until the roots have formed. Increasing stock by cuttings is the only way to perpetuate a specially good form
proprietary
of a plant or a variegation of leaf or
some
other desirable characteristic of growth. It
is
by cuttings that the non-flowering
forms of those plants
like
Box, Santolina
and Bay which are clipped, resulting
in a
certain lack of flowering, can be increased.
The
clippings
themselves usually
make
adequate cuttings.
perfectly
Perennials like Mint and Tansy which
form good root-stocks can be divided or even torn apart. Each runner with a shoot on it forms an 'Irishman's cutting' and behaves as a rooted cutting.
Division Division of clumps
is
a
little
more demand-
and is best carried out when the plant is dormant. Divisions can be made of perennials, and plants that have become thin in the centre of the clump, or too large and bulky. The whole crown of the plant is lifted from the soil, and divided by two forks plunged amid the growth back to back and pulled apart to break up the clump each of the resultant pieces will eventually bear roots and some growth buds. Replant the pieces in fresh ing
ground, ensuring that the depth of planting
is
at least as
crown was planting
is
deep
lifted
for
was before the division. Firm re-
as
it
vital.
Layers are used as a method of propagation for such plants as Sage in the herb garden, when an old and bare branch is
pegged down roots will form at a point in COntad with the soil. This shoot can be severed and forms an entirely new
plant with the same characteristics as the
parent plant.
Some
plants layer naturally,
Strawberry and the Raspberry. (The Raspberry is said to form 'tip roots' and the Strawberry layers are called like the
runners.)
ing to the habitat available
and
their idio-
syncrasies catered for. Basil, for
example,
likes to be watered at midday, not in the evening as most plants prefer; Parsley, apart from demanding great patience from the gardener, prefers a humid soil to a dry one otherwise it w ill soon run away to seed, and Marjoram likes to be left alone during its long seedling stage. Some perennials dislike winter dampness and low temperatures. It is not the freezing temperatures themselves that are responsible for winter damage, but the fluctuations in temperature and the early morning sunshine on frozen plants. A mulch of dry peat, leaf mould, sawdust or r
Management The to
of the herb garden
general rules of garden upkeep apply
herb gardens although
many
herbs are
and remarkably tolerant. Weeds need to be kept down, of course, and old flowering shoots and dead constitution
of strong
or diseased material removed.
The
latter
must be burned and not incorporated into the compost heap as many disease spores survive, or even flourish, in the warmth generated by decaying materials. Herbs do not require a rich soil, so there is no need to apply fertilizers. Generally known as the plants a
fillip
Artemisia
and generally encourage
Bay Box Geranium
'artificials',
The
essential oils of
herbs represent their ultimate value, and is known about the shortterm effect of chemical fertilizers on the composition of the plants themselves. Herbs, in any case, often produce larger quantities of oil when grown in poor soils. Garden compost, a so-called organic
insufficient
added
to the soil
and forked
into
the surface is far more suitable to herbs and will generally improve the quality and texture of the soil. Herb lawns such as non-flowering Chamomile and prostrate
Pennyroyal benefit, however, from a
summer
Cuttings
these give
a spurt of growth.
material,
Propagation requ rements of selected herbs
late-
(scented-leaved)
Rosemary Rue Sage Santolina Savory, Winter
Hyssop
Thyme
Lavender Mint
Verbena.
Lemon
Divisions
Alchemilla
Bergamot Catmint Chives
Lungwort Marjoram Mint
Elecampane
Periwinkle Sweet Cicely
Iris
Tarragon
Lemon Balm
Thyme
Lovage
application of fine peat.
Many minor
problems in the management of herb gardens can be eliminated by
Seed Angelica
Lemon Balm
Basil
Borage
Marigold Marjoram, sweet
individual requirements such as watering,
Caraway
Parsley
protection from wind, and companion-
Chervil
Parsley.
Clary
Purslane Savory, Summer
growing plants compatible with prevailing conditions and noting the plants'
few plants like to grow in solitary confinement. Many theories have been
ship
promulgated for plant associations, but recent experiments have shown that some have little or no scientific justification. Plants respond best when selected accord-
Corn Salad
Hamburg
Dill
Sorrel
Fennel
Verbascum
Foxglove White Horehound
Woad
[27
CULTIVATION a polythene cover will protect
any
sus-
ceptible plants in cold weather.
Pests and diseases Garden pests, such as greenfly and blackexample, are particularly troublesome on Valerian and Nasturtium and may be cleared by spraying with a pyrethrum or quassia decoction or with soap solution. These sprays, particularly quassia, can also be used against caterfly for
and leaf-hopper.
pillars
Diseases need to be considered a
more
little
carefully, for their long-term effect
is always more serious. Rusts affect mints and violets and the most effective treatment once the disease has got a hold is to
wood shavings among the autumn and set light to them.
Various leaf spots attack Parsley, pinks, Lavender, Peony and Raspberry. The affected part should be cut away and burned, or if it is summer the plants can be sprayed at three-weekly intervals with
Bordeaux mixture.
rietary fungicides are available in spray
form but to
to
for
immediate use and are
many growers
anything that use them.
effective,
of herbs, being opposed
is
not natural, prefer not
:
Aphids
or greenfly
and
blackfly
feed on a wide variety of plant by sucking the sap
and
thus causing deformity to the
whole plant. These
insects thrive in
warm
weather. (See the table on page 103 J or
how
information on
to
soil,
preferably a
right
:
There
is
each selects a single type of host plant. This
shows
the effect
of rose
euchronatumj
;
rust
the rust
violets will be either
(Thragmidium which attacks
Puccinia
Puccinia aegra, while that will be Puccinia menthae.
violi or
selecting mint
and
land
habitats
flourished.
plants, especially those of limited toler-
trouble.
ance
environmental
factors, have been number. The opening up of the landscape in this way and the building of motorways, however, has created new habitats, sometimes relatively temporary ones, where the more ubiquitous plants have colonized. Herbicides, known and used since the to
restricted in
a good crop of leaves is assured. Lavender, especially, tends to become leggy after a few years so a supply of rooted cuttings should always be ready to fill in the gaps left when old plants are removed. When Sage has become straggly and bare of growth at the base of the bush, soil can
that
of the plant.
mound around the base The bare growth should be
buried and the
tips
of
growth
left
truding. These will soon form roots
pro-
and
can be severed to be used as fresh plants, eventually replacing the mother plant.
control insect attack.)
a range oj rusts and
World War
of mechanized
revolution
the
one, the fungus can be discouraged. Soil treatment with a weak formalin solution (one part formalin to 50 parts water used at the rate of 2.25 litres to 930 square centimetres or half a gallon to a square foot) will usually clear up the lime-free
COLLECTING FROM THE WILD Below
II
in which useful plants Hedges have been removed in England on a vast scale to allow for a longer, and therefore more economical, field run, taking with them the shelter, shade, drainage and microclimates of field verges and hedge bottoms. Many
the mint beds to fresh
be built up into a
Below
transport and industry. Since
troyed innumerable hedgerow and wood-
Renovation
burned off and the
the last 130 years with the development of
by moving
Short-lived plants are best replaced so
affected shoots are
North America has under-
Occasionally a root rot such as black root rot can attack mints, but
plants in
The
gone
parts of
drastic changes, particularly during
chemical agricultural practice has des-
scatter straw or
spring growth should be rust-free. Prop-
many
now
from once was. Perhaps only 150 years ago the \greenman' roamed the countryside gathering herbs to sell, upon which country people depended for It
is
not
as easy to collect herbs
their wild state as
it
any and every ailment. The endemic flora of Europe generally, as well as that ol
years of this century,
early
employed mainly
for
have been
weed control
since
about 1946 when synthetic plant regulator factors such as MCPA and 2.4-D were introduced. The results appear to show that whereas monocarpic annual species of plants which die after flowersuch as annual grasses and sedges, ing have been severely reduced in number. the perennials remain and the dicotyledonous annuals have even increased in distribution. This is perhaps most notice.
Tat Hen
able in Chenopodium album
and
Goosefoot
Stellaria
media
or
Stitch-
wort). In short, susceptible species have
reduced
been
immune
and the distribution of
species has.
if
anything, notice-
ably increased. The devastation of any habitat affects plants directly, but the insect bird
life it
life
and
the
supports are affected indirectly.
Food chains are then radically altered, bringing about a change in balance of the entire habitat. Pollution of sites in con-
widespread devastation, especially
trast to
water pollution, tends to affect animal
more
easily
than plant
effluents, detergents
example, take their
life
but sewage
life,
and sheep dips, for toll more slowly on
aquatic plant life. Industrial effluents, including highly toxic by-products, are habitually disposed of into rivers,
fre-
quently changing not only the chemical content of the water, but the temperature of the whole watercourse. Excessive water pollution problems
many
exist in
now
far
parts of the world and are beyond redemption. The water of
some of the Swiss
128
lakes will hardly support
The Great Lakes
life at
all.
where
nitrates drained from
of America, farmland are
$
;
POLLUTION Right: At Cranborne Manor. Dorset, a small collection of thymes has been made and on the old fashioned chequerboard
set out
design.
Each space
thyme. This
with a different
is filled
herb garden provides a
little
riverside retreat complete in itself,
simplest form
and
is the
of herb plot.
overabundant, have the same problem. Some plants have their own solutions to adverse conditions. The perennials often resort to vegetative survival, and others
have built up a tolerance. At
first
perhaps
only a tiny percentage ol seedlings was able to survive, but over several generations a resistant strain
built up.
is
Other plants, however, pilv where toxic amounts metals
present
are
live
quite hap-
of.
say. salt or
the
in
mine workings, where ore
is
Old
soil.
sometimes
exposed, support a number of colonized plants. The plantains and grasses colonize
newly disturbed subsoils in this way most noticeably. For centuries man has carved his way over the surface of the earth and nature has always obliterated his traces if left unchecked. But the present level ol
destruction
now
exceeds man's early vital role of
far
activities
and ignores the
plants in
the great circle of
life.
Their
photosynthetic powers are life-giving processes and not infrequently when surface plants have been removed, inland lak<
made
are
It
landscape.
to 'replace' the
was man, therefore,
excursions
in
his
countryside
the
into
early
which
began from the industrial towns of the
declining
nineteenth century
particularly in west-
prohibits the uprooting of any wild plant.
who
started the wholesale
be uprooted or collected only by the owner of the land or anyone acting with his permission. This is of immense
ern Europe
ravaging of plant
life.
Collection of prim-
and cowslips
roses, bluebells
initially pro-
Plants
plant
species
importance
subsequently
roads
needed
for
larger, to the clearing of the
Violet,
Valerian,
grew ever road verges themselves, therefore continuing the deas
nudation. The verges were originally cleared by scythe, which took only enough for
good hay and encouraged the regener-
ation of the grass.
The
scythe has now
been replaced by expensive sprays which not only clear the verges but destroy plant
Man in his disregard of nature has brought about a very serious state of
life.
affairs, not
only
in
plant
life
but in
many
but
may
vided relaxation, but this led to the clearing of tracks to make roadways which led,
Britain,
in
random
no longer can of any plant such as Comfrey,
its
roots
made
Bistort.
Rampion
or
Collecting leaves, seeds or flowers from
makes
several
demands on
the
herb collector. Apart from the general rules for harvesting, the plant
must
first
be identified correctly, and then only harvested from localities in which it is relatively abundant. Cleanliness is difficult to ensure grit may be removed by washing, though this defeats the objective
when
natural resources.
of trying to harvest
Conservation, restoration and reconstruction of natural sites, however, have begun. The iq68 Clean Air Act has been
dry. But toxic sprays, atmospheric pollu-
responsible for reducing the
smoke haze
England which reduced the
rate of photo-
synthesis in plants.
The Conservation of
Wild Creatures and Wild Plants A( 1975
riot
only
in
provides
protection
I
oi
for
tion
from
heat.
artificial
Both the gathering and are
frequently
made
simply by the humidity.
prevailing
lower
drying
processes
easier
to herbalists, for
collection be
Dandelion. the wild
dried out-of-doors without any form of
the plants are
by traffic and aeroplanes, and drift chemical crop dressings are all
potential dangers.
Wild plant collecting is easier in most Europe than in England simply
parts of
because of -the greater distribution of plants. The plants can VCT) often be
HARVESTING AND DRYING The
exercised in cultivation can be forfeited by incorrect harvesting or inadequate drying. When the part of the plant used is the root, harvesting is carried out at the end of the growing
care
easily
season,
the
mature and
autumn, when the root is
storing as
much
is
food as
possible. Seeds, too, are harvested
when
end of the season. Knowing the moment to harvest the leaves - or in some instances the entire herb itself is an ability that comes only with experience. The general rule is to take leaves from the plant just before the flowers are fully open ripe at the
this
is
the time
when
the active principles
of the plant are of the best quality.
timing can be
critical
The
and care must be
exercised to take only the part of the plant
required and not so much of it as to impair the metabolism of the whole plant. Take only from clean and representative plants
[29
CULTIVATION Left
:
Herbs may be dried by hanging them
in loose bundles
Storing Label each
along a line in a shaded,
five days.
Material
when it snaps thumb and finger.
between the
easily
dry
is
Fresh material should not be introduced into the chamber before the drying process is complete.
Drying in bulk The same rules apply where herbs grown
in
where an equable temperature of 32' to 34°C (90 to 95°Fj can be maintained together with some form of ventilation to
and gather on a dry day when the dew has
Keep one kind
of plant material
separate from another and label
amounts
pick
mediately, for
it.
Lastly,
that can be handled imif they
are
left for
an hour or
two, they will deteriorate with the result-
ant
loss in
value.
Domestic drying Few households can
keep the air circulating. The objective should be to remove the moisture-laden air while maintaining the temperature so that the herbs can be dried evenly and quickly. As the moisture from the atmosphere may be reabsorbed if the temperature falls (or if fresh material is added .
frames. These allow the air to
and can
easily
be stacked if battens are
drawn
large quantities of plant material, racks
against direct sunlight and a continual
can be constructed, so that the trays can be stacked. The dried material obtained will be about one-eighth of the weight of the harvested herb.
temperature of 25°C to 34°C (75 to 95°F) can be achieved, perhaps by using an electric convector heater. Attics under a warm roof, airing cupboards, warming drawers of domestic cookers, or even a warm conservatory or garden shed (if it can be shaded) all provide conditions suitable for drying herbs. Ideally, spread
provided
with
legs
or
if
there are
Rubbing down Once down
and windows left open is ideal. Small amounts can be dealt with satisfactorily by picking the leaves from the stalks, and crushing the leaves with a
is to dry change the condition of the leaves rather than the chemical content. The temperature in the drying chamber should be 32 to 34°C (90 to
them
briskly to
95°F) before the plant material is introduced, and this needs to be maintained for the first 24 hours of drying. Subsequently the temperature may be reduced to 25 to 8o°F) to complete the process, which should take from three to 2 7°C
130
(75°
to
size
compare it with its various relatives. There are large herbaria at the Natural History Museum, London, and at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, England, and at the Linnean Society, London, which houses the herbarium assembled by Linnaeus. His widow sold it to Dr (later Sir) James E. Smith, a founder of the Linnean Society of London. The collec-
trying to do
it
There
is
no point
out-of-doors, for if there
in
be
lost.
A
kitchen or out-house with
rolling-pin or in a coffee-mill.
should be discarded. riddle
the
at
London,
is
The Kew Herbarium was founded by Sir William Hooker and considerably enlarged by the work of his
Joseph Hooker, and is rich in A large herbarium at Le Jardin des Plantes in Paris is based upon the collections of Antoine Laurent de Jussieu, his son Adrieu and of Auguste de St Hilaire. There are other important collections in Europe in Vienna, Leiden, Uppsala, Copenhagen and Florence. In the United States of America the chief son,
Sir
colonial flora.
is
A
fine
Harvard University, at the New York
at
A
personal herbarium
Plant specimens can be assembled as a satisfying
hobby, or
an extension
as
to
one's interest in herbs. Essential equip-
stalks
ment includes: a notebook and pencil, a hand lens which magnifies up to 10 times, an Ordnance Survey Map and either an
sieve or
old-fashioned vasculum or a series ol large
The
mesh
are
is
the slightest breeze most of the material will
tion
collections
the door
is
museums of any have extensive classified collections. There is an obvious advantage in being able to consult a specimen at any time of the year, and perhaps at the same time to dens and natural history
formed by Asa Gray, and Botanic Garden.
frequently.
plants
herbarium or hortus siccus is a collection of plants dried and preserved for use in plant identification. Most botanic gar-
process should be carried out in a
well-ventilated place.
The moisture content of most more than 70 per cent. The aim
bags are
A
the dry herbs are cool the rubbing
and leaves in a single layer in flat boxes or lids, or on trays or sheets of wrapping paper or newspaper, and during the first day or two turn over the material the shoots
Plastic
light.
collections.
in
circulate
the curtains can be
the
to
obviously unsuitable.
wooden
be brought
room
if
exposed
Natural History Museum, based upon eighteenth- and nineteenth-century collections, including those of Sir Hans Sloane and Sir Joseph Banks, and also houses several modern
to
wedged between them. Where
ideal
herb and store separ-
should be placed high up. Plant material for drying in bulk is best handled on trays constructed of plastic mesh, nylon net or hessian stretched over
any new material that has
provide a special room suitable for drying herbs, but a spare is
in
THE HERBARIUM are
bulk for drying, but the provision of suitable drying conditions is more difficult. Enough space has to be provided to deal with the amount of material likely to be ready to handle at any one time. Some form of wooden shed can be used
gone.
sort of
an
airtight container so that moisture cannot be reabsorbed. Wooden boxes or screw-top jars of darkened glass provide the best containers, because the essential oils in herbs will deteriorate if
ately
draught-free place.
useful for the final refinements,
plastic
bags
especially for culinary herbs.
portable
Treat only one kind of material at a time and wash the utensils each time before dealing with another plant, or else the aroma and flavour will be adulterated and your effort wasted.
number
with
flower
wire fasteners,
press
to
give
the
addition to the place
a a
The map
of
of tie-on labels.
considerable importance for practice
or
together with
grid
it is
is
accepted
reference in
name when recording made on
the locality for a plant. Notes are
.
DRYING HERBS
•
A
Above:
hortus siccus
or collection
pressed plants mounted onto paper
-
of
known
is
as a herbarium. Pressed specimens of various
mounted together for
trefoils are
comparison (left)
.
Space
is
included for
information on name, date found and location.
the labels as to location, variation in plant
after insertion,
open up the press and
re-
A
modern herbarium
sheet
(
right)
Arrangement of the herbarium
arrange the more tractable material such
The
no confusion will arise by the time the specimen reaches the flower press. A portable, or even temporary,
as the petals.
plant press used out-of-doors ensures that
for
the plants are pressed absolutely fresh.
the process
paper or card folders, and when a has been collected they should be kept in a cupboard or metal cabinet where dust can be excluded and room temperature maintained. Some
features
and any other point of
special
interest, so that
The time paper
will
herbs take to dry varies.
need
to
The
be changed especially
succulent specimens, and sometimes
be purchased from
may be hurried by keeping the an airing cupboard or even in the sunshine. The paper may have to be changed at intervals of 6 to 12 hours, and
equipment
the pressure increased relative to the dry-
presses in
A
plant press
Special firms
presses can
supplying
naturalists'
and from some department
home-made
stores,
but
presses are equally effective
and can be made to any size. Sheets of absorbent drying paper are piled together with
wooden boards
or metal sheets at the
top and bottom. These can be strapped or
clamped together
to
hold the papers and
plants firmly in position during the drying process.
brushed
The
material to be pressed
and
is first
examined, identified and then arranged on a sheet of paper in such a way as to display its form as clearly as possible. Leaves and flowers need to be carefully flattened - a small paintbrush is useful for this. Take a second sheet of paper and hold down one edge firmly on top of the sheet with the plant. Slowly roll the top sheet down, taking care clean
closely
not to disturb the specimens.
A
few hours
ness of the specimen.
when feel
the specimen
cold
when
sheets are usually assembled loosely
in large
is
Drying is complete crisp and does not
held to the cheek.
It
should
number
large
of classification authoritative system should be followed, such as the Bentham and Hooker which is still standard in many herbaria. Scatter moth balls with the collection to
ward
off insect attack.
Overleaf: The following table will enable you
then be mounted on sheets of good cartridge paper, about 43 cm by 28 cm (17 in by 11 in), with all the relevant inform-
to select the
ation added.
It is good practice to write on a label which is stuck to the lower right-hand corner of the paper. Essential information includes: name, date, place (and grid reference) of collection and some note about the habitat. Mounting the specimens can be done in one of several ways, either by gluing them directly to the paper, or by stitching steins and leaf margins to the paper, or by placing several gummed strips over stems, leaf
Abbreviations
this
Sp
spring
ESp
early spring
ES
A
summer summer late summer mid-late summer second summer end of summer autumn
and leaves to hold the plant permanent position.
stalks
in
to the
herbs you wish
conditions ofyour
S
LS
M-LS ss
EndS
to
grow according
site.
early
W
winter
LW
late winter
AT
anytime >:!'
CULTIVATION SELECTING AND GROWING YOUR
OWN HERBS
HERB
TYPE
SOIL
HEIGHTxSPREAD
POSITION
Achillea millefolium
perennial
well drained, tolerates
30-65x30 cm
tolerant of
most
(12-26x12
very damp, rich
50-1 40 x 90
cm
bogs, ponds, rich moist
(20-56x36
ins)
soils in full
(Yarrow)
Acorus calamus (Sweet Flag, Rush. Calamus)
perennial, aquatic
Ajuga reptans
perennial
damp, loamy
or dry
10-30x30 cm (4-12x12
(Bugle)
Alchemilla vulgaris (Lady's Mantle)
perennial
Allium cepa aggregatum (Tree Onion. Top Onion)
bulbous, perennial
Allium sativum
bulbous, perennial
ordinary, well-drained
30-45 x 15 cm (12-18x6 ins) (grow
fertile,
well-drained
bulbous, perennial
ground cover full
sun
full
sun
rows)
rows)
15-30x 15 cm
and loamy
rich
tolerant of most; useful
30-60 x10 cm (1 2-24 x4 ins) (grow in
Allium schoenoprasum (Chives)
sun or shade
15-30x15 cm (6— 12x 6 ins)
(Garlic)
sun
ins)
almost any except waterlogged
in
most
ins)
(6-1
2x6
ins)
useful for edging
(forms
clumps)
Anethum graveolens
annual
(Dill)
most acidic
soils,
but
20-90x60 cm
not too light
(8-36x24
full
sun
ins)
Angelica archangelica
biennial treated as
not too
(Angelica)
short lived perennial
acid
150-240x90 cm (5-8x3 ft)
back of border where is cool and moist
Anthriscus cerefolium
annual, sometimes
moist, light, well-
40x30 cm
prefers
(Chervil)
biennial
drained soils with
(16
rich, slightly
x12
it
some shade.
Mid-border plant
ins)
added compost Artemisia absinthium
perennial
(Wormwood)
Artemisia
perennial
deeply dug clays
65-110x40 cm (26-44x16 ins)
most
120x50 cm
most
soils: prefers
soils
(48x20
dracunculoides (Russian Tarragon) Artemisia dracunculus (French Tarragon)
perennial
Artemisia vulgaris
warm,
rich
60-90x40 cm
and
officinalis
sun
full
sun
(24-36x16
perennial
most moist
90-1 80 x 40-50 cm (3-6 ft x 16-20 ins)
back of border or mid-border plant
perennial
dry.
90x30 cm
full
sun or some shade.
sun; seen to best
soils
sandy
(36x12
(Pleurisy Root.
Borago
full
ins)
well-drained
(Mugwort)
Asclepias tuberosa
back of border or can be used as screen
annual
(Borage)
ins)
ins)
well-drained poor, dry
60 x 40 cm
full
soils
(24x16
effect
ins)
when
planted on
low wall Calamintha
officinalis
perennial
chalky
soils,
30-35x50 cm
dryish
(12-14x20
(Calamint)
ins)
dry. not too
shaded
(forms
clumps)
Carum
carvi
(Caraway)
132
biennial
most well-drained
soils
65x25-30 cm (26x10-12
ins)
full-sun.
mid-border
ACH-CAR
PROPAGATION Sp
division
division of rhizome
Sp.
FLOWER
good
pink or white
light.
Tolerates
S
drought
Sp
seed
EXTRA DETAILS
only flowers
A
grown
in
when
greenish-yellow
S
water
FOLIAGE
HARVEST
grey-green, feathery, aromatic
leaves before flowering S
sword-like, plentiful, stout, smelling of
rhizome
ESp.
A
tangerine
whpn division
A
Sp.
space 30 cm (1 2 ins) and allow to run together for ground
Sp
seed
apart,
rnishprl
blue; rarely pink or
deep green
white
reddish-purple
S
to
whole herb
S
whole herb
S
cover
Sp ES under glass
division
spreads
seed
needs control
bulbils
Sp. S.
A
not shaded
Sp.
seen
cylindrical,
LS
whitish-pink
A
Sp-MS
drills
seedlings should not be disturbed in first year
rose purple
do not
yellow
plant close to
blue-green
flattish. spiky,
when
Sp
seed, in
pale green, fluted
A
Sp.
bulbs seed
ES
yellow
rarely
bulbs, broken into
cloves
fairly rapidly,
Sp
S
leaves
LS
LS
bulbs
bruised
grassy,
MS
odorous
bulbils
in
clumps
soft spikes, aromatic
Fennel. Protect from
AT
leaves
AT
leaves
seed
LS
A
wind seed as soon as ripe
grows
Sp
shade, produces softer
leaves
stems Mature plants cannot be transplanted
seed
seed,
sown at AT
3
week
intervals
better in light
maintain a succession of
young
plants
yellowish
M-LS
soft, fern-like,
aromatic
root
white
S
fern-like, dark green,
Do
Sp
stems
Sp. S
LS
A
aromatic
leaves before flowering AT
feathery, silvery-green,
shoots
not transplant division
A
Sp.
stem cuttings seed A division
A
Sp.
LSp-ES
seed
division
support
in
back
A
in
LS and cut
greenish-yellow
S
Give mulch cold sites
cover
in
really
sunny sheltered
Sp. S
aromatic
greenish-white
S
pale green, willowy
leaves
AT
greenish-white
S
glossy, dark green,
leaves
AT
position
Sp
cuttings with
heat
ES
sunny sheltered up every 2-3 years Cut back and mulch in really
some
position; Divide
Sp
aromatic
W
division
Sp.
cuttings
S
seed
Sp.
A
dry
MS
cuttings
S
division
Sp
seed
dislikes
shade
brownish-yellow
Sp
division
seed
A
in drills
soil
bright
only a small seedling may be transplanted Readily self-sown
orange
S
blue, pink or white
S
dark green above, silvery beneath, feathery, aromatic
whole herb
S
narrow, alternate on
leaves
short stems
rootstock
rough, green, aromatic
flowers and leaves
AT
pale green, light and
flowers and leaves
AT
AT
A
MS blue, fragrant
ES
fragrant
Sp. S.
A
prefers cool site
not transplant
Do
white
SS
soft green, feathery,
seedheads
aromatic
leaves
S
AT
rootstock of
1
st
year
'33
CULTIVATION HERB
TYPE
SOIL
HEIGHTxSPREAD
POSITION
Chamaemelum nobile (Roman Chamomile)
perennial
well-drained
15-35x10-15 cm (6-14x4-6 ins)
full
Chenopodium album
annual
50x300 cm
most positions
(Fat
dryish, rich soils
(20 ins x 10
Hen)
Cichonum intybus
perennial
most
(3-6
Cimicifuga racemosa (Black Cohosh)
perennial
Convallaria majalis (Lily-of-the-Valley)
perennial
most
fertile,
ft
sunny position
x 22 ins)
90-270x90 cm (3-9x3 ft)
loamy
rich,
ft)
90-180x55 cm
soils
(Chicory)
well-
drained soils
some shade
sun. or
Useful as lawn
woodland
rich
25 x 10
cm
front of border or
(10x4
ins) (spreads
among bushes
slowly)
Conandrum sativum
annual
fertile, light to
average
Crocus sativus (Saffron Crocus)
bulbous, perennial
Cuminum cyminum
annual
and well-
light, rich
x
cm
30
well-drained
light,
30 x
1
purpurea
perennial, evergreen
biennial
well-drained, calcareous
fertile,
well-drained
(Foxglove)
Foeniculum vulgare
perennial
perennial
well-drained
light,
(Alehoof)
Helianthus annuus (Sunflower)
Hyssopus
officinalis
annual
perennial, semi-
(Hyssop)
evergreen
Inula helenium
perennial
(Elecampane)
Juniperus communis
perennial, coniferous
most
cm
5
light
full
sun
likes
120x40-50 cm (48x16-20 ms)
full
plant,
sun
sun. but tolerates
shade sun. sheltered from
c~
full
ins)
wind
10x30 cm
will tolerate
(4x12
hedge
ins) (spreads)
shade of
(3-10x3ft)
back of border, allow much space, full sun
60x20 cm
sunny
(24x8 ms)
results
90-1 80 x 90 cm
needs sun; plant at back of sunny border
soil,
and moist
(3-6x3
dry.
calcareous
up
up
well-drained
sheltered,
good edging
ins)
to
to
ft)
780x780 cm
(26x26 perennial, evergreen
sun
(8x8
rich
ft)
often less
1200x1200 cm
(40 x 40
(Bay)
full
20x20 cm
any
preferably
sheltered,
ms)
90-300x90 cm
soils
(Juniper)
Laurus nobilis
height
40-120x60-90 (16-48x24-36
fairly rich
(Fennel)
Glechoma hederacea
in
ins)
(12x6
Dianthus caryophyllus (Clove Pink)
protected situation,
sunshine needed, mid-border plant
ins)
30-45 cm (12-18
drained
(Cumin)
Digitalis
60
(24x12
(Coriander)
ft)
often less
situation for best
banks in sunny good drainage
sheltered spot, free
from wind and
good container Lavandula angustifolia
perennial, evergreen
(Lavender)
Ledum groenlandicum
perennial, evergreen
(Lovage)
'34
90x60 cm
poor
soils
(36x24
wet.
rich,
sandy or
perennial
fertile, acidic,
prepared
well-
ins)
ins)
frost,
plant
not too exposed,
(bushy)
up to 90 x 90 cm
(36x36
peaty
(Labrador Tea)
Levi stic um officinalis
chalky, well-drained,
spot,
(forms
prefers
full
sun
some sun
or shade on bogs or swampland,
mat)
not too dry.
90-210x90 cm (3-7x3 ft)
Some shade
or full
sun
CHA-LEV PROPAGATION division
Sp.
cuttings
S
A
FLOWER
best when a patch of plants are grown
white daisy
together.
Sp
seed
EXTRA DETAILS
Keep
S
FOLIAGE
HARVEST
pale green fern-grass
whole herb
very soft mid-green
shoots
jagged, green
root leaves
S-LS
soil
moist around young plants
mealy-white
Sp
seed
Sp.
division
seed
Sp
seed
Sp
A
S
SS
clear blue
yellowish-white
division
Sp.
division
A
S
2—5 wide
leaflets
Sp
A S
A
rootstock
A takes time to establish
can be grown
itself,
in
white, sweetly-scented
mid-green, upright
whole flowers, ES
fern-like, green, smells
seeds
unpleasant just before seeds ripen
leaves
grass-like
stigmas
thread-like, slightly
seeds
ES
plant
pots
may require support. Do not transplant
seed (slow to germinate, but usually high germination)
corm
S
seed
Sp
pinkish-mauve, sometimes white
M-LS
End S
AT
Sp divide every 3 years
water well
in
drought
mauve
A
pinkish-white
S
A
End S
fragrant
pipings or layering
pink, white and combined arrangement
S
grey, clean, spiky in
flowers
S
leaves
ES
shape
of these colours, very
M-LS
fragrant
protect 1 st year seedlings from frost
Sp. S
seed
division
seed
Sp
give
enough space, and
A
sow
in
Sp.
division
Sp.
A
SS
magenta
mid-green, wrinkled, soft
yellow
S
succession
ground cover, allow space, but it may need
bluish
thread-like, strongly
leaves
aromatic
seed
green, marbled with
ES
silver, slightly
S S S
leaves
aromatic
control
may need support
Sp
seed
Sp ES
division
cuttings
seed
A
or
Sp
Replace every 4-5
Sp
division
seed
cut back
bright yellow
MS
bluish-mauve, pink or white ES-LS
End S
green, roughish
seed
dark green, bushy, aromatic
flowers and shoot
when
years Sp.
A
replace every 3 years
bright yellow
MS
large,
mid-green
A
Sp.
leaves before flowering Sp roots
cuttings
tips,
available
A
greenish-yellow
useful as container
very difficult
LS
cuttings
creamy-yellow
ES
S
A
dark green
berries
when
smooth dark green
leaves
AT
grey, aromatic
leaves flowers
S
short oblong
leaves
AT
strong green, deeply cut. aromatic
leaves
prickly,
ripe
plant out-of-doors,
withstands clipping
AT
stem cuttings seed Sp
Sp
seeds layering
S
division
Sp.
A
.ion
Sp.
A
seed
Sp. S
regular pruning
mauve, fragrant
suit evergreen borders. but requires shade
cream
disappears below
yellowish
ground spot to
W. mark the ensure no other in
Sp
MS
MS
MS
S
roots
A
seed
LS
plants are too close
«35
CULTIVATION HERB
TYPE
SOIL
Melissa officinalis
perennial
warm, not too
dry,
poor
perennial
very moist or aquatic
(Water Mint)
Mentha
citrata
POSITION
60-90x40-60 cm
full
(24-36x16-24
(Lemon Balm)
Mentha aquatica
HEIGHTxSPREAD
biennial
15-90x1 5-20 cm
will tolerate
(6—36 x 6—8
suitable as a
ins) (spreads)
35-45x15-20 cm (14-18x6-8 ins)
moist and rich
(Eau de Cologne Mint)
sun or some shade
ins)
shade,
bog plant
full
sun or some shade
full
sun or some shade
(spreads)
Mentha
x piperita
perennial
(Peppermint)
Mentha pulegium
perennial
moist, for
good
results
50-60x20 cm
add moisture-retaining
(20-24x8
material to
(spreads)
all
soils
ins)
0-30 x 20 cm (4-12x8 ins)
fertile
1
(Pennyroyal)
can tolerate shade
(spreads)
Monarda didyma
perennial
moist,
and very
fertile
Add manure
(Bergamot)
70x30 cm
good
(28 x
some shade
2 ins) (forms
1
light,
but tolerates
clumps) Myrrhis odorata
perennial
(Sweet Cicely)
Myrtus communis
perennial, evergreen
90 x 15
cm
moist
(36 x 6
ins)
well-drained
300
well-drained,
fertile
and
x
150 cm
(10x5
(Myrtle)
Nasturtium officinale
perennial, aquatic
(Watercress)
very damp, rich in
Nepeta catana
perennial
soil,
or
shallow water
fertile,
well-drained
(Catmint. Catnep)
1
(bushy)
ft)
0—60 cm
(4-24
in
length
slight
shade
needs
shelter, dislikes
wet
full
soil
sun or some shade
ins)
50 x 40 cm (20x 16 ins)
mid-border plant tolerant of
most
situations
Ocimum
basilicum
annual
light,
well-drained
45x15 cm (18x6
(Basil)
Origanum majorana (Sweet Marjoram)
perennial, usually
medium
grown
alkaline
(10x4-6
Origanum onites
perennial
dry. light
50x20 cm
as annual
rich,
dryish and
25 x 10-15
cm
with good
rich, fertile
grown
tilth
(12-20x8
Portu/aca oleracea (Purslane)
annual
light
25 x 20 cm
as annual
(10x8
ins)
ins)
perennial
light,
calcareous
(Salad Burnet) perennial
Reseda lutea
perennial treated as
(Mignonette)
annual, evergreen
Rosmarinus (Rosemary)
perennial, evergreen
136
sunny position
most
soils
moderately calcareous
rich,
light, well-drained calcareous
good edging plant, grow in rows
sunny spot (forms
mat)
officinalis
sun
requires
30-50x20 cm
biennial, usually
(Parsley)
officinalis
full
ins)
Petrose/inum crispum
Pulmonaria (Lungwort)
sun
(20x8 ms)
(Pot Marjoram)
Potenum sanguisorba
full
ins)
in herb border or kitchen garden
30 x 25 cm
needs damp, grassy
(12x10
surroundings
ins)
20x20 cm
front of border, tolerant
(8x8
of
ins)
shade and shrubs
90x20 cm
mid-border
(3x8
prefers
ins)
60-120x180 cm (2-4x6 ft)
full
plant,
some shade
sun.
good
for
hedges; prostrate form provides useful ground cover
MEL-ROS PROPAGATION stem cuttings Sp.
division
seed
Sp. S
EXTRA DETAILS
FLOWER
spreads, needs tidying
creamy-white
needs confining, otherwise spreads and
mauve
MS
A
FOLIAGE
HARVEST
light green, wrinkled, very fragrant
leaves
S
A
ES.
division of runners
during growing season
is
division of runners during growing season
MS
shining green, aromatic
leaves and shoots S.
A
invasive
MS
lilac-mauve
needs confining, otherwise spreads
roundish, green to
leaves and shoots
brown- purple- bronze
S.
in
A
dry situations,
aromatic division of runners
needs confining.
during growing season
otherwise spreads and is
division of runners
during growing season
MS
lilac
dark bronze-purple ranging to black in dry situations, aromatic
invasive
may need may need
MS
mauve
confining protection
in
Sp.
A
divide regularly as
centre tends to bare.
seed
A
LS.
Cut back
requires acidic
Sp
root cuttings
red
S
grow in
ES
creamy-white
soil,
deeply dug. Very easily self-sown
white
often needs wall
MS-End
protection and shelter
layering
MS
from winds
division
W
clean water to
deep green, sometimes
leaves and shoots
variegated, creeping,
S.
dark green, strongly
leaves and flowers as
fragrant
required
S
grow
in
S
root
leaves
Sp. S
light green, smallish
leaves
S
berries
A
dark green, shiny,
S
white, very small
A
dark green, soft and fern-like
cuttings of
plentiful,
non-flowering shoots
flavour
Sp. S.
A
A
cuttings, with heat
S
A
aromatic
severe winters division
leaves and shoots S.
AT
whole shoot
pungent
A
division
Sp.
A
blue spires
Sp.
seed
under glass ESp ES
outside
Sp.
seed
Sp
seed
Sp.
warmest spot
available
S
S
green, triangular,
pink
S
soft,
mid-green,
fragrant
cultivated
A
A
cream
soft,
shoots before flowering Sp
leaves
AT
pungent tender and not widely
ES seed stem cuttings division
green-grey. aromatic
S
A
seed
purplish or whitish
long period for germination, assist by
creamy-white
S
SS
leaves before flowering S
soft green, fragrant
leaves before flowering S
crisp, curled, bright
leaves
S
leaves
S
leaves
AT
green, fragrant
pre-soakmg seed seed
Sp
ought
to
be thinned
yellow
S
light green,
with
seed
Sp
division after
seed
immediately
Sp.
A
smooth
sheen
green
reddish-green
S
pretty, dark
appreciates some shade and moisture
pink and blue
Sp. ES
rough, silvery marks on dark green
leaves
does not transplant
spires of reddish-yellow
mid-green
whole
successfully
S
rosette
best
flowering
sown
a
in drills
in
basal
Sp. S
plant
S
which
withers before flowers arrive
cuttings layering
S S
withstands clipping
pale mauve-blue
may
ES. often
suffer in cold,
exposed, windy
W
Sp.
highly aromatic, grey-green, narrow
leaves as required
sites
'37
CULTIVATION HERB
TYPE
SOIL
Ruta graveolens (Rue)
perennial, semi-
most
evergreen
soils not
damp
HEIGHTxSPREAD
POSITION
50-70
full
x 60 cm (20-28x24 ins)
sun; will tolerate
some shade
(bushy) Salvia officinalis
perennial, evergreen
90x90 cm
dryish
rich,
(Purple Sage)
Salvia sclarea
(36 x 36
biennial or perennial
and well-drained
light
(Clary)
Sanguinaria canadensis (Blood Root)
perennial
Santolina
perennial, evergreen
loamy
rich,
light,
well-drained
chamaec yparissus
allow space, prefers
(bushy)
ins)
full
sun
90x30 cm
will tolerate a little
(36 x
shade
1
2 ins)
20x30 cm
cool, moist
(8x12
woodland, under shrubs
ins)
40-60 x 40-60 cm (16-24x16-24 ins)
good edging
30-90x30 cm
mid-border or grassy bank, spreading
likes
plant,
sunshine
(Cotton Lavender)
Saponaria officinalis (Soapwort.
perennial
dampish
fertile,
(12-36x12
ins)
Bouncing Bet) Satureia
montana
perennial
light,
perennial
ordinary
15-40x15-40 cm (6-16x6-16 ins)
well-drained
(Winter Savory)
Stachys
officinalis
(Wood Betony)
Symphytum
officinale
perennial
perennial
full
(6-36 x 10
shade
moist, fertile
50-90x30 cm
tolerant of shade, likes
(20-36x12
dampish situations
some
loam
or sand, moist
light,
well-drained
Thymus citriodorus (Lemon Thyme)
perennial
light,
well-drained,
slightly acid
ins)
full
some
sun or semi-shade
ins)
25x20 cm (10x8
(Wall Germander)
ins)
120x90 cm (48x36
perennial
sun. tolerates
15-90x25 cm
soil, likes
(Tansy)
Teucnum chamaedrys
sun. front of border
humus
(Common Comfrey) Tanacetum vulgare
full
needs good drainage, base of wall or in paving
ins)
at
10-20x25-30 cm (4_8x10-12 ins)
full
sun; carpet-forming,
needs paving or front of border position
Thymus serpyllum (Wild Thyme)
Tussilago farfara
perennial
perennial
light,
most
well-drained
soils
(Coltsfoot)
5-10x20-40 cm (2-4x8-16 ins)
full
(creeps)
of border position
20x10 cm (8x4 ins)
dry banks, under shrubs
sun; carpet-forming,
needs paving or front
where
it
can become
naturalized
Valeriana officinalis (Valerian)
perennial
Valerianella locusta
annual
rich
and moist
(54x12-16
rich
(Corn Salad)
Verbascum thapsus
biennial
dryish, fertile, chalky
perennial, evergreen
well-drained
(Periwinkle)
shaded borders
ins)
10-20x15-25 cm (4_8x6-10 ins)
90-180x25 cm (3-6 ftx10
(Mullein)
Vmca major
135x30-40 cm
edge
of herb
bed or
kitchen garden
full
sun. back of border
ins)
5-40 x 90 cm (6—16 x 36 ins) 1
good
for planting
on
banks
(spreads) Viola odorata
(Sweet
138
Violet)
perennial
well-drained, previously enriched, moist soil
10-20x5 cm (4-8x2 ins)
some shade, moist banks
RUT-VIO PROPAGATION LS
cuttings
seed
Sp
layering
FLOWER
needs pruning back every 2nd year
yellow
does not
S S
cuttings
EXTRA DETAILS
like
windy
S
mauve-purple
S
sites
FOLIAGE
HARVEST
grey-green, small, aromatic
leaves
grey (some forms variegated or purple),
flowers and bracts
S
S
pungent Sp,
division
seed
A
mauve-blue, rather S
division
keep moist
after
when young
white or pinkish
Sp
stem cuttings layering
A
division
A
cut back in Sp. Withstands clipping
S
yellow
S
S seed (slow)
S
lift
division
Sp
division
Sp.
and divide plants
Sp
each
A
bushy
AT
leaves
leaves and shoots
pale green, soft
roots
S
A
M— LS
white or pink
small, dark, aromatic,
S
leaves
Sp. S.
leaves
S
leaves
LS-S
leaves
Sp. S
A
enduring subshrub
every 3 years. Cut back
layering
A
A
soft green, aromatic
S
rose-pink
Sp
A
division
root cuttings
division
Sp.
Sp.
Sp.
A
A
trim in
stem cuttings
cuttings
S
division
Sp.
remove flowers promote leaves
to
rampant spreader, needs chopping back, confining and sometimes supporting
A
A
division
large,
rough and
stiff.
pale green
yellow buttons
S
dark green, fern-like
pungent
blue-mauve
Sp
LS-S
blue and pink
S
dark green, shiny,
(decorative plant)
bushy growth
S
trim
back each year
pinkish-mauve
S
A
minute, dark green, aromatic
leaves and shoots
grey-green, minute, aromatic
leaves and shoots
dark green, felt-like, grey underneath
flowers leaves
green, shiny
rootstock
pale green, smooth,
leaves as required
S.
A
A
layers
cuttings
S
division
Sp.
trim
back each year
S
pink
A
S
A
layers
division
A
invasive,
root cuttings
seed
rhizome
lobed
coral-like, grey
pink or white, sometimes with red
Sp
stem cuttings
seed
solitary leaf stem,
growth
marks
seed
leaves
leaf
flowering
seed
S
dark green, broad
variable
Sp
Sp.
Sp.
A
A
division of rootstock
needs to be
yellow - appearing
confined
before leaves
divide and replant
pinkish-white
LW. ESp
LS
ESp Sp
A
every 4 years
A seed
Sp.
A
sow
in drills,
make
successive sowings
mauve used
seed
Sp.
A
lighten
heavy
soils
S
Do
allow to flower
not
if
for salads
strong yellow
roughly spoon-shaped, rosette
SS
growth
felt-like,
silver-white
before sowing cuttings
S
division
Sp.
can be invasive, keep
A
runners ESp seed (slow) Sp division
it
leaves
stem
mauve-blue
ES
shines, dark green
within bounds
violet
Sp
dark to mid-green
S,
A
A
(decorative plant) leaves
Sp-S
flower
Sp
after
flowering
139
'
*****A\' '/-
*r-
»*«> ff-
*'
«
'
.
>-"'* ..
§ •
jf'jjf
Reference section I y«V
te-*4 '.«V
.
The
-1
of 420 of the most important herbs, each illustrated with a photograph or drawing and with its characteristics and constituents described in full. The enormous variety and extent of the powers of plants is amply demonstrated in these entries. The practical information included gives ideas on how to cultivate those herbs that interest you, together with a concise indication of their uses, whether culinary, medicinal or otherwise. Once again, however, we must stress that the medicinal use of plants requires expert knowledge. In this respect, the book is a reference work rather than a guide to practical application. Under no circumstances should readers use the information iu these pages for home treatment without first
taking expert advice.
The
cultivation section states whether
is found in the wild state (as most are), or whether it is found wild only as an escape from cultivation, and also gives details of commercial and horticultural cultivation where applicable. Re-
the species
'*
J»=
-
V
lists
the parts of the plant,
commonly
together with their uses, most
employed.
In
necessary to
list
some
cases,
it
has been
different parts of the plant
for different uses, as the effects of different
parts of plants can vary widely
-
to the
extent of being contradictory.
The naming of herbs
often causes prob-
We
have used the Latin botanical names of the plants (the most accurate system), followed by the preferred common name in bold type with some of the alternatives. The Latin names have particular significance, and it is as well to lems.
know how
they are
made
up.
The
follow-
example is of a relatively complex name, as the herb is a hybrid, although ing
the principles apply to
Mentha x LABIATAE
all
other species:
piperita var. citrata (Ehr.) Briq.
Bergamot Mint Eau
de Cologne Mint/
Orange Mint In this example, Mentha indicates the genus and piperita the species; (Ehr.) stands for Ehrhart which is the name of the botanist
who
first classified
the species
and
and, in addition, those closely related
accepted reclassification - thus without brackets. Originally this plant was classified by Linnaeus simply as Mentlm piperita, but it was then reclassified by Ehrhart as Mentha x piperita var. citrata; the x indicates
varieties
species that are cultivated as medicinal or
economic plants
for the
same purpose
as
the species in question are also mentioned.
Left:
A mass
the wild. the
of different herbs
growing
in
Many
of the herbs described on following pages over 420 species -
can be collected easily and put >
-
which arc of greater horticultural importance have been noted, lated
V7
-
-J
Each entry
following pages include a detailed
list
•
-
oj different uses,
to
a variety
which include culinary,
medicinal and cosmetic.
the
Briq. (the abbreviation of Briquet)
name
that the plant
is
a cross between Mentha
spicata
and Mentha
means
that this
is
is
of the person responsible for the
is
aquatica,
and the
'var.'
a variety of mint which
not sufficiently distinct to be classified as
a separate species. Labiatae indicates the
family to which the plant belongs.
'
1'
ABI-ADI Abies alba Mill,
pinaceae
Silver Fir This conifer was once the source of 'Strassburg Turpentine', first described in detail by Belon in
De
in the
now
Arboribus coniferis (1553).
London Pharmacopoeia and the
rarely collected,
It
was retained
until
leaves,
1
788. It
is
buds and
fresh resin are only used in folk medicine. Description Coniferous evergreen tree to 50
m
trunk straight, branches brownish and pubescent;
leaves simple,
needle-like,
glossy
and
dark green above, rounded at apex; to 3 cm long. Monoecious, the male cones small; female to 16 cm long, erect, becoming reddishbrown, with deciduous scales. Appearing late spring to early summer.
Native to central and southern Europe; mountainous regions from 400-2000 m altitude. Introduced elsewhere.
Distribution
Cultivation
especially
and
Employed
Wild.
horticulturally,
the cultivars Columnaris,
Compacta
Pendula. Dislikes polluted air.
Constituents Oleo-resin
comprising turpentine; provitamin A.
essential oil; a sugar, abietite;
Uses
(leaves,
occasionally)
fresh
ant; carminative.
of bronchitis, flatulent colic.
resin,
oil
of turpentine
Antiseptic; diuretic; expector-
Employed
cystitis,
The
in the
treatment
leucorrhoea, ulcers and
oil is
an
irritant
and can be
applied externally, diluted, as a rubefacient in neuralgia. externally,
1677. It was included in the London Pharmacopoeia of 72 Description Moderate sized tree, 9-12 m high; until
Contra-indications
The
and may
should only be used cause skin reactions. oil
1
1
trunk short, not straight, 1.5-2 m thorny branches; light
in girth;
straggling
feathery
rough, dark grey-brown bark; pale
foliage;
yellow flowers. Distribution
Indigenous
ma; common plains of
to eastern India,
Burma, forests of tropical Not cultivated; trees
Cultivation
Bur-
of Ceylon,
in hotter, drier parts
east Africa. felled
and
processed. Constituents Astringent action
due
Not cultivated;
trees incised
and
collected early winter.
mainly of calcium, magnesium and potassium salts of arabic acid (arabin). Forms a mucilage in water. Uses (dried gummy exudation from stems and branches; Soothing for inflamed tissue. Used in mouth lozenges, cough mixtures, emulsions. Highly nutritious taken as gruel. Adhesive. Constituents Consists
L acanthaceae
Acanthus mollis
red, catechol.
Bear's Breech Brank Ursine The specific name, Acanthus from the Greek akanthos, ake meaning thorn, anthos meaning flowers) occurs frequently in Greek and Roman
and strained extract of heartwood dark brown solid mass
Powerful astringent, useful tions of throat, as
a
Used
gargle.
inflamed condiused diluted treat diarrhoea and for
gums and mouth; to
and boils. Wood for posts, heating and charcoal. Catechu and bark for tanning and dyeing.
externally for ulcers
Acacia Senegal
1
L) Willd. leguminosae
Gum Arabic Acacia Gum/Gummi When
the Egyptians brought
Gulf of Aden
acaciae
gum from
in the seventeenth
century
the B.C.,
they called it Kami and used it mainly for painting and as an adhesive for lapis lazuli or coloured glass. Theophrastus mentioned Kami, in the fourth
142
Cultivation
gum
Indigenous to east and west Africa. Arabia and India.
in
catechu-
to
chips, forming very
leguminosae Catechu Black Cutch/Kutch This herb was known as Cacho or Kat and was an important export from India to China, Arabia and Persia in the sixteenth century. It was introduced to Europe in the seventeenth century from Japan. The dark brown extract was not recognized as a vegetable substance
Common
tannic acid. Also contains quercetin, catechu Uses (boiled
Acacia catechu (L) Willd.
flowers yellowish, fragrant; corolla white. Distribution
Gummi
century
B.C.,
and Celsus
called
it
century B.C. Arabian physicians at the medieval school of Salerno used it and it was liable for customs duty at Pisa and Paris. It reached London by via Venice. Gum Arabic is still used 1 52 pharmaceutically. acanthinum
in
the
first
1
Description
Low
tree,
3-6
m
high,
bending grey
branches, grey bark leaves pale green, smooth ;
;
ABI-ADI writings referring to different prickly plants.
periods. Stimulates gastric secretion.
The
Fresh herb in salads.
beautiful leaves stimulated designs for the
of columns
decoration
classical
in
Greek
oblong dark green and leaves
undulating margins, 30-60 cm long; stems straight to 150 cm high; white or lilac pink flowers on spikes,
with
glossy,
summer. Distribution
Native of southern Europe.
Now
widely distributed. ordinary soil prefers deep sun or partial shade. Propa-
Cultivation Tolerates
loam, either
full
;
gate by division in spring or cuttings, or seed, in spring. as
house plant
Uses
autumn;
May
root
be cultivated
in large pot in full light.
Crushed leaves once used
for
burns and
scalds.
Hops
in
for greasy skin.
was an ancient herb of the East mentioned in the Bible in the book of Exodus. It was probably introduced into Russia by the Mongolians in the eleventh century, and into Poland by the thirteenth. At the end of the sixteenth century it was widely distributed by the Viennese botanist Clausius. Description Hardy, vigorous, aromatic perennial; much branched rhizome, 3 cm thick, bearing sword-shaped leaves with wavy margin, m high and 15 mm wide. Small flowers Acorus calamus
Ching' sticks. Contra-indications Large doses produce headaches and vertigo. Snuff; tobacco substitute.
'I
Aconitum napellus L ranunculaceae Aconite Monkshood/Blue Rocket/Wolfsbane This lethal herb was widely employed as an arrow poison by the ancient Chinese and its generic name comes from the Greek akontion meaning a dart. Napellus means 'little turnip' - a reference to the shape of its tuberous root. Aconitum napellus was an important herb among the thirteenth-century Welsh physicians of Myddvai but was not introduced into medicine
and
L compositae
Yarrow Weed From
Milfoil/ Wound wort/Carpenter's
ancient times
this
herb has been associ-
wounds and the stemming of blood-flow, hence the generic name; Achilles, for example, was supposed to ated
with
have cured A.
healing of
the
his
millefolium
warriors with
its
traditionally
has
Hardy herbaceous perennial;
Description
leaves.
had a wide
medical use.
Aromatic perennial, far-creeping stoloniferous herb; erect furrowed stem, 8-60
also
m
AW<
'''/
essen-
biennial as roots produced one year,
tially
flower the next; stem erect reaching 150 cm; leaves dark green, glossy, 3-8 cm wide, divided flowers 2
cm
(summer and autumni
violet
blue,
high, helmet shaped, in terminal clusters.
Indigenous to Alps and Pyrenees; mountainous districts of northern hemisphere.
Distribution
Prefers moist soils in shade.
Root division daughter roots are stored then planted mid-winter Cultivation
Description
is
1
generally until the eighteenth century. Achillea millefolium
Sedge/Myrtle
Flag
Cosmetic cleanser
Hardy perennial;
L araceae Calamus Sweet Flag/Sweet
Acorus calamus
substitute
brewing.
architecture. Description
Can
cm high; white or pinkish flowers early summer to autumn and slightly hairy bipinnate leaves, 2-10 cm long, divided into fine
sown
leaflets.
Constituents
in
garden
in
autumn;
in a
warm
in moist
selected
place and
loam. Seeds
spring flower in 2-3 years. Attractive decoration; blue, white and violet
cultivars include Blue Spectre, Sparks Variety.
Sedative and toxic action due to
Widespread in temperate zones; native to Europe; on all but poorest soils. Cultivation Increase by division spring or autumn. Grows in any soil in sunny position. Distribution
Constituents
and Uses
Volatile
oil
Distribution
parts,
and urinary
including flowers)
antiseptic.
Combines with
Only
Elderflowers and Peppermint for colds and
Of use
flowers in water.
Constituents Bitter,
hypertension and coronary thrombosis, dysentery and diarrhoea. Fresh influenza.
long.
to central Asia, eastern
zones, in
Diaphoretic; antipyretic; hypotensive; diuretic
Indigenous
Europe; now native in northern temperate marshy regions. Cultivation Needs moist soil and frequent watering, best by water margins. Divide clumps early spring or autumn, cover well.
containing azulene;
a glycoalkaloid, achilleine.
(dried aerial
summer), on inflorescence 4~8cm
(early
in
aromatic, volatile
oil; bitter
principle, acorin.
Uses (dried rhizome) Carminative; vermifuge; spasmolytic; diaphoretic. Stimulates salivary
leaf alleviates toothache. Regulates menstrual
and
gastric glands. Slight sedative action
on
central nervous system. Best used in flatulent
dyspepsia. Beer flavouring and liqueur. Candied rhizomes used as sweetmeats. Young leaf buds in salads.
colic,
Insecticide; powder repels white ants. Perfume additive similar to orris root. Toothpowder, hair-powders and dry shampoos.
Snuff. Contra-indications
Oil
of acorus
has reputed
carcinogenic properties.
alkaloid, aconitine.
Also contains picraconi-
Adiantum capillus-veneris L polypodiaceae Maidenhair Fern Venus Hair The generic name Adiantum is from the Greek
tine and aconine.
word
Uses (dried root tubers, whole plant fresh or
repels water
dried
wet environment. The specific and
j
Sedative; pain
killer; antipyretic.
used for feverish conditions, ally for neuralgia
and
now
only extern-
"
S.
To
names
POISON-
be used only by medical personnel.
unwetted, since the foliage
and the
plant's natural habitat
refer to the hair of the
fine, shiny,
sciatica.
Contra-indications All parts intensely (
Once
adiantos or
pudenda
is
a
common after the
black petioles. This was once the
most important herbal ingredient of a popular cough syrup called Capillaire which remained
'43
ADO-AGA divided into 3 leaflets. Distribution Native to Europe, naturalized in eastern North America: often near habitation.
hedgerows.
Wild;
Cultivation
vigorous
too
for
garden
cultivation, although A. podagraria variegatum
used for edging. dried herb, fresh root and leaf Diuretic: sedative. Traditionally taken as a drink for gout and sciatic pains. Boiled root and leaf in is
Uses
hot poultice applied to joints.
Young
leaves
fresh
cooked
spring
in
as
vegetable: taste similar to spinach. Used in salads.
L hippocastanaceae
Aesculus hippocastanum
Horse Chestnut was the
Aesculus
but
the
classical
of the
origins
uncertain:
name
of an oak tree
common name
was used extensively
it
are
in the East
and horse fodder: alternatively the may have differentiated it the edible Sweet Chestnut, Castanea
as cattle
prefix
from
'horse'
sativa.
Deciduous
Description
tree
up
to
very resinous buds, bark smooth in use until the
Some
nineteenth century.
10-40 cm tall; petioles thin, delicate, black and shiny. Leaves ovate to narrowly triangular, finely pinnate, pinnules fan-shaped and toothed: sori reddishbrown on the underside of leaf tips. Distribution Native to Great Britain, central and south Europe. Now world-wide in temperate and tropical regions. Especially near the sea, in caves, wells, on damp walls; cliffs, on chalky soils; but also to 1300 m altitude. Description
Cultivation
loam and
Perennial
fern
Wild. Cultivated as a pot plant in leaf mould mix: requires moisl
atmosphere. Propagate by division. Constituents Mucilage; tannins; gallic
white or double flowered varieties are
cultivated.
cymarin. Valuable heart tonic, not cumulative and less toxic than Digitali-. Dilates coronary arteries. Not widely used due to irregular absorption. Vermifuge. Constituents Glycosides, including
Uses
dried herb
Contra-indications
POISONOUS
Aegopodium podagraria
The name
Weak expectorant: bechic: weak emmenagogue: weak diuretic. Principally employed in chest complaints such as respiratory catarrh, and coughs. Once used in the treatment of both pleurisy and asthma but with little effect in the latter.
herb
Description Perennial
in
suits rockeries.
144
in
and the
ancient times, from
.
Distribution
Native
Cultivation
Grows
Constituents
in
many soils:
often self-sown.
arin: tannins. i'ses fresh seed without seed-coat, branch bark Tonic; narcotic: antipyretic. Bark employed traditionally in intermittent fevers.
Combined
of constituents
action
strengthens
and
arteries
thrombosis.
Seed
extract
rhoids. Fruit
mash
for cattle
Contra-indications
wide.
soils in full
Balkan peninsula: now
Saponin: aescine: flavones; coum-
Seed
veins,
of seeds preventing
relieves haemorand sheep fodder.
POISONOLS. To
be
used by medical personnel only. Aethusa cynapium
moist
to
widely cultivated.
solitary,
L umbelliferae
Fool's Parsley Lesser Hemlock
sun or
sunnv position. A. vernalis A. annua cannot be transplanted.
shade: flowers best
very
umbels of white flowers summer 2-7 cm wide; leaves 10-20 cm long with stalks, sub-
garden.
Grows
seed.
weed with creeping root20-40 cm bearing
Central and south-east Europe. Occasionally wild in temperate zones: can be in the
green, containing
stock; hollow stem reaching
Distribution
Cultivation
on erect conical
spiny,
vegetable.
blood the herb sprang. It is still retained in several European pharmacopoeias. There are two varieties, A. vernalis with yellow flowers and A. annua with red flowers. Description Perennial herb. 10-30 cm high; sparingly branched, leaves numerous and
grown
brown
yellowish,
fruit
Greek aigos meaning goat; podos meaning and podagra the Latin for gout. In the Middle Ages it was cultivated as a pot herb or
L ranunculaceae
cm
or
foot
False Hellebore Pheasant's Eye/Spring Adonis Ox-eye The name is derived from the legend of Adonis, who was killed by a wild boar and from whose
terminal, rich yellow. 3-6
pink
inflorescence:
L umbelliferae
suggests both the leaf shape
the
essential oil.
early spring
white,
Herb Gerard acid:
fresh, or dried, leafy fronds occasionally
divided: flowers
and becomes scaly: leaves subdivided into 5-7 leaflets, 8-20 cm long: flowers early summer
Ground Elder Goutweed/Bishops-weed/
minute quantities of an
much
high:
sonnel only.
specific use of this
Adonis vernalis
in
m
small amounts: to be used by medical per-
sugars; various bitter principles: capillarine:
i'ses
even
35
when young
Known
in
—w
to
Dog
Poison
sixteenth-century apothecaries as
apium rusticum.
this
is
a highly poisonous herb.
;
ADO-AGA as
indeed the
common names
when
required
suggest.
Care
orthodox western medicine, the use of Buchu was learned from the native Hottentots by the colonists of the Cape of Good Hope. It was first introduced to Europe in 1821. Until
is
collecting edible plants from
the wild. Fool's Parsley, for example, can easily be taken for an edible Parsley.
Annual, flimsy looking, rarely more high, thin, hairless, hollow stem leaves triangular, segments ovate, pinnatifid: umbels of white flowers (summer 2-6 cm wide with 3 or 4 long pendulous bracteoles. Distribution Native to Europe; common, widely distributed; weed of cultivated ground. Cultivation Wild plant. Constituents Toxic principle an alkaloid, cyno-
recent legislation most of the leaf production
Description
than 30
cm
was used States.
is
still
used by herbalists and Originally classified as
African tribesmen. Barosma betulina Bergius Bartl. & H.L. Wendl. Description A small shrub 1— 1.5 m high bearing smooth rod-shaped branches with leathery, |
glossy,
long, 5
pale yellowish-green
mm
-
1
cm
wide.
leaves
Young
cm
1-2
twigs and
toothed margins of leaves have conspicuous
pine.
Uses
United
as a cordial flavouring in the
Buchu
Stomachic; sedative. Once gastro-intestinal complaints of chil-
dried herb
used for
dren, convulsions,
summer
Contra-indications
Very
amounts
pain,
cause
glands.
confusion
oil
flowers.
Cape province of South Africa: mountain-sides and hillsides on dry soil.
Distribution
diarrhoea.
POISONOUS.
White
Wild plant; cultivated on hillsides. comprising up to 40° diosphenol; limonene and menthone. Uses dried leaf) Urinary antiseptic; of use in cystitis and urethritis. A weak diuretic. Used to flavour brandy Buchu brandvV Used as a blackcurrant flavouring. Black South Africans use the leaves mixed with oil as a body perfume.
Small
Cultivation
of vision,
Constituents Volatile oil
vomiting.
L agavaceae Century Plant Agave/American Aloe Agave americana
rtfV
from the Greek for admirable, after the appearance; the common name refers to the mistaken belief that it flowers only after a hundred years' growth. In many tropical countries the Agave provides one of the cheapest and most effective cattle fences availAgave
mm
pulp and brown seeds, 2 wide. Cultivation Wild: cultivated particularly
in
Ghana. pungent resin. Hot and pepper) pepper substitute.
Constituents Essential oil; (
ft!
seeds
Stimulant.
condiment: used
as
Traditionally used in veterinary medicine.
able.
Agathosma
betulina fBerg.
Pillans.
rutaceae
Bucco/Short Buchu/Round Buchu the tew indigenous plants ol southern Africa to lincl a place in both traditional and
Aframomum
melegueta Rose,
monocotyledon, eventuflowering after 10 years or more, after
Description Succulent al lv
Buchu One ol
is
plant's
which
although frequently leaving Leaves are very thick, 5-20 cm wide, long, grey, smooth, and spiny-edged. Flowers to 3 cm long, pale it
dies,
suckers at the base. 1
12m
zingiberaceae
Grains of Paradise Melegueta Pepper/ Guinea Grains
The name
Melegueta is derived from the am ienl African empire ol Mellc which extended ovei the Upper Niger region. It was originally transported from the African west coast across
the deseit
to
porta on
the
Tripoli
coast.
It
served as a spice
in
and was one of
the ingredients ol the spiced
medieval European cuisine
Known as grana parmh n was imported from distant lands, it was sold at Lyons in 1245. At the same time the Welsh physicians ol Myddvai called it grawn wine,
hippocras.
because
it
Paris'.
Herbaceous reed-like plant, 2.5 high, long leaves producing delicate waxlike, pale purple flowers, succeeded by pearDescription
1
rn
shaped
scatlet fruit, 6
tO
cm
long, enclosing
I
I
1
AGR-ALL m
yellowish on horizontal branches of a 6-12 tall stalk.
Constituents Tannin; volatile oil; combination is anti-inflammatory,
resin.
The
antibiotic,
from the Indonesian for tree of heaven, a name first given to another species. The alternative
Distribution
astringent.
common names
ally
Uses (dried flowering plant) Mild astringent;
misnomers,
possibly diuretic. Used for acute sore throats, chronic catarrh, children's diarrhoea, cystitis,
varnish (or copal) material.
Native to tropical America, especiMexico. Introduced and established in southern Europe, India, central and south Africa,
and elsewhere.
Cultivation
On
arid
soils.
Wild. Cultivated as an ornamental
or hedge plant in tropical countries; propagate
;
agave
gum
saponoside; cutin; hecogenin, a sapogenin sugar, agavose. Uses (fresh or dried leaf, juice, root,
emmenagogue;
Purgative;
diuretic;
;
a
gum)
insecti-
cide; counter-irritant.
Wide
folk-medical use in tropical countries,
brown indehiscent winged
wounds. The
yields a yellow dye.
vomiting. Description
is
fermented
to yield the
Mexican
alcoholic drink, pulque.
Powdered leaf employed as snuff; root used in washing clothes. Used for fencing in tropical countries. In veterinary medicine it is only used as a purgative.
Agrimonia eupatoria specific
name
Perennial grass; long jointed, diabranching, yellowish rhizome 1-3 meter; erect glabrous stems; bright greenishwide; small purplish grey leaves up to 15 flowers in spikes appearing mid-summer to
fruit called samara. Chinese native. Naturalized in eastern North America. Cultivation Wild. Introduced horticulturally to
Distribution
urban areas as a shade-tree due to its rapid growth, and resistance to pollution and disease. Easily grown from seed. Constituents
Fixed
oil
;
volatile oil
;
gum
;
oleo-
mm
mm
autumn. Widely distributed Europe; naturalized in United
early
Distribution
native States
of
and
Steeples/Sticklewort
of this herb refers to Mith-
who
radates Eupator, ancient king of Persia,
was renowned
and
Description
L rosaceae
Agrimony Church The
gramineae
Grass troublesome weed to gardeners, Couch Grass has played a long and important role as a medicinal herb, and was promoted by Dioscorides and Pliny. European country people still drink it as a tisane and it is one of the plants eaten by sick dogs to induce
well-known
particularly for external application to burns
juice
'varnish' tree are
A
and contusions.
The
and
Couch Grass Twitch Grass/Witch
whole plant
as a lotion for
Agropyron repens (L) Beauv.
and oxalates;
phloionolic acid; oxalic acid
'copal'
the tree does not provide a
Rapidly growing deciduous tree reaching 10-20 m; leaves 30 cm-i m long, subdivided into 11— 14 oblong, lanceolate or ovate, gland-bearing leaflets 7.5-1 1.5 cm long. Flowers small, greenish in terminal panicles 10-20 cm long followed by reddish-
and externally
from seed or suckers. Constituents (leaf) acrid volatile oil
as
as a herbalist.
'Agrimony'
is
a
corruption of the Greek word argemon, a white speck on the cornea of the eye. This herb was
once famous for the healing of wounds, and it was an ingredient of eau de arquebusade, used to treat wounds, from the fifteenth-century word for musket or arquebus. Still used in European folk
medicine.
downy, red30-60 cm high; compound pinnate leaves, up to 20 cm long. Flowers (summerautumn) yellow, 5-8 mm wide and numerous. Distribution Throughout Asia, Europe, North America; common on roadsides, waste-ground, Description Perennial herb; erect
dish stems,
hedgebanks. Cultivation Wild, but easily propagated by root division in autumn. Tolerates varying conditions.
troublesome
in eastern states.
Australia and S. America.
Northern Asia,
Weed
of arable and
^jfr^yj;
Wild
plant.
'. Constituents
resembles
Triticin inulin)
;
(a
carbohydrate which
sugar;
inositol;
salts
of
potassium; mucilage; acid malates; a volatile oil with antibiotic properties. Uses (dried rhizome) Diuretic; urinary antiseptic. Useful in cystitis. Underground parts
once used
'..V 146
m
and
glycosides.
Uses
wasteland. Cultivation
resin; sugars; oxalic acid; possibly alkaloids
as cattle food.
(fresh
root
and stem bark)
hoea.
unpleasant causing nausea, is vomiting and debility, and is therefore no longer employed.
Ailanthus altissima (Mill.) Seingle
Ajuga reptans
Bugle
ornamental. The medicinal value of the bark in France in 1859. Ailanthus is
dried
The remedy
simaroubaceae Tree-of-Heaven Copal Tree/Varnish Tree Introduced to England in 1751 from Nanking in China, and then in 1800 to the United States where it rapidly became a popular was discovered
or
Emetic; cathartic; antihelmintic; astringent. Formerly used in the treatment of dysentery and diarrhoea, asthma, epilepsy, palpitations and as a douche in gonorrhoea and leucorr-
L labiatae
Common
Weed One of
the
or Creeping Bugle/Bugle
common names
of Bugle
is
the
Carpenter's Herb, which reflects its original importance as a plant used to stop bleeding. Known to apothecaries as 'bugula' the herb is rarely used today, but it possesses other
AGR-ALL properties which as yet have not been fully
considered more effective although
researched.
been proven. with
Perennial
Description
leafy
or
stolons
runners; basal spatulate leaves form rosette; stem square, hairy on two sides and bearing
6-12 small blue flowers
in early to late
summer.
Occasionally white or pink flowered mutants. European native; introduced Distribution
Common on damp ground in loamy
elsewhere. rich
soil,
in
nutrients.
Mixed
woodland,
meadows. Wild plant; horticultural and variegata.
Cultivation
purpurea
Constituents
Tannins;
unknown
varieties
digitalis-like
cm
high;
diameter divided into 5-7 silky beneath, glabrous above; small yellow-green flowers in clusters on branched, erect, thin stems. Flowering from mid-summer until early autumn. white
leaflets
Prolonged use
in
and excessive
menstruation.
Used
in veterinary
medicine
for
diarrhoea.
and
Mountain ranges of Europe and
Distribution
styptic.
mountain pastures of northern Europe. Cultivation Wild plant. Constituents Similar to Alchemilla vulgaris
(Lady's
tinctoria Tausch. boraginaceae Alkanet Dyer's Bugloss/Spanish Bugloss
Alkanna
Although several colouring plants are now called Alkanets, Alkanna tinctoria probably was the first to be used. Its name is derived from the Spanish alcanna which came from the Arabic al-henna, the well-known Henna dye. Alkanet means the 'little alcanna'. It was exported
Mantle but
Uses (dried leaves) As for Lady's
considered more effective.
(dried whole herb)
Astringent; bitter;
Formerly used to stop haemorrhages; for coughs, and ulcers. Thought to aromatic.
possess heart tonic qualities.
.
10-12
Mantle).
substances. Uses
cm
leaves 3-7
and
plant) Astringent
relieves discomfort of menopause
Perennial herb
Description
has not
this
rosaceae Lady's Mantle Lion's Foot This is an example of a herb which acquired Alchemilla vulgaris agg.
a
r\
2
\M.
#-*sT# 1
4i
K
1
Alchemilla alpina L rosaceae Alpine Lady's Mantle
The
historical
associations of Alpine
Mantle are similar vulgaris.
reputation
to
those
far
greater
than
therapeutic
its
action would have suggested. Although un-
Lady's
of Alchemilla
Traditionally the alpine species was
known by
ancienl classical writers
it
became
important northern European magical plant on the discovery that ovcrnighl dew collected in the funnel-shaped folds of its partly closed nine-lobed leaves. To alchemically minded sixteenth century scientists dew was strongly magical, and so in turn was Lad\ 's Mantle. Hieronymus Bock emphasized this In an
ascribing the
name
Alchemilla or
the
'little
magical one' to the herb. Description Perennial herb, 10 50 cm hii^h. branched stems bearing lew round or rcniform leaves 3-8 cm in diameter, with 7 it lobes;
mm
flowers not prominent, 3 5 in diameter, greenish-yellow, in terminal panicles; tippet flowers small
spring
early closely
the
and without petals. Appearing to mid-autumn. At least {
1
1
related species are aggregated iindei
name
Northern Europe and mountainous areas of central and southern Europe. Prefers deep loamy moist soil in meadows, pastures, open grassy woodland, paths. Calcifugous. Cultivation Wild plant. Distribution
Tannins.
Unknown
anti-inflam-
mators substances. Action anti-diarrhoeal. Uses
(dried
leaves,
rarely
Pentaglottis
Description
dried
flowering
and
sempervirens,
Alkanet, Anchusa
Thick root up
reaching 30
narrow
the
Common
cm
long with
officinalis.
to 10
purplish root bark, bearing
cm
high;
numerous
stalks
leaves are long
somewhat
alternate,
hairy,
and
many
around root crown. Attractive funnel-shaped, purple-blue, sometimes white
clustering
or yellow, flowers; appearing late early
summer
to
autumn.
Distribution Central
and southern Europe-. At
roadsides, dry sandy Cultivation
soil.
Calcifugous.
Wild plant.
Constituents
Possibly an alkaloid poisonous to
mammals. Uses (root, root bark) Not used medicinally.
Used variously
Alchemilla vulgaris).
Constituents
from Spain, Germany and France for centuries as a dye for pharmaceutical and cosmetic use. It was also used by victuallers. It is now often replaced by the Evergreen Alkanet,
colour
is
as a colouring agent.
A
red
released in oils and waxes but not in
water. Alliaria petiolata (Bieb.) (,ki<
11
1
Cavara & Grande
ERAS
Garlic Mustard Hedge Garlic/Jac k-by-thchedge A common European herb which has nevei
'47
ALL-ALO Shallot, formerly A. ascalonicum L, with this
Allium sativum
and numerous cultivars of A. cepa now exist, including some bred to crop within a limited range of day-length and temperatures. The unusual top Onions, (Egyptian or Tree Onions) were recorded by Dalechamp in 1587, and are usually grown as herb garden
Garlic
species
When late
present
they
are
greenish-
summer.
Probably native to central Asia or Now world-wide.
Distribution
Cultivation Cultivated plant, or wild very rarely.
Numerous
which are now submajor characteristics into
cultivars exist
divided according to 3 groups: the Cepa group, the Proliferum group, the Aggregatum group. The first group
of the crushed plant. Description Garlic-smelling biennial or peren-
reaching 30-100 cm; stem erect, simple. Leaves thin, pale green, petiolate, coarsely nial
cordate above, reniform beneath. Flowers small white, 6 diameter, in a false umbel; appearing mid-spring to mid-summer.
crenate,
mm
Distribution
European
native. In
open waste-
land, moist woodland, on well-drained nutri-
ent-rich
soil.
Cultivation
Wild
Constituents
grine,
in
oil;
a
heteroside,
water yields the aglycone,
and
cuts or
in small quantities as a salad herb, boiled, or in
seed can be taken as a
condiment.
L liliaceae
Onion The Onion
has been in cultivation for so long country of origin is uncertain and it is now rarely, if ever, found wild. The plant is recorded in the works of the Chaldeans, Egyptians and Greeks, and as that
its
early as a.d. 79 Pliny described in detail and the varieties to be used.
its
cultivation
Columella in a.d. 42 introduced the word from which the common name is derived. Modern classification groups the unionem
148
juice)
Antibiotic;
the stem. Description Perennial or biennial; sub-globular
bulbs consisting of 8-20 cloves
partial bulbs pink-white skin. Several erect, long pointed leaves 1-2.5 cm w ide,
surrounded by flat,
to
15
cm
silky
long arising from base or crown.
Unbranched stem
spathe
7.5- 10
of
rose-white
greenish
or
flowers,
warm climates.
Prefers rich, light, well-drained
soils.
Cultivation
This plant has been grown from
the Mediterranean to Central Asia for centuries. Several varieties exist including small cloved and giant forms, and white, pink, or
mauve skinned
Flavour varies from
forms.
sweet to nutty, mild
to strong.
cloves in spring or preferably
dry 4
soil, in
cm
autumn
a sunny position, 15
cm
Essential
oil,
disulphide and
B2
allyl
comprising mainly propyl disulphide;
C; antibacterial subI and II:
vitamins A, also
in rich,
apart and
deep.
Constituents allyl
Plant individual
stances comprising allicin, allicetoin colds,
often
mm
antispasmodic; hypoglycaemic. Useful in the treatment of coughs,
and
long,
displaced by sterile pinkish bulbils 4 long. Distribution Asian native; introduced in all
diuretic; expectorant; hypotensive; stomachic;
cm
pointed, bearing apical, small, dense umbels
Bi,
an enzyme
,
alliinase.
expectorant; weak anthelmintic; weak fungi-
of use externally to relieve pain from
Allium cepa
fresh
is
level.
neuralgia, and rheumatism. Leaf may be used
The crushed
bulb,
The common name
duces the blood pressure and the blood-sugar
vulnerary; stimulant; rube-
dilute poultice, applied to ulcers
sauces.
(fresh
soldiers.
derived from the Anglo-Saxon leac meaning a pot-herb and gar, a lance, after the shape of
sini-
abrasions, cleans and aids healing; undiluted, is
Uses
,
Roman
were
allyl
facient; expectorant; diuretic.
it
,
garlic cloves daily to sustain their strength as
Uses (fresh bulb) Antibacterial: hypotensive;
Uses (fresh, or dried flowering plant occasion-
A
;
has been cultivated in the East for cen-
turies
Re-
isothiocyanate. ally) Antiseptic;
culinary
the Shallot, usually sterile but producing a crop of bulbs at the base and grown from these in early spring or late autumn. All onions prefer a very rich, deep soil. Constituents Similar to those of garlic also containing glucokinins; pectin; flavonoid glycosides; vitamins A, B,, B 2 B 5 C, E; nicotinamide.
bronchitis, laryngitis
plant.
Essential
which
common
Onion and its members have single bulbs and are usually propagated from seed sown in spring or autumn or from sets sown in summer. The second group contains the Tree Onion and its members produce swollen bulbils in the inflorescence, and are propagated from these bulbils in late spring or late autumn, or by division every 3 years. The last group contains contains the
as A. officinalis Bieb., the generic name derived from allium or garlic after the smell
flavour of the cloves develops best
and was widely employed medicinally by the Egyptians and Romans. The slaves that constructed the pyramid of Cheops were given
south-west India.
known
warm
most of the
is
It
appearing
is
in
The
is one of used dailv climates of the
flavourings and
120 cm, characteristically with 4-6 aromatic,
bulbils.
Also
cooking
world.
of the onion family,
Description Variable biennial or perennial to
white, small, numerous, in rounded umbels,
medically.
in
member common
in sunny countries, and may be rank when grown in northern Europe.
and hollow scape. Flowers sometimes absent or replaced by
much importance
the most
novelties.
cylindrical, hollow leaves
been of
Garlic, a
L liliaceae
gastro-enteritis.
Used externally as a local stimulant, on cuts, treat acne, and to promote hair growth. An important vegetable and flavouring.
cide. to
sion
Employed and
in the
treatment of hyperten-
arteriosclerosis; as a carminative
an expectorant
in
and
bronchial catarrh. Provides
protection against the
common cold, amoeboid
-
ALL-ALO dvsentery, typhoid and other infectious diseases. Garlic also increases the flow of bile and
was once used as an inhalation treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis. Wide culinary use; both fresh and cooked, the fresh juice
in the
when
the flavour varies.
vinegars and
Employed
in butters,
aroma
Parsley reduces the
salt.
on the breath. Contra-indications
May
be slightly irritant to the
skin.
Allium schoenoprasum
L liliaceae
Chives Chives is the only member of the onion group found wild in both Europe and North America, and although used for centuries was not cultivated until the Middle Ages. It cannot be dried with any success but may be quickfrozen and stored.
with blood led to the tradition that
larity
Perennial in clumps; small bulbs
Description
Alders was unlucky.
felling
The
tree
is
an
dark
inhabitant of wet environments and coinci-
diameter, green leaves, 20-30 cm long, 2-3 bearing in the summer an inflorescence of pink
was as a support under bridges or buildings. Venice is largely constructed on Alder posts.
produce
grass-like
cylindrical
hollow
mm
purple flowers in a compact spherical capitulum. Distribution Native to cool parts of Europe: introduced and naturalized in North America. Tolerates a wide range of conditions from dry. rocky places to stream banks, damp grassland or
and wood edges. Cultivation Wild but cultivated commcrcialK
dentally
main
its
use
Medium
Description
sized tree or large shrub,
reaching 25 m; leaves stalked, obovate, 5-10 long, downy veins underneath, sticky when unfolding: small flowers appear before leaves
cm
in early spring;
female catkins referred to as
in autumn. North Africa, Europe, parts of Asia. Introduced and locally naturalized else-
'berries'
almost spherical, formed
Distribution
where.
Prefers
moist,
swampy
sites
beside
Wild plant; cultivated commercially and the Caribbean. Grown as a house
Cultivation
in Africa
plant.
Barbaloin and isobarbaloin, formaloin; 'amorphous' aloin; aloe-emodin resin volatile oil. Action on large intestine largely due to purgative effect of Constituents
ing
'crystalline'
;
;
aloins
and aloe-emodin.
Uses (the brownish crystalline solid, resulting
from drying the liquid which exudes from cut L sed normally in combination with carminatives to prevent griping.
leaf blades! Purgative.
T
Fresh juice used
burns.
to heal
Contra-indications Excessive use induces
haemor-
rhoids.
streams. Cultivation
Wild plant.
Bark,
Uses
Aloysia triphylla Britt.
Tonic, astringent. Bark
leaves
decoctions once used as gargle and for external inflammations. Formally used in bitters. I
sed as a wool dye, the bark produces reds
blacks,
young shoots yellow,
the
fresh
and
wood
pink and the catkins green.
Once
L
A. perryi
Baker A.ferox Miller
LILIACEAE
Aloes Curacao/Socotrine/Cape
One
ol
history.
the
most important crude drugs of
Aloe vera
is
still
extensively used in
modern medicine. Known and horticulturally in northern Europe and America. Variable in form depending on environment. A large leaved type exists.
ander the Greal
Chinese chives A. tuberosum
Socotra
«
1
flavoured and has
flat solid
is
larger,
<
1
1
OS user-
leaves. Propagate
to
the Greeks at
as early as the fourth century B.C., a legend claims that Aristotle requested Alexleast
and
to
1
onquer the inhabitants of produced Aloes
the island which
install
Greeks.
the
In
tenth
century,
lis sowing seed in mid-spring, or by division ol clumps in spring or autumn. An excellent
however, Moslem travellers reported that Socotra was still the only place cultivating
decorative edging plant
Aloes.
Constituents
Very
for
similar
herb gardens. to
garlic
Allium
Uses
{
fresh or quick-frozen leaf)
Used only
lor
culinary purposes, (hopped in sauces, soups. salads
and
Curacao or Barbados Aloes were London druggists in 1693, and Cape
offered by
Aloes were exported
sativum).
as a garnish.
Description
Several
I
he
derives
from
an
old
Germanic word meaning reddish-yellow. sm< e the trunks change from white to reddishvellow alter felling.
A
lili-
flesh)
margin and producing woody branching
m
betulaceae Common Alder Owler
common name
of succulent
leaf blades, usually prickly at the
Alnus glulinosa (L) Gaertn or
species
1780.
aceous plants forming clusters of very tip; stemless or
Alder English
first in
supposed colour simi-
stems; from 45 cm- 15 tall, bearing erect spikes of yellow, orange or red flowers. Appears most of the year. Distribution Natives of dry,
and
This South American plant was introduced to Europe by the Spaniards and was once used to give a lemon scent to fingerbowls at banquets. The former botanical name Lippia citriodora
HBK
and the common name reflect the lemon scent of the plant's leaves. Lemon Verbena's modern generic name, Aloysia comes from the name Louisa, after Maria Louisa, wife of King Charles IV of Spain. Although half-hardy this herb makes a good indoor plant, as well as providing attractive and aromatic stems and foliage for flower strong
extensively used by tanners.
Aloe vera
verbenaceae
Lemon Verbena
Tannins.
Constituents
sunny areas of south
east Africa; naturalized in north Africa,
Spain, Indonesia and the Caribbean islands
arrangement. Description Aromatic shrub to 3 m, but rarely more than 1.2— 1.5 m in cooler northern temperate zones. Branches striate and scabrous, bearing whorls of 3-4 leaves which are entire, 5
7.5
cm
long, short-petioled, glabrous,
lanceolate and dotted on the underside with oil-bearing
glands.
Flowers
mm
lavender, small (6 or terminal panicles.
white
or
pale
long) in axillary spikes
Native to Chile and Argentina; widely distributed in tropical zones. Cultivation Wild. Cultivated horticulturally and as a greenhouse plant in temperate zones. Half-hardy in cool temperate countries and Distribution
requires
frost
and
against a south
wind
facing
protection;
wall
on
light,
plant well-
drained soil; protect with straw and cut back at the end of the growing season. Propagate from woody cuttings in early summer or from seed sown under glass in early spring.
1
l'i
ALP- AN E recorded by Ibn Khurdadbah in 869 who listed it with Musk, silk and Camphor as an article of trade from the Far East. It was commonly used in the Middle Ages as a culinary spice with Cloves, Nutmeg and Ginger. The plant from which the root came was not described until 1870, when it was named after Prosper Alpinus the sixteenthcentury 'teacher of drugs' at Padua University. Description Perennial rhizomatous herb of flaglike form; stems reaching 1.5 m, covered with long narrow lanceolate leaves; bearing racemes of orchid-shaped flowers, white and veined
rhizome 3-9 cm long, 2 cm thick; pleasantly aromatic when dried. Distribution South China, tropical south-east red;
comprising mainly
Uses
(fresh
dried
or
leaf)
Antispasmodic;
stomachic; aromatic.
As a
tea
it
is
Also galangol; galangin; kaempferide.
Of use in
flatulent dyspepsia.
Once used
for seasickness. Snuff for catarrh. Culinary spice. Vinegar and cordial manufacture; brewing. Popular in east European, Russian and Indian cuisine.
nausea, indigestion, flatulence, palpitations,
Althaea
Marshmallow used
be
flavouring in cakes,
sparingly fruit
as
dishes
a lemon and sweet
officinalis
Sweet Weed/Schloss Tea/
Althea
The name
is
well
known
as a confectionery
;
the
was a soothing paste
containing the powdered root. The plant has a long medicinal and culinary history; the
The
Romans
dried leaf
is
employed
in
pot-pourris and
perfumery. Contra-indications Prolonged use or large internal dosage may cause gastric irritation. oil
used
is
in
Alpinia officinarum
Galangal
Hance zingiberaceae
East India Root/Galans;a
was introduced into European medicine by the writings of the Arabic physicians Rhazes and Avicenna; it was first
This
150
root
level to
Constituents
30%
keep cool. mucilage comprising glucosan and xylan; responsible for demulcent action. Also sucrose; lecithin; phytosterol; asparagin.
Externally as poultice for leg
gastric ulcers. ulcers.
Powdered
ingredients in
and then
fried
pill
root used to bind active manufacture. Roots boiled
with butter, or young tops eaten
in spring salad.
Althaea rosea (L) Cav.
and
considered
in the
it
a delicious vegetable,
ninth century the
Emperor Charle-
magne promoted its cultivation in Europe. Today it is widely used both in folk and modern medicine. Description
1-
1.
with
25
m 3 -5
petioles;
Erect
hardy
perennial
reaching
high; stem and leaves hairy, latter lobes
or
5-petalled
undivided white
or
and
pink
Malvaceae or Garden Hollyhock
well-known and widely distributed it first reached Europe from China in the sixteenth century, after which it was used both as a medicinal herb and a pot-herb. Turner gave it the name Holyoke in 1548 indicating the blessed mallow, and a
decorative garden plant
scented sachets.
The
light soil if
below root
Now
L Malvaceae
original pate de guimauve
foodstuffs, or in drinks.
autumn. compost introduced
or division of root-stocks in spring or
Succeeds on
Hollyhock Common
of benefit in the treatment of
vertigo.
Leaf may
autumn.
Uses (dried root, 2 years old; le-aves, flowers)
Similar to Ginger. oil,
until early
Moist places throughout Europe from Norway to Spain; temperate parts of western and northern Asia; Asia Minor, Australia, and eastern North America. Prefers saline areas, salt marshes and damp land near to sea or estuaries. Often wild. Cultivation Wild and commercially cultivated. Propagation by seed sown spring or summer, Distribution
Demulcent; emollient. Relieves inflammations of mouth and pharynx, and gastritis and
Uses (dried rhizome) Carminative, stimulant. Essential
clustered in leaf axils,
summer
Wild; grown commercially. Constituents Essential oil and resin, both stimulant.
Constituents
in diameter,
in late
Asia, Iran. Cultivation
citral.
3-4 cm appear
short
flowers,
Lyte
in
1578 called
it
the 'beyondsea rose'.
Description Tall biennial
producing
in
second
m
year spire-like, hairy, flowering stem up to 3 tall; iarge, rough, long-stalked 5-7 lobed leaves, in the axils of which are
formed flowers, up to 10 cm in diameter on short peduncles. Colour from pale pink or yellow to purpleblack. Flowering mid-summer to late autumn. Distribution Cultivation
Native of China.
One
Now
widespread.
of the oldest cultivated plants;
;
ALP- AN E from seed. Tolerates most soils. Mucilage; volatile oil; tannin and anthocyanin pigment. Uses (dried double purple flowers) Antiinflammatory, emollient, mildly purgative. Used as tisane for chest complaints or as a mouthwash. Colours wine. easily raised
Anacardium
Constituents
Cashew Nut
L anacardiaceae
occidentale
Although only the nut or kernel
known
tropical
this
tree
and products, and
variety of uses
widely-
is
provides
wide
a
is
of some
in Africa
and
Spreading attractive evergreen
tree
importance
in native
medicine
the Americas. Description
Amaranthus hypochondriacus
L amaranthaceae Amaranth Love-lies-bleeding/ Red Cockscomb This herb is one of a number of Amaranthus
reaching 12 m, bearing alternate oval leaves 10-20 cm long, 3-10 cm wide, and scented panicles 20 cm long of yellow-pink flowers each
which have been taken into horticultural cultivation. Most were native to tropical countries where they are predomin-
receptacle
species or varieties
antly coarse looking plants usually used as pot-herbs.
The name
amaranton
meaning
Greek
derives from the 'not
since
fading'
the
crimson flowers do not fade with the death of the plant, and thus the plant came to symbolize
The
immortality.
bright red colour led to the
1
cm
across.
Flowers followed by fleshy edible (cashew-apple)
enclosing
partly
kidney shaped nut. Distribution Native to tropical American zones
and
naturalized
cultivated
in
tropical
countries. Cultivation
Commercially
in groves
and occurs
infrequently in the wild. Constituents Protein: niacin;
magnesium;
iron;
anacardic acid: cardol. stems up to 30 cm long, thinner branched ascending stems bearing opposite leaves, ovoid and spotted black on the under-
square
with purple centre, appearing in leaf axil from early summer to early autumn. There are two varieties of Anagallis arvensis, one red and one blue. Distribution Widely distributed in temperate zone, especially Europe. Found in loamy soil side; scarlet flowers, often
single, long-stalked,
with
high
content;
nutrient
vegetable and
cornfields; rare on wasteland.
Saponin.
Constituents fully
Use
Active
principles
not
understood.
(leaf,
whole herb,
Once
diaphoretic.
phobia,
fresh or dried). Diuretic,
used
depression
in
hydro-
epilepsy,
following
liver
disease,
dropsy, and rheumatic conditions. Leaves once
used
in salads.
Cosmetic herb
'pimpernel
as
water' for freckles. Contra-indications
POISONOUS;
there
is
evi-
dence the plant causes anaemia. Leaves can belief that the plant stopped
all
kinds of bleed-
part of the seventeenth-century school ol
ing
thought known as the Doctrine of Signatures. annual to 2 m; i<< t. upper parts branched; leaves dull green, spotted with purple, 3 15 cm long, 15 to I.75 cm wide, on thin petioles; the small Description Tall glabrous
<
mm
greenish or usually crimson flowers, borne on erect terminal clusters, to 20 cm long, appeal
summer.
in late
Uses
nut,
Nut or kernel content Tree bark once
tree bark, fruit)
malarial fevers and fresh shell removes warts and corns. Juice from fruit made into wine and spirit. Milky secretion from incised tree makes indelible marking ink. Non-drying lubricant oil from nut. Ammonium salts of resin form hair dye. Contra-mdications Oil from fresh shell strongly
used
in certain
juice
vesicant,
Native of tropics and American central states. Prefers waste-grounds, ultivated fields.
oil.
nutritive, high protein
1
ausing skin
blisters.
Distribution
(
Wild or grown horticulturally from
Cultivation
seed
sown
Constituents
in ipring.
Mucilage; sugars.
Uses (dried flowering herbi Astringent. in
diarrhoea. Externally as wash
as gargle for
swelling,
Young
lor
Oftue ulcers;
ulcerated mouth; to reduce
and
also as
leaves of
douche
lor
Amaranthus
tissue
leucorrhoea.
species widely
used as a vegetable.
The
related A. retrofiexus (L) oner used as
alternative
Content.
made
It
soap,
to
was
due
to
high
an
saponin
also used as a vegetable; seeds
into flour.
Anagallis arvensis
L primulaceae
Scarlet Pimpernel Pool Mans Weatherglass This is an interesting herb which merits modern research. It was held in high esteem from the time of the earliest Greeks until the nineteenth century and is now rarely used, even in folk medicine. Evidence suggests that it is of benefit in melancholia and diseases of the brain; its Latin name derives from the Greek 'to delight", a term given to the herb by common name is Dioscorides; another 'laughter bringer'.
and
close
Description
if
The
flowers are sensitive,
rain threatens.
Annual herb; prostrate creeping
cause dermatitis.
L ranunculaceae
Anemone alpina
Alpine
Anemone
Previously classified botanically as Pulsatilla
Schrank. and Anemone acutipetala Hort., herb formerly enjoyed only local European
alpina this
folk-medical
use,
either classical or
and
is
not
mentioned
in
modern works.
Description Perennial on thick rhizome; stems reaching 10-40 cm, soft-hairy. Leaves large,
long-petioled, ternate then 2
pinnate. Flowers with 6 sepals, solitary, 5 7.5 cm wide, white tinged with violet; appearing mid-spring to early
summer.
Native to the mountains of Europe. Introduced elsewhere.
Distribution
Cultivation
Wild.
Hegi, which is
The
subspecies sulphurea (L)
characterized by yellow flowers, lound in alpine collections. Propagate by is
division or root cuttings in
autumn
spring; or from seed as soon as Constituents
it
is
or early
ripe.
Protoanemonine; anemomne.
Uses (whole, dried flowering plant) Irritant;
anodyne. Formerly used in the treatment of toothache alterative;
•5
1
AXE-APH petioles reaching 30
cm
kidney-shaped 3-lobed
leaves, green above, reddish-purple beneath.
cm in diameter, born on hairy scapes reaching 40 cm; from mid-winter to early autumn. Distribution North temperate zone; mainly in moist deciduous woodland, preferably calcareous, with loamy soil. Cultivation Wild plant. Propagate by division soon after flowering; in sheltered position on ordinary soil with good drainage; or from seed gathered and sown in mid-spring. In shade. Seed dispersed by ants. Constituents Mucilage; tannin; sugar. Action Light blue flowers, 4
singly
Fresh
Constituents
ranunculin. This
plant
contains
glycoside,
converted via protoaneanemonine on drying. Action due is
monine to anemonine.
to
Sedative; analgesic;
Uses (dried aerial parts
nervine;
some
Used
spasmolytic.
headaches,
for
skin eruptions, earache, painful condi-
tion of reproductive organs.
Employed homeo-
and
also for menstrual
pathically for measles pain.
POISONOUS
Contra-indications
when
fresh.
Dried herb should only be administered by medical personnel. Overdosage causes violent gastroenteritis
and convulsions.
uncertain. Fresh leaf contains the poisonous
protoanemonine. Uses
Anethum graveolens
Demulcent:
dried leaves and flowers
pectoral; tonic. Tisane used for liver congestion,
kidney, gall-bladder and digestive dis-
Of use as syrup
orders.
Distilled
for
coughs or bronchitis.
water once used
Contra-indications
in large doses.
pain, but
due
to
its
toxicity
it
Contra-indications
POISONOUS;
not be taken
name Easter.
Anemone hepatica
L ranunculaceae
Liverwort This delicate looking herb possesses individual flowers which last for little more than one week but which in that time have the ability to double in length. Its name comes from the heparatos
meaning
liver: in folk
used for treating the Description Small perennial; is still
root-stock:
almost
medicine
is
much branched produces
still is
respected
grown widely
its
beat". it
in
as a
and has been
in
it
is
and
a constituent of gripe water
still
common name
is
is
The
derived from an old Indo-
shaped
to
1
m
with spindle-
tall,
root, bearing usually
one
stalk: leaves
specitn
Gerard
flowers at traditional
decorative
plant.
Erect,
Description
5-40 cm
soft,
hairy
perennial
herb
high, with bi- or tri-pinnate leaves
appearing as rosette after solitary flower formed: flowers hairy, dark blue-violet, 6 petals, 3 -5 cm long, from late spring to mid-
summer.
liver.
evergreen;
It
medicine, and
Kidneywort American
Greek
'to
called the herb Pasque Flower as
internally.
it
meaning
Pulsatilla
Seed
in the Bible
use as a medicinal herb from the earliest times;
belliferous plant,
Legend maintains- that anemones only open when a wind is blowing, and the Greek word anemos means 'wind'. Certainly this very attractive hairy plant waves about in the slightest breeze, a fact reflected in
has fallen into disuse.
mentioned
is
European word meaning 'to blossom". Description Aromatic annual; typically um-
Anemone Pulsatilla L ranunculaceae Pasque Flower Windflower
and rheumatic
Dill
L umbelliferae
Dill
often included in children's medicines.
for freckles.
POISONOUS
Weed
Dill Dill
on
Wild on dry, sunny, calcareous throughout Europe. Introduced elsewhere. Prefers well-drained chalky oil. in dry. Distribution
slopes
warm
situations.
Cultivation
Wild
plant. Cultivated by division
of rhizomes after flowering or seed sown in
shallow tray in spring. Other horticultural varieties are alba
and
rubra.
feathery,
leaflets
of
consisting
linear;
numerous
terminal yellow
umbels
flowers
in
mid-summer. Distribution
W ild r
Asia.
countries.
Origin southern Europe or western in cornfields of mediterranean Now widespread garden herb.
Tolerates most Cultivation
soils.
From
seed sown in spring; easily
cultivated. Constituents Oil of Dill comprising,
d-carvone:
d-limonene: some phellandrine. Uses
(dried ripe fruit,
fresh
or dried leaf
.
Carminative: stomachic: slightly stimulant. Excellent as Dill water for digestive problems in children, especially flatulence.
Pickled cucumbers, flavouring for soup, sauces,
cakes,
pastries.
Dill
vinegar.
fish,
Most
important in Scandinavian and central European cuisine. Perfumes soap.
1^2
.
AXE APH Angelica archangelica
L umbelliferae
Angelica European
Now
best
known
or
Garden Angelica
as a decorative confectionery
the candied green stems, Angelica an important ingredient of liqueurs and aperitifs. It does not appear to have been used until the fifteenth century, soon after which it acquired a reputation as a plant which gave
made from
is
also
protection against evil and the plague.
European Christianized names hints
origins
north
planfs
tion with early
at
The
and
its
deep associa-
its
Nordic magic.
Description Biennial or perennial: if latter last-
up
ing
to
4 years; from 1-2.5 m m gli, stem cm thick, bearing few triangular
hollow, to 6
deeply dentate leaves to 90
cm
long.
Large
numerous greenish-white flowers, mid-summer to early autumn. Distribution Native to northern Europe or Asia. Introduced and cultivated elsewhere. Common garden herb; prefers damp meadows,
spherical umbels of
river banks, waste-grounds. Cultivation
Seed rapidly
loses viability;
sow
as
mid-autumn in deep moist soil. soon Transplant following autumn to m apart, or as ripe in
1
transplant offshoots from 2 year old plants to
name Antennaria comes from
botanical
was not important even
species
cine, but
the
pappus resembles antennae. This
fact that the
much
use
is
made
in folk
medi-
of it in dried flower
arrangements. Various related species, however, have been used more than the species dwica for example, an American relative. (•naphalium polycephalum classified as
dwica previous!}
Gnaphalium dioicum was a favourite
remedy
Indian
A.
for
mouth
and the
ulcers,
Chinese herbalists use G. multueps
Wall,
to
treat coughs.
20 mi high, on single unbranched erect or 5 decumbent stem. Spatulate basal leaves in .1
rosette to 8.5
cm
and tomentose
long, white
beneath, green and glabrous above. Linearlanceolate stern leaves. Flowers
",
dense terminal involucre, which
nun long is
woolly
l
m
apart.
Volatile oil and derivatives ol coumarin which stimulate digestive se< retions, control peristalsis and increase appetite. Also bitter principles; sugar; valeric and angelic Constituents
dried rhizome
1
and
roots, seeds, fresh leal
Aromatic; stimulant
sterns
;
carminative.
islands;
to
pasture,
light
25OO dry
m
altitude,
Cultivation Constitui
I
an in 11 essential :
The combined
oil
;
Once
Wide
bronchitis and bilious conditions.
and
portant constituent
confectionery ol
use.
Im-
liqueurs such as Bene-
soils.
resin
;
a bittei
action promotes the
Stimulates appetite; of benefit in bronchitis, anorexia nervosa, bronchia] catarrh. culinary
on
How ol bile-. / a dried flowering plant Astringent; chole(in weak diuretic 1
in
;
.
used
irr
mixtures
lor
the
treatment ol Mav be used
diarrhoea, and as a throat gargle.
Antennaria dwica (L) Gaertn.
compositae
Cat's Foot
Cudweed
I
In-
down)
this plant
I. lie
Everlasting
leaves
being
and woolly involui re led as Cotton Weed;
known
Anthriscus cerefolium (L] Hoffm. mbei.liferae Chervil Garden Chervil Although this is an important culinai v herb in is not widely grown or used outside France that country. It is however one ol the best herbs lor growing in boxes, and will supplv fresh leal throughout the winter if it is sown \
it
to its
to
Middle
East,
Russia, the Caucasus. Cultivated in
temperate climates. degree of moisture.
Prefers
Cultivation Easily cultivated
light
south
warm and soil
with
from seed, lightly
permanent site, early to mid-spring or autumn. Rapid germination and soon runs to seed. May be sown in boxes lor
soil
at
w inter supplv Volatile
Constituents
oil;
stimulates the meta-
bolism. fresh leaf before flowering
us
poultice
applied
to
Stomachic.
painful
Mainl) used lor culinary purposes; plement most dishes.
will
joints.
com-
Aphanes arvensis agg. rosaceae Parsley Piert Breakstone Parsley
common name
is derived both from a resemblance to Parsley and from the old French perce-pierrc signifying a plant which grows through stonv ground. The Flemish botanist De L'Obel suggested in 1570 that although the herb was not widely used by was commonly employed by the herbalists, poor to 'break' stones in the kidney or bladder. Todav it is one of the most highly respected
The
superficial
it
plants used in the treatment of kidnev Stones.
branched stem up to wedge shaped; insignificant flowers 1.5-2 mm in diameter borne in axillary clusters; appearing from late s|)i int; until late autumn. Description
20
di( line.
Contra-indicatiom Large doses lust stimulate and then paralyze the central nervous system.
Native
Distribution
I
Wild plain.
fits
mm
Warm
woodland and
thickets; prefers poor, porous, sand) dry
principle.
,k ids
and
Aleutian semi-dry
herb
produced mid-summer.
in
White male flowers and pink female appear early sum ma to early autumn. I> Native to central and western tribution Europe, United States and the North Pacific
greenhouse. sweet-smelling
reaching 70 cm high, with pale green delicate leaves, deeply segmented. Stem slightly hairy; in diameter, in flat umbels, flowers white, 2
.11
base
warm
Annual
pressed into
Description Stoloniferous. dioecious perennial.
60
regularly in a Description
cm
Annual;
tall;
Distribution
parts of
leaves,
thin
3-5
lobes,
Native British herb,
Europe on bare
soil
in
common
in
dry places.
cornfields, wasteland, walls, gravel pits. CalciIllgOUS.
'53
API-ARC L ranunculaceae Columbine European Crowfoot
winter. Strong smelling.
Aquilegia vulgaris
Southern European native. Wild in marshy and salty soils in Africa, Europe, South and North America. Cultivation Wild plant.
Columbine is from the Latin columba meaning dove. In the Middle Ages it was referred to as aquilinae and ackeley after the Latin aqmla
Constituents Volatile oils; apiol.
meaning eagle - both terms
Distribution
Uses
dried
or
(fresh
plant,
appetizer; carminative. Strong diuretic juice used.
Once recommended
in
referring to the
Tonic;
seeds)
if fresh
treatment
of rheumatism, excess weight, loss of appetite.
Decoction of seed beneficial in nervousness. Dried leaf may replace celery for soups, sauces, and stocks, although it has a stronger taste than Celery.
Apocynum cannabinum
Canadian
L apocynaceae
Hemp Hemp
Dogbane/Black
Indian Hemp This was one of many North American plants introduced to settlers by native Indians. No longer used in medicine. Description Perennial to 2 m high, stems erect, branched only at top, bearing ovoid leaves
Cultivation
Constituents
Wild plant.
An
flower shape.
The
astringent principle.
Uses (dried leaf
and
flowers) Diuretic;
demul-
the
Considered most effective when freshly collected and dried in the treatment of kidney stones, bladder stones or painful urination.
in the
cent.
was provided by
somewhat
this
day
from
leaves sessile. Leaflets 3-lobed, crenate. Flow-
celery flavour
ers
palates,
few to many, nodding on long peduncles,
violet-blue or white, 5 early summer.
was a
Romans. The Celery we eat today was developed initially by Italian gardeners on the plain of the Po. Description Biennial with bulbous fleshy root, producing branched angular stem 30 cm - m high in second year. Leaves opposite, 10-15 cm long, dark green, dentate with fan-shaped leaflets; small grey-white flowers in sparse compound umbels from late summer to earlyfavourite of the
Distribution
Native
to
cm
diameter; appearing
Europe. Naturalized in
eastern North America, and introduced else-
where. In mixed woodland, mountain forest on rich calcareous soils to 2000 m altitude. Cultivation Wild. Frequently grown as a garden ornamental, especially the double-flowered cultivars Alba Plena and Flore Pleno. Propagate
1
by seed or by division Constituents
lipid;
with
hairy lower surface,
to
7.5
cm
long;
flowers small, whitish-green in terminal clus-
followed by thin double pods 10-15
ters,
long. Flowers late
summer. Root up
to 2
cm
m
long.
North America, near streams, open ground, forest borders, in gravel or sandy soil. Cultivation Wild plant. Constituents Apocynamarin, a cynotoxin: symarin; apocynin and derivatives; phytosterols. Distribution
Action of a
heart
stimulant,
dilates
Uses
an uncharacterized alkaloid. (Root, flowers and leaves) Antiseptic;
astringent; weakly sedative.
No longer employed internally; once used in homeopathy to treat nervous conditions. Only the root may be used, externally, for the treatment of ulcers. Contra-indications POISONOUS. Seeds may be fatal to children. Most parts have a similarly poisonous effect as Monkshood (Aconitum napellus L).
Medical use only.
renal
L leguminosae
Arachis hypogaea
rhizome, roots, bark) Diuretic; powerful emetic; laxative. Used in folk medi-
Peanut Ground-nut
(dried
worms and fever. Powerful heart stimulant. The fibrous bark employed as substitute for hemp in cine in North
America
to
treat
manufacture of nets and twine. Contra-indications
tion
needed
POISONOUS;
in usage.
in spring.
Cyanogenic glycoside: vitamin C;
arteries.
Uses
•54
741, but fell
Stout perennial with pubescent stems branched at the top; 60-80 cm tall. Basal leaves long-petioled, biternate, upper
wild herb, which although
bitter to present
1
Description
graveolens L umbelliferae Celery Wild Celery/Smallage all
of
nineteenth century A. vulgaris
official use.
Apium
Until the seventeenth century
herb's antiscorbutic effect was recorded in
Wurttemberg Pharmacopoeia
Although the Peanut is now one of the best known and universally grown edible nuts, it was not until 1840 that Jaubert, a French colonist of
Cape Verde, suggested
greatest cau-
its
importa-
an oil seed. The first to mention the plant was Fernandez de Oviedo y Valdes who lived in Haiti from 151 3 to 1525 tion into Marseilles as
API-ARC and reported the mani - a
mon names
that Indians widely cultivated
name
for Arachis
still
such
Gypsy's Rhubarb, Pig's
as
Rhubarb and Snake's Rhubarb
used in South
refer to this.
America and Cuba. Description Annual herbaceous legume, 25 50
widely employed in folk medicine for skin problems, and cultivated commercially in
cm
Japan
tall;
pairs
Still
stems slightly. hairy; leaves consist of 2
of leaflets,
oval.
5
cm
long.
Yellow
for use as a vegetable.
Description Biennial or short-lived perennial to 2
m;
m
cm
5
thick hairy stems. Vertical roots
Large leaves, ovate and petiolate with undulate margins. Small tubular flowers 1
long.
red to purple, consisting of disc florets only, in
cm
spherical capitula of 3-5
diameter. Fruit
surrounded by hooked bracts (burr). Appearing late summer to mid-autumn. Distribution European native. North America. Prefers weedy sites and roadsides, on loamy, nitrogen-rich
soil.
Wild plant; cultivated commercially from seed in Japan. Cultivation
Inulin;
Constituents oil; resin;
bitter
principle;
Uses (root, fresh or dried - from plants;
volatile
several antibiotic substances.
fruits,
the
rarely
Diuretic.
Of
Increases resistance to infection.
year
first
leaves)
use in
various skin diseases, especially psoriasis and
eczema. Stalks, before flowering,
may
be eaten as salad
or boiled as vegetable.
same way and eaten.
Stalks are candied in the
flowers possess long calyx tube; after flowering
the latter possessing strong antibiotic activity
the stem bearing the ovary elongates, bends
against the
towards the ground and forces the young pod beneath the soil. Pod oblong, 2.5 cm long, containing 1—4 irregularly ovoid seeds. Distribution South American native. Widely cultivated, especially Africa, India, China, and America.
Uses (bark, root, leaves, fruit! Antiseptic; anti-
Mycobacterium
inflammatory; astringent; diuretic. May be used to treat diarrhoea and biliousness, and possibly of use in arteriosclerosis. A decoction provides an excellent antiseptic wash, gargle or poultice. Formerly employed
mown
in certain
flower has
drinks or preserves such as marmalade.
of the glycerides of 4 fatty acids. Uses (seed, oil expressed from seeds) Nutritive
bark was once used
in leather
wood provides good
quality charcoal, and
the seed
Unknown
is
substitute
in the
wild state;
:
an important foodstuff. Used as a for
olive
oil.
Employed
in
kidney and liver complaints. The weak diaphoretic properties.
Fruit can be used with discretion in alcoholic
suitable for turning
tanning.
The The is
and marquetry.
Arctium lappa
ERICACEAE
Bearberry Uva-ursi/Mountain box This herb's common name comes from
L compositae
1
recent
research
shrub;
to
Trailing 15
cm
green,
leathery,
A
Small
flowers,
Known
from which chara< teristica the name is derived. It also resembles Rhubarb, and several com-
diameter.
and early Arabian physicians, but never widely employed; it deserves modern investigation, however. Arbutus is an ancient name, while unedo is from to
Dioscorides
the Latin phrase unum edo or
I
has
shown
that
it
possesses
effective antiseptic properties.
Greater Burdock Beggar's Buttons/Lappa herb with dock-shaped leaves, and fruiting heads covered with hooked spines or burrs,
the
Greek arkton staphyle signifying 'bear's grapes'. It was used in the thirteenth century by the Welsh physicians of Myddvai, described in detail by Clusius in 1601, and officially recognized to be of medical importance in 763 bv several German physicians working in Berlin. Although use of the herb declined,
L Ericaceae Strawberry Tree Cane Apples
Arbutus unedo
as angelica.
Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (L) Spreng.
Description
the
manufacture of soap.
root cooked
bacteria.
on a large scale commercially and horticulturally in tropical and subtropical countries. Constituents Peanut or arachide oil, consisting
(Cultivation
Chopped
or
creeping
evergreen
high, forming mats of dark
ovoid leaves 1-2 white or pink in
cm
long.
terminal
12, followed by red fruit of 5 mm Appearing early spring to mid-
clusters of 3
summer.
eat only one,
supposed unpleasantness of the fruit. Description Erect evergreen shrub or tree 3 10 m tall. Young bark reddish. Leaves alternate, petiolate, serrate, oblong to obovate, shiny above, 5 10 cm long. Flowers creamy-whin or pinkish, urceolate, in nodding panicles 5 cm long, appearing late autumn to mid-winter, followed by scarlet, warty berry. Distribution Native to south Europe, eastern France and Ireland. Introduced elsewhere. In damp situations often in woodland. Cultivation Wild, locally abundant. Crown hortirulturally in warm regions on welldrained soils; requires wind protection. Propagate by seeds and cuttings of half-ripened wood in autumn under glass; also by layering. (Constituents Tannins; arbutoside; ethyl gallate, after the
»55
ARE-ARN Cool regions of northern hemis-
Distribution
phere. In coniferous woodland, moors, alpine
mats, on porous acid humus-rich Cultivation
Wild
Uses
soils.
Arbutin and methylarbutin. which produce antiseptic substances related to phenAlso flavonoids: tannins: gallic and egallic
-
fruit
ripe
or
taenicide.
unripe
dried leaves
fically
Diuretic: antiseptic. Speci-
used in kidney and bladder infections. for bronchitis and urinary in-
medicine.
Chewed
nut.
with a
little
Contra-indications
Used for leather tanning. Ash coloured dye. Grouse feed. Added to smoking mixtures.
use restricted to veterinary.
Contra-mdications Prolonged use results in con-
Birthwort Birchwort The fact that the herb was
Areca catechu
L arecaceae Betel
Areca
is
also
constituent
Nut known as
of the
the
combination
lime and a Piper BetU
continence.
and
made from
as a masticatorv in
lips
Areca Nut
human
in
urinary tract disorders, and for the expulsion of tapeworms. Use now restricted to veterinary
Once used
stipation.
Astringent
Once used
Dentifrice, using the charcoal
acids.
Uses
one of which resembles pilocarpine:
stimulant:
plant.
Constituents
ol.
alkaloids,
also areca red.
leaf.
Stains
teeth red.
Toxic
in large doses:
medical
L aristolochiaceae
Anstolochia clematitis
at
one time con-
Nut since it is a chewing mixture
Betel
"betel"
is a widespread habit in the East. The mixture consists of Areca. a little lime and leaves of the Betel plant Piper betle As earlv as 140 b.c. Chinese conquerors of the Malayan archipelago returned with samples of the Areca palm and nuts, which became known as pin-lang after the Malay word, pinang. for them. Asians chew small pieces of the nut to sweeten the breath, strengthen gums and
which
.
rhomas Johnson Serpentarv was introduced European medical usage via the London
into
Pharmacopoeia of 1650. and as late as 1741 rTrov was praising its effectiveness as a remedy for rattlesnake and rabid dog bites. A century after this it was only being used as a diaphoretic, and then often in combination with Cinchona bark. It is now seldom used
improve digestion. Elegant palm: straight smooth trunk 12-30 m high. 50 cm circumference. Description
Numerous feathery leaflets 30-60 cm long, upper confluent and glabrous. Flowers on branching spadix. male above and numerous: female usually solitary and below. Fruit ovoid 5 cm long, orange or scarlet, in bunches of up
even
sidered important in childbirth
Maritime Malaysian native; cultivated in India. Ceylon. Malaya. Burma. East Africa. Introduced into American tropics as an
by
its
common and
derived from the Greek
and
locheia
is
emphasized
Latin names. Aristolochia
meaning
aristos
meaning
is
best
childbirth. William Tur-
gave the herb
ornamental. Prefers coastal sites. Cultivation Collected from wild, and cultivated
ner, the father of English botany,
in coastal areas.
herb has not been subjected to modern investigation and is rarely employed. Description Perennial on long rhizome: stem erect or slightly twining to 50 cm high: heartshaped dark green leaves with long petioles. Flowers axillary. 3 cm long, yellowish-green appearing from early summer to mid-autumn. Distribution Europe and temperate North America. Japan. In thickets, vineyards, weedy edges of fields, in warmer situations on
Constituents
Tannin:
gallic acid: oil:
gum:
four
its
common name in
calcareous
soil.
Cultivation
Wild
the sixteenth century.
The
plant.
which
is
similar to
colchicine. Uses
dried root-stock, entire fresh flowering
Diaphoretic: emmenagogue: oxytocic: Once used in rheumatism and gout. Juice from stems once used to induce childbirth. plant
stimulant.
L aristolochiaceae Virginia Snakeroot Birthwort Serpentarv The earliest belief concerning this herb was that it would give protection from poisoning. Specimens from Virginia were growing in London in 1632. and were described by Aristolochia serpentana
=,6
25-40 cm high, with branched stems bearing heart-
shaped
pointed
leaves
7.5
cm
long:
roots
brown flowers arising singly on short stalk coming from the stem base. Distribution East Central and southern United fibrous. Dull purple to
States: in shady woods. Cultivation
Wild plant.
Constituent^ Essential oil: resin: aristolochine.
Stimulating tonic: dried root-stock Uses diaphoretic: anodyne: nervine: once used for treating snake bites.
Used
in early stages of in-
Small doses stimulate appetite. Contra-indications Large doses act as irritant, and cause vomiting and vertigo. Respiratory fectious diseases.
paralysis
may
also occur.
Armeria maritima
Mill.
\\ illd.
PLUMBAGINACEAE
Constituents Aristolochine.
I
medicine.
erect, slightly
to 100.
Distribution
in folk
!> inption Perennial herb
Thrift Sea Pink Sea Pink now belongs to the genus Armeria which consists of at least 100 closely relau d species and many more subspecies and varieties which are often exceedingly difficult to differentiate. This genus was formerly called Statice A. maritima was known as Statice armeria L and is closely related to the Sea Lavender genus known as now Statice but called also once Limonium. The American Sea Lavender Limonium vulgare Mill, has similar antiseptic properties, but like Thrift
it is
now
very rarely
used for medicinal purposes. Thrift has most widely been used as an edging
ARE-ARN Arnica montana
L compositae
Arnica Mountain Tobacco When grown at high latitudes such
in
as
Arctic Asia or America, a form of this herb
produced which
is
leaves; although this
Vahl
is
characterized by narrow
was once renamed by
as Arnica angustifolia,
it is
really a variant
form of Arnica montana. The herb was known by Matthiolus and other botanists, and was widely used in sixteenth-century German folk medicine. Largely as the result of exaggerated claims by a Viennese physician, it enjoyed short-lived popularity among the medical profession in the late eighteenth century.
Aromatic perennial with creeping rhizome, producing a basal rosette of 4-8 downy leaves 4-7 cm long in the first year. Flowering stem usually unbranched, hairy, 30-60 cm high, with only 1-2 pairs of opposite leaves. Flowers golden-yellow, daisy-like, appearing mid-summer to early autumn. Distribution Central and northern regions of the northern hemisphere. Prefers sandy acid soils, Description
humus, in a sunny position. Root division in spring; or seed sown in spring in cold frame and transplanted in early summer. Seed may be slow to germinate, occasionally as long as 2 years. Wild rich in
resemble, and armoracia. the
to
Roman name
Radish which cannot be identified
for a wild
with certainty as Horseradish. Gerard gave the
herb
present
its
was known
common name,
but before him
English as Red Cole or Redcol. plant appears to have been
plant in formal gardens, and from the six-
it
teenth to the eighteenth centuries few species
Certainly
were
more popular in Scandinavia and Germanv and otherwise did not find much use in western Kurope until the middle of the
as
popular
purpose.
for this
Description Grass-like perennial
woody
on branched
forming basal rosette of narrow (3 mm) linear, -nerved (occasionally 3-nerved), acute or obtuse, fleshy and glanduroot-stock
1
2-15 cm
lar leaves,
Flowers stalked, white),
downy
rose-pink
mm
8
corolla
globular heads,
long, ciliate at the edges.
occasionally
for
diameter,
in
dense
cm diameter, on leafless, 20-55 cm tall. Appearing
1
.5-3
scape mid-spring to mid-autumn. Variable in form. Distribution Native to Europe, Asia and North
America; on dry sandy somewhat acidic soils lills and in sandy turf, coastal salt-marshes. mountain pastures to 1400 m altitude. Cultivation Wild; frequently found growing in dense evergreen masses. Propagate from seed sown in spring on light, dry, well-drained soil, in full sun or partial shade; or by division ot <
the
seventeenth moutarde
irritation.
May
Rarely used, even
in folk
medicine.
be employed hortic ulturally as an ex-
cellent, low,
evergreen edging plant for formal
arrangements. rusticana
Gaertn, VI
<
v el
Scherb.
Horseradish Linnaeus gave Horseradish the botanical name, Cocklearia armoracia, aftei cochleare, an obsolete name for a spoon which its leaves were thought
in-
troduced and cultivated elsewhere; tolerates most dampish soils.
Wild
Cultivation
and
ally
plant. Cultivated
hortic ulturally.
division in spring OT
Constituents Polyacetylenic oil;
tile
flavones;
unknown s\
in vola-
phulin;
inulin;
substances acting on the circulatory
stem which
and
compounds
arnicin;
later
initially
raise
it.
lower the blood pressure, Also substances which
increase biliary secretion. w
\
dried
Stimulant;
flower- heads,
diuretic;
dried
rubefacient.
rhizome) is an
It
and kidneys, and hence only of use externally - in bruising, sprains and dislocations. Homeopathic doses are effective in epilepsy, seasickness and possibly as hair growth stimulants. Used as a gargle for treating inflammations of the throat. Contra-indications POISONOUS: can be toxic if taken internally. Repeated external use mayirritant to the digestive tract
cause skin irritation.
commerci-
Propagate by root
autumn, planting at -,<»-< in and thin
intervals, or sou seed in early Spring I,
in
1
Grows
watei
vigorously.
Fresh
which
is
by the
root
contains a glycoside.
decomposed in the presence enzyme myrosin, producing
ally] isothioc
oil
antibiotic substanc
yanate; vitamin
Stimulant; rubefacient
Uses (fresh rool
C.
:
es. :
weak
diuretic.
taken
he
M.i\
intern. dlv
as
svitip
,1
bronchitis, bronchial catarrh, coughs,
she eel
Most
on boils or rheumatism.
root in
widely
used
especially in sauces fish,
lor
and
lot
to
Applied externally
stimulate' digestive organs. .is
CRUCIFERAE
mid-autumn. European native;
to
South-east
Distribution
poultice
Armor acia
leaves,
Appears mid-summer
mustard
an antiseptic
high on stout.
c
oi
as
basal
1
plant, but protected in parts of Europe.
/
m
1.5
m high bearing lusters <>l white flowers and. beneath, ste-m leaves with short petioles
Uses (dried flowering plant; Antibiotic; anti-
cause dermatitis or local
as
cm long and 5 cm 30-100 cm long, coarse-, lanceolate with dentate margins and long petioles. Erect flowering racemes 50 cmlarge
thick:
obesic Once used it) the treatment of obesity, certain nervous disorders, and urinary in-
may
it
it
tapering, lleshv taproot to 60
sinigrin,
it
and druggists knew
Description Perennial to
action due to plumbagone.
Cannot be employed
century.
de\ allemands,
Constituents
poultice as
The French called
Raf)hanu\ rusticanus.
clumps, replanting every 2 years, 25 em apart. Constituents A napthaquinone, plumbagone; mineral salts comprising mainly iodine, bromine, and fluorine; mucilage. Antibiotic
fections.
in
Cultivation
as
a
rubefacient
culinary
purposes.
and vinegars; complements
poultry, and beef.
Contra-indications
May
be
vesicant
to
some
skins; large- internal doses pie>diiec tion ot
inflammathe gastrointestinal mucosae.
'"»:
ART-ASA Artemisia abrotanum
Southernwood
L compositae
Lad's Love/Old
L compositae Tarragon Russian Tarragon
Artemisia dracunculoides
Man
In common with other members of the Artemisia family this is a strong-smelling herb which has the ability to repel insects. For this
reason
it
was
called garde robe
Unlike French Tarragon the flavour of this variety improves as the plant ages, although never
by the French
achieving
dracunculus.
dracunculus
the
delicacy
of Artemisia
The Latin name is derived from meaning 'little dragon' after a
herbalist's description of the coiled serpent-like root.
Artemisia was the Greek
who was regarded Artemisia
as
name
for
Diana
the discoverer of the
group of herbs. Russian Tarragon
is
also called Artemisia redowskii. Description Perennial
1
.5
m
high with erect,
branched stems bearing smooth, pale green entire leaves 3-6 cm long, and clusters of greyish-white woolly flowers in late summer. Distribution Asia and Siberia. Introduced elsewhere.
and cultivated as garden sown under glass in mid-spring or in the open in early summer. Root division in spring or autumn; cuttings in spring. Hardy during winter and tolerates any soil. Cultivation
Wild,
plant. Seed
Constituents
Essential
oil
identical
to
Anise,
largely lost during drying.
Uses (dried or fresh herb) Fresh herb promote^ appetite.
who
used it to protect clothes from attack by moths. It was also considered effective against infection and employed in nosegays by court-
and herb wines. Both absinthe and vermouth obtain their names from the plant, the latter
room and jail officials. The name Southernwood is derived from the Old English suthernewudu meaning a woody plant from the south,
of the
since
is
it
a native of southern Europe. At one
time herbalists considered the herb an aphrodisiac,
which
led to the
common name
Lad's
Love. Description Perennial
subshrub
to
90
cm
high
with branched feathery grey-green leaves 6 cm long, finely divided and somewhat downy.
Flowers very small, inconspicuous, yellowishwhite, in loose panicles, appearing late to early
summer
autumn.
Southern European native; introduced and widespread in temperate zones as garden plant. Naturalized in North America. Cultivation Easily propagated from young, green cuttings in summer, or heeled cuttings from old wood in autumn. Prefers full sun and light to medium soil with added compost. Needs hard clipping in mid-spring to prevent Distribution
straggling growth.
May
Constituents Essential oil,
in
German Wermut which was also the name Wormwood. The herb contains several substances which may
origin of the English
adversely affect the body
high hairy stems bearing highly aromatic bipinnate and tripinnate leaves covered in ;
down. Flower-heads 3-4
mm
diameter, with
grey-green bracts and numerous minute yellow florets, appearing late summer to late autumn.
Europe, North America. Widely introduced garden plant. Found
Distribution Central
Asia.
on waste-ground, especially near the
warm
sea, in
regions.
Cultivation Wild plant. Propagated by seed sown outside in late spring, thinned to 30-60
cm
apart. Often slow to germinate. Cuttings
taken in summer; root division in spring or
autumn.
slight shade.
powder mixed with treacle to treat worms Used in aromatic baths and
taken in excess
this reason it produces some of the strongest, and most dangerous, alcoholic drinks. Description Perennial undershrub 0.75-1 m
mainly absinthol.
children.
if
(including the hallucinogen, santonin) and for
not flower.
Uses (dried whole plant) Stimulant; emmenagogue; antiseptic; antihelmintic. Once used as a
being an eighteenth-century French variation
Prefers
medium
soil
in
full
sun or
Bitter principle and volatile oil which stimulate secretions and promote appetite; also a glucoside; resins and starch: antihelmintic action due to santonin. Constituents
poultices for skin conditions.
Uses (whole flowering plant, leaves) Anthel-
Leaves discourage moths.
mintic;
Stems yield yellow dye. Foliage used
in floral
decorations.
L compositae Absinthe/Green Ginger Several species of absinthium are mentioned by Dioscorides, and many of them were employed for the removal of intestinal worms. Although one of the most bitter herbs known, it has for centuries been a major ingredient of aperitifs Artemisia absinthium
Wormwood
158
antipyretic;
antiseptic;
stomachic.
Used to aid digestion, stimulate digestion or for abdominal colic. The tincture was formerly used in nervous diseases. Used in liniments. Used in vermouth, in absinthe, as a tea, and for stuffing geese. Some countries ban its use
Similar uses to French Tarragon
in wine.
L compositae Tarragon French Tarragon An essential component of French
Contra-indications Habitual use causes convul-
plants
sions,
causes
restlessness
vertigo,
delirium.
and vomiting. Overdose cramps, intoxication, and
Artemisia
dracunculus) but of inferior flavour.
Artemisia dracunculus
cuisine,
French Tarragon are difficult to obtain and almost as difficult to maintain. Even under ideal circumstances the of the
'true'
delicate flavour of this varietv tends to revert
ART-ASA coarser flavour of Russian Tarragon.
to the
Similarly unless
it is
dried carefully an inferior
product results. The common name is derived from the Arabic tarkhun, via the Spanish taragoncia.
cm
Perennial 90
Description
high with slim,
branched stems, bearing smooth, dark shiny entire leaves 3-5 cm long, and clusters ol
erect,
greyish-green or white woolly flowers, appearing
mid-summer
Distribution
where
as
to late
summer.
Southern Europe. Introduced elsegarden plant or for commercial
cultivation. Cultivation Cultivated commercially in Europe and the United States. Cannot be propagated from seed. Divide roots in spring or autumn or
Renew
take cuttings in spring.
every 3 years
from young cuttings. Protect in warm situation during winter, especially when young. Prefers a richer soil than Russian Tarragon, and may
Can be grown
require the addition of peat.
indoors as a pot herb. Will not tolerate wet
soil.
Constituents Essential oil.
No modern medicinal
Uses (dried or fresh herb
use - formerly used in toothache.
promotes appetite. Widely used as flavouring
The herb
leaflets. Flowers brownish-yellow to numerous, small, arranged on panicles and appearing late summer to mid-autumn. Distribution Asia. Europe. Naturalized in North America. Common on various soils,
toothed
red,
especially for salads,
steak,
if
they are nitrogen-rich. In waste-
hedgerows and near rivers and streams. Cultivation Wild and cultivated. Seed sown in spring. Root division spring and autumn. Grows quickly and needs restricting in gardens. A variegated form also exists.
white
Constituents Volatile oil; resin; tannin; a bitter
spring to early summer, followed by scarlet
lands,
principle, absinthin,
which stimulates diges-
flowering shoots,
(dried
emmenagogue. Used
Diuretic;
leaves, as
roots)
an aid
in
irregular menstruation, lor lack of appetite,
and weak of
digestion. Chinese
employ
the cones
the leaves imoxasi for rheumatism, in the
therapeutic method
Used
as a
A
tea.
known
as
moxibustion.
culinary herb for stuffing
duck or other fatty fish or meat. Repels flies and moths. Leaves may be used
geese,
for
flavouring and the clarifica-
tion of beer.
Contra-indications
Large prolonged dosage
in-
jures the nervous system.
butter, vinegars,
and
is
best
known
for
its
use
with chicken.
Used
in
some perfumes and
liqueurs.
late
and western Europe, north Found in porous
Africa, introduced elsewhere.
loamy
soils,
in
warm damp
sites,
hedgerows,
woods.
Wild plant.
Cultivation
an unstable skin and which is largely broken down on drying; starch; gums; saponin; sugar. Aroine,
Constituents
mucosa
irritant,
(fresh
dried
or
strong
Diuretic;
dried
leaves,
purgative;
tubers)
no longer em-
ployed internally. Bruised fresh plant applied
Formerly used
preserves, pickles, shellfish, lobster, herb
Flowers appear
fruits.
Uses in
tobaccos.
fish,
(spathe).
Distribution Central
tion.
Uses
bract
in rheumatic pain. Used homeopathically for sore throats. Well-baked tubers are edible, nutritious and
externally
harmless.
Root starch, after roasting or boiling, and then drying and powdering, produces an arrowroot substitute used for starching.
Arum maculatum L araceae Cuckoopint Lords and Ladies/Arum Because of the obvious sexual symbolism of the
Contra-indications All
erect spadix of this attractive plant, almost
POISONOUS.
all
European common names have some sexual connotation. Even Dioscorides suggested that the herb was an aphrodisiac. It may have been for this reason that large quantities of the
parts of fresh plant are
its
Artemisia vulgaris
L compositae
Mugwort An
Felon Herb/St John's Herb ancient magical plant, deeply respected
throughout Europe, China and Asia, and once known as the Mother of Herbs (Mater Herbarum). It was one of the nine herbs employed to
demons and venoms
repel times.
Although used
especially beer, the
in
pre-Christian
to flavour drinks,
common name
is
and
derived
from the Old Saxon muggia wort meaning 'midge plant' after its ability to repel inset ts. Description l,ie
pubescent perennial; grooved with reddish-purple colouring, angular, reaching 1.75 in. Leaves 2.5 5 cm long, dark green above, whitish and downy on
strips
the
underside;
pinnate
or
bipinnate
with
tubers were processed and sold as a foodstuff in
the eighteenth
The herb was
and nineteenth
centuries.
and root was employed to starch ruffs in the sixteenth century, even though the practice often caused blisters on the hands of also called Starchwort,
starch obtained from
those
who
used
it
it.
Description Perennial plant arising
from ovoid tuber 3 cm diameter; arrow-shaped leaves to 25 cm long, plain dark green or with dark brown-purplish spots. Flowers occur at base of purplish club-shaped spadix which is enclosed in characteristic 15-cm long leafy greenish-
Asarum canadense
L aristolochiaceae
Wild Ginger Canadian Snakeroot As the name suggests the root-stock may be used as a substitute
Ginger. American herb was an effective
for root
colonists
found
stimulant
when taken
the
as a tea,
and American
Indians believed a decoction of the root-stock to
be an effective contraceptive.
Description Stemless ginger-smelling perennial,
with round, fleshy root and branched, hairy, root stalks each bearing 2 kidney-shaped leaves, dark green above, pale green beneath, to 20 cm wide. Flowers single, bell-shaped. dull brownish-purple, appearing close to the
ground
summer. Canada
in
Distribution
and
northern
United
•59
ASA-AVE 1
1
yV
A
.J A -
'
,
.
Aspalathus linearis (Burm.
appears early summer to early autumn. Distribution Europe, Siberia, Caucasus; in woods and shady sites. Introduced elsewhere in temperate zones as a garden plant. Cultivation Wild plant. May be propagated by
leguminosae
J!
';
autumn;
root division in
careous
K f^
surface or leaf mould. Single purplish flower
*-
?
fekL
BP^^Mw
and
^P>
States, Russia,
moist shaded Cultivation
leaves) Emetic; purgastimulant in small doses.
Produces copious mucus flow if taken as snuff. Once an ingredient of tobacconists' 'head-
Far East. In rich woodland on
as
an important medicinal herb,
employed
sites.
Wild plant.
Constituents Volatile oil
L asclepiadaceae Pleurisy Root Butterfly Milk Weed Once officially recognized and included in the United States Pharmacopoeia and long used
Asclepias tuberosa
''
resin a bitter principle
;
;
in
is
still
European and American
folk
it
medicine. Appalachian Indians made a tea from the leaves to induce vomiting during
asarin; sugars; alkaloid.
certain religious ceremonies. Several species of
Stimulant; tonic; diuretic; diaphoretic; carminative. Tea used in flatu-
Asclepias
Uses (root-stock)
lence
and indigestion. Thought
to exert direct
influence on the uterus.
May
be used as a substitute
for root
Ginger.
Oil used in perfumery.
Dried root used Contra-indications
headaches.
Large doses cause nausea.
Numerous
in dry,
was called medicine by Dioscorides. Herbalists of the Middle Ages it
name
another herb which was probably a true cyclamen. Sixteenthcentury apothecaries joined the names and described the Hazelwort as Asarabacca. Most
members
warm
climates
tea.
Commercial exploitation
now gaining
in
of the tea,
which
is
popularity in Europe, began in
the early twentieth century after successful experiments to improve seed germination and cropping techniques. Description
Shrub or shrublet, decumbent or
m. Branches bearing thin (0.4-1
erect to 2
wide), glabrous leaves, short,
leafy
shoots in
1.5-6
cm
long,
the leaf axils.
mm and
Small.
bright yellow flowers, often with violet tinge:
followed by
1.5
cm
long pod.
as
i
m;
fleshy
cm
long and darker green abo\
<
.
erect, beautiful
North American native; common sandy or gravelly soils on roadsides. Cultivation Wild plant propagate by division Distribution
nut-shaped Rowers
asaron
given by Dioscorides
in
fermentation process necessary to obtain the
orange-yellow flowers in terminal umbels appearing mid-summer to mid-autumn, followed by long, narrow seed
An inconspicuous herb with
bacc/iaris, a
and shoots which develops,
leaves
white root-stock supporting few stout hairy stems, bearing hairy alternate, lanceolate
pods.
incorrectly called the plant
grown
are
Description Attractive perennial to
Asarum europaeum L aristolochiaceae Asarabacca Hazelwort/Wild Nard
and cyclamen-shaped leaves, and introduced into
1772.
colour
attractive garden plants.
leaves 5 -15
as snuff to relieve
Thunberg when he visited the Cape in The common name derives from the red
together with a distinctive aroma, during the
Uses (dried root
'ST
Rooibosch was traditionally used by South Bushmen and Hottentots and its popularity was noted by the botanist Carl
African
of the
clearin' snuff.
-
Rooibosch Red Bush Tea
loid; sugars; resin.
tive; sternutatory;
I
R. Dahlgr.
Constituents Volatile oil; bitter principle; alka-
i
tiM
prefers moist, cal-
humus and shaded.
rich in
soil,
fil.j
to
of the family Aristolochiaceae are
climbing woody plants from South America. Description Herbaceous perennial bearing 2 kidney-shaped, leathery, long-stalked leaves on short pubescent stems. Inflorescence arises from thick root-stock and flowers on soil
of root-stock in spring. Constituents Glycosides, including asclepiadin;
resins; volatile oil.
Uses
dried
root-stock
Diaphoretic;
anti-
spasmodic; carminative; expectorant. Specially of use in infections of the respiratory tract
such as pleurisy. Powdered roots used as a poultice on open sores.
Young
seed pods and root-stock
may
be boiled
and eaten. Contra-indications
Very large doses cause
rhoea and vomiting. vomiting.
Wfe£
Fresh
leaf tea
diar-
causes
South African native; especially in Cape, on well-drained, sandy but
Distribution
western
moisture-retaining, non-acidic Cultivation
soils.
Wild. Cultivated commercially
South Africa from seed sown 10 late
winter
or
early
spring
seedlings transplanted in
mid
in
mm
deep
in
in
seed-beds:
or late
summer
10-20 cm tall. Later trimmed to promote branching. Plantations replaced every
when
6 or 7 years. Constituents
Vitamin C; tannin (1-3%); min-
eral salts; quercitin:
unknown
substances.
fermented young leaves branches) Anti-spasmodic: tonic. Uses
(dried
and
Of benefit in vomiting, diarrhoea, and other mild gastric complaints. Clinically untested but traditionally is considered of use in certain allergic disorders - especially milk allergy. 160
ASA-AVE as a hot or cold beverage: also used as a culinary herb, and as a flavouring
Mostly employed
and the Tea
This attractive low-growing herb which is frequently found carpeting beech woods makes useful ground cover in shady places or beneath
baking.
in
Asperula odorata L rubiaceae Woodruff Sweet WoodrufT/Waldmeister
Asparagus officinalis L liliaceae Asparagus Garden Asparagus/Sparrow
first definite report of its use is found in Grand Herbier (1504) printed in Paris. The herb was known by various names during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries including Strygium, Strychnon, Solanum somnijerum.
the
Grass
Known
Sperage or Sparrow Grass in the the Garden Asparagus (Asparagus officinalis subsp. officinalis) has been cultivated as a delicacy for over 2000 years. It became an 'official" medicinal herb due to its as
century,
sixteenth
and
laxative herbalists
it
and some
properties,
diuretic
claimed
also increased the libido.
Europe Asparagus grows The name is from Greek word meaning 'to sprout".
In parts of eastern
wild and the
is
eaten by cattle.
Description Perennial with short root-stock 5
cm
producing in spring the young fleshy shoots which are eaten as a vegetable. If they are left, they mature into many branched stems 1-3 m high which bear insignificant leaves in the axils of which are clusters of cm needle-like modified branches cladodes long. Small bell-shaped whitish-green flowers appear in cladodc axils early summer to midlong,
1
h was
roses in formal beds,
widely used
fragrant herb in earlier times as
as a
develops,
it
branched stem 50 200 cm
from
Strong scent it
many
which
quadrangular 1
-n
5
cm
smooth,
high. Leaves in
oi i>. dark green, lam eolate, 3 cm long, rough-edged small white funnel-shaped flowers appear on long stalks earl) summer to midsummer. Plant has a Strong characterise
whorls
smell.
Introduced elsewhere; cultivated in United Prefers porous loam) soil, rich in
States
mixed woodland. Wild plant: ma) he propagated seed sown in late miiiiiiii'i to earl)
1
m
(
orange berries
wide
a
<>n
iaIK
Produc-
scale.
tion of the vegetable requires 3-year-old plants.
7.5
<
years. Seed
]j
last
deep.
in
loam
1 iii
\
sown
position.
/
rich
subspecies
\
found wild.
also
141
1
m
:
phoretii
;
laxative,
bordei
in
tannin.
used
oumaiiii
foi
for
biliary obstructions.
fresh
due foi
item to
Diuretic; dia-
high fibre content
treatment
goul and rheumatism. ulinar) use as a vegetable.
oi
tonic.
Sonne
ol
anticoagulant drugs. Tea relieves
stoinai h pains.
dropsy,
ized
I
In
fla\
oui ing.
perfumery and pot-pourris, and
linen.
for
si
cnting
Repels insects.
Contra-indications
dizziness
with
smooth.
leafy,
tall
Native
ally
Europe, Asia; natural-
to
soils.
Wild
plant.
Widespread commercial
ultivation from seed or by root division.
Hyoscyamine; atropine;
Constituents
other alkaloids inainlv
sv
traces of
Action
root-stork.
in
autonomic nervous
to these affecting the
stem. root-stock and leal
Uses
Reduces
Employed
secretions.
Narcotic mydriatic ;
:
and sudorific gland
salivar)
treatment of biliar)
in
Formerly used in nervous diarrhoea and enuresis. Used iii heart anyth-
and
intestinal colic.
as
Externall)
a
liniment
gout
in
or
rheumatic inllainmation.
a delii ions tea
ied in cei tain w ines as a
to dilate the pupils.
Perennial
and introduced elsewhere. Found especiin woods and wasteland on calcareous
mia.
Flowers and leaves make
who
black berries.
sedative.
a dried herb Carminative; diuretic;
Once
Herba used
plant
on thick creeping root-stock. Leaves dull green, unequal sized pairs to 20 cm long, bearing solitary bellshaped purplish-brown drooping Mowers 3 cm diameter in the axils. Appearing midin summer to earl) autumn, followed by shin)
due
s.
Coumarinic ((impounds which coumarin as tin plant dies down: also
Contra-indications
All
ONOUS;
to
supei
v
only
pans extremel) be
POIS-
under medical
used
ision.
Large quantities can produce
and symptoms of poisoning.
Atropa belladonna
young
Once recommended 1
foi
root division after flowering. Ideal
resin;
ai id
root,
•
\\ ide
deep
Oil
Volatile oil; glucoside;
\tituentt
lannii
is
[ate spring,
in
seeds per hole
open
A. officinale subsp. prostratui
Con
undei planting
1
commen
Wild plant; cultivated
and horticultural!)
sand)
hei h
I
Coasts and sand) areas; woods and
hedges; Great Britain to Central Asia. Cultivation
Bids
01
diametei
iii
Distribution
water of it
Description
i
tituents
01
a distilled
Cultivation
autumn,
the
called
first
donna after the practice of ladies
Cultivation
release
red
who
Venetians
nutrients, especially in
from ripe
oi
nightshade".
Distribution
Alma
North
Europe,
Asia.
Distribution
fruit
apothebeing translated as 'deadly Matthiolus stated it was the it
Description Perennial with creeping root-stock
.1
slender stems arise.
summer. Bears
mortale. the latter - the for
billa
dried.
for this reason
m
name
ol new mown hay: was one of the main strewing herbs tor home and church floors. The Latin name asperula refers to the roughness of the w heel or ruff-like leaves.
when
•
and Solatium caries'
I.
soi
aw eab
hi, saliva L gramineae Oats Croats One ol the do/en members I,
1
ol
the grass family
Deadly Nightshade Dwale
which together provide the staple
Although a plant with such powerful sedative and poisonous properties was undoubted!)
ol
widel) used for sinister purposes,
it
cannot he
identified with certainty in classical writings,
the
Latin
world's
name
Description
population.
most
diet for
Avena
the
is
old
lor the plant.
Annual
tufted erect grass,
high, with broad leaves
\
nun
1
1
cm
t.25
m
wide,
i6i
BAL-BRY word meaning
'to reject' since
normally
is
it
rejected by cattle. Although the plant
is
of some
now grown
medicinal value, it is gardens only because it
is
in herb regarded as one of
Whorls of
flowering.
to late
typical
labiate
Appearing mid-
axils.
and bark
leather. Fruit
of the eastern hemisphere.
Wild
by
root
division in mid-spring or sow seed in late spring, later thinning to
40
cm
herb sedative: antiemetic; especially used to counteract vomiting during pregnancy.
hairs.
derived from A. fatua, A. sterilii or .1. barbaja. which originate from southern Europe and
Widespread commercial cultivaoften found "lowing wild, having escaped
Cultivation
from cultivation. Constituents Starch; protein; gluten: albumen; salts; /
r&s
gum
L berberidaceae Barberry European Barberry Sowberry A useful shrub cultivated in medieval times
Berberis vulgaris
near monasteries
east Asia.
tion;
flowering
dried
oil;
tocopherol.
(dehusked seed, starchy seed endosperm
Nutritive;
antidepressant;
use in depressive stales
and
thymoleptic. in
general debility
;
highly nutritious.
was used
It
dyeing, and as a medicine, and
its
in
delicious
berries were used lor jam. jelly
sweets.
Now
relegated
to
and candied hedgerows, it is
becoming scarce. Barberry is a host plant of the wheat rust and long before plant diseases were understood
()l
and churches.
farmers
accused
the
plant
ol
'blighting' wheal. /),
to 2.5
m
tall,
L labiatae
Betula pendula Roth,
betulaceae
Silver Birch
able time: Birch bark
is
to
poor, the tree has
man
for a consider-
have been found in Mesolithic excavations and North American Indians still use the bark for domestic purposes. The tree has also long been considered magical and reputedly has the ability to repel enchantment and evil. Its employment as a form of whip or 'birch' predates the Roman lictors
rolls
who used Betula species in the fascis they Now widely grown horticulturally as
carried.
an attractive garden
tree.
Deciduous tree to 20 m high: white bark, smooth and peeling in horizontal strips. Pendulous slender branches bearing resinous, rough and scaly glands. Leaves bright green
Description
to
cm
7
long, irregularly serrate, heart-shaped
triangular.
Flowers consist of male and
female catkins.
greyish beneath with 3 sharp spines at the base.
northern Europe, the mountainous parts of southern Europe and Asia Minor. Also found in Canada and the northern United States.
Black Horehound Stinking Horehound
Flowers small, yellow,
This generally unattractive herb is distinguished only by its strong and objectionable odour, which caused Turner in 154H to describe it as the 'stynkyng horehound'. Dioscorides gave the plant the name ballote which is probably derived from the Greek
late spring
oblong
to
in
(lusters
appearing
mid-summer, and followed by
scarlet to purple fruit.
Distribution
naturalized
Native from Europe in
Distribution
I
to East
Asia:
eastern North America. Prefers
olerates
Cultivation
Common
all soil
Wild
types plant.
throughout central and
and
situations.
Grown
Constituents Volatile oil: a
horticulturally.
saponin: a flavonoid
:
deciduous woodland on chalk) soils. Once common in hedgerows but becoming scarcer due to infection by black rust fungus
antiseptic action, thus used in urinary tract
disease.
infections.
light
Cultivation
[62
for use in curries.
bearing rod-shaped branches tinged yellowishcm long in (lusters. red. Leaves obovate 2.5 |
Ballota nigra
and and eaten with
for wool, linen
into jelly
mutton, candied and pickled
\
Ered deciduous shrub
w ription
made
Although birch timber nevertheless been of use
apart.
Constituents Flavonoids.
Uses
dye
as a yellow
soil.
Propagate
plant.
liver diseases.
used in the manufacture of tooth-picks
Distribution Natives of
Cultivation
a eultigen possibly
and other
gall-stones
much
nitrogen-rich, moist, rather loose
is
1
Wood
autumn.
temperate Europe and Found on wasteland, hedgerows and on walls; prefers
lemma without
atropur-
var.
Constituents Alkaloids comprising berberine, oxyacanthine and chelidonic acid. Fruit rich in vitamin C. Uses root bark, stem bark, ripe fruit Cholagogue; specifically used in the treatment of
purple flowers borne in
Distribution Avena saliva
include
varieties
Strong smelling perennial with angular branched hairy stems, 40-100 cm high, bearing heart-shaped leaves, crenulated, 2-5 cm long, opposite and often turning black
summer
spreading;
Horticultural purea.
after
1
early
the traditional herbs. Description
5-30 cm long, flat and scabrous. Short ligules. Terminal panicle 15—25 cm long, open and
autumn; seed sown in late autumn; or cuttings taken in autumn and planted in sandy soil.
of suckers in early
spring or early
Wild plant. Propagated by layering
resin.
Uses
dried young leaves
rheumatism.
Formerly
Diuretic, with mild
used
for
gout
and
BAL-BRY made from the bark. The tree made into birch wine and vinegar. Birch wood seldom used commercially as timber; but employed for broom handles.
A
narrow or lobed with
beer can be
sap
bright
small,
is
serrate margins. Flowers
yellow,
twig-like
in
racemes,
appearing mid-summer to early autumn. Seed dark reddish-brown in colour, in smooth pods.
Whole of Europe except far north northern Africa, Asia Minor, China, western India, North and South America. Cultivation Wild plant; formerly cultivated commercially on a wide scale - this now restricted to southern Italy, Sicily, Ethiopia. Seed sown in drills in spring preferably on rich
Bark once used as candles and the oil extracted from it was used to cure leather, and also in medicated soaps for skin conditions.
Distribution
L compositae Bur-Marigold Water Agrimony The herb is unrelated botanically to the common Agrimony and it scarcely deserves the name marigold with its inconspicuous brownBidens tripartita
;
soil.
Glycoside
Constituents
(comprising
sinigrin)
yellow flowers. Flies and insects are repelled
and an enzyme (myrosin) which react
when
presence of water
the herb
burned. Description Erect annual 15-60
cm
high, with
smooth or downy branched stems; leaves 5-15 cm long, opposite, dark green, mostly with 3 or sometimes 5 leaflets. Flowers brownish-yellow, inconspicuous, somewhat drooping. Late summer to mid-autumn. Distribution European native. Common on soil.
Wild
Cultivation
sown
plant.
Propagate from seed
in spring.
dried flowering herb
Uses
alternate, rough leaves, hairy on both surfaces. 3-1 cm long and up to 2.5 cm wide, usually without petioles. Bright blue, drooping starshaped flowers 2 cm wide appear from early summer to mid-autumn on sparsely flowered racemes. Distribution Native to mediterranean region; naturalized and introduced elsewhere; found 1
Constituents Volatile oil.
Astringent: dia-
to
Mainly used as a rubefacient poultice for rheumatism, local pain and chilblains. Added to hot water as a foot bath. Used as an ingredient of the condiment Flour of Mustard.
banks, in ditches, near ponds. Prefers
river
muddy
in the
form allyl isothiocyanate (or essential oil of mustard) which is responsible for the smell, taste and inflammatory action of mustard. Also contains proteins; mucilage; and non-volatile oil. Uses (seed, leaves) Stimulant; irritant; emetic.
is
Young
leaves occasionally used in salads.
Contra-indications
May
Should
sparingly
used
be
tender
blister
skins.
when taken
in-
ternally.
garden escape. Wild plant and prolifically selfThrives on ordinary well-drained
especially as Cultivation
seeding.
Sow seed in shallow summer.
in full sun.
soil
drills in
late spring or late
Mucilage;
Constituents
tannin;
volatile
oil:
various mineral acids. Active principles not fully
understood,
and
diuretic
they
but
act
as
mild
a
sudorific.
dried flowering plant, fresh leaves) Mild
Uses
diuretic; once used
for
kidney and bladder
inflammations. Used externally as a poultice on inflammations. Taken as a tisane for
rheumatism Said
and
for
respiratory
infections.
stimulate the flow of milk in nursing
to
mothers.
Candied flowers used for cake decoration. Fresh leaves and flowers added to salads, and phoretic; antihaemorrhagic. Formerly used in a variety CX(
1
ol
pt for
A weak
now
condition*, but
rarely
antihaemorrhagic purposes. dye is obtained from
yellow
used
the
officinalis
1
iptions of
i<
(
to bees,
its
bright blue star-shaped flowers are
alwa\s covered with the msec is. Description Annual 01 lometimei biennial herb, with ere* hair) stems to 60 m, bearing ovate, 1
Roots
lips.
<
Brassica nigra (L) Bla< k
Koch cruciferae Mustard
word
lie plant, howe\ ei, does not lend itself Well is often mechanical harvesting as 2 3 m
1
it
height,
As
a
and readily sheds
result
has
it
its
almost
when
seed
completely
lliiissiia
juncea
which
is
burning must' since the French ground the seed with grape must.
cucurbitaceae
less
lo 01
originally
;
varying
shapes,
generally
to
grow luxuriantly:
root-stock
is
Mandrake
similar
in
since the enor-
appearance
to the
legendary Mandrake (Mandragora officinarum) and was once used as a substitute lot it. Bryony toots carved into human form were often used as
shop signs
In
English
herbalists
the
in
eighteenth century. Description
Climbing perennial arising from
large while tuberous root 75 thick.
1
of
meaning
mous
been
much
bruein -
another name, tin wild vine, emphasizes the vigorous growth of the annual stems which rapidly covet hedgerow shrubs. The herb is also called English
Description Much branched annual 3 m high. smooth above and slightly hairy below grass-
leases
acq.
lo
ripe.
pungent. The word 'mustard' is thought derive from the Latin mustum ardens,
green
]
in
Brown
replaced with the shorter Juncea or
Mustard
Bryonia dioica
White or Red Bryony/ English Mandrake The common name is derived from the Greek
I
the historical dest
Borage refer to the herb's abilities to bring happiness and comfort and drive away melancholia. Even Pliny (ailed the plant euphrosinum because it made men joyful and merry. Certainly it was widely used in a variety of alcohol dtmks, and it is still a vital ingredient <»l summer wine ii|>s. As Boi aye is very attractive all
me
Hie powerful flavoui of old- fashioned Mustard was due largely lo its content of Black Mustard.
L boraginaceae
Borage Bun age Almost
w
flavour wine.
Mustard
flowers.
Borago
fresh flowers used lo dec orate
Long
stein.
cm
I>ran< liing
long, 7.5
neai
the
cm
base
leaching 4 m tall, and supported by coiled tendrils. Leaves palmate, 5-lobed and rough. Male plants beat pale green flowers on long
163
BUX CAP Box woods were widespread in Europe but the for the wood - which is twice as hard as oak - led to extensive felling. Close clipped Box hedges make excellent edgings to formal
demand
herb gardens.
Slow growing evergreen
Description
m
tree
or
bark greyish, leaves dark green above and shiny, pale beneath, oblong 1-3 cm long. Flowers minute, yellow-green in axillary clusters appearing mid-spring to early shrub, 2-7
tall;
A
sandy
soil
taken
autumn. Mediterranean native; widely distributed in Europe and Western Asia; introduced elsewhere. Prefers a well-drained and chalky or loamy soil. Cultivation Wild plant. early
Distribution
1
parabuxine,
buxine,
parabuxonidine oil; tannin. Uses (leaves, woodi Not used medicinally; but formerly used for syphilis and as a sedative A volatile oil from the wood was once used in the treatment of epilepsy, piles and toothache. Perfume once made from the bark. Leaves and sawdust were formerly used to dye hair auburn. Box wood is as durable as brass and is therefore used in instrument manufacture. Leaves once used as a substitute for Hops.
Resin
Constituenti
comprising
bryonin; tannin; volatile
and Uses
oil;
or
employed rarely used
to
dried
allay
due
to
its
root
coughs
glycoside
other glycosides
alkaloids. Purgative action fresh
the
due
to resin.
Irritant; in
once
pleurisy,
now
violent purgative action.
Berries of use as a dye. Contra-indications All parts
POISONOUS.
Contra-indications
died
from
Jord. labiatae
Calamintha
ascenden.1
Calamint Mountain Balm
Mountain Mint
An am
ient medicinal herb which once had such a good reputation as a heart tonic that it
was named after the Greek lor excellence kalos. Although an 'official' herb of the Middle Ages it now has no place in either orthodox or medicine. Hairv
Buxus sempervirens L buxaceae
arising
Box Box Tree
high;
164
have
Common
Description
Although once used for medicinal purposes the slow growing and somewhat peculiarly smelling Box Tree is now mainly sought after for its timber which is used in the manufacture of chess pieces and turned boxes. At one time
Animals
eating the leaves.
folk
perennial;
stems
from creeping root-stock, leaves
(dried
may
leaves
herb
flowering
An
infusion
is
Diaphoretic;
a useful tonic.
The
be used as a poultice for bruises.
peppermint flavoured tisane can be made from the leaves.
in spring.
Alkaloids :
to
Constituents Volatile oils.
or limestone.
Constituents
appear early summer
late spring.
Uses
in
berries; both plants
summer
Distribution
expectorant.
Wild plant. Cultivated from cuttings
long. Typically labiate flowers,
to early autumn. European native; prefers dry woodland and waste places on chalky soil. Cultivation Wild plant. Propagated by cuttings of side-shoots taken in spring; seed sown in early spring: root division late autumn and
ing late
Native to Europe, North Africa, western Asia. Cultivated widely: prefers chalk Cultivation
female plants bear greenish flowers in umbels of 2-5 on short stalks and single red
cm
pale purple, in dense whorls of 10-20, appear-
summer. Distribution
stalks;
ovate, 2-3
stalked,
toothed
to
and
square,
30 cm broadly
officinalis L compositae Marigold Carden Marigold
Calendula
This well-known garden plant is probably one of the most useful of all herbs. It has valuable medicinal properties, yields a yellow dye, and
can be used purposes.
as a culinary
It
herb and
for
cosmetic
has been used in the Mediter-
ranean region since the ancient Greeks, and it was known to Indian and Arabic cultures before the Greeks. The botanical name comes from the Latin calendulae or calends meaning 'throughout the months', which was intended to emphasize the very long flowering period of the Marigold. Description Annual; biennial rarely; branching, angular stem to 50 cm; leaves oblong or lanceolate, hairy on both surfaces, 5-15 cm flower-heads large, yellow or orange, tubular florets absent double-flowered appearing mid-summer to late autumn. long:
.
Mediterranean native; distributed throughout the world as a garden plant. Cultivation Not found wild. Tolerates any soil in full sun, although prefers loam. Seed sown mid-spring, but once established is generally Distribution
self-sown. Constituents Volatile oil; a
yellow resin; calen-
all of which and promote wound healing.
dulin saponins; a bitter principle; ;
aid bile secretion I
es
entire flower-heads, individual florets,
rarely the entire flowering plant
Cholagogue:
BUX-CAP styptic; anti-inflammatory:
vulnerary; anti-
emmenagogue.
septic; possibly
ulcers,
and some inflammatory
treatment of kidney and urinary diarrhoea. Frequently included in cleansing mixtures such as acne remedies. May possess a weak sedative action. Can be used as a tea substitute.
skin
Used externally for treatment of leg and in conjunctivitis as an eye lotion. Petals are substitutes for Saffron, and may be added to salads and omelettes or used to colour cheese and butter. Young leaves added to salads. lesions.
Cannabis Recorded in the fifth century B.C. in the Chinese herbal Rh-ya but now subject to considerable nedical and legal reappraisal. Hemp has long been of economic importance to man. John Gerard described it in the sixteenth century as the Indian Dreamer. C. sativa L is considered now to be synonymous
and cosmetic preparations, and
as a hair rinse.
Yellow dye obtained by boiling flowers. Calluna vulgaris (Li Hull Ericaceae
Heather Ling
A common
herb long used
European
in
L cannabaceae
Cannabis sativa
Hemp
Petals are also used as tea. in skin
in the
infections,
tract
ulcers,
Used
glaucoma, spasmodic cough, neuralgia,
thma and migraine. Stem fibre provides 'hemp' for rope, sail-cloth etc. Seed is a bird-feed, and source of a drying
Of use
Specifically of use in inflamed lymphatic nodes,
duodenal
Uses (fresh flowering tops) Antiseptic; diuretic; astringent.
with C. indica L. although the herb
folk
is
variable
in constituents and appearance dependupon region and method oi cultivation.
ly
i
m
tall.
Leaves grey-green,
latei
reddish, verj
mm
appearing
late
summer
Native
to late
autumn.
Europe, Asia Minor. eastern North America, On
Distribution
to
Introduced to acidic sandy soils. 01 peal bogs. In woodland, dry hillsides, mountainous distrit is. to 2500 m altitude.
lanceolate, toot lied.
panicles
flowers in
sessile leafy spikes 2
Distribution
introduced
i
small, sessile, overlapping in 4 tows. Ffowei long, pink in terminal one-tided rat emes,
">
countries.
Native
in
j-
cm
40
23 c
1
<
m
long. Male-
and western Asia
in altitude
.
tropical
can
be
1
.11
cultivated
Last
.
man) countries il
In
only with a government
pei mit.
Bush.
pickled in wine vinegar, have been used as a
condiment for at least 2000 years, and have been known as either capparis or
always
Dioscorides suggested a medical use them, but the) have never widel) been used for anything except culinary purposes. The best known substitute lor capers is pickled, gi
1
in nasturtium seeds.
Description Straggling spiny
shrub
leaves tough, roundish e» oval 2
spines
2
in
high;
cm
long,
1
5
the base.
at
White or pink single flowers 2 .5 cm long with 4 petals, and numerous purple stamens hanging below them, appearing from early
.
Wild and cultivated commercially, in temperate regions lor oil) seed anil fibre Soviet Union and central Europe, for example- and in tropical regions lor the- drug Cultivation
\inea. India.
Physical
illegal.
is
Capparis spinosa L capparaceae Caper Caper Bush The unopened flower buds of the Caper
with short petiole and
long. Variable.
to central
5000
female
long;
man) temperate and
to
To
7. 5
tops
personality. Medical use only.
lor
Coarse strong-smelling dioceious m (all. Leaves long-petioled thin, alternate, palmate; 3 11 leaflets, narrow-
flowering
as a narcotic (marijuana).
and psychological effects, ranging from change in blood pressure and impotence to hallucination, vary enormously depending on
(capparis.
cm
Dried
oil".
smoked
Contra-indicatwns Possession
ing
Description
whose generic name is from the Greek meaning to sweep, alter the use "I n^ branches in brooms. Description Evergreen subshrub from 5 cm
illegally
both
annual, go
medicine
'hemp-seed
oil,
as-
autumn and
to earl)
Distribution
Ah
ie
Mediterranean region and North
a to the
Cultivation
climates
Ma\
be
summer
lasting onl) 24 hours.
Sahara.
Wild plant; cultivated
when grown
the in
bush
is
often
greenhouses
in
in
warmer
spineless
.
temperate
zones.
A
tivars exist lor
cannabinone, comprising various compounds; pharmacological action probably due to isomers <>l tetrahydrocanna-
in summer most successfully rooted with the help of mist propagation (requiring very high humidity).
stone
binol.
Constituents
Constituents
Cultivation Wild.
soils.
under
Numerous
horticultural cul-
rock-garden use. Dislikes limePropagate by young wood cuttings
glass.
Uses
and fumarit acids; arbutin; tannins; an oil, ericinol; a resin, ericoline; llavouoid glycosides, quercitrin and myricitConstituents Citrii
rin;
carotene.
The combined
dominant!) antiba<
terial.
action
pr<
fibre,
flowering (
resin,
seed, oil, female
lops
(lie
and male dried
latter
erebral sedative; narcotit
;
onl\
analgesii
rarel) ;
anti-
spasmodic. Mielie mal US4 and attitude to the drug varies according to country. ( lonsidered e>l benefit in
Cuttings
Caprit acid, which develops on pn kling the buds, and which is responsible for
th<
Uses
1
I1.11
actei
istii
unopened
flavoui
llowei
buds
Numerous
culin-
ary uses caper sauce, tartare sauce, vinaigrette, buitet, in Liptauei cheese, and as a garnish :
wilh hois d'oeuvres.
fish,
meat and salads.
1
(i ,
CAP-CAS Capsella bursa-pastoris (L)
Medic, cruciferae
Cultivation Wild in parts of South America and southern India; cultivated elsewhere. Constituents Capsicin; capsicain; alkaloids; vitamin C; palmitic acid.
Shepherd's Purse Shovelweed In almost all European languages the common names of this herb allude to the strange shape of the
fruit,
which are very similar
from the
belts.
The Latin name
to the purses
Uses
commonly hung
or pouches which were once
also simply
means
fruit
antiseptic;
Stimulant:
rubefacient.
and
spas-
Used
in
improve both the peripheral circulation and digestion. Occas-
flatulence,
case of the shepherd".
'little
ground
(dried
molytic;
colic
to
Shepherd's Purse can be found growing in Greenland at sites where it was introduced by
Norsemen iooo places
years ago.
It
was, and in some
¥
extensively eaten as a spring
still,
is
vegetable.
3g
»ji^
*
1*1
V
l
..
••,
'
-
Ai
pungency, and the plants are grown commerand subtropical countries.
cially in all tropical
Some
varieties grow in the cooler parts of Europe and America. Chili is dried and ground to form Cayenne Pepper; it is also blended with several varieties of Capsicums, herbs and spices to make Chili powder. Although the origin of the cultivated varieties is
uncertain, experts believe
all
come from one
original species. For this reason the botanical classification
of
muddled, and
C.
these
plants
annuum
somewha'
is
often described as
is
C.Jrutt Kens.
Herbaceous annual or biennial:
Description
30 90 cm high; leaves 2.5 12 cm long, acuminate, often narrowing towards the petiole: white flowers, solitary, 5 cm wide,
mm
or
Annual,
Description
or
generally
biennial;
smooth or slightly hairy stem, branched, to 50 cm; arising from basal rosette of dentate or variable leaves. Upper leaves entire and narrow. White flowers 2.5-4 mm diameter, in loose racemes appearing throughout the year, and followed by triangular shaped fruit called
much
varied
in
larger.
Fruit from
1
30
1.5
cm
long,
colour (yellow, brown, purple, often
bright red Distribution
,
in
shape and degree of
Grown
in
tropical
all
fleshiness.
and sub-
Distribution
Europe and America. Not found in wild state, but closely related to the Bird Pepper (Capsicum microcarpum (D.C.). Seed sown under glass in early spring; later transplanted. Best sown in pots or under glass in cool climates to ensure
common weed
ripening of
siliculae.
Widespread in temperate zones; on gravelly, sandy or loamy soils, especially those which are nitrogen-rich. Cultivation Wild plant. Constituents Choline; acetylcholine: and other amines acting as vasoconstrictors and haemostatics. Uses
(dried
plant;
fresh
Anti-haemorrhagic; the herb acts
plant)
as a vaso-
and is therefore of use in certain haemorrhages especially profuse menstruation.
during
to
assist
childbirth.
cabbage
in
many
Capsicum annuum
Chili
contraction of the uterus
Spring
leaves
eaten
as
countries.
L solanaceae
Peppers Capsicum/Sweet Peppers
All species of Capsicum are of American origin
and were unknown before 1494 when Chanca, the physician to the fleet of
second voyage
to
the
Columbus
West
Indies,
described their use by the natives.
in his
briefly
Today
there
are scores of varieties in cultivation, ranging in
shape,
166
size,
colour,
flavour,
and degree of
as a liniment in neuralgia or
Weak
infusion of benefit as throat
gargle.
Large doses are an extreme
Contra-indications
Cultivation
irritant to the gastro-intestinal system.
fruit.
Capsicin; capsaicin: alkaloids: vitamin C; palmitic acid. Uses (fresh or dried fruit) Spasmolytic: nutriConstituents
tive
and stimulant. Aids digestion; of
use in
Mainly employed
as
a
condiment and
a
Cardamine pratensis
Lady's
Smock
L cruciferae
Cuckoo-flower/Bittercress
Lady's Smock is one of the first wild flowers to appear in spring, and is characteristic of moist meadows in Europe and America. It is rich in vitamins and minerals and was formerly cultivated and used as a common salad herb, often being found on market stalls. It has, unfortunately, now fallen into disuse. Cardamine is an ancient Greek
name
for Cress,
and
refers to
its
national
supposed heart-benefitting properties. Description Slender erect perennial on short root-stock, to 25-50 cm. Leaves pinnately subdivided, consisting of 3-7 segments, oblong or cm long. Basal leaves broader and rounded, form a rosette. Pale lilac or white flowers, 4 attractive petals cm long, in terminal racemes appearing spring to early summer, and followed by 2.5 cm long fruit pod. Double flowers
came from Cayenne
occasionally occur.
vegetable.
constrictor
Thought
employed
rheumatism.
tropical countries;
diarrhoea. flowering
ionally
Capsicum frutescens L solanaceae Tabasco Pepper Cayenne Pepper
Cayenne was classified as C. minimum by Roxburgh, but is generally known as C. frutescens. It is the species which is used medicinally, and it is still included in many pharmacopoeias. Traditionally it in French Guiana. Description Perennial shrub to 2 m; trunk becoming woody, 7.5 cm diameter. Leaves various, usually elliptical, 2
cm
long; flowers
mm
cm wide. white in groups of 2 or 3, 5 Fruit small and oblong. Distribution Tropical and subtropical countries. 1
1
1
Distribution
Native
in
temperate
zones
of
northern Europe and America: prefers loamy soil saturated with water, beside streams, in damp meadows and moist woodland. Cultivation
Wild plant; once cultivated. May when ripe, on damp
be raised from seed sown,
CAP-CAS loamy
mustard Uses
Known
soil.
Constituents
Vitamins, especially C: minerals:
oil.
fresh leaves, flowering tops
nutritive. Infusion
may
Stomachic:
be taken
promote
to
the appetite, or in indigestion.
Eaten raw
added
cooked as vegetable; Flavour similar to Watercress.
in salads, or
to soups.
France as Barometre because it approach of rain. Description Stemless or short-stemmed perennial to 5 cm on taproot. Bearing oblong 30 cmlong pinnate leaves, divided into numerous spiny segments. Flower-head large (to 12.5 cm) solitary, creamy-white, composed entirely of disc florets: appearing late summer to midin
closes at the
autumn. Distribution
Native to south and central Europe. meadowland, on poor, dry,
heathland.
In
stony calcareous
soils
in
warm
positions to
Commercially and on a wide scale. especially in Germany and Holland. Tolerates most soils: sow late summer for seed harvesting the following summer. Constituents Volatile oils, which prevent flatulence and promote secretion of gastric juices. Uses (ripe fruit, young fresh leaf, fresh roots) Carminative: aromatic. Of much benefit in horticulturally
Constituents Essential oil: resin: tannins: inulin:
and
antibiotic substances, carlinoxide
carlin-
dried root
Cholagogue: diuretic;
Young
The decoction may
added
in
in
stomachic tonic.
be used to clean
as flavouring.
to salads: root boiled as
vegetable.
such as Kiimmel.
to flavour liqueurs
Cassia angustifolia Vahl.
and urine retention: complaints such as acne and eczema;
benefit in dropsy
liver disorders, or as a
leaves
anti-
bacterial: vulnerary: stomachic.
skin
lack of appetite, diar-
indigestion,
flatulent
Used
ene.
some
plant.
cultivated
Seed has wide culinary use
Wild plant.
Cultivation
Uses
waste-grounds.
Wild
Cultivation
rhoea. Safe to use with children.
2800 m.
Of
Europe: very widely distributed and naturalized. Prefers
wounds
or
an antiseptic gargle. Used in veterinary medicine to stimulate appetite of cattle. Contra-indicatwns Purgative and emetic in large as
doses.
leguminosae
Senna Tinnevelly Senna Senna
well-known
is
for
of constipation,
cases
its
effectiveness in
and the herb
is
still
by inclusion in most national pharmacopoeias. It was first brought into medical usage by Arabian physicians of the ninth century when the best sort was considered to come from Mecca. Another species. recognized
officially
Cassia acuti folia, provides the slightly inferior
L
mbelliferae Caraway (ai aw a \ Seed Both the common and Latin names of this herb Stem directly from the ancient Arabic word for its seed karau iya, w Inch are known to have been used b\ man as medicine and as flavouring since the earl) Egyptians. ( araw av cultivation is mentioned in the Bible, and the seed has been
Carum
carvi
1
.1
Found sites -
Carlina acaulis (
L COM POSITAE
years,
trline Thistle Du.nl Thistle
Carina Charles
possibh,
is
a
kimj
army from more certainh his
derived
who
acaulis
means
it
die remains of food at Mesolithic
has thus been widely used for 5000
and
n
1-
-nil extensively
use as a flavouring
from
the
traditional!)
the plague with
among
name
protected
this
'stemless'.
plain
:
/>
and
Typical
cription
as a
<
cultivated for
arminative.
umbelliferous
biennial:
lowed by erect slender brani bed 00 (in bearing lew pinnate leaves stem jo and umbels oi numerous minute whin- (lowers. Appearing mid 10 late summer, linn when -1
\i-.n
lol
1
ripe
late
summer
to late ainiinin
5
',
shrub or undershrub
to
cm
with pale erect angled branches. Leaves subdivided into 4 8 leaflets, oval-lanceolate, smooth. 2.5 6 cm long, 7 8 wide; flowers 75
mm
on erect racemes, small, yellow, numerous. Followed 1>\ fruit, 13 17 broad. D iiihution Native to Arabia and Somaliland: introduced in southern India, especially Ma-
mm
M\ sore and
dura.
Tinnevelly.
Cultivation Wild plant. Cultivated in
rosette ofbipinnate or tripinnate feather) leaves in in
'Alexandrian senna". Description Perennial
India,
and
commercial!) Arabia and
to a lesser extent in
Somaliland. <
onstituents
ally rhein,
netin
:
Anthraquinone
derivatives, especi-
aloe-emodin, kaempferin, isorham-
also beta-sitosterol
:
kaempferol myric) :
1
nun
long, oblong, strongl) ribbed. Distribution
Native
to
mid-East, Asia, Central
,(,7
CAS-CEP Purgative action due to anthraquinone substances acting on lower bowel wall and nerves Auerbach's plexus) in alcohol and resin.
(
the wall. (dried
Uses
fruit,
dried
Cathartic.
leaflets)
Widely used alone or more commonly
com-
in
bination with aromatics to treat constipation.
May
be taken as a tea with
Ginger or
slices of
Coriander Seed. Contra-indications
constipation or
Not
be
to
used
spastic
in
Large doses of the
colitis.
leaf
Caulophyllum thalictroides CL) Michx. BERBERIDACEAE Blue Cohosh Papoose Root Eighty years ago this herb was included in the United States Pharmacopoeia and was considered worthy of detailed study and use in obstetric and gynaecological conditions. American Indian women drank an infusion of the root for two weeks prior to childbirth, which was usually comparatively painless. The herb is also called Blue or Yellow Ginseng. Its
now
cause nausea, griping pain and red coloration
use
of the urine.
Description Erect perennial to
fagaceae Sweet Chestnut Spanish or Eurasian
pinnate:
was
the
classical
name
restricted to herbal medicine.
m on contorted branched root-stock; stem terminated in large sessile tripinnate leaf. Other leaves 2 or 3
Castanea sativa Mill,
Chestnut Kastanea
is
this
for
which produces the largest and best nuts only when grown in a mediterranean climate. These nuts, once known as kastana, arc now called marones and traditionally make the attractive tree
1
leaflets being oval, usually 23 lobed, 2.5-10 cm long. Flowers 6-petalled, yellowishgreen (occasionally purplish appearing late spring to mid-summer on peduncle arising
best stuffing for turkey.
common
Tree to 30 m; thick dark brown corrugated bark with spiral fissures: large buds
the
Description
4-5 10
mm
25 above,
long, coarsely serrated, dark green
light green and Flowers (catkins) 12 20 late
spe< ies such
wide, ovoid; leaves oblong-lanceolate
cm
glabrous
cm
beneath.
1
Distribution
cm
3 nuts, 2.5
Native
bun
for
food.
Best
Tannin;
Asia,
south
Leaves
m.
propagated
thickets
gum:
and roadsides. Wild plant.
Cultivation
Constituents
Active principles unknown.
root bark cholagogue; diaphoretic.
b\
Emetic;
dried
Uses
diuretic:
Used formerly in biliary obstruction, to promote menstruation and to treat skin cancer.
fresh leaf was once whooping-cough, and formerly employed as an
Attractive orange fruits used in flower arrange-
Uses (nuts) Nutritive.
was
8
to
ovate to ovate-lanceolate,
resin:
taken as a decoction
bark
long,
1
albumin;
alkaloids.
the
rarely used
numerous, greenon terminal racemes 10 cm long, followed cm diameter. by orange-yellow seed capsules, Distribution Canada and United States from Quebec to New Mexico. Prefers dense moist
grafting. Constituents
Twining shrub
cm
12.5
Now
medicine.
ish,
Europe and North Africa. Introduced into America and Europe. Tolerates most soils. prefers deep sandy loam. Cultivation Wild plant; widely grown and hundreds of varieties now exist, some of which are cultivated
as trellis or wall covers. in folk
serrated. Flowers ver\ small,
wide.
western
to
grow
")
related
orbiculatus are useful plants to
.is (..
even
l)i scription
long, appearing
spring to early summer, followed by a
enclosing
plant found growing beside roads in
American Appalachians. This and
The
ments.
in
L compositae Cornflower Bluebottle Bachelor's Button Once common in cornfields but in parts Europe now becoming much rarer because Centaurea cyanus
antipyretic.
Nuts boiled, roasted, ground into flour, and used in pates, tarts, bread and soups. Good quality timber obtained from the tree.
of of
methods; the Cornflower gained its name by the translation of the apothecaries' term for the drug "flosfrumenti'. Before the sixteenth century it was called Blue Bothem or Bluebottle. Both this and another growing in the mounspecies C. montana L tainous areas of Europe, are considered excellent eyewashes for tired eyes. Tradition maintains they are most effective for blue evePlantago while a completely different plant major (the Greater Plantain is believed to be
changing agricultural
from base
upper
of
leal.
Fruit
1
cm
diameter,
blue-black. Distribution
United States and Canada; especi-
woodland and mountain glades. Wild plant. Constituents Saponin; green-yellow colouring ally in moist
Cultivation
matter; resins; starch;
salts:
stances acting on voluntary
unknown
sub-
and involuntary
muscle - especially the uterus. Uses dried rhizome and root Oxytocic. Once used to facilitate childbirth and treat chronic rheumatism. Also used in fevers but only weak diaphoretic action has been shown. |
Powder is irritant, especially to mucous membranes. May cause pain to fingers and toes. Contra-indications
Celas'rus scandens
brown eyes. Annual herb on
best for
20-90 cm high;
leaves grey,
linear-lanceolate, usually
7.5-15
cm
wiry stem
downy,
alternate,
than 5
mm w ide.
less
long. Bract fringes silvery. Flowers
capitulae 2.5-4 cm wide, bright blue (occasionally white, pink or pur-
on large ple).
solitary
Only
summer
Bittersweet
Distribution
of the spindle-tree family and a
erect
Description
False Bittersweet American or Climbing
A member if)M
L celastraceae
.
disc florets present.
to early
Appearing mid-
autumn.
Native to south and east Europe, naturalized in parts of North America. Intro-
.
CAS-CEP ingredient of vermouth.
stems
erect,
cm
cm
high:
to
form
Basal rosette of elliptic leaves
inflorescence.
mm
8-20
wide; stem leaves shorter, linear, oval, glabrous with 5 veins. cm long, borne on Flowers sessile, pale red, 1-5
long,
Unknown.
Constituents
annual 2-50 glabrous, branching
Description Biennial or
Uses (fresh leaves
and
No medical
root-stock)
use.
Used
cooked
in salads (bitter),
as a vegetable.
Root-stock used in soups. Attractive garden plant.
1
corymbs of 6 10 flowers. Appearing late to mid-autumn. native; Distribution Central European distributed from western Europe to western
Cephaelis ipecacuanha (Brot.) A. Rich.
apical
summer
introduced
Siberia:
elsewhere.
dry
Prefers
woodland and roadsides. Wild plant. Cultivated commercially on a small scale in North Africa and central Europe. Seed sown in spring or autumn. Constituents Glycosidic bitter principles and related compounds which stimulate gastric and salivary secretions. slopes,
Cultivation
.
Constituents Sterols:
cyanin: cyanin chloride:
dried (lower-head
Uses
astringent.
A
Diuretic: tonic: mild
may
decoction
be used as an
in eye inflammation and fatigue. A blue ink was formerly made horn the (lower
eyewash juice.
Flowers used
in
pot-pourris.
Centaurium erythraea Rafn.
Centaury Lessa (
ientui
!hiron
who
suffering an arrow
named
after the
wound. The plant
called Gentian since
it
is
also
has similar properties
Hue Gentian Gentiana hum and is used (or the same purposes. It was considered I luck\ plant b\ some ol the Celtic peoples nl Europe. Centaur) v\as widel) grown in the M Ages, and it is si ill used toda) as an to the
i
<
I
(
i
I
<
Important constituent of gastric herbal in bitter herb liqueurs.
L
Centranthus ruber
drug's effectiveness
current inclusion in
is
in
court
emphasized by
its
national pharmaco-
all
poeias except the Chinese.
Small straggling shrub on creeping
Description
fibrous roots initially
smooth becoming en-
teas;
DC
1
valerianaceae
Red-spurred Valerian Fox's
Brush The Red-spurred Valerian has none of the medicinal properties of the closely related Both Valeriana officinalis 'official' Valerian l.'Miii and Linnaeus classified the herb botanically as Valeriana ruber, and Gerard (ailed it Red Valerian or Red Clow Basil. .
I
centaui treated himself with the herb after is
The
who
his success to the
used
in:
leases
mate
entire,
sessile,
Centaur)
688 sold the secret of of Louis XIV. 1
effect.
Description Perennial
Centaur)
j
Common (
QENTIANACEAE
Common
01
a Parisian physician called Helvetius
Aromatic: bitter; stomachic. Stimulates appetite and bile secretion: of benefit in weak digestion. Widely used as a tonic. Has an insignificant antipyretic
Red Valerian
fragasin.
Ipecacuanha - known as poaya in its native and long used there for medical purposes - did not reach Europe until 1672 and was not botanically identified until 1800. Its use for dysentery was proven and promoted by Brazil
dried flowering plant
Uses
duced elsewhere. Found especially on wastegrounds on porous nutrient-rich soil. Cultivation Wild plant becoming rare or less common Widely cultivated horticultural!} from seed sown in spring on sunny site.
RL'BIACEAE
Ipecacuanha
on wood) based stems to
lam
to
eol.ile
occasional!)
IO
toothed
Cttl
long,
al
base
nun wide, red or pink, the corolla is tubular and spurred al the base. Appears hue Flowers
5
spring. Distribution
old walls, Cultivation use.
A
Europe
cliffs,
<
sites.
Wild plant: limited horticultural
white variety,
Propagated
south-west Asia: prefers
to
halk)
In
root
C. rubei var. albus, exists.
division
in
spring
or
autumn.
banded
and annulated
larged
.
Stem con-
tinuous with root-stock, smooth, green, angu-
30 (in, bearing few opposite, ovate, entire Flowers white in heads on terminal solitary peduncles, appearing late winter to earl) spring, bears clusters of dark purple lar to
leaves.
berries. Distribution
elsewhere.
Indigenous
to
brazil; introduced
Grows in clumps in moist and shady
forests.
Cultivation
Wild plant; cultivated in Brazil, Burma. Alkaloids comprising mainly eme-
India (Bengal), Malaysia, Constituents 1 1
ne and
<
ephaelinc. together with psychotrine,
melliN l-psv< hotline glyi oside;
and
ipecac nan hi 11
emelaiiiiiie. ;
Also a
Starch, ipecacuanhic
acid.
diied ioot
Emetic; powerful expectorchronic bronchitis. Prevents cyst formation in amoebic dysenterj Useful in acute dysentery and as a diaphoretic. 1
ant.
I
sed
in
acute and
i6g
CER CHI Dangerous in large doses as it whole gastro-intestinal tract, causing serious vomiting and diarrhoea. Powder irritates skin and mucous membranes causing violent sneezing and coughing. To be used by medical personnel only. Contra-indications
the
irritates
cactaceae Night Flowering Cereus Cereus grandiflorus Mill,
Although many cacti provide food and drink, comparatively few are proven effective medicinally. One exception is the Night Flowering Cereus which is characterized by its exceed-
and beautiful scented
ingly large
commonly grown
flowers.
The
house plant. Description Perennial succulent shrub; stem 5 or 6 ribbed, simple or rarely branched, 1-4 cm diameter, dark green, prickly. Flowers white. plant
is
as a
terminal or lateral, very large 20-30
diameter. hours,
They bloom
and
in the
cm
evening,
die. Fruit ovate, scaly,
last
in
6
orange-red.
Distribution West Indian native; tropical America, Mexico. Cultivation Wild plant: grown horticultural!) as a house plant in sharp, sandy soil. Constituents
stances.
Resins; alkaloids;
The method
unknown
of action
is
not
sub-
dry, sandy
fully
Cultivation
Commercially grown in central Europe. To ensure double flower-heads, prop-
understood. I
ses
fresh
or
dried
flowers,
young stems
agate vegetatively by root-stock division in early spring. fruits rare, apical, 1
cm
rounded,
rust
coloured
to
diameter.
Abundant
Distribution
high northern
in
tudes, especially coniferous forests,
lati-
mountain-
ous parts of central Europe. North America. Also in Antarctica. Cultivation
Wild plant. mucilage, comprising lichenin
Constituents 70",,
and
which
isolichenin.
acts as a
demulcent:
L Ach. parmeliaceae
Moss
This is not a moss but a lichen and it has long been used as a foodstuff in the cold northern countries where
entire
plant Demulcent; mild weak antituberculous agent.
dried
it
flourishes.
It is still
employed
and
acid.
Spasmolytic;
flower-heads
dried
Uses
Excellent in
Whole herb used Used
in
beer manufacture.
Centra-indications
vomiting and vertigo.
be ground and
made
into flour lor baking
Chamaemelum
nobile (L) All.
compositae or Double
Chamomile Roman, Common
to lighten hair.
Excessive
This is one of the best known of all herbs and has been in continuous use from the time of the Egyptians who dedicated it to their Gods until today when it is widely available prepacked in tea bags. Its name derives from the Greek chamaimelon meaning 'apple on the ground' since all parts of the herb are strongly
cultivated and
.
purgative properties. Description Lichen, consisting of erect dichotomously branched, curling thallus 3—12 cm
of yellow-white ligulate
high; upper surface olive-brown or grey, paler lower surface with depressed white spots:
Distribution Indigenous to southern Europe: introduced and widespread elsewhere: prefers
Description Aromatic perennial to 30 cm with creeping root-stock, low growing, hairy stems, branched and supporting leaflets divided into
almost entirely 15
mm-3 cm
wide, born singly on long erect stems.
mid-summer
to
produces
found on waste-ground near to habitation is yet another herb once
indicates that this
florets,
dosage
Chelidonium majus L papaveraceae Greater Celandine The fact that Greater Celandine is commonly
Chamomile
many segments. Flowers consist
men-
vomiting and nausea. flatulent dyspepsia taken as tisane.
dyspepsia,
May
apple-scented.
170
spacings. Succeeds even in part shade. comprising azulene.
tiglic acids, anthemal. anthemenc. Action antiseptic: anti-inflammatory: anti-spasmodic. Improves appetite. Also inositol, and a bitter glvcoside, anthemic
esters of angelic
Stimulates appetite. Specifically of benefit in debilitating diseases associated with vomiting.
medicine largely because of its nutritive properties, although Linnaeus recommended its general use in medicine for pulmonary diseases. It was once called 'muscuscatharticus" which suggests wrongly that it possesses in folk
oil.
tren-
cm
soil
struation,
bread or boiled in milk. Edible jelly made by boiling soaked plant to remove bitterness.
Iceland
Volatile
Constituents
15
secretions. Uses
Cetraria islandica
2.5 sq.m., planted at on any free-draining
clone
100 plantlets cover
sedative; carminative. Relieves painful
bitter
tonic; nutritive;
cases of dropsy.
The non-flowering
eague' ideal for lawns;
organic acids, including fumaroprotocetraric acid, which stimulate gastric
also
Cardiac stimulant: increasing the force of myocardial contractions. Used in cardiac arrhythmias and heart failure. Once used in
sun.
soil in lull
From
mid-autumn.
now
forgotten.
It
is still
used
in
medicine however, chiefly for liver problems, but no longer for its traditional ability to improve poor sight. Dioscorides called the herb chelidonion from khelidon - a swallow since it was supposed to flower when swallows were migrating. Description Perennial 30-90 cm high; stem branched, slightly hairy, leaves pinnateK finely hairy or glabrous, with 5-7 ovate or oblong leaflets crenated or toothed, blue-green underherbal
neath: flowers yellow, 4-petalled. 2-2.5 cm diameter, appearing early to mid-summer.
Followed by erect thin green capsules 3-5
cm
long. Distribution
Native
to
Europe, naturalized in
eastern North America, introduced elsewhere.
:
CER-CHI laxative; anthelmintic.
Used
tinal disorders as a tonic.
Of benefit in anorexia,
constipation
indigestion,
Once used
as
an ointment
in
general intes-
and
of piles.
calcium, vitamins
iron,
in
and C.
B,
cholecystitis.
to relieve irritation
Rich
Constituents
(fresh
Uses
common
young
medicinal
Xo
Nutritive.
seed)
leaf,
use,
although mildly laxa-
tive.
Seed can be ground and used as flour. Leaf eaten as cooked green vegetable or raw. It is more nutritious than spinach or cabbage. Produces a red to golden-red dye. Can be used as animal fodder. Chenopodium ambrosioides var. anthelmintium
L
CHENOPODIACEAE
American Wormseed Mexican Tea to Mexico this herb has become thoroughly naturalized as far north as
Although indigenous
New England, and Europe cluded but
in
1732.
in the
it was introduced into Mexican Tea was once in-
United States Pharmacopoeia.
now restricted to American
is
folk
medicine.
Strong smelling annual reaching .25 m, branching profusely from ground level
Description 1
leaves alternate, oblong-lanceolate.
long:
flowers
leafless spikes
Found on waste-ground, wood
edges, paths
and walls primarily near habitation. Wild plant. Propagate by
Cultivation
Fat root
di\ ision in spring.
Constituent Acrid
orange coloured latex con-
taining several alkaloids, especially chclidon-
and
ine
chelerythrin;
chelidoxanthin;
principle,
bitter
a
malic and chelidonie
citric,
Hen White
attractive plants,
bladder
and
bladder.
Hen and
from dried
flowering
Cholagogue;
narcotic;
or
Irrsli
{
latex)
plant,
fresh
purgative:
included
Description
cholecystitis. Fresh juice
formcrU
POISONOl v
side-effects include sleepiness, skin irritation.
respiratory
tract
irritation
causing
violent
coughing and dyspnoea. Urine stained bright yellow.
May
auSC
<
iili
often
seed from
fatty
L scrophui.ariaci w
to late
Distribution America, especially tropical central America; widelv naturalized. On drv waste
sacrificed in
Denmark
111
kin<;
were eaten nineteenth (.'.
album was
ol
Tollmund
meal
too
B.c
Annual to m consisting ol short, reddish, branched stem, bearing bluish1
green lanceolate toothed variablc-si/ed leaves, and mealy white inflorescence. Flowers small, greenish-white,
in
clusters,
appearing mid-
mid-autumn. Distribution European native; found genous weedy places, often one ol
summer
to
plants to appeal cm disturbed Chelone glabra
Good
the closely related
in the ritualistic last
Man.
and
summer
main of which
Century, and the
of biliary duct and gall bladder, such as gall
used externally on warts tra-indications Large doses
Pigweed
or
Chenopodium bonus-henricus neolithic times until the
antimitotic. Principally used in inflammations
stones
late
edible plants, for example-, spinach and beet.
Henry
gall
appearing
cm
12.5
arranged on
1500 species of rather unare important
includes
species
Fat
as
Common
small,
autumn.
Goosefoot family from the Greek khenopodwn meaning goose foot which is the shape of the leaves of sonic
smooth
such
Goosefoot
The Chenopodiaceae
acids; saponin. Acts as an antispasmodic on
muscle,
L chenopodiaceae
Chenopodium album
greenish,
Cultivation
in
nitro-
the
first
soil.
Wild plant.
Turtle-head Balmony
swamp
This beautiful
flowers he, id
plant possesses odourless
whose shape resembles
chelom
is
that ol a turtle's
(.reek lor tortoise
.
It
has long
been a favourite toni< in North American folk medicine, hut has not been scientifically
examined. Description
Perennial
to
i
.-,
m: stem
erect
smooth, square, bearing opposite, sessile 01 shortly petiolatc dark green slum leaves, ( m long, narrow and pointed, somewhat 7 serrate. Mowers white or rose-linked. 2.-, cm i
-,
long, in terminal oi axillary spikes
law
h
lumma
to
Appearing
mid-autumn.
and previously cultivated land. alum Wild plant.
places Cultii
Constituents Volatile I
a
fruit,
entire
chenopodium flowering
oil.
plant
Anthel-
roundworm and hookboth humans and animals.
mintic, especially lor
worm, and used in Tea from leaf reported to stimulate milk How and to relieve pain .liter childbirth. Main use as the- source of chenopodium oil lor incoi poration into
anthelmintic preparations.
Contra-indications
POISONOUS.
Large doses
cause vertigo, deafness, paralysis, incontinence, sweating, jaundice, and death.
North America from Newfoundca.iv Found cm low wet land to Florida and ground, stream margins, wet forests au<\
Chionanthus virginicus L oleaci u Fringe Tree Snowdrop Tree/( )ld Man's
lhi< k'
Heard
tribution
I
Cultii iitum
Constituents I
•
Wild plant.
No
dried
\ll
analysis available.
flowering
plan)
lelei
Cholagogue;
the to
flower,
common names its
I01
ol
this bcaulllul
spectacular appearance
which reason
it
1
when
1
c<
in
has of course been
7'
CHO-CIM Description
Hardy aromatic perennial 5-15 cm long,
leaves ovate
to
1
m;
finely serrate, often
with pair of small lobes at the base; greyishcm broad, yellow, button-like,
green. Flowers
appearing
1
late
summer
to early
autumn.
Asian native; naturalized North America, Europe. Tolerates any soil;
Distribution W'estern in
sunny position. Wild plant; once widely cultivated as a garden plant. Propagate by root division spring or autumn, or by seed sown in spring. It cannot be raised from seed in cool climates. prefers
Cultivation
If
grown
in the
shade
will not flower.
it
Constituents Volatile oil.
Uses fresh and dried leaf Stomachic. Rarely used medicinally; an ointment once used as a salve in burns and stings. 1
1
Wide culinary uses; including flavouring home-made beer,
spring salad, soups,
cakes,
poultry.
Formerlv a cosmetic water was made from the widely cultivated.
From
a distance the flower-
ing tree appears to be covered with snow,
leaf.
and
name chionant/iu.s is from the Greek meaning snow flower. The Fringe Tree belongs to the
Chrysanthemum cinerariifolium (Trevir
the
same family
as the olive,
lilac,
jasmine and
dried
Deciduous shrub or tree to H m; leaves smooth or downy, oblong or oval, 7.5-20 cm long, opposite. Flowers delicate, fringe-like, numerous, white, 2.5 cm long, on long stems, in panicles 10-20 cm long, Appearing late spring to mid-summer and followed l>\
Formerly used
ovoid drupes (berries).
Native to North America from Pennsylvania to Florida and Texas. Found in woods and thickets, on rich moist soils.
Wild plant; cultivated
as
ornamen-
tal tree.
Saponins;
Constituents
phyllyrin;
lignan
a
glycoside. Uses
Antipyretic; stimulant.
bark,
root
fresh
bark
trunk
cholagoguc; hepatic infusion once used as a general
diuretic;
An
tonic after debilitating disease, especially of
hepatic origin.
Of
tions, cuts, ulcers
benefit in skin inflammaand bruises when applied as
Chondrus crispus (L) Stackh. gigartinaceae
Carrageen
Irish Moss Moss is unimportant medically and is not mentioned at all in classical writings. It was briefly promoted in 1831 by Dr Todhunter in Ireland, but it attracted little attention and is now largely of use in the food and cosmetic Irish
industries.
seaweed, yellow-green purplish-brown when fresh, white to yellow and translucent after drying. Thallus (fronds) 10-30 cm long, arising from subcylindrical stem, becoming flattened, curled and someDescription Cartilaginous to
times bifid. Fruiting bodies (cystocarps) small, oval,
appearing on the branches of the
Distribution Coasts of north Atlantic
thallus.
Ocean on
mainly rocky shores. Cultivation Wild plant; collected in Ireland, Brittany and Massachusetts. Constituents Mainly mucilage; proteins; iodine. W hen Irish moss is boiled, the soluble subr
172
Once
gelatin
substitute in
jell)
used for dressing cotton, stuffing matfining beer,
colour thickener
feeding cattle, and as a
cinerariifolium
is
is
the
source
of the
best-
natural insecticide, pyrethrum, which
renowned
for
its
possession of an extremely
rapid paralyzing effect and toxicity to a wide
range of insects. It is non-toxic to mammals, however. For this reason it is used as a spray to kill
the vectors of certain insect-transmitted
diseases in aircraft. Recent
work has shown weak antibiotic
that the flower-heads possess
in (loth printing.
although the herb is not used medicinalK Description Herbaceous perennial 30-75 cm tall with slender, hairy stems; leaves 15-30 cm long, petiolate, oblong or oval, subdivided into linear segments. Flowers solitary on long slender peduncles, white, appearing early activity,
L compositae Alecost Costmarv Bible-leaf Mace The most obvious characteristic of this
Chrysanthemum balsamita
herb is
is its
known
Herb. The
in several
common
aroma by Greek word kostos; to
.
ancient
pleasant balsam-like scent from which
this
languages
as the
Balsam
English names also
their incorporation
refei
of the
was an old Asian herb used in perfumery which had a similar odour to C. balsamita. Alecost is famous as the preeminent Middle Ages agent for flavouring and preparing
a poultice.
as a
C.
known
coughs.
.1
it
(dried
to treat
nutritive.
manufacture; as an emulsif) ing agent for codliver and other oils; in the [bod industry as suspending and gelling agent. tresses,
Distribution
Cultivation
mosth
I'sed
Demulcent;
plant
Uses
fleshy, purple,
Pyrethrum Flower Dalmatian Pyrethrum
stances extracted are called carrageenin.
forsythia. Description
Vis.
compositae
ale.
kostos
summer
to early
Distribution
autumn.
Indigenous
to parts
of Yugoslavia
;
CHO-CIM and adjacent
coastal islands: prefers littoral
zones but also found inland including
dried
Uses
moun-
leaf,
dried flowering plant) Bitter;
20 cm, remove
side-shoots
all
and
leaves
and
stack in dry sand in the dark. For coffee sub-
aperient; tonic.
tainous areas.
An
Wild plant. Cultivated commercially in Japan, Kenya, South Africa, parts of central Europe. Propagation by seed sown in autumn, thinning out in the following mid-
general tonic and to promote menstruation.
Brunswick or Witloof. White and pink horticul-
Once used
tural races also exist.
grease.
spring.
Employed
Cultivation
Constituents
I
and
chrysanthine and chrysanthene;
all
I
and
II,
Small
(dried
pyrethrin
II
:
No
and powdered flower-heads
as a
moth
the
'cuts"
lead to allergic dermatitis, allergic rhinitis
Chrysanthemum parthenium
L Bernh.
COMPOSITAE Feverfew Featherfew There is evidence that Feverfew was used as a general purpose tonic in previous ages, its common name being derived from the Latin Jebrifugia meaning a substance which dri\es out fevers. The old herbalists' term 'febrifuge' - from the same stem - has now been replaced with the medical description, antipyretic, but strangely the herb is rarely employed in folk medicine to treat fevers. It is an attractive, robust and vigorously growing garden plant. Description Perennial, sometimes biennial, to 90 cm; much branched with yellow-green,
repellent.
Uses (fresh
*S|r
to the
like the
% V'^ %
mid-spring.
soil.
Double-downed
variet)
•
W^^&S*
mid-autumn. Distribution South-east European native; introduced elsewhere. Prefers dry sites on an) l>\
lactones!
salts; lipids;
bitter
principles
chiefly
lactucine
employed
root)
as
little
an aid
Diuretic;
weak
tonic:
use;
formerly
in jaundice,
and may
medical
protect the liver from the effects of excessive coffee drinking. Increases glandular secretions slightly.
Root roasted and ground
as a coffee substitute
or additive; can be boiled or baked, or used as
Forced leaves used as a winter salad you ig leaves added to summer salads. Leaves produce a blue dye. Contra-indications Excessive and continued use may impair function of the retina. flour.
Linnaeus described
*J JtffLCx. A^J
*
•
to
root
earl)
mineral
and P;
Black Cohosh Black Snakeroot/Bugbanc
1
Wild plant, propagated cuttings and seed sown in
K
leaf,
Of
laxative.
1
well-drained
Constituents Inulin; sugar;
Cimicifuga racemosa (L) Nutt.
nut
mid-summer
of the varieties Magdeburg and
RAM NCLLACEAE
s( ented pinnate leaves, tin3 leaflets exceeding 7.5 cm long. Man) Bowers, 2 cm wide consisting of yellow disc florets, white ra) florets, in tight clusters, appear
strongl)
stitute, use roots
vitamins B, C, (sesquiterpenoid
Arabians - used the blanched leaves as a salad, a custom continued to this day on a commercial scale in Belgium and horticulturally throughout Europe. Sometimes the blanched winter salad leaves are known as Endive, which is derived from the Arabic word hendibeh: the specific botanical name comes from the same source. Dickens in his Household Words described the extensive cultivation of 'chiccorv' in England for the root which was ground and roasted to be used
and asthma.
to
grown
horticulturally. <
food
to
L compositae
who -
Egvptians,
cockroach, domestic fly and other pests. Contra-indications Prolonged human contact
division,
added
Chicory Succory Wild Succory The use of Chicory can be traced back
medicinal action; used only as a non-toxic
Cultivation
mild sedative.
as a
quantities
Cichorium intybus
also
possess
insecticide for control of the bedbug, mosquito,
may
of benefit in indigestion, as a
and lactupicrine.
insecticidal properties. L'ses
is
comprising the keto-
Pyrethrins,
esters cinerin
infusion
onstituenti Volatile oils.
.is
,1
(
St
>*
1
1
In
Deep rooted m; stem bristly or
.11 11
-in. ill
cm
30-100 creamy-white flowers with numerous long stamens, on a terminal raceme; appears early summer to leaflets,
jr.j
j
cm
long,
early
long. Inflorescence
consisting of foetid,
autumn.
Indigenous to Canada and the United States, especially Massachusetts, Ohio, Indiana and Georgia. Prefers rich open woodland and cleared hillsides. Distribution
eastern
offer substitute.
perennial
Description 1.5
this herb in his Materia Medica of the eighteenth century as Actaea racemis longissimus, but it was first called Christophoriana canadensis racemosa by Plukenet in 1696. It is an American herb, introduced into medical practice in America in 1828 by Garden, and used briefly in Europe from i860. Now only employed by Anglo-American herbalists of the Physiomcdical school. Description Graceful perennial 1-2.5 m h'gh on thick, gnarled, blackish root-stock bearing smooth, furrowed stem with alternate leaves subdivided into 2-, 3- or 5-ovate, toothed
Ins.
I
hair)
reaching
bearing
rigid
fpper parts practit ally leafless with
bract-like
lowei
leaves;
leaves
entire,
broadly oblong or lanceolate, partly clasping and bristl) beneath, flowers in large capitula ol 4 cm diameter, azure blue and ((insisting only ofra) Hotels. Appearing from late nimmei
to
mid-autumn. Flower-heads lose b\ inidd.i\ European native; introduced else(
Distribution
where; naturalized roadsides, (
.in oils
,1
held
ncl
in
edges,
On
the United States.
on
nitrogenous.
(
al-
alluvial toilt
Wild plant; widely cultivated hortiand commercially. Seed sown 111 well-manured soil from lai" spring to midsummer, thinned to 15 20 Cm apart in midsummer to late summer. Forced blanched salad heads best obtained from the variety M itloof: lift the root in late autumn, shorten to Cultivation
cultural!)
'73
CIN-CIT Wild
Cultivation Constituents
presence of small pits (scrobiculi
plant.
Resins and salicylic acid, both act-
ing as anti-rheumatic agents; isoferulic acid; phvtosterols; alkaloids; tannic acid; 3 uniden(A resinoid impure
fied crystalline alcohols.
mixture, cimicifugin,
produced by adding
is
tive.
;
Anti-rheumatic;
root-stock)
(dried
Uses
mild expectorant
;
emmenagogue
;
uterine cramps.
Large
doses
in
mountainous and
irritate
m. Wild plant; mostly cultivated com-
Cultivation
Particularly effective in acute stage of
Contra-indications
Grows only
Africa.
cultivated from 1500-2500
a
seda-
rheumatoid arthritis, sciatica, and chorea. Apparently most successfully used in females, and acts specifically on the uterus, easing nerve
and may cause abortion.
centres,
East
regions, most valuable species being found
tincture of cimicifuga to water.
bitter
at the vein
on underside of leaf. Distribution South American natives, occurring exclusively on the western side of the subcontinent. Also Java, Ceylon, Burma, India,
axils
mercially in Java. Constituents 20 alkaloids including quinine, cinchonine, cinchonidine. and quinidine: a
cinchona red: starch: wax: fat: cinchotannic acid; quinic, quinoic and oxalic glycoside;
acids. I
m
dried
bark
stem
Antipyretic;
bitter
tonic: stomachic. officinalis L rubiaceae Cinchona Quinine Tree/Peruvian Bark The Spanish conquerors learned of the
More
Cinchona
pyretic properties of
anti-
Cinchona Bark from
employed
tin
common
material themselves, considering
Powdered
:
it
extremely
was introduced into Spain in 1639, and promoted throughout Europe bv the Jesuits who gave the powder to those suffering from fever. Medical opinion varied as to its safety, but by 1677 it was introduced into the London Pharmacopoeia. About 12 species oi Cinchona are now used as sources of the bark, which is mainly employed lor the isolation oi quinine, once used as an antimalarial agent. Description The Cinchonas ate evergreen trees from 6-25 m tall; reduced to shrubs at the It
limits of their habitat.
irritant to the
Leaves extremely vari-
pure
its
form. Useful astringent throat gargle. Tincture
inhabitants of Peru in the sixteenth century it is not certain, however, that they used the powerful.
more
slowlv absorbed and
gastro-intestinal tract than quinine in
quinine
for
preventative treatment of the
cold: orthodox medicine for the relief
bark
emplovs
still
of muscle cramps.
used
astringent
in
tooth-
Used internally
powders.
Ma\
be used as a red dye
May
teria.
lor fabrics.
cause
vomiting; prolonged usage can cause cinchonism, symptoms of which include deafness and blindru Contra-indications
rarely
for sedation in hys-
Commonly employed
externally as a
counter-irritant in inflamed rheumatic joints, fibrositis.
and neuralgia. Small doses stimulate combination with
respiration. Often used in
other substances.
Cinnamomum camphora LAURACEAE
Nees
et
Eberm.
(Contra-indications
Camphor Tree Laurel Camphor The Camphor Tree was mentioned Chinese
sixteenth-centurj
Large internal doses toxic
to
children, causing respiratory failure.
herbal
in
the
kang-muh and earlier b\ Marco Polo
Pun-tsao-
the end
.it
Cinnamomum cassia Blume lauraceae Cassia Bark Tree Chinese Cinnamon Cassia and Cinnamon are confused in
earlv
of the thirteenth century.
The camphor product was certainly known
^Cj>
before this and was regarded as one of the most
yfy.
and valuable perfumes; it is. however, not certain whether this camphor was derived
rare
from
(..
camphora or from Dryobalanops aromatica,
Sumatran tree. In 1563 Garcia de Orta w rote that Sumatran Camphor was so superior and costly that none found its way to Europe. Certainly Camphor was known in European
a
medicine by the twelfth century since the German abbess Hildegarde used it as ganphora.
Dense topped evergreen tree reachand occasionally even taller: trunk
Description
ing 12 m,
enlarged at base. Leaves camphor scented, alternate, acuminate, smooth and shiny above,
cm long. Yellow flowers appearing early summer. Indigenous to China and Japan:
whitish beneath. 5-12 in axillary panicles
Distribution
introduced elsewhere. Flourishing in tropical and subtropical countries up to an altitude of 750 m. Cultivation
Wild plant: introduced horticultur-
allv.
able but often bright green, obovate or lanceolate
from 7.5-50
cm
long, finely veined with
crimson, traversed by prominent midrib, and
borne
on
a
brown
Flowers
Constituents
very
terpineol.
landrene.
on panicles. The useful species are differentiated from others by presence of curly hairs bordering the corolla, by its mode of capsule
Uses
dehiscence
r
74
from
below
upwards
and
bv
distillation of
Camphor, white
oil
24-40-
of
Cam-
phor, both comprising safrole, acetaldehyde.
fragrant, small, deep rose-crimson, clustered
petiole.
Obtained bv
year-old wood.
eugenol,
(Camphor;
oil
cineole,
of
d-pinene,
Camphor
phel-
Weakly
antiseptic; stimulant: carminative: mild ex-
writings, and it is probable that the terms were sometimes used to describe different grades of
same
The
spice
pectorant; mild analgesic: rubefacient; para-
the
siticide.
called kwei in the earliest Chinese herbal bv
or closely related plants.
is
.
CIN-CIT Shen-nung
2700
B.C.
.
It
reached Europe
times via Arabian and Phoenician
traders,
and
is
frequently
inferior substitute for
used
still
as
an
India. Jamaica, Cultivation
cultivated
also cultivated
in
com-
prises largely
dried
Uses
cinnamaldehyde. bark) Aromatic:
carminative:
astringent: stimulant.
Used
as a
nausea
in
powder
and Cinnamon,
or infusion in flatulence
a similar
manner
to
sometimes replaces. May be used alone or in combination to treat diarrhoea.
which
it
antiseptic:
bark:
volatile
as
a
used
in
Limited use
in
spice:
cordials.
oil
perfumery. amara L Link RL'TACEAE Bitter Orange Seville Orange Bigarade Known to the early Greeks, this was probablv also the first orange grown in Europe in about the twelfth century. The Sweet Orange was Citrus aurantium var.
until the mid-fifteenth century.
The
the
total
cription
io
m
tall,
in conserves,
and
for flavouring.
Burm. rutaceae
limun.
of the Lemon was with Arabian knowledge and plants, and probably started in the thirteenth century in Spain or Sicily. Numerous varieties
European
carried
now
cultivation
out
exist.
Small glabrous tree 3-6
Description
stout
stiff
thorns;
leaves
m
pale
high,
green,
5-10 cm long, on narrow margins. Flowers 8-16 mm long, white inside and pink outside, clustered in the axils. Sour fruit 7.512.5 cm long, light yellow, oblong to ovoid oblong
short
elliptic-ovate,
to
petioles
terminating
with
very
in a nipple.
Native to Asia; wild Cultivated commercially especially terranean countries. Distribution
is
to
in in
India.
Medi-
Wild plant: extensive horticultural and commercial cultivation. Cultivation
Constituents
Citric
acid:
pectin;
hesperidin;
B and C: citral; citronellol; d-limonene; phellandrene; sesquiterpene. vitamins
European
I 'ses
exceeded, and for yean large quantities had to be burned. Dt
Orange-
is
The Lemon is a household fruit today, but it was unknown in ancient Greece and Rome. The wild Lemon is probably a native of northern India, and is known in Hindustani as hmu or ninbu, which passed into the Arabic
with
1
with such success that
used in India as a
used to flavour medicines. Employed in perfumery.
Citrus Union
until 1275, when il which ii was indigenous was documented by an Arab writer. Ka/wini. The Portuguese occupied Ceylon in 5 [6 mainly to obtain supplies of Cinnamon, and the Dutch began its cultivation there in 1770
demand was
flower water
Lemon
an intestinal stimulant and astringent treat vomiting and nausea.
Cinnamomum zeylanicum \ees lauraceae Cinnamon Tree Ceylon Cinnamon Cinnamon was considered by the ancients as one of the most important aromatic spices available and is mentioned in the Old Testament in the same context as Myrrh. Olibanum. gold and silver. It is doubtful, however, whether the species C. leylardctan was known not mentioned as a product of Ceylon
is
Aromatic:
oil
as
known
vaseline
in
oil
Used
not
before the thirteenth century, since the spirt
Neroli
preventive against leeches. Leaves and flowers
Used dried
Widely employed flavouring and in
com-
Aperitif:
antispasmodic; sedative; cholagogue; tonic; vermifuge.
astringent: stimulant: carminative.
to
Constituents Volatile oil: resin: tannin: lignin:
Uses (flowers, leaves, fruit, fruit rind
in infusion act as sedative stomachics.
whose action is carmalso tannin and mucil-
age.
mercially.
bassorin: colouring matter. Oil of Cassia
and
inative
Uses
of China:
and
Seychelles,
Wild plant: cultivated commercially
Constituents Volatile oil.
summer. Native
southern Ceylon,
in coppices.
mm
China and Burma. Cultivation Wild plant:
the
Brazil,
in in
other tropical countries. In forests to 1000 m.
Cinnamon.
m. white aromatic bark and angular branches: leaves oblong-lanceolate 7.5-10 cm long, on long petiole. Flowers small on slender 6-8 slender panicles. 7—12 cm long, appearing Distribution
and Malaya; cultivated
India
Description Attractive evergreen tree to 7
early
Native of Ceylon, wild
Distribution
in
classical
far
A.
fresh
stimulant
Medium-sized evergreen tree 6.5 with thi< k. smooth and pale bark:
fruit,
tonic;
scorbutic; ;
dried peel, juice, refrigerant:
o\\)
Anti-
carminative;
aromatic.
Fresh juice employed as a household remedy
<>i rarely alternate, hard, long and 4 7.5 cm wide, ovate Of ovate-lanceolate, shiny above and palei beneath. Numerous yellowish-white flowers, dis-
leaves 7
g
20
opposite
cm
agreeable odour,
in silky loose
than leaves on long
pedum
panic
Irs
longei
les
Bittei
Orange
is
usuall) onl)
lood and perfume industi Description
employed
in the
\
Glabrous evergreen
tree
to
8
m;
brain bes spiny. I.
Flowers fragrant, white or pink. -mule or few; followed by 7.5 cm diametei globose orange to reddish fruit. Asian native. Introduced and Distribution naturalized in south Europe, Florida, United States and else w here.
winged.
axillary,
Cultivation
Used 1
.11
Wild and cultivated commercially. lor the Sweet Orange. l.asiK
as slot k
led
from seed.
Constituents
volatile
oil.
flowers fruil
Oil
and
ol
neroli. a
rind
complex
Volatile
oil
vitamin C; comprising limonene to 90% Havonoids; bittei compounds including naringine.
•75
CLA-COL for the
common
cold;
as a carminative,
Lemon
oil
and the peel
was once used employed
is still
Cultivation
Wild; cultivated commercially by
inoculation of rye plant heads with
artificial
as a bitter.
the fungal spores.
The
Constituents
widest use is for culinary purposes as a flavouring agent and as an antioxidant.
Used
for
cosmetic purposes as astringent, skin
tonic, in scents.
Claviceps purpurea (Fried.)
Tulasne
number
of alkaloids; carbohydrates; lipids;
quaternary ammonium bases; sterols; dyes; amino-acids and amines. Six isomeric pairs of alkaloids have been isolated, including ergocistine, ergotamine, ergocryptine, ergocornine,
Most are deriva-
ASCOMYCETES
ergosine and ergometrine.
Ergot Ergot of Rye Ergot is best known as the cause of a serious and spectacular human disease characterized by symptoms of hallucination and madness. It is now known as ergotism and arose in epidemic
tives of lysergic acid or iso-lysergic acid
proportions throughout Europe from at least
century and lasted until called by a variety of disease was 8 6. The 1 names the most common being Ignis sancti Antonii or St Anthony's Fire, and was eventuas early as the sixth 1
be caused by eating flour or bread containing a high proportion of the Ergot fungus. It was found to be of obstetric value in the 1550s by Lonitzer of Frankfurt and is retained to this day in many pharmacopoeias, including ally discovered to
the British, French
and German.
Ergot is the dried sclerotium, or resting stage, of a fungus which develops in the ovary of the rye plant [Secale cereale (L)), and other grasses belonging to the genera AgropyDescription
largely
is
due
;
action
to these alkaloids.
haemostatic; circulatory stimulant; emmenagogue. Most effectively employed as a preventative against post-partum haemorrhage and as a stimulant to arrest bleeding in menorrhagia and metrorrhagia. Also used in neurology. Uses
Large doses may induce pregnant women. Increases blood pressure. To be used by medical personnel only.
abortion
in
Cnicus benedictus
L compositae
brittle.
Internally
whitish-pinkish in the
to
The
galactagogue.
Carduus sanctus or carduus benedictus Blessed
Thistle
is
still
the Sacred
cultivated
as
a
medicinal herb in certain European countries and has long enjoyed a reputation as an effective remedial plant. At one time considered a
and
Mixed with wine
Young leaves heads eaten
to
used
make an
to
it
in the
aperitif.
be eaten in salads, flower-
manner
of Artichokes,
and
root boiled as a pot herb. Contra-indications
Large doses strongly emetic.
L palmae Coconut Palm
Cocos nucifera
A well-known
tree of
enormous economic and
nutritional importance in tries.
many
Many parts of the palm
the fruit or coconut
tropical coun-
are exploited, but
most useful: for this have been bred which produce 100 to 200 coconuts each year. The generic name Cocos is from the Portuguese
reason cultivated
is
varieties
monkey ^ means nut-bearing. Palm tree to 25 m trunk usually one side and regularly ringed with
monkey,
as the nut looks like a
Description
curving
:
to
Leaves in a terminal crown, very on a yellowish petiole which is deeply embedded in loose fibre surrounding the trunk: deeply pinnate and pendulous. Flowers followed bv ovoid nuts 20 cm long, usuallv in bunches of 10 to 20. Distribution Native to Malaysia and Polynesia; widely distributed throughout tropical zones. leaf scars.
long
j
m
In coastal situations or occasionally inland.
Wild. Widely cultivated commerci-
ally.
white
autumn.
comprising
Constituents
Oil,
trimyristin,
trilaurin,
triolein,
tries in
capric and caproic acids.
fields.
Uses
cure-all
its
use
now
is
generally restricted to
inclusion in herbal tonics. Cnicus
is the Latin Safflower which was once the name
name
for
given
to the thistle family.
Description
70
cm
;
on each
cm
Thistle-like
branched annual
to
leaves lanceolate, dentate, with spines tooth, dark green, white-veined,
5-15
long. Flowers partially concealed within
spiny bracts, yellow 3-4 cm wide, and appearing mid-summer to early autumn.
Mediterranean native; naturalized United States; introduced elsewhere. Tolerates most soils. Cultivation Wild plant; cultivated commercially. Easily raised from seed sown in spring or autumn, preferably on well-manured soil. Distribution
in
.76
infusion
said to act as a
is
flowering tops were once
tripalmitin;
edges of rye
principle,
used to treat worms.
Cultivation
producing counareas or years of high humidity and at
weak
a
as
stimulates the appetite
Distribution In all the cereal
then often
bitter
(ace; nucifera
1
with a faint odour. Appears
Used
diaphoretic.
for
Blessed Thistle
rum, Alopecurus, Anthoxanthum, Avena, Brachypodium, Calamagrostis, Dactylis, Hordeum and Triticum. The sclerotium externally is dark violet to black, usually 3 cm long and 5 mm broad, fusiform, often tapering towards both ends, 1
a
oil;
aids digestion.
dried fungus) Uterine stimulant,
Contra-indications
or
which
Uses (dried flowering plant) Tonic; emetic:
Extremely complex, containing a
on the uterus
Volatile
Constituents
cnicin,
oil,
also
the
the
glycerides,
tristearin
and
glycerides of caprylic.
kernels, seed, leaves, sap
Nutritive:
;
CLA-COL The seed is sometimes used as an anthelmintic in tropical countries. Fractionated coconut oil (containing medium chain anthelmintic.
triglycerides
is
used
in
certain
for
diets
forms exist; grown indoors as a house plant. Constituents Caffeine (1—2%), acting as a stimulant upon the central nervous system; volatile oils; colouring matter; tannin: traces
conditions such as cystic fibrosis and steator-
of theobromine and
rhoea where patients are unable to absorb normal fats completelv. The oil is used as an ointment base, and in
Uses freshly roasted
massage creams and certain medicated shamAlso
poos.
used
in
sea-water
and
soaps,
isomer, theophylline.
culinary use of the kernel as a food and
long,
Distribution
estuary
Wild plant: cultivated in West and the West Indies. Constituents Caffeine (1.5%), combined with kolatin in the fresh state, and unbound when
Taken
Africa, Java, Brazil
as a general tonic stimulant, especially
useful in narcotic poisoning.
ployed as a flavouring agent
in
Decoction empharmaceutical
dried; also theobromine; kola red; fat; sugar;
Very wide use
as a beverage, for colouring
and
and and
starch.
and the apical bud or 'cabbage' of the
confectionery manufacture.
pressive.
Contra-indications Excessive intake may cause insomnia, muscle tremor, restlessness, palpitations and tachycardia.
ted
eaten as a delicacy.
employed
in
The fermented
palm wine and
sap
is
manufac-
spirit
ture.
Leaves are extensively used in basket, mat and rope manufacture; the husk fibre from the nut is similarly used in coconut matting and rope. Coffea arabica
Coffee
L rubiaceae
Common
or
Arabian Coffee
The Coffee plant forms wild forests in parts of the Sudan and Abyssinia and for centuries the berry has been eaten raw by natives as a stimulant.
The
habit of drinking Coffee probably origin-
ated with the Abyssinians, from
whom
the use
north-west African coast,
sites in forests.
Cultivation
flavouring
is
to
Leone and the Cameroons. Introduced elsewhere. Prefers coastal and
flavouring, particularly in Indonesian cuisine; tree
Native
especially Sierra
diuretic.
preparations.
formerly in margarine.
Wide
its
ground kernel Stimulant
4-5 cm and consisting of cotyledons 2-5 cm long.
long, containing red or white seeds
purposes,
liqueur
in
Uses
Stimulant: anti-de-
(dried cotyledons)
employed in debilitated, exhausand depressive conditions; in melancholia, anorexia and migraine. Particularly
A
flavouring
for
drinks,
soft
Cola acuminata fBeauv.) Schott et Endl.
creams and wines. Used
STERCL'UACEAE Cola Nut Kola Goora Nut The Cola Nuts commercially available consist of the cotyledons, fleshy and white before drying, obtained from the 5 to 15 seeds of the large fruit of the Cola tree. Fresh Nuts are seldom found outside Africa. where they are consumed raw before meals to promote digestion. They are also considered to improve the flavour of food.
cola-type beverages.
A
red dye
is
in the
cordials,
ice
manufacture of
obtained from the Cola Nut.
Colchicum autumnale
L
Autumn Crocus
Colchicum/ Meadow
liliaceae
Saffron
The Autumn Crocus plant known since the
early Greeks
not introduced
medical practice until
quite
recently.
into
Most
a rare
is
of
the
example of a which was ancient
and
medieval writers, except the Arabic physicians, considered Colchicum too poisonous to use, although it did appear briefly in the London Pharmacopoeia from 16 18 to 1639. Its modern use derives from the research of Wedel 718) and Storck (1763) on the treatment of gout, for which purpose it is retained to this day in many countries. 1
Description
Perennial;
solitary
pale
purple
on 20-cm long white 'stalk' which is actually an elongated corolla tube, appearing in the autumn from a corm 15 cm flower, 6 petals
of Coffee spread into Arabia.
Rauwolf, the botanist, mentioned Coffee
for
1573 when travelling in the Levant, and Prospei Alpinus described it more
the
fully in in
time
first
1
591
Venice
.
at
in
European
!offee
(
drinking began
the beginning of the seventeenth
century, and was fashionable
in
England In
1652 and France In 1669. It is thought that all the Coffee now exported from Brazil and the West Indies stems from the propagation of a single plant introduced to the Celebes in 1822.
Evergreen
Description
shrub
m
5
3
high,
with a single main trunk, later developing others bom this; leaves dark green and initi. ilK
glossy, thin, opposite, 7 2 cm long; 2.5 wide, abrupt 1) a< uminate with a point
inn
1
1
long. b\
White
5
nun
star-like flowers, fragrant, followed
2-seeded deep red berr)
beans
15
mm
long. Distribution
Native
to
tropical
Africa;
earl)
introduc tion to Arabia. Introdui ed to tropic al countries, espe< ially abundant in the America Prefers jungle conditions
and
partial shade.
Wild and extensively cultivated commercial!) in plantations, often under Cultivation
artificial
shading.
Horticultural
variegated
Cola Nuts, the
Congo
dc
sc
ribed as colla were lust seen
b) Fathei Carli in 1667.
The
in
dried
product does not contain the same properties as the fresh Nut, and most ol it is used in soli drinks.
It
is
still
used
in
lolk
medicine
as a
stimulant. Dest ription
leathery,
Evergreen tree to 15 acute-,
long; yellow panicles,
entire,
flowers
ol
m high;
obovate, 15
calyx tube green.
mm
10
leaves
20
diameter,
Fruit
to
i
-,
cm in
cm
below
ground; 6 stamens,
lane eolate leaves
30
cm
long
3 first
styles;
appear
fleshy, in
the
following spring, and enclose the seed-filled
brown capsular fruit by mid-summer. Distribution European native; prefers deep clay and nutrient rich loam in damp meadows and leu woodland Wild plant; cultivated from seed
Cultivation
Collected
in late
Constituent
summei.
Several
toxic
en
from coims. largeh
alkaloids,
'77
COM-CRO colchicine
to
gum;
starch;
which sugar;
its
action
fat;
tannin.
is
due; also
corms, seeds) Anti-rheumatic. Used to relieve the pain and inflammation of acute gout and rheumatism. Contra-indications All parts highly POISONOUS, causing diarrhoea and sometimes death. Only to be used by medical personnel. (dried
Uses
and mouthwash in inflammations of mouth and pharynx. Tincture is applied to
a gargle
Constituents Several alkaloids, chiefly confine,
the
to
ulcers.
body
Stimulates natural resistance of the
in septicaemia.
in
the earliest times as a constituent of
perfumes, unguents and incense, the modern name is directly derived from the old Hebrew
and Arabic word mur, meaning
The
knew
ancient Greeks
liquid form called stacte
found, but
is
thought
to
which
is
a
no longer
be a natural exudation
Myrrh tree or a closely related species. Myrrh was highly prized in the Middle Ages and is still used as a mouthwash and in folk of the
medicine.
drine; paraconine;
antispasmodic.
constituent of some tooth-powders.
Used
medicine
veterinary
in
wound
for
treatment.
Once used epilepsy,
in incense,
and when burned
repels
all
parts of this
of conium; conic acid.
oil
A
i
Anodyne;
sedative;
in neurological conditions
mania and chorea, and
such as
in ancient
times externally to treat breast tumours. Never
mosquitos.
employed today, not even in folk medicine. Although cooking is said to destroy the toxic
Conium maculatum L umbelliferae Poison Hemlock Mother Die
constituents, this herb should never be eaten.
Hemlock Hemlock principal,
bitter.
Myrrh and
of
toxicity of
attributed; also methylconiine; cony-
Uses (unripe seed, fruit
Myrrh Gum Myrrh/Myrrha Used from
is
dyspepsia.
Employed Commiphora molmol Engler burseraceae
Small doses effective
which the intense
plant
is
if
best
known
historically
the
and
especially the
POISONOUS.
seed, are intensely
not the only, ingredient of the
Athenian State poison used execution
Contra-indications All parts,
as
among
for,
method of Thermanes,
as a
others,
Phocion and Socrates. Dioscorides introduced it as a medicine mostly for the external treatment of herpes and erysipelas, and both Pliny and Avicenna considered it effective in the treatment of tumours. The old Roman name
Convallaria majalis
L
liliaceae
Lily-of-the- Valley
A
flower which
is
May
Lily
frequently found in country
gardens and which was shown as early as the sixteenth century to possess strong therapeutic action. It was known as lilium convallium to sixteenth-century apothecaries. Like the Foxglove, with which it shares similar heartherb did not previously enjoy wide medicinal use. Today, however, it is assisting properties, the
an important drug
in
some national pharma-
copoeias. Description Perennial fragrant plant
10-20 cm
high producing annually a pair of oblong-oval petiolate leaves 10-20
cm
long, 3—7.5
deeply ribbed longitudinally:
cm
wide.
510 bell-shaped
mm
wide, borne on leafless white flowers 10 peduncle, appearing early summer, and fol-
lowed by round, red berries containing 2-6 seeds.
Native to Europe, East Asia, North America; introduced elsewhere. Prefers damp, calcareous, porous soil in woods, in some alpine Distribution
locations, often forming dense areas of growth. Cultivation
Wild: introduced horticulturally.
cultivated races bearing larger flowers. Propa-
gated by root division in the autumn: prefers some shade may spread rapidly.
Low
Description
2.75
m
stunted bush or small tree to
high; trunk thick and bearing numer-
ous irregular, knotted branches and smaller stout clustered branchlets, the latter spreading at
right angles
Few
spine.
and terminating
leaves,
1— 1.5
cm
in
a sharp
long, at ends of
for the herb was cicula, a term found in tenthcentury Anglo-Saxon works.
The poisonous nature
of the
warmer
colder climates than
cm long, minute, the terminal obovate-oval, narrowed at the base, entire,
however, always be treated poisonous plant.
1
glabrous.
Description
Gum discharged through after
wounding.
Distribution soil in
'
si's
On
basaltic
Wild plant.
Constituents
I
Arabia; Somaliland.
very hot areas.
Cultivation
35%
the bark naturally or
Oleo-gum-resin, comprising 25-
resin. 2.5
6.5%
volatile oil, 50-60°,,
gum.
dried oleo-gum-resin/ Carminative: an-
tiseptic;
mildly
expectorant;
diuretic;
dia-
Erect
biennial
as a
It must, dangerously
herb,
smelling of
ones.
mice, arising from a forked root, and reaching 1.5 m; much branched, stems speckled and purple towards the base. Foliage dark and finely cut, 2-4 pinnate, glabrous; umbels of small white flowers appearing mid-summer to
mid-autumn. Distribution European native; extensively distributed in temperate zones. Found in weedy places
especially
phoretic.
streams or
Astringent to mucous membranes, and used as
Cultivation
178
varies
Hemlock growing in London was harmless, and others maintain that it is less poisonous in
short wart-like branchlets; trifoliate, the lateral leaflets
plant
considerably. Carpenter in 1850 claimed that
field
in
moist,
warm
edges in loamy
Wild plant.
soil.
sites
by
.
COM-CRO Cardioactive glycosides cardeno-
Constituents
similar to foxglove glycoside, especially
lides
convallatoxine.
convallo-
convalloside,
also
and convallotoxoside;
toxole
a
saponoside,
juices. Bruised seed
Cardiac tonic: emetic:
flowers)
Root can be cooked and eaten
diuretic.
The
Regulates heart action in a similar manner to the Foxglove and is considered to be safer and
used of
Seldom
effective.
as
applied externally as a
is
poultice to relieve painful joints in rheumatism.
convallamarine. Uses (dried
Mostly used to prevent griping caused by other medication, such as Senna or Rhubarb. Chewing the seed stimulates secretion of gastric
used
outside
eastern
all
as a vegetable.
seed
is
action
coronary arteries. an adaptogenic agent. flow in
It
improves blood appears to act as
Of
employed
myocardial weakness, arteriosclerosis, paroxysmal tachycardia, and angina pectoris. Pro-
European countries.
condiment,
Flowers provide a perfume base. Dried ground roots were formerly an ingredient
confectionery
May
Combined
stituents.
specific
is
world.
The
Constituents
probably the most widely flavouring herbs throughout the
leaf
fresh
Wild plant. Often planted as hedge. Flavone glycosides; catechins; saponins; vitamin C; several unidentified conCultivation
in baking, as a spice or
and
liqueur manufacture,
in
in
be added to pot-pourris.
Uses (fresh or dried fruits)
Hypotensive.
use in hypertension associated with
longed treatment is necessary. Liqueur once manufactured from the berries. Timber formerly used for small boxes.
of snuff. Contra-indications
POISONOUS. To be used
by
Crataegus monogyna J acq.
The Coriandrum sativum
L umbelliferae
Coriander Cultivated for over 3000 years Coriander
is
mentioned in all the medieval medical texts, by the Greeks, in the scriptures, by early Sanskrit authors -
and even
in the
rosaceae
Crithmum maritimum
Hawthorn May/Whitethorn
medical personnel only.
who
called
it
kustumburu -
Egyptian Ebers papyrus.
Its
botanical
name
Samphire
of Hawthorn, Crataegus,
comes from the Greek meaning strength which describes the strength of the wood, while the plant's common names in several European languages refer to the fact that bush producing fruit, the haw.
this
a thorny
is
of the Hawthorn's previously considered powerful magical properties are now for-
some people
feathers,
still
Samphire,
Sea Fennel
Samphire has long been rocks of
its
collected from the
natural habitat for shipment in
urban areas or for local use. was also grown as a kitchen
barrels of brine to
Surprisingly
it
Gerard described its cultivation in 1598 England, and Quintyne described it in France in 1690. The English particularly herb.
Much
gotten, although as with lilac
L umbelliferae
Peter's Cress/Rock
in
and peacock's
refuse to bring the
flowers indoors.
Medicinally the herb is very important and is used in orthodox Eastern and unorthodox Western medicine lor the treatment widely
ol
h) pei tension.
I),
scription
Shrub or small
ing branches with thorns
glabrous, lobed, 1
i.-,
ij
(in
broad-ovate
mm—5 cm across,
tree to
cm
i.-,
or
m: spread-
long; leaves
obovate,
deepl)
flowers
long: clusters
in
ol
",
white 12;
20
Stamens with red anthers: appearing earl) summer to mid-summer followed by ovoid scarlet false fruits Oi 8
globose, u Distribution
in, h
eat h
Europe.
c
10
mm
ontain
North
1
diameter, substony
Africa,
fruit.
western
Asia: introduced in other temperate /ones. In
hedges and open deciduous woods.
name bug, insc(
is
derived from
since
koris,
Greek
the
smells
plant
the
foi
StTOngl)
oi
bedthe
and
pickles.
It
for inclusion in
sauces
was cultivated in American 1821, but is now rarely seen
gardens from an) w here. Description Bushy, aromatic, perennial, umbelliferous plant reaching 30 cm; smooth, blight green and much branched on woody base, fleshy and somewhat spiky leaf segments, and greenish-yellow llowc-rs appearing mid-sum-
tS.
Small glabrous solid-stemmed hard) annual plan) from 30 ><> cm tall on thin, pointed root, lowei leaves pinnate, clefi and Description
.1
•
lobed, the upper bipinnate and finch, dissected.
compound umbels
oi white and from mid-summei to early autumn. Followed b) brownish orbit ulai fruit with an unpleasant smell before the) ripen, then becoming spi< \ and aromatic.
Small,
favoured the seed pods
flat,
reddish flowers appeal
mer
to
mid-autumn. Numerous bracts and
bracteoles. ( iteming upon rocks on the southern European Atlantic seaboard and on the shores
Distribution
ol
several mediterranean countries.
Cultivation
Wild plant, may be grown horticul-
tural^ on well-drained soils. Constituents Mineral salts: oils;
volatile
oil;
iodine; vitamin C.
Indigenous to mediterranean and Caucasian regions; now widespread weed in many temperate zones. Prefers dry soil and lull
purposes as a boiled spiced pickle, as a salad, a buttered vegetable or as a condiment. Said lii
sun.
stimulate the appetite.
Distribution
Cultivation
Unknown
in
(
later.
(
rei
mination
Volatile
Constituents
coriandrol,
I
1
'
ai
di ied
may
oil,
be slow
1
ipe
fi
yl
0-pinene, aldehyde.
uits, leal
minative; stimulant.
young leaves
Used
for
culinar)
and
rooi
L iridaceae Saffron Crocus Saffron The Saffron Crocus has been considered an
Crocus sativus
importanl trade item from the
.
comprising borneol,
d-pinene,
geraniol, and de<
fresh
the wild state, culti-
vated commercially and horticultural^ throughout the world. Seed sown in late spring 01 earl) summei in drills 3 m deep; need thinning
Uses
terpinene,
earliest
times,
and has long been employed as a medicine. dye, perfume and ondiment. Its earliest name was probabl) the lebi ew carcom. It was cultivated in main countries and exported from Persia and India to China .is <
1
Aromatic
.
'7')
CRO-CYP Europe from the Middle Ages. The Romans Cumin seed in the same way that
in
used ground
we it
use Pepper. In the last 300 years, however,
has been discarded from European cooking
and
is
now
chiefly used in Indian cooking.
Description Slender, glabrous,
cm
annual herb 15
high; stems branched above; leaves with
few
divisions
filiform
sparsely
flowered
mm-5 cm
15
umbels,
white
long;
or
rose-
coloured with simple involucral bracts, appearing late spring. Fruit 7
mm
long, bristly.
Indigenous to Egypt and the mediterranean. Widespread distribution. Tolerates most well-drained soils in sunny situaDistribution
tions.
Wild plant. Cultivated on North African coast. Middle East. India. Malta and China. Seed sown in late spring in sandy soil
Cultivation
in
warm
a
or in the greenhouse.
situation,
Thin
out.
Keep
free of
harden
off
and plant 20 cm apart.
weeds.
4 ",,. which comcumaldehyde, terpencs. cuminic alcohol. pinenes; also fatty oil and pentosan.
Constituents Essential oil. 2.5
prises
Uses
ad. 1280
Yuen dynast)
early as the
the Chinese called
it
i;5<>H
Commonly
Sa-fa-lang.
Records suggest the Saffron Crocus was cultivated in Spain in the nintli century, in Frame. Italy and Germany in the twelfth, and in England by the fourteenth. Such was the standing of the drug that severe penalties were suffered by those who adulterated Saffron: Hans Kdlbele, for example, was buried alive in Nuremberg in [456 with his impure drug. Typical crocus, producing blue. Description lilac
or purple fragrant flowers in the
arising from a
corm
3
cm
in
diameter.
autumn Numer-
The but
into disuse from then until 1812
fell
English medical officers the
in
temperate zones. Prefers sunny,
Cultivation
Now unknown
vated
the
in
in
the wild. Culti-
mediterranean.
Middle
East,
India and China. Propagation by corms planted in rows 10-15 cm apart in late Persia,
cm
Indigenous
south-west India, and
manv
parts of the East.
China and south
cultivation in
Constituents Fatty oil
following
the
Malabar Burma.
60%;
oil
palmitic,
I
sedative.
No
longer used medicinally except to colour
medicines.
Formerly considered an aphro-
coast,
garden
comprisstearic,
myristic, lauric, acetic, butyric, formic, oleic,
The
responsible for the vesicant activity.
;
m
1
and
linoleic is
oil
valeric.
croton-resin, a lactone,
expressed from seed
active con-
which
is
also
Powerful cath-
artic; counter-irritant; vesicant; rubefacient.
Formerly administered as a purgative to mental patients: now rarely used internally and only for extremely obstinate violent
disiac.
constipation.
Employed in many culinary dishes both for taste and colour and in some liqueurs. Cannot be used to dye fabrics as it is readily
great
water-soluble.
irritant:
care,
May
irritant in gout
be used externally with
diluted
in
form,
as
a
counter-
and neuralgia.
Powerful gastro-intestinal capable of causing death. May induce
Contra-indications
severe external blistering. Croton tiglium
L euphorbiaceae
Croton Croton Seed from Croton Seeds
is one of the most known, and should never be used by non-medical personnel. The seeds
Oil
violent purgatives
were described
first by Christoval Acosta in 1578 and called pinones dt Maluco. They were regarded as 'official' in the seventeenth century
180
veterinary medicine.
Commercial
glycoside, picrocrocin: crocin. the glycoside of
dried stigma Stomachic antispasmodic
in
Asia.
croton
acids:
as a
tiglic,
ses
perfumery.
in
Wild and cultivated
Cultivation
ing
Tavoy
stituent
r
in
employed
long. to the
Constituents Oil 8-13",,: essential oil: a bitter
I
used
India reintroduced
summer.
the colouring matter crocetin.
oil is
Oil chiefly
and
cordials.
Inconspicuous flowers in erect terminal racemes 7.5 cm long, appearing earl) summer. Brow n. capsular. 3-celled fruit, each contain-
plant in
sites.
in
when
for pickling,
and
Small tree or shrub to 6 m with lew branches bearing alternate, smooth ovale 01 acuminate leaves, dark green above, paler beneath and with a strong, disagreeable odour.
Distribution
well-drained
in curries,
into medic inc.
oil
ing a single seed 1.5
widespread
used
Description
blood-red style branches.
from Asia Minor, now
Stimulant, carminative.
also for flavouring liqueurs
ous narrow, linear leaves to ("> em long, greygreen. Yellow anthers longer than filaments, Distribution Originally
dried ripe fruit
Useful in diarrhoea and dyspepsia.
:
Cuminum cyminum L umbelliferae
Cumin Although indigenous
to the
upper regions of
the Nile, the seeds of this herb ripen as far north as
Norway. The fructus cumini or Cumin seeds
were known and.
later.
prophet Isaiah. Dioscorides. Thev found wide use as early as the
L zingiberaceae Turmeric Turmeric root or rhizome Turmeric was once much more highly esteemed
Curcuma longa
than it is today; it fell into disuse in the Middle Ages having previously held a position at least equal to that of Ginger to which it is closely related. Dioscorides called it cyperus, and in the sixteenth century it was known as crocus indicus.
and curcuma. Several types exist of which Bengal Turmeric is considered the best
turmeracke
for
dyeing.
The yellow
robes
of Buddhist
.
CRO-CYP monks were It is
dyed with
often
Description
it.
similar to another ancient spice.
(C. zedoaria Roscoe
well-known
in the
.
which
is
Zedoary
today even
less
West.
1 all
large ovoid
large, lilv-like. in tufts to 1.2
m
long: oblong-
lanceolate blades tapering towards the base, long petiole. Pale yellow flowers, clustered in
dense spikes 10-15 cm long: peduncle 15 cm long and enclosed in a sheathing petiole. Pale green bracts. Appears late spring to mid-
summer. Native
Distribution
to
south-east
Asia:
dis-
and introduced elsewhere. Prefers humid conditions and rich loamy soils. Cultivation Wild and cultivated in many tropical countries; propagation by root division in autumn. tributed
Volatile
Constituents
oil
5-6",,:
a
terpene.
colcurcumen: starch 24%; albumen 30° ouring due to curcumin or diferuloyl methane. dried rhizome Aromatic, stimulant. Uses Employed in eastern medicine externally for bruising and internally in certain blood disorders, to relieve catarrh, and in purulent :
opthalmia.
A pharmaceutical
Main
is
use
a
as
colouring agent
colouring agent.
condiment and culinary and Piccalilli.
in curries
1-
Thistle-like
perennial
usually
leaves large
and deeply
pinnatifid.
tall,
Mice
some
in
kunoglosson.
Large capitula with enlarged fleshy receptacle, broad involucral bracts and numerous purple flowers, appearing mid to
today,
late
spiny.
summer.
Distribution Native to North Africa in most temperate and subtropical zones. Preferring well-manured, moisture-retaining soil, rich in :
humus.
is
It
but
is
lingua cams
homeopathicallv
Annual or biennial herb with unpleasant smell, reaching 30 90 cm; bearing grey leaves covered with silky hairs, the lower Description
cm
30
to
long, lanceolate to ovate, stalked, the
upper generally without
Wild only as an escape: a close the Cardoon C. cardunculus Cultivated commercially and horticulturallv either from seed or preferably from suckers arising from the root-stock, retaining a portion Cultivation
of
.
of the parent plant.
The
cm
rich moist soil 75
'heels' are
planted
Flowers dull diameter,
stalks.
red-purple, occasionally white,
relative
early
The and the Greek. rarely used in folk medicine occasionally employed still
parts of western England.
medieval name was
greyish, green above, whitish beneath: very
rarely
perennial herb arising from rhizome with sessile cylindrical tubers, orange coloured within. Leaves very Description
m
1.75
1
cm
arranged on branched cymes 10 25 cm long. appearing mid-summer. Distribution European native; on light dry grassy soils, wood fringes, walls and ruins, in particular near to the sea.
in
apart in late spring or
summer. Give plenty of water, some
may
protection in cold weather
be required.
Optimal cropping is reached in the third and plants should be replaced in the
year. fifth
season. Constituents
Cynarine, a bitter aromatic sub-
stance: polyphenols acidic substances: flavonoids;
tannins:
.im at
enzymes
several
catalases. peroxydases,
1
j
including
narase, oxydases,
and
orbinase; also provitamin A. The combined lion
is
and stimulant
diuretic
liver cell
to
regeneration and action. Uses
fresh
leaves,
receptacle,
gogue; diuretic. ( )l proven v .due in jaundice,
Chola-
root
er insufficiency
li\
:
anaemia and liver damage caused l>v poisons. Stimulates and .lids digestion; anti-civ speptic
.
Considered sclerosis.
to In-
prophylactic against arterio-
A major
constituent of proprietary
Wild plant
Cultivation
Two
Constituents
cynoglossine and
alkaloids,
consolidine; essential
oil; resin:
tannin; gum.
dried root, dried whole herb, fresh leaves
/ 'set
Anodyne; demulcent.
w
soothing
Effective
sedative
in
and
coughs
diarrhoea. Administered internally and as a poultice
lot
haemorrhoids.
nan
oti<
Formerly
con-
and prescribed in combinawith Opium. Henbane, and aromatic
sidered tion
a
herbs.
The bruised I'sed
bites. 1
1
1
1
may be tubbed on homeopathic medicine
leal
in
insect as
a
till e.
<
Contra-indications
caution
:
Incompletely studied theraused with
and therefore 10 be may ause dermatitis.
peutically
c
Cypnpedium pubescens Willd. orchidaceae Lady's Slipper Yellow Lady's Slippei \c
Cynara scolymus
L compositae
digestive tonii
Artichoke (.lobe Auk hoke he Globe Artichoke is not only a delicacy, but an important medicinal herb whf< h was known I
tO the me<|ie\ Its
name
1. iniiie.
is
,1]
Aiabic
|>li\ si< 1,1ns
as al-Uiaisuj.
from the Latin 011111111 derived from the similarity oi Cynara,
involucral spines to the dog's tooth.
It
.1
eaten
receptacle
blanched central
as
leal stalks
a
delicacy;
the
may be cooked
as
vegetable.
I
\
(
Root
Cypripedium was included in the United St, ites Pharmacopoeia a century ago, and was considered
Flower-heads employed
in floral
tin
Cynoglosswn
has
Hound's Tongue
officinale
L boraoinai
t
that Us leaves look like a
however, more
ol
(loss's
mice, and
tongue
is
used
vi
Gipsv Flowei usual names ol (his hetb relei
to the |a< :
it
I
smells.
called Rats
that It
time
worthy
of further
has continued I" be used to
the present day in folk medicine lor the
decorations.
purpose
All tin
at
investigation.
01
proven remedial effe< tl on the liver. The plant was one ol the (.reek ultivated garden herbs. and itill enjoys wide hortii ultural use. c
Fleshy
-
and
it.
thai as a
same American Indians have always
sedative.
It
has been called
I
he
American Valerian, and was introduced to European medicine by Rahnesque in tin eighteenth Description
1
entury. Perennial
orchid
on
fleshy
root-
le?
I
DAP-DIG
mm
long: strongl) fragrant
rose-violet, 10
15
and appearing
in sessile- clusters
of 2 5 along previous year's branches before leaves develop.
Appearing stock producing several 5 20 cm long, manynerved, acuminate, alternate leaves; on glan-
dular hairy stems 10 cm-i
m
high. Flowers golden yellow, spotted magenta-purple, with lower lip forming the shape of an inflated sac: appearing early to late summer. The plant is variable in distinctive,
cream
dull
to
shape and degree of fragrance. Distribution Native to eastern United States.
late
winter to early spring: followed
by red berries. Distribution Native to Europe and Western Asia; introduced elsewhere. Found in deciduous mixed woodland and on rich calcareous
soil.
Wild. Cultivated as garden plant. Propagate from cuttings taken in early summer. A white variety, D. mezereum var. alba West, Cultivation
is
in existent
1
An
acrid resinous poisonous sub-
especially the north; prefers shady areas, moist
Constituents
meadows, bogs, woods, rich soils. Cultivation Wild plant: cultivated in eastern Europe. Very closely related
stance, mezerine; a glucoside,
confused
often
with.
pubescens
Willd.i
pubescent
Correll
commercially Constituents
as
is ,
C.
(,'.
and
to,
calceolus
named
also
parts of
I-
.
(..
calceolus var.
and both orchids are know
n
tannin; gallic acid.
Uses
bark, bark
root
sudorific
;
Former!} used internally as an alteram e in the treatment of venereal, scrofulous and rheum-
resins;
2
The combination of these
vesicant
in
Now
skin complaints.
Uses
root-stock
Effective in
and
An
Sedative: spasmolytic. specifically used for anxiety
Bark applied
certain ulcerative skin conditions.
root constituents,
which are not water-soluble, complex known as cypripedin.
e.
externally as poultice as a counter-irritant or
form
a resinous
Alterative: stimulant:
vesicant; rubefacient.
atic conditions, or as a purgativ
Lady's Slipper.
Volatile oil; glucosides;
daphnin; also
coccognin.
Contra-indications
POISONOUS
and
fatal: not
be taken internally.
nervous headaches. Formerly taken in sugar water to promote sleep. Contra-indications Large doses may cause hallucinations. Fresh plant may cause dermatitis.
Datura stramonium L solanaceae Thorn Apple Jimson weed
The Thorn Apple
is
indigenous to the shores
un-
Caspian Sea, and was distributed throughout Europe by the end of the first century a.d. It is doubtful whether the Greeks or Romans used the herb, but it was traditionally smoked by Nubians for chest complaints. Gerard the herbalist cultivated the plant in London in 1598, and Storck 17621 introduced stramonium into wide medicinal use. It is now
to
Arabian physicians
sidered
of
similar
as
use
was
little
as
the
substance.
euphorbium, from Euphorbia resinifera. if
known
as daphnoides
botanists
It is
the Greeks used the plant, but
certain
it
of great
was known mazariyun and con-
and
and
herbalists.
it
thymelaea to medieval
Tragus
I
1546; called
mezereum germanicum.
Description Perennial
m: bearing on
erect
deciduous shrub; to 1.25 branched stem, alternate.
oblong or oblanceolate leaves, 5-7.5 cm long: leaves thin and glabrous. Flowers rose-pink or
182
Near East: naturalNorth America, and throughout Europe: on waste-ground, roadsides, forest edges, walls, preferring porous nitrogen-rich soil in sunny situations. Cultivation Wild: cultivated commercially in Europe by seed sown in late spring. Constituents Alkaloids, comprising mainly hyoscv amine, hyoscine, atropine, whose action relieves spasms of the bronchioles during asthma. dried leaves Antispasmodic; narcotic: Uses anodyne. Of benefit in bronchial asthma, either as a tincture or smoked in the form of a cigarette. Also controls muscular spasm and salivation in Distribution Native to the
ized
in
postencephalitic parkinsonism.
May
be ap-
plied externally as a poultice to reduce local
pain. (jintra-indications
POISONOUS,
hallucino-
genic.
used in folk medicine. and unpleasantly scented
Description Strongly
annual, from 30
L umbelliferae Wild Carrot Daucus is the old Greek name still
of the
It
cm
Daucus carota
excellent horticultural herb.
to
decorative use in herb gardens.
prickly capsules. 5
long.
only employed homcopathically for some
neurosis associated with insomnia, hysteria or
Daphne mezereum L thymelaeaceae Mezereon Spurge Olive An attractive winter-flowering shrub
autumn: followed by
cm- 1.5
m
high: erect and
straggly, bearing glabrous or pubescent, ovate
and petiolate leaves 7.5-20 cm
long, broad
and
with irregular acute lobes. Flowers 5-8 cm long, erect, funnel shaped, terminal and white or pale blue. Appearing late
summer
to late
to
be found
in the
for a
wild plant
hedgerows of Europe,
1
DAP-DIG medicine. Carota
the Latin
is
name
few or scattered, blue or purple, growing in
and same
as food
and which has long been of service
for the
plant.
Several subspecies
developed by
the root crop being
exist,
German
horticulturalists in the
sixteenth century from D. carota ssp. sativus.
Both
and D.
this
carota ssp.
carota
are used
medicinally.
on
Description Erect biennial
cm
compound: segments long.
cm
Constituents Volatile oils
an upward curving spur behind the corolla.
which are responsible
Appearing mid-summer. Distribution European native: introduced in other temperate zones especially on chalky, loamy soil in weedy places, compost sites, and
medicinal use, although tonic cordials were made from a conserve of
White flowers
diameter,
tall;
solid, striate or
Cultivation
leaves pinnateh
Larkspur
pinnatifid, lobes 5
in
compound umbels
mm
sown
37
D.
plant. ajacis.
The common garden Propagated from seed summer.
in early
Delphinine;
Constituents
or convex, with usually one
flat
Wild is
cm deep
1
unknown
Uses (seed, flowering plant
blackish-purple flower in the centre, appear
mintic, anti-parasitic.
mid-summer.
Formerly used internally
Native to Europe, west Asia. North Africa: prefers semi-dry, sandy, or stony
ditions,
Distribution
soil
A
Cultivation
common
Wild
plant.
Wild
B vitamins:
and pubic hair
may
salts.
Contra-indications
employed
to
destroy
POISONOUS.
Diuretic antilithic. Specificin
Dianthus caryophyllus
the
agent
for
bever-
wine cups, cordials, and vine-
gars.
The
fresh flowers decorate soups, stews, sauces,
and open sandwiches. A syrup, prepared by steeping petals in a hot sugar solution has culinary applications.
scented
pot-pourris,
to
sachets, cosmetic products.
Foxglove
L scrophulariaceae
Common
Foxglove fame and importance in medicine in the last two centuries, the Foxglove does not seem to have been described by Greek and Roman physicians, nor did it have a classical name. Fuchs in 1542 first called it digitalis after For
all its
the finger-like
:
treatment of urinar\ stones; often in combination with other antilithic remedies. Weakly anthelmintic. Decoction dI the seed may be employed in flatulence and stomach acidity, as may Carrot juice. Contra-indications Do not drink excessive quantities of Carrot juice, as it induces hypervitally
be applied
be prepared from the fresh petals.
Useful garden ornamental.
dried herb
as a flavouring
Digitalis purpurea
may
parasites.
Blue ink
Mainly used
Dried petals added for a variety of con-
an alkaloid daucine; vitamin C; potassium f 'set
substances.
Purgative, anthel-
strong tincture of fresh seeds
human
carrot.
Constituents Volatile oils: carotene:
the flowers.
only certain effect being violently
its
externally to head
of the
relative
for the clove-like scent.
No
salads,
purgative.
near to the sea.
Uses (fresh flower)
ages, liqueurs,
cornfields.
ridged stem 30 to 100
Pink derives from D. plumarius. comprising eugenol,
sparse terminal racemes and distinguished by
L caryophyllaceae
considered
Clove Pink Gillyflower/Carnation true Gillyflower gilly was the Old English
until
it
of
siiape
its
but he
flowers,
and
a violent medicine,
was not
it
William Withering investigated 776-9) of Foxglove tea in Shropshire for (
1
The
the
July and was so named probably because ol appearance in July), is rarely seen in gardens today, having been replaced b) the more show) but Ear less aromatii Carnations. Its
dropsy that the hei b entered wide medical use. The common name probably derives from the
use
aminosis A. Delphinium consolida
Larkspur A member
L ranunculaceae
Field or Forking Larkspui
oi the Buttercup family and the Northern European equivalent <>t tin historically much more well-known Delphinium Staphiswas known to agria (L), or Stavesacre, whil li
the
Rom. ins
as Staphisagria or herba pedicularia.
lirn is no evidence dial the specific name of Larkspur refers to an) power ol consolidating wounds, which docs not. It is probabl) a I
it
pre-Linnaean name referring to the consolidated petals. Like Stavesacre, it is effective against skin parasites. /> ,11/1/11,11 Annual herb reaching m, arising from slender taproot. Stem glabrous, forking 1
and
diffuse, bearing petiolate
divided, simple leaves ]
|
and
sessile.
(in long.
And)
Iloweis loi
its
name
spe< ilu
reflects the old
loin
loi
Cloves,
m vop/tyllon,
1
I
>,
;o
1
1
1
1
jit
m
1
mi
to
1
Minli
bi a ii( lied glabrOUS pi ten 111. high; stems hard with consph u-
m
1
1
i
~,
night, rose-purple 01 while:
.11
summer
to eat
ruins.
(
Description
appear
late
autumn.
in a
2
Biennial,
to ovate-lanceolate,
stalked
perennial;
downy arising
01
sessile.
Stem
and
stem leaves short-
rarely
branched and
bearing a one-sided raceme 30 4.0 cm long. \tti.K nve purple (lowers, often spotted internally;
appearing mid-summer to mid-autumn. Western European native, prefer-
Distribution
ring acid soil in
:.ih
areous.
Cultivation
Wildylanl and widel) cultivated commercially. All modern horticultural ( larn.11 ions derive from D tatynphyllus: the modern
occasionally
rosette; radical leaves lout;. Stalked
ovate
Native to southern Europe and open sunny position on old walls,
Cultivation
'fox-music' after
m. Leaves rugose and
In
Distribution
India.
lv
01
the shape ol an aiK ient musical instrument.
reaching
OUS nodes, bearing thick linear leaves 7.5 2.5 in long, obtuse and keeled. Flowers 3 (in in diameter, 2 pet stem, very fragrant especiall)
Anglo-Saxon 'foxes-glew'
Now
<
ultiv
sunny situations on rough land.
ated widely.
Wild: veiv widel) cultivated both commercial!) and horticulturally. any gar-
M
den variants var.
mui iilniu.
exist; var.
(
iniipanulnlii. var. nihil,
Propagated
from
seed
which
[83
DRY-EPI should be sown in late spring.
aspidic acid; volatile
Echinacea angustifolia
oil.
DC
compositae
Uses (dried rhizome, frond bases, apical budsi
Purple Coneflower Black Sampson
toxin, gitoxin,
An
on
Poultice
This stark and attractive herb is one of several outstanding examples of plants deserving modern examination. The United States Dispensatory stated a century ago that the
Constituents Several glycosides
including digi-
and gitaloxin, which act directly muscle increasing the output in patients with congestive heart failure. Uses dried leaves Cardiac tonic. heart
Acts as a cardio-active diuretic in conditions of oedema due to heart failure.
May
be used externally as a poultice
may
removing tapeworms.
be applied externally
to
aid
tissue healing.
Contra-indications
To
be used under medical
supervision only: large doses
may
cause blind-
Only
to
be
Squirting
Cucumber
Elaterium Fruit appropriately named herb both from the
It
was formerly
folia.
An
point of view of its action, as a strong purgative,
tacle,
Dryoptens filix-mas (Li Schott
hedgehog.
POLYPODIACEAE
and from its violent method of seed dispersal which involves ejaculation of the contents of
Male Fern
the ripe fruit to a distance of 10 m. is
name
it
It
an effective remedy for tapekills and expels from the intestines. It is, however, an irritant in large doses and must be used only by those medically trained. It
was well known
to the ancients,
a constituent of secret
and was
'worm remedies'
ol
also
The
generic
derives from the Greek meaning expel. was certainly well-known to Theophrastus and Dioscorides who described the manufacture of Elaterium, and it was cultivated throughout Europe in the sixteenth century. of Elaterium
Constituents
are
now mostlv
classified as Brauneria angusti-
but the present generic
used by medical personnel.
The Male Fern worms which
and
claim.
Ecballium elaterium (L) A. Rich cucurbitaceae
POISONOUS.
tincture increased resistance to infection,
the experience of folk medicine supports this
ness or death.
to aid
healing of wounds. Contra-indicatwns
effective agent for
name
reflects the
shape of the sharp-pointed bracts of the recepthe
after
Greek
meaning
echinacea,
Coarse perennial reaching 45 cm. Leaves sparse, lanceolate to linear; 7.5-20 cm long, entire with slender petioles. Flower-head solitary on stout terminal peduncle, consisting of spreading ray florets 3 cm long, purple or Description
rarely white, florets, also
earlv
and
3
cm
long conical erect disc
mid-summer
purple. Appearing
to
autumn.
the
eighteenth century, particularly those made by German apothecaries. Frederick the Great
purchased the secret of one such mixture his
for
personal use.
Other fernSj however, seem to be equally or more effective as taenicides; Dtyopteris spinuKuntze, for example, is twice as losa O. effective as Dryopteris jilix-mas.
Perennial fern on dark-brown rhizome 20 50 cm long, 10 cm diameter; foliage growing in a crown, fronds arranged spirally, 60 cm to 1.5 m high. 2-pinnate, obDescription
long-lanceolate in outline, leaflets alternate,
subdivided, and with rounded segments. Sporesori. greenish white, later brown, appear from summer to autumn. Distribution Widespread in temperate /ones, to
bearing
1600
m
altitude.
Cultivation Constituents
Wild plant; extensive!} collected. Oleoresin iilicin and related taeni;
cidal substances; desaspidin; albaspidin: flav-
employed toxicity
for
scientific
research
into
cyto-
.
A
and roadsides. Cultivation Wild
plant.
Leaves triangular-ovate, downy. 7.5-10 cm long, with sinuate margins. Flowers 3 cm diameter, followed by an ovoid-oblong fruit, 4-5 cm long, rough-haired due to a covering of numerous short, fleshy prickles, green becoming yellowish when mature. Contains a
division in spring
and autumn.
mass of oblong seeds and bitter succulent pulp, which is forcibly ejected up to 10 m. Distribution Mediterranean native; preferring dry. sandy soil in sunny situations. Cultivation Wild and cultivated commercially
caemia;
to a limited extent.
This
Cucurbitacins B. D. E. and I. The action of cucurbitacin B is that of a powerful hydragogue - purgative; also cytotoxic. dried sediment, elatarium. deposited in L 'st
reserved for Lycopsis arvensis, nor
Description
coarse, fleshy, trailing perennial,
lacking tendrils and borne on a thick white root.
Constituents
i
the juice
to patients suffering
from
dropsy as a purgative, especially those with kidney complaints. The preparation is verj variable from season to season.
Propagated by root
Constituents Resins, sugars,
acids
and inulin which
pharyngitis,
salts, fatty
Antiseptic, digestive.
remedy
tonsilitis.
useful
mineral
act in combination.
Uses (dried root-stock
Particularly effective
for boils, acne,
abscesses
externally
and
and
septi-
internally.
Dilates peripheral blood vessels.
L boraginaceae Viper's Bugloss Blue Weed Echium vulgare is
known echion.
not a true Bugloss. that term being
to
is it
the plant
Dioscorides as the Viper Plant
-
Nevertheless, medieval proponents of
the Doctrine of Signatures noticed that the
brown stem
Purgative.
Once administered
184
Distribution Native to central and southwestern United States; on dry open woodland
snake's skin, viper's head.
pustules
It is
parts of America, use.
looked
and that the seed regarded
and
is
rather is
as a
like
shaped
weed
in
a
like a
some
of doubtful medical
DRY-EPI Horsetail, primitive in evolutionary terms.
has been used for thousands of years
in
It
the
East in the treatment of bronchial asthma, and yet
today the herb
included in only the and Chinese pharma-
is
British, Indian, Japanese
copoeias.
Other species used clude E. It is
sinica,
for the
E. equisetina
same purpose inand E. nebrodensis.
rarely available commercially.
shrub
Description Tufted, rigid
high on
woody gnarled
15
cm- 1.2 m
stem. Green ascending
smooth and striate, with leaves reduced to small sheaths at branch nodes, 2 long. Bearing 2-3 male spikes of 4-8 flowers, branchlets
mm
and
solitary female spikes of 1-2 flowers; latter
followed by ovoid, edible red Distribution
Rough
Description
Stem
tall.
hairy biennial. 30 -90
and branched with
erect
brown
arising from white or
oblong
pustules. Leaves
linear-lanceolate.
to
I
mm
15
with
long,
long,
nfloreseeiH
buds pink, flowers blue
loose, flower
purple,
cm
13
5
or with short petiole- only.
sessile,
cm
hairs
stiff
1
to violet-
longer stamens.
Appears mid-summer. Native
Distribution
porous or stom
lighl
Europe and Asia: on
to
soils,
or semi-dry
grass-
Cultivation k
I
1
Wild plant. Traditionally
ultivated
dins.
l;.ii
1)
<
Wild plant. Commercial cultivation Asia and the
tropical countries in
Americas. Volatile
oil
3
8",,
.
comprising
terpinene and terpineol; also cineol; starch:
gum: yellow colouring matter. Uses dried fruit and seed Carminative. Employed in flatulent dyspepsia, to griping caused by
I
ill
and (
1
osmetic
in
some mixed
mild tonic infusion is useful in nervous headaches or the common
Also used
in
mulled wine
Persian.
scented domestic articles, and
Formerly
one
employed
Eoi
Elettana
\i
Lesser
Cardamoms
ideally with a
to
1
plants
venom.
in
urticaria,
enuresis,
in the treatment ol serum myasthenia gravis. A commercial source of the ephedrine
Contra-indications
Not
to
be used
in
patients
suffering from hypertension, coronary throm-
Epigaea repens L Ericaceae Trailing Arbutus May Flower Gravel Plant
The botanical name
reflects the fact that this
:
1
Wall.
Stapf.
\i
Ephedra Ma-1 luang Eph< dra a Gymnosperm and is
hence, like the
Greek meaning upon earth and repens meaning creeping. Also known as Moss Beauty the
because of the attractiveness ol its small, pink, scented (lowers.
rust leaves
and
Ma ton
var. miniscula
Cardamom
thrive
mean temperature e,is\
respected
bronchial asthma and hay
employed sickness, and
also
\i
1
Cardamom forest
most
the treatment of vipers'
cardamomum
ZINOIB1 H
As
the
oi
Anti-asthmatic: stimulant. in
aromatic plant clings very closely to the damp mi issy hanks of its natural habitat epigaea from
purposes.
Ephedra gerardiana
EPHEDRA*
cold.
dried stem
spices.
simple
treating
mm long.
bosis or thyrotoxicosis. in
ollee. espei i,dl\
Limited use foi
pic kles.
fruit, 10
dry temperate regions
alkaloids. allay
purgatives, and to flavour
A Savouring agent and
Uses
Primarily of use lexer:
Constituents
cuiries
Tannins; an alkaloid. dried herb Weak diuretic; weak diaphoredc.
Constituents
A
main
other medic ations.
land.
in
in
to the
of the alpine Himalayas at altitudes 22504500 m; also China. Cultivation Wild plant. Constituents Alkaloids comprising mainly ephedrine. to which the hypertensive and bronchodilatory action is due: pseudoephedrine, benzyl methylamine: ephidine.
tropical countries. Cultivation
Native
oi
rainfall ol 3 5 in
<
1
;
ultivate 01 harvest,
the) are not
.
and
The best type
are expensive.
mountain and
shad)
in
mean
foi
is
reason
this
Malabai
the
ardamom, and others of good quality are My ore, Ceylon, Aleppi \and Madras Seed pods from related members ol theGinget family are frequently offered ^ Cardamom, especi(
Amomum
ally
EUttan was
cardamon L, but they are inferior.
Malabai name
tin
Description Perennial arising
for the plant.
from
fleshy
thick
rhizome bearing from 8 20 smooth erect grei n items to 2. 7 m. Leaves alternati oblonglanceolate, sheathed, $0 60 cm long, 7 5 m <
wide
On
a
[0 \-i
Flowers arising from neat the item base long peduncle, arranged in panicle ,1
60 Med I
<
m 1
hillsidi
in
and are followed
b)
.111
OVoid
.i|)sule.
Distribution
India:
long,
Indigenous rich
Wild
moist in
to
forests
south
and
and 111
Burma. Introduced
wooded in
othei
I
B5
EQU-EUO Description Fragrant prostrate evergreen branching shrub, spreading to 50 cm diameter on the ground; with hairy, rounded stems of rust colour, arising from tangled red-brown
fibrous roots. Leaves alternate, oval to orbicular 3-7.5
cm
long, 1-3
hairy beneath.
The
cm
wide, entire, and
apical or axillary inflores-
cence consists of pink, deep rose and occasionlong, appearing allv. white flowers 15
mm
mid-spring
to early
summer.
Native to central and eastern North America, on rich, damp, acid soils in shady protected sites. Cultivation Wild plant; may be propagated easily by layering any part of the stem. Constituents The glucosides urson, ericolin, and arbutin; formic acid; gallic acid; tannic acid oil,
ericinol: the
combined
action being antilithic and antiseptic.
whole dried plant,
Uses
fresh leaf
Urinary
Although rarely used, even in folk medicine. this is one of the most effective remedies for urethritis,
bladder stones
prostatitis,
and particularly acute catarrhal
cystitis.
Horticulturallv the herb offers useful fragrant ground cover in shady situations thriving with
some protection and
little light.
L equisetaceae Horsetail Bottlebrush/Shave Grass Horsetails have an almost prehistoric appearance, and indeed have hardly evolved since the coal seams were laid down. They were known to medieval apothecaries as taudo equina, and were an article of trade from the Middle Ages
Equisetum arvense
the
until
eighteenth century,
being used to
pewterware and woodwork. The herb has continued in cultivation in some eastern European countries and plays a useful role in polish
folk
medicine.
producing 20 cm shoots with
4-6 sheaths
in the spring;
and are shoots 20-80 cm
the shoots die after the spores are shed,
then followed by green sterile decumbent, bearing whorls of segmented solid lateral branches at each node. long, erect, or
in
Silicic acid and water-soluble compounds: saponins: phytosterol; flav-
Constituents silicic
onoids; aconitic acid: traces of the alkaloids. nicotine, palustrine
and palustrinine.
dried sterile stem, fresh juice
Uses
genito-urinary
duced and naturalized elsewhere. Common on dry, weed-covered roadsides, walls, dunes, waste-ground: preferring warm, light, sandy soil, but tolerating most conditions. Cultivation Wild plant. Constituents Volatile oil, comprizing mainly a terpene, acting as a styptic: also gallic and tannic acids, acting as astringents.
Diuretic:
astringent:
weak
whole dried herb,
Uses
The
effective as a
mouthwash in aphthous ulcers or and can be used as a douche in leucorrhoea or menorrhagia. Also employed in prostatic disease, enuresis and incontinence.
The
gingivitis,
associated
may
Dried stems
oil
Astringent
:
tonic
diuretic: styptic.
anti-haemorrhagic. be applied externally to aid the healing of wounds, sores or ulcers; the tisane is
A poultice may
was formerly employed treatment of a range of urinary and renal disorders; it appears effective in diarrhoea. tisane or tincture
in the
and relieves and has been haemoptysis, haematemesis, and
soothes
oil
employed
in
throats
sore
swollen
glands,
haematuria.
be used to polish pewter or
woodwork. Employed in
cosmetic
strengthen finger
nails.
Eruca vesicaria ssp. saliva
preparations
to
Mill.
Thell
cruciferae
Rocket-salad Rocket Although described
as a
'good salat-herbe b\
L compositae Canadian Fleabane Erigeron canadensis
The Canadian Fleabane has received almost unwanted weed with
universal abuse as an
commend
to
little
it
beside
extraordinary
powers of survival and distribution. Originally from cistern and central North America, it was introduced into Central France in 1653, became naturalized in that country within 30 years, and rapidly spread through Europe. Asia.
Australia
and
several
of
the
Pacific
Islands.
The Latin name
indicates not only
its
original
home, but also its hoary appearance; from the Greek erigeron signifying "old man in spring". Description Annual with stiff, erect stem from 8 too cm tall depending on soil type. Very leafy and varying from sparsely hairy to glabrous;
on thin creeping rhizome, long grey-brown, simple,
Description Perennial
fertile
Wild plant: limited cultivation
Cultivation
eastern Europe.
fine
antiseptic; diuretic; antilithic.
cystitis,
moist waste-ground.
vulnerary:
Distribution
and an aromatic
European native; abundant on
Distribution
\
1
all
leaves sessile; basal leaves obo-
ate-lanc eolate. stem leaves lineal -lanceolate. 4
cm
long, entire. Inflorescence in terminal
mm
panicle, capitula small, cylindrical, 3 5 diameter. Ray florets whitish, disc florets pale
yellow;
appearing
late
summer
to
early
autumn. Distribution
North
American
native:
intro-
John Gerard and
in
almost continuous cultiuntil the seventeenth
Romans
vation from the
from the Latin name eruca was seldom
century. Rocket
via the Italian diminutive ruchetta
grown
in north-west
Europe
after 1800. It
is,
however, still an important and useful salad in Italy, Egypt and France, and deserves wider use.
Description
Half-hardy annual, 30-70
much branched. Upper long
petioled,
large-toothed
cm
cm
tall;
leaves sessile, lower
or
pinnatifid.
creamy-yellow or whitish, with purplish veins; appearing mid to Flowers
late
to
3
long,
summer. Native
Distribution
and western
to
mediterranean region
Asia. Introduced horticulturallv
elsewhere. In waste areas or on cultivated land in
warm
positions.
Cultivation
Wild.
Grown
as
a
salad
herb,
especially in south-east mediterranean, south-
ern France and Italy. Propagated from seed
186
;
EQU-EUO sown
in spring or
may run
to seed in
autumn on
moist
rich,
summer. Harvest
soil;
leaf within
8 weeks and keep cutting. Cultivated herb is milder flavoured than the wild plant E. vesicaria L.
Constituents Essential oil; heterosides.
Uses (fresh
young
leaf
and
Tonic; mild
stalk:
stimulant; stomachic.
Only used
as a constituent of
mixed
salads.
L umbelliferae
Eryngium maritimum
Sea Holly Eryngo
The
striking prickly nature
and
coastal habitat
herb led to it being named, quite obviously, as Sea Holly. In fact, unlike most herbs, it has few other names, and Eryngo is a popularization of the old generic term eryngium of this
which
The
signifies a thistle-like herb.
and
plant's virtues
shoots can be boiled and eaten in the
Erythroxylum coca Lam. ERYTHROXYLACEAE Coca Leaf Coca was well-known
in pre-Columban days and revered as a magical plant: small bags of the leaves have been found in the graves of Incas. It is still widely employed as a means of maintaining endurance by South American peoples, and is cultivated commercially for
The
cocaine extraction.
name
Small hardy shrubby
Description
but pruned to
m
2
refers to
tree to 5
m
in cultivation; leaves oval
4-8 cm
long, 2.5-4 cm wide, glabrous and with prominent reddish-brown midrib Fruits projecting as a small apex apiculus entire,
uses centre mostly
on
.
red or reddish-brown.
roots have been given aphrodisiacal qualities,
Distribution
why
generic
the bright red colour of the fruit.
the sexual organs; even the extremely long a fact explaining
same way
Asparagus.
as
they enjoyed widespread
Peru and Bolivia. Introduced
Taiwan and Indonesia. On
to
steep valley sides in
century the tree has become well established
and
as a source of timber, oil, shade,
as a
means
drainage in Africa, the Americas, Southern Europe, and India. The name is derived from the Greek eucalyptus meaning a of
soil
well
and a
and
since the sepals
lid,
petals fuse
forming a cap. which resembles a well with a lid.
"Globulus" or
globe' signifies the
"little
shape of the fruit. Di upturn Tree reaching 70 m. Trunk smooth si
and grey or bluish following natural bark:
leathery,
leaves
loss
of
glaucous,
lanceolate,
and usually opposite; covered with oil-bearing glands. Flowers, 4 cm wide, either single or 2 3 on short flat peduncles. whitish, sessile
followed bv 3-cm wide
fruit,
surrounded by
WOOdy receptacle. Native
Distribution in
Europe
sale in
foi
250
well-drained, light, humus-rich
ears.
y
and glaucous biennial or perennial, much branched plant. on
m
i.-,
bushes 30
forming hemi-spherical high. Leaves fleshy, very stiff and
long root,
cm
deeply veined, ovate,
broad, spiny
appearing mid Distribution
On
s.i iir
K
j-lobed,
to
5
cm
long,
and long-petiolate. Flowers
spherical umbels.
where.
bluish
Attractive
Description
^
cm diameter, summei
in
pale blue.
to late
European native; introduced elsehhI dunes and ideally requirinj
saline soil.
Wild plant sometimes ulti\ ated on and propagated b\ loot division in the autumn, 01 From seed sown in the autumn. <
:
light soils liortii ulturalK.
Constituents I
fresh
Saponins; unknown substances. 01 di ied rool Aromatic; tonic;
diuretic. I
he herb was formerly
considered
genito-urinary irritation and
ol
use
infei tion, espei
m i-
inflammations of mucous membranes painful urination. The powdered rool
known
longer
soil.
in
wild
state;
commercially in South Amenta. and Indonesia. Propagated from fresh seed sown in shaded humus-rich seedbeds and planted out 2 m apart. The cultivation of this herb is subject to worldwide constraint.
applied
externally
.is
,1
poultice
aids
tissue
regeneration
On.
Constituents
cineol; also pinenes; sesquiterpene alcohols;
most importani being o< .one; also innamyl-cocaine, /- and /J-n uxilline cocatannic a< id vitamins; proteins; mineral salts. Several
alkaloids,
the
1
1
:
Usa The as
;
Stimulant tonic.
fresh or dried leal leal
is
(
hewed
lime or the ash
ol
in
1
oiiibinat ion with a
little
certain Chenopodium species
general stimulant, to reduce fatigue, allay
of hunger, to relieve gastric pain, nausea, and vomiting, and as .1 cerebral and must ul, 11 stimulant.
feelings
Contra-indicatiom
.in
incorporation
in
sweet dishes.
Young
flowering
.11
Eucalyptus
oil.
comprising
chiefly
omadendrene; cuminaldehyde.
Uses
oil,
occasionally
Antiseptic; deo-
leal
dorant; stimulant; counter-irritant. Widely used in proprietary medicines external application antiseptic purposes.
cough
in
in
Vapour inhaled
Gum
Eucalyptus
Tasmanian Blue
Eucalyptus
indigenous
most successful
am
e ,iiid
d 1st
1
1
bron-
Occasionally taken internally in small doses on sugar lor catarrhal inflammation of chitis.
the respiratory tract.
Limited use
in
perfumery; leaves included
in
dry pot-pourris.
Employed
in
veterinary medic ines.
Contra-indicatiom Large doses toxic, leading to
delirium, convulsions and death.
I
myrtaceae
he genus
to relieve
catarrhal colds and chronic
Euonymm europaeus L celastraceae Spindle Tree European Spindle
Eucalyptus globulus Labill.
ol trees
for
burns, colds, and for
Dangerous; hence not obtain-
able
I
importanl culinary flavouring, the roots being parboiled and candied prioi to i-
cultivated
extensively
Taiwan,
ally local
and
Cultivation Wild; and grows rapidly.
cultivated
Constituents
s,
Cultivation
No
Cultivation
Australasia; introduced
to
semi-tropical countries.
in
() |
300
terms is
oi /•,.
herb
specit
which the 'ion. nun import'
globulus. In the last
is
also
Evonymus
described
as
ree
EvonymUS
and
Euonymus niiopaea. Its common name is derived from the Dutch practice of spindle and peg manu1.1c inn from the strong wood. Description Deciduous shrub "i small tree 2 6 europaeus,
to Australasia ol
In lion 1
consists
This
europaea
1
187
EUP-FER Cultivation
Constituents
Wild plant.
A
glucoside, eupatorine; also tan-
gum;
nin; volatile oils; resin; acid. Diaphoretic action
glucoside and volatile Uses
(dried
sugar: gallic
probably due
to the
oil.
flowering
plant
Diaphoretic.
Although the cold decoction is tonic and stimulant in small doses and emetic in large, the
widest use
is
for
the
common
cold or
similar feverishness, taken as a hot infusion is
m
tall;
somewhat bushy. Young
twigs square-
divided
sate, dentate,
ovate or oblong-lanceolate, 3 8 autumn. Pale green flowers, up to 6 in axillary panicles, appearing early to mid-summer followed by attractive, deeply 4-lobed, red-orange or pink capsule of diameter. 15
florets
cm
summer. European native, found on damp calcareous soil which is rich in nutrients. In marshes and fens or less frequently in mixed deciduous woodland. Cultivation Wild plant. May be cultivated by root division in the autumn, but only on moist
mm
Distribution
Native
Europe and western
to
Asia.
In open woodland, clearings, hedgerows, close
on deep moist loam.
to water,
Cultivation
Aldenhamensis and Burtonii are used as garden ornamentals. Tolerates most positions and soils. Raise from seed in spring and from hard-
wood
cuttings or layering in
Constituents
tonic
summer.
lipids; tannins; cardio-
including
heterosides
euonoside,
to
due; organic acids and several pigments including physaline
which the esters;
Vitamin C; toxicity
is
and phyllorhodine. Uses (dried seed and
fruit, fresh leaves;
Emetic;
purgative; insecticide; cholagogue. Effective
when used
mid
to late
Distribution
Eupatorium purpureum
soils.
Wild. Several cultivars including
externally against scabies,
Constituents
iron
:
Tannin;
resins; volatile oil; inulin;
bitter principle.
herb Cholagogue; diaphoretic; emetic; expectorant. In small doses the herb acts as a bitter tonic 01 Uses
dried
aperitif suitable for those disposed to biliousness or constipation. Often other remedies as a tonic. In
huge doses
it
is
laxative
L compositae Boneset Thoroughwort Although
it
is
a
less
imposing herb. Boneset is Root as it possesses
other skin parasites.
similar chemical constituents.
Eupatorium cannabinum
This herb played a role in the American domestic economy during the nineteenth century at least equal to that now enjoyed by hot lemon tea in the treatment of coughs and
Hemp Agrimony
colds. It
not
to
be
used internally.
L compositae Water Hemp An attractive plant which in some parts of England is called Raspberries and Cream leaves
are
Cannabis saliva
similar
L
and old botanical
hence
to its
those
of
common,
Cannabina aquatica
more
effective. It
was
first
Hemp Latin,
cm
names.
It has not, however, been employed in the manufacture of rope or cloth, and no longer enjoys wide use. Description Perennial on woody base, reaching 30 120 cm. Stems erect, downy, bearing petiolate. oblanc eolate. basal leaves and ovate or lanceolate branch leaves. Most leaves sub-
188
certainly
introduced into Europe in 1699. Description Perennial herb reaching from 50 cm to 1.5 m; pubescent stem which is stout and cylindrical, branched above, bearing 10-20
because of the appearance of its flowers. Its
is
long lanceolate leaves united
at the
base
around the stem; dark and shiny green above, cotton-like beneath and fine-toothed. Inflorescence of 10-16, small white or. rarely,
blue
flowers,
on a dense corymbose cyme.
summer
mid-autumn. North America from Florida and Texas; prefers open
Appearing
late
Distribution
Indigenous
Dakota marshy
to
regions.
to
to
L compositae
Gravel Root Joc-pve Weed This enormously tall North American herb with its mass of purplish-white flowers makes such a splendid sight when in flower that it has been given the name Queen of the Meadow. Indians used the plant for dyeing and to induce perspiration to break a fever, uses which were quickly adopted by European settlers. Still used by British and American herbalists. Description Perennial of a variable nature, reaching from 75 cm 3 m high, but typically
Eupatorium perfoliatum
closely related to Gravel
POISONOUS;
combined with
and emetic.
pediculoses (head, body or pubic), ticks and Contra-indications
it
effectiveness.
3 leaflets. Flowers in cymose each with 5 6 mauve or whitish and 10 purple involucral bracts, appear-
capitula,
ing
its
into
stemmed. Leaves blue-green, opposite, decuslong, yellow-red in
practically unequalled in
,
EUP-FER and
tall
graceful.
Stem
rigid, generally
wide. Flowers small, numerous, crowded on
hollow
tinged with purple above the nodes, bearing leaves, in whorls of
creamy
Flowers
roughish
vanilla-scented,
oblong-lanceolate
1
tinged
often
Native
Distribution
purple, arranged in clusters of 5 or 10 on very numerous dense terminal compound corymbs. Appearing late summer to mid-autumn. Distribution North American native: preferring rich calcareous woodland soils, either dry or
India: intro-
tropical
to
duced and naturalized
with
in
most tropical and
subtropical countries.
moist.
Wild plant: may be propagated by root division in late spring or autumn.
globose cymes; followed by 3
celled capsular fruit.
2-5 leaves, 30 cm long.
white,
cm diameter
Cultivation
Wild
Constituents
An
mid-summer
altitude.
Wild plant: cannot be cultivated
Cultivation
plant.
easily as
ill-defined glycoside
and alka-
to late
it
is
a semiparasite on certain grass
species requiring a close physical association
loid: phytosterol: melissic acid: euphosterol:
with the grass roots, from which
tannin; a phenolic gallic acid; sugar.
nutrients.
dried
Uses
Cultivation
flecks. Appears from autumn. Distribution European native, on poor meadow land and turf. Calcifugous, and found to 3000 m
purple stripes and yellow
quercetin;
substance:
Constituents
flowering
Expectorant:
plant
Tannin:
resin:
obtains
saponin: volatile
aucubine. The Qombined anti-inflammatory for mucosae.
glycoside,
a
oils:
it
antasthmatic; anti-amoebic.
action
flavonoid.
Chiefly employed in the treatment of intestinal
L'ses
euparin: an oleoresin, eupurpurin. is produced by pouring the tincture into cold water - it has
amoebiasis; also effective in bronchitic asthma and laryngeal spasm since it causes relaxation
tory; weakly astringent; weak vulnerary. Almost exclusively employed as a mild eye
of the bronchi by central depressant action.
lotion for use in conjunctivitis. Also as a nasal
The
douche
in
sinusitis.
Externally in poultices to aid
Constituents
Resin: volatile
same action
the
a
oil:
as that of the
whole
root.
dried root-stock Astringent tonic: diure-
Uses
latex
applied externally
is
Contra-indications
caused by excess uric acid. Hence also useful in gout and rheuma-
intestinal irritation,
tism.
Euphrasia rostkoviana
The
stones
.
L euphorbiaceae Euphorbia Asthma Weed Euphorbia hirta
The Spurge familv species
<
Eyebright
is
the best
known
to treat eye conditions.
of
Although
herbs used its
name
is
thousand must <>i the
known
as
euphorbium
in
honoui
egetable dishes.
second century a.d.. a tax was levied on drug in Alexandria, and it was used by the Arabian physicians of the Middle Ages who called it hiltit. The thirteenth-century Welsh Physicians of
Myddvai considered
portant medicinal substance:
oi
from the Latin purgatoria, the purging herb. The diied latex of E. resinifera ,
is a strongly foetid brownish gum. name. In small quantities, however, it gives food a particular flavour and has long been used as a condiment by Indians in
its
the
used
purgatives Berg.
umbelliferae
In the
example, is used in Ethiopian arrow The common name for the family
indicates the widest use lor Euphorbias, that
and
wound
constituent of herbal smoking, mixtures.
hence
\
action to extremel) poisonous. E. heptagona
poisons.
colds
Asafetida
all
1
its
head
healing.
A
Ferula foetida Regel
1000 species of the genus Euphorbia exude an ,i( id milky latex which ranges from irritant in (L), for
catarrh,
nasal
Asafetida
onsivt^, o| se\ rial
worldwide;
distributed
Hayne
SCROPHULARIACEAE Eyebright Meadow Eyebright
pink or red textile dye.
fruit yields a
the
Large doses cause gastronausea and vomiting.
Specifically of use in the treatment of renal or
urinary calculi
in
treatment of warts.
stimulant; antilithic; anti-rheumatic.
tic;
fresh
is
(dried flowering plant) Anti-inflamma-
i",
Euphorbus, physician to Juba II died a. d. iM was used continuously item ancient times until the last century. Asthma Weed, however, is one oi the lew spei us still considered safe to
2
m
stoc k
1
it
now
an imrarely
Herbaceous monoecious perennial,
high, bearing large bipinnate radical
and developing
leaves,
.
is
Europe.
in
Description
oi
it
j
(in
thick
covered by coarse
at
a
fibres.
usually produced in the
massive fleshy rootcrown, which is
the
The inflorescence is year of growth on
fifth
use.
pimn Annual. [5 50 cm high ; stems ereci />, covered with still yellow hairs, considerably branched. Leaves dark green above, palei beneath, obov ate-laiu eolate. .11 ui> and den,
1
1
.
tate;
opposite,
1
l
(in
lout;,
j
mm
i.j
cm derived from the Greek meaning gladness, it appears unknown to ancient physicians priot to the Middle Ages when it was introduced by Hildegarde. The How 11 certain!) gives the appearance of a bloodshot eye. Apothet aries knew the plant as ocularia
and
ophthalmica,
retained to this da\ classified
it
and
in folk
its use has been medicine. Linnaeus
as Euphrasia officinalis, but his
type
mixture of a number ol is, therefore, an ambiguous
jpeciei consists of a species. E. officinalis
name which
has no standing. Only Eyebright
species possessing glandular hairs
on the calyx
have medicinal value. Small attractive annual on erect, branched, stems From 30 cm high,
Description
usuall)
",
bearing opposite, ovoid, down) and crenate senate leaves 0.5 cm long, and spikes ol (in long white flowers in the axils ol upper 1
1
leaves. Calyx and leaves (lose to the inflorescence heat glahdulai hairs; flower also has
[89
FER-FRA m
a 2.5-3
high, to 10
cm
naked, flower-
thick,
ing stem. Flowers yellow in umbels appearing
mid-spring.
Native
Distribution
eastern
to
western Afghanistan, on rocky
Wild plant; the
Cultivation
Persia
and
is
collected
commercially from plants which must be
at
Constituents Volatile oil :
D
ferulic
o
(10%);
acid.
resin
The
(50%
volatile
:
oil
contains terpenes. disulphides and pinene. and responsible for the therapeutic action.
is
dried oleo-resin-gum, obtained by inNervine stimulant;
L'ses
Distribution Cultivation
Indigenous
Wild
gum
May
plasters for application
A
A
condiment commonly used
as
an ingredient
and vegetable
dishes; also with fish.
Ferula galbaniflua Boiss. et
Buhse
MBELLIFERAE
Galbanum ingredient of the
incense used by the Israelites plant product Chelbenah.
and other
It
is
who
called this
obtained from notably F.
species of Ferula,
by collecting the milky-white tears of gum-resin which naturally exude from the stem, or by severing the plants root crown. Ferula is from the Latin, to strike. Both Hippocrates and Theophrastus mentioned its medicinal properties, and Pliny called it bubotuon. It was known b\ the Arabic term, kinnafi. to the physicians of the School of Salerno. Previously imported from Persia, but rubruaulis
now
Most widely known medicinally as a folk remedy for constipation: taken as syrup of figs. Senna. Once used externally as a for boils
and
ulcers.
culinary use in confectionery, in jams, and used to flavour some coffees. May be used in
home wine manufacture.
remedies.
be
on
incorporated
in
ulcers.
constituent of incen-e.
L Maxim rosaceae Meadowsweet Queen of the Meadow Queen of the Meadow is this herb's modern common name, and it seems to
Filipendula ulmaria
been the more popular Ficus carica
L moraceae
languages.
It
Fig
Common Fig Known to the Romans
plant
as ficus, figs were valued by the ancient Hebrews, and. with the vine, signified peace and plenty in the writings of the scriptures. The plant was so extensively cultivated that even in Pliny's time several different varieties existed, of which the best was considered to be that flourishing in Caria in Asia Minor; hence the modern botanical
dominate
as a food
Meadowsweet
is
is
in several
European
when
certainly apt. for
fully established,
a low-lying
may
it
most have the
completely
damp meadow.
from the was once used to flavour mead. Botanically. the herb was classified by Linnaeus as Spiraea ulmaria since is
simply
earlier 'meadwort', since
the
fruit
consists
derived
it
of small
spiral
achenes
classification F. carica.
Galbanum was an important
this
nutritive.
demulcent poultice
60
effective in hysteria
of Indian sauces, pickles, Worcestershire Sauce,
I
resin
ing expectorant, often in combination with
powerful antispasmodic; expectorant: carm-
colic.
Grape invert sugar, gum. sucrose. and dried fruit Mild laxative:
used in chronic bronchitis as a stimulat-
inative.
conditions,
fresh
\\ ide
other
and some nervous and in bronchitis, asthma and whooping-cough. Once employed in infantile pneumonia and in the treatment of flatulent
.
_'o
cision of living root-stock
Very
Uses
tives like io",,
semi-hard gum-resin obtained from L'ses stem or root crown Stimulant; expectorant.
Once
Constituents
Also used in combination with stronger purga-
to Persia.
plant.
Constituents Volatile oil
least 5 years old.
gum
m
thin flat fruits.
hillsides.
resin
Umbelliferous perennial on solid reaching 1.5-1.75 high, bearing greyish tomentose leaves, yellow ish-white flowers in flat umbels appearing in mid-spring, and Description
stem
Boiss.
.
either
onlv from the Near East.
Charlemagne promoted its cultivation in Europe in the ninth century, and today is still an official plant in the British Pharma-
central it
copoeia. Dtscriptwn Deciduous tree to 9 m. much branched, soft-wooded, with large rough leaves, 10-20 cm long, broad-ovate to orbicular. 3—5 deep lobes and pubescent beneath: forming mass of attractive foliage. Leaves entire in some cultivated forms. Flowers uniquely. hidden within a hollow fleshy receptacle isyconus) and therefore never visible. Receptacle 3—7.5 cm long, single, axillary and often pear-shaped, or variable. Appearing early
summer
Distribution
to
mid-autumn. to Mediterranean
Indigenous
<\>Z
re-
gion, widely distributed. Cultivation Wild several forms grown for fruit, shade and ornament, of which the best is the variety Brown Turkey. Easily cultivated in full sun: to ensure good harvest, root growth must :
be severely restricted by planting in 50 cm diameter pot. sunk in the soil. Propagate from cuttings.
twisted together. This generic name has been immortalized in the word Aspirin meaning. from Spiraea because it was from the flowerbuds of Meadowsweet that salicylic acid was first discovered in 1839 - and from which .
Aspirin was later synthesized.
herb 60-120 cm tall aromatic root-stock. Stems erect, reddish, bearing alternate, acute, ovate leaves, irregularly pinnate with 2-5 pairs of leaflets. 2-8 cm long, glabrous above and whitish and tomentose beneath. Faintly aromatic flowers Description Stout perennial
on
thick, pink
mm
5-petalled. white or cream, small 2-5 with numerous long stamens, in dense but irregular paniculate cymes on glabrous stems: appearing mid-summer to early autumn. Distribution European and Asian native. Intro-
'9°
.
.
FER-FRA duced and naturalized
in
North America.
On
wet. nutrient-rich, but not too acidic, sandy or
loamy soils near streams and rivers in fens, marshland or wet woodlands, to iooo m altitude.
Wild, often growing
Cultivation
profusion in
in
sown
suitable habitat. Propagate from seed
in
spring or from root division in spring; thin or
cm
plant to 40
shade
partial
apart.
A damp,
rich soil in
required; water well in dry
is
weather. Constituents
Tannins
io°„
:
zoate:
also
methyl ben-
ethyl
including
glycosides
flavonoid
also
!
heliotropin.
vanillin,
salicylate;
com-
volatile oil
prising, salicylaldehyde (to io°
spiraeoside; salicyclic glycosides, comprising
gaultherin and spiraein; vitamin C: sugars;
mineral
salts.
dried flowers, dried root-stock Antipyretic: anti-rheumatic; astringent: weak anUses
tispasmodic; diuretic; antiseptic.
The
root
employed
is
specifically
the
in
treatment of diarrhoea, while the flowers are of benefit in influenza, fluid retention, rheumatism and arthritis. They are probably the most effective of all plant remedies for the treatment of hyperacidity and heartburn. Useful therefore in the control of peptic ulcers
and
The
gastritis.
infusion also has an effect in
certain urinary tract infections.
Formerly used
A
mead and wine
in
cups.
black dyestuff has been obtained from
May
be used
tin-
copper mordant.
plant, using a
scented articles.
in
?i^m:^ a Propagated in any soil except heavy from seed sown in autumn. Remove flower-heads if seed is not required. Different iai is produce seeds ol varying flavour. Constituents Volatile oil. comprising mainly anethole and a No fenchone, d-pinene, limonene, dipentene, phellandrene and anisic acid. Carminative action due to the oil.
Description
whitish fungus with yellowish spots and pores;
Uses
Foeniculum vulgare Mill,
lmbelliferae
and dried leaf, oil, dried ripe fruit, tools Carminative: aromatic; weak
fresh
rarely
Fennel Sweet Fennel The appearan< c <>l dried Fennel
diuretic
rather like coarse,
prevent
both the
leal, w hi< h is rumpled hair, gave rise to and botanical names brmu 1
common
derived from the Latin foeniculum,
me, mint;
has been used
It
for
purposes
culinary
at
foi
2000 years, and was formerly prized more succulent stems than foi > seed, which oin 111011U employed. Special the pan now
least for is
it'-
i
t
<
have been developed supplying swollen bulbous stalls bases Finnocchiooi Floreno and foli Fennel large stalks Carosella
varieties
.
decorative purposes
.
I
Sweet Fennel. It is traditionally considered one of the best herbs to use with fish dishes. I),
Hauls biennial
criplian
cultivated
stem.
-<>
oil
is
and
flatulence
on ion-
pi
added
lac
an
as (111
pinnately
hunger.
Thought use:
colic
Once
to aid in
;
aids
used to
slimming.
haves traditionally
to
2
or perennial, often
annual:
m
compound
erect
blue-green
high, bearing fine, leaves,
;
ecu
PORAC1
s
mid-summer
mid-autumn.
Distribution
Native
to
mediterranean region,
introduced and naturalized
in
othei
prefers wasteland on well-drained
places;
soil in
sunn)
ations.
and extensively grown horticulturally and commercially in all temperati Cultivation Wild,
Bresadola
whole fungus) Astringent;
c
remedies
and
Boletus
officinalis
Fries.,
Ungulina
officinalis.
Owing
known
as PolvpOTUS
hunts
J acq.
and
to the difficulty
<>l
lassihe ation
identified
a
as
Inis was used more frequently and jumenst\piic agent in fresh wounds. I.
/•'.
is
onlv occasionally available, is
known
as
used as a cigar lighter. <
1
used
as
an
ingredient
of the
Tincture
anti-
Warburg's Fever Tincture, a ompound medit anon whose om position was published in 1875 by Dr Warburg after years ol recy. The fungUS is not an edible mushroom, is now vet v and lately used. fiiiiutlii/i (
or
<
•
1
it
excess
used
as
source
the
which was used
of crystalline
1
for similar
medical
flavouring in
as a bittei
Large doses cause vomiting
//
una
veSCO
ROSACEAE
I.
Wild Strawberry Wood Strawberry Numerous varieties have been developed
since
Strawberry began in the early sixteenth century, but it was this species which was gathered wild from the woods of Kurope for centuries. I'raga was the Latin name, and probably refers to the fruit's cultivation
ol
the'
fragrance.
ause of its bitter taste F. officinalis was oik used to flavoui confectionery and it was also I')'
diarrhoea,
and purgation.
cil the fungus group, it cannot be with certainty in ancient writings and probably the related species l-mm fomen-
c
treat
to
levers.
Contra-indications
vi
This fungUS has also been
bitter;
confectionery
Agaricus Purging Agaru
Amadou, and
turning grey-brown. Appearing
Vittadini
officinalis
autumn.
Riconoleic acid; phytosterol; agar-
Formerly employed Fomes
decidua
Larix
in early
Formerly used in compound antipyretic mediines, and either alone or in combination with
purposes.
ol
(
1
Uses fdried
nervous
stem.
especiallv Larix
DC.
europaea
L.
purgative.
agaric in
s\
Lain spp.
acid: agaricol: resins.
ANo once
tarius
1
Constituents ic
Growing on various
plant.
Formerly collected
liqueur inanulac ture and as a condiment. Contra-indications Very I. nee doses disturb the
\
1
.
lactation
m long, on broad and lasping Small yellow dowers, on large umbels 5 20 rays, succeeded by fruit, bluish
filiform, to
often
Led.,
sibinca
othei
in
Wild
species of Larch
he boiled and eaten as a vegetable; seed used
petioles.
I'.,
intestinal
fleshy,
soft,
Russia, in larch forests. Cultivation
garnish fish, and are added t<> salads, soups. sauces ,uicl pork dishes. Rooi and stalks 111. iv
tarius
to
purgative medication to
allavs
tation.
almost
1
to
and
griping
shaped,
variably
to 50 cm long and 30 cm wide. The surface is dry and marked by irregular furrows; it has an aroma of flour. Distribution Southern Tyrol and French Alps to
Mill.
.
h< Bronze Fennel seed flavour also varies considerably from the Bitter or Wild Fennel and the less bittei Saxon or German Fennel to the Sweet Roman or
for
The
mild stimulant.
:
All parts of culinary
little lia\.
A
/ones.
clay,
Description Perennial 5
woodv runnels. pale
25
Leaflets ovate,
beneath,
Lateral leaflets
Flowers white,
silky,
-,
mm
on
tall,
long,
stout,
rooting
bright green above,
toothed,
sessile, 1
cm
producing
toot-stock,
1
6
cm
Ions;.
terminal, short-stalked
diametei
erect, ^
10
per peduncle; appearing early to mid-summer, followed hv led 01 white ovoid, false fruit.
191
FRA-GAL European pharmacopoeias.
Fraxinus ornus
Small tree or deciduous shrub to 6 m; usually 1-4 m. Branches supple, smooth, erect towards the base, young branchlets redbrown at the tips, later darkening to greyblack. Leaves alternate, acute, entire, or sometimes undulate, obovate to oblong, 3-4 cm long, dark green and shiny above. Flowers small, bisexual, greenish, borne in umbelliform cymes. Appearing late spring to midsummer; followed by globose fruit 7.5
Manna
Description
mm
diameter, red then black or blue-black.
Native to Europe, Central Asia, North Africa; introduced and naturalized in eastern United States. On acidic, often heavy Distribution
open, damp, deciduous or coniferous to 1000 m
soils, in
woodland, especially near streams, altitude.
Cultivation Wild. Commercial plantations are being established in Eastern Europe. Collected commercially in Russia. Holland. Poland and Czechoslovakia.
L oleaceae
Flowering Ash According to the Bible. Manna was the substance miraculously supplied to the Israelites during their progress through the wilderness to the Holy Land, and the name has been applied to several substances both real and imaginary, thought to provide spiritual nourishment. Prior to the fifteenth century. Manna was imported from the East and its provenance is uncertain, but from the middle of the sixteenth century most Manna was the dried sugary juice obtained by incisions in the bark of the Flowering Ash grown for the purpose in Sicily and Calabria in southern Italy. Now rarelv obtainable in Europe. Description Ljeciduous tree 10-20 m. Rounded in shape, and with great variation in leaflet and fruit shape. Leaves 20-25 cm long with 7-1 1
Anthraquinone glycosides, comproduced during drying and
Constituents
prising frangulin
|
frangula-emodin, frangularoside. chrysophanic acid, an iso-emodin; also tannic acid; bitter principles; mucilage. Purgative action due to the presence of storage
.
emodins, Native to Europe, western Asia, North America. In woods, scrubland, preferably on moist, somewhat calcareous soils; to 800 m altitude. Cultivation Wild plant. Propagate l>v transplantation of daughter plants produced on
which
act
on the large intestine
Distribution
causing
runners.
Uses (12-month old stem and inner branch bark Purgative; choleretic. Almost exclusively used in the treatment of constipation, often in combination with other remedies. Very small doses may be used to stimulate bile secretion. Once applied extern-
Tannins;
(leaves)
Constituents
flavonoids.
Organic acids; vitamin C; mucilage;
(fruit)
(fresh
Astringent;
fruit,
root-stock
leaves,
antiscorbutic;
diuretic;
rarely tonic;
laxative.
The root decoction was formerly used to treat gonorrhoea, and as a diuretic; it also acts as a weak, bitter tonic. Leaf and root-stock can be used to treat diarrhoea, while the fruit is laxative.
The
dried leaf can be used as a tea substitute.
Contra-indications Strawberries
may produce an
allergic response.
Frangula alnus Mill,
rhamnaceae
Alder Buckthorn This medicinal plant
is
so
named because
it
bears a superficial foliage similarity to the Alder [Alnus glutinosa (L) Gaertn. |, with which it
shares a predilection for wet environments
and because it has the same purgative qualities as Rhamnus catharticus, which was known as cervi spina
(buck's thorn) to the early apothe-
caries.
The
ally to aid the healing of
Contra-indications Fresh
wounds.
bark contains anthrone
glycosides which cause severe catharsis, emesis
sugars. i'ses
peristalsis.
quite thornless Alder Buckthorn does not
appear
to
have been used
until the
beginning
when the Italian Pierre Crescenzi introduced it. German physicians were to make most use of it in subsequent
and cramps.
The
fruit
is
POISONOUS.
usually ovate or oblong, somewhat pubescent. Flowers dull white, on numerous
leaflets,
dense feathery panicles, 7.5-12.5 cm long appearing early to mid-summer, and followed by linear or lanceolate
fruit 3
cm
long.
Native to southern Europe and western Asia. Introduced into central Europe, Distribution
North America and elsewhere. Cultivation Wild, and cultivated as an ornamental tree and for commercial purposes. Constituents Various sugars, chiefly comprising mannitol. mannotriose. mannotetrose and dextrose: also mucilage; aesculin and fraxin. Laxative action due to fraxin. Uses the yellow-white saccharine exudation obtained by bark incisions during the flowerMild laxative. Exclusively of ing season service as a gentle laxative for children and pregnant women, taken in quite large dosage either alone or in combination with Rhubarb. Nutritive and therefore useful during convalescence. Contra-indications
May
cause flatulence.
of the fourteenth century
years.
Since
it
sagrada collected
[92
has
similar
properties
Rhamnus purshiana D.C. locally,
it
is
retained
Cascara but can be
to ,
in
several
Fucus vesiculosus L fucaceae Bladderwrack Kelp Although commonly called Kelp,
this
is
are
somewhat
larger algae.
seaweeds long used both as
a term
w hich one of several food and medicine.
usually applied to species of Laminana. It is
FRA GAL stimulate the regeneration
the ability
to
some nerve
cells.
ol
reaching 10-20 cm tall: and glaucous. 7 mm wide, fleshy, ridged, on bulbs growing in compact
Description Perennial
leaves linear basal,
less than 25 cm bearing single flower: outer segments white. 15 mm—3 cm long, inner segments
masses. Pedicel slender, usually long,
white and green. Appearing early spring. Distribution Native to central and south Europe.
Caucasus: introduced elsewhere. Prefers
to the
humus and
rich in
soils
mixed
nutrients in
deciduous woodland.
Wild plant; cultivated
Cultivation
garden
as a
plant and found as an escape. Propagate by division
autumn.
the
in
Hook
Elwesii
Alkaloids,
Constituents
A
form.
giant
G.
exists.
chiefly
in
the
bulb,
comprising tazettine. lycorine. galanthamines.
and sometime-
as a
cheap manure. Iodine was
discovered by distillation of Fucus
first
rarly nineteenth
century, and
tor
in the
about
this
in
wax.
It-
common name
is
derived both from the typical bladder-like air vesicles
word
on the thallus, and from an ancient something which is driven
signifying
ription
<
Perennial seaweed consisting
yellowish thallus. 18
fast
:
ol
a
branching, brownish-green or
thin, leathery,
Wood)
mm
wide and
m
i
long.
attached to rocks l>\ dis< oid holdmargins entire, midrib broad and distinct, stipe
running the length ol the plant, along which air vesh les arc borne in pairs. Terminating in strong
globose
ovoid receptacles Distribution
fructifications ;
cm
Common
in
consisting
ol
length.
west Scotland,
Norway,
and North America; attached to ro( ks. (.ultr, ation Wild plain collet ted commen ially Constituents A gelatinous substance, alum:
.
;
mannitol: iodine: a volatile oil: ^-carotene: zeaxanthin: various inorganic substanc i
dried
whole plant
Anti-obesii
;
anti-
hypothyroid. Spe<
wispy
grey-green
iIk ally ol
effective
obstruction leading
with hypothyroidism.
A
decoction
is
ol
assoi iated
the
whole
plant ma\ be applied externally rheumatism and rheumatoid arthritis.
lush
An
excellent source ol purposes; one ol tin
manure
for horti<
in
ultural
commercial sources of
mm
ers 8
emanations in the ground, and that its smoke when burned repelled evil spirits Both its common and botanical names derive from the I. aim word lor smoke, probably because ai a
cm
1
long,
pinnate,
1.2
cm
Flow-
long, pinkish-purple, dark
tips, borne in racemes 5 7 em long, appearing mid-summer to late- autumn.
red at the
Distribution Furopean native: naturalized in America and parts (l Asia. Common iii weedy .mas gardens, fields, vineyards, rarely |
r
,1
loamy Wild plant.
ornfields. Prefers
c
soils.
/
\,
Emetic.
bull)
s
plant
Flic-
is
benefit in a range of conditions characterized
fumarine; tanacid: lumaric acid: potassium salts.
nervous
by
nic
poliomyelitis.
chic; tonic
Laxative; stoma-
flowering plant
diiecl
I
;
weak
diuretic
sidered
ol
benefit in arteriosclerosis.
he Rowers produceyellow wool dye. Dried leaves may be added to smoking mix,1
tures.
Gaianthus nivalis
Snowdrop lie
Galega
The
POISONOl L amaryi
i
S
is
well
I
lor
example.
SONOUS.
rDACi
known
L papilionaceae French Lilac ol Coat's Rue to promote the
officinalis
Rue
ability
reflected in
'-"w
some animals, is much as 50% its name galega from the Greek for iii
The most
effective galactogenic preparaan infusion of the fresh plant. i>n Attractive bushy perennial to /> m on hollow stem bearing leaves consisting ol 11 17 oblong or oblong-ovate glabrous,
milk.
is
1
mm
u
Bulbous Violet
Snowdrop
)
milk, by as
tion
Centra-indications
degeneration,
Contra-indications P(
Goat's
c
various
ol
tissue
.
hiefly employed in the treatment ol -km complaints including eczema, exanthema and dermatitis. Also once- con-
Formerly
used medicinally, but in
rarely
Europe a preparation known as has been promoted as being of 'ni valine'
eastern
Constituents 7 alkaloids, chiefly
I
including
but today
petiolate, with lanceolate leaf segments.
ronate, as the hisl llowei
flowers
leaflets 1
cm
1
long
cm
\
in
Purplish-blue
long.
racemes
slightly longei
and its name gaianthus is derived from the Greek meaning milk llowei aftet its snow-w hite appearance. It is verv rarely mentioned in the herbals and
than the leaves; appear mid-summer to midcm long redautumn and are followed by
has
Asia:
ol
the belid thai H aiose not Iron) seed but Iroin
of intestinal
to skin diseases,
/) cription Annual: variable in form, the stem being erect, bushv or trailing, from 15 70 cm
alginates
Fumaria officinalis L fimariaceae Fumitory Much legend surrounds this herb,
look
used.
rarely
is
it
conditions
in
I
use in obesity whi< h
leaflets
times Fumitory was con-
the earliest
sidered
Cultivation
on north-west Atlantic
coastlines, especially
I
the
lon^: leaves grey-green
ashore. I)
From
y>
years most commercial supplies of Iodine wen-
obtained
distance-
smoky.
the year,
never attracted attention as being medicinal use except fol a poultice ol c
rushed bulbs which
in
may be applied
1
xt<
ol the
ma
llv
cases of frostbite, Recent research in Europe,
however, suggests that the plant
may
possess
;
brow
)
n pods.
Distribution
Native-
to
Europe and
introduced elsewhere.
moist positions
Prefers
western slighth
in fields.
Wild and occurs as an esc ape from garden cultivation. (,. officinalis var. albifloui Boiss. has w hite How ei 5, and G. o\]n innlis v ,n Cultivation
193
GAL-GEL Brande
Queen
1788
in
who was
the apothecary to
of most benefit in the treatment of various skin
and
it
was originally introduced
medical recipe for the treatment of fever. 'Angostura bitters' no longer contains extract of angostura bark, this having been replaced by Gentian root. Angostura is the former name for Ciudad Bolivar, a town in Venezuela. Description Small tree 4 5 m tall. 7.5 12.5 cm in diameter, the trunk being straight, irregularly branched and with a smooth bark, covered externally with a yellowish-grey corky as a
smooth
and
divided
petiolate.
arranged
scented,
alternate
glossy,
into
oblong, [jointed. 4
cm
3
leaflets
and
which are
long. Flowers strongly
in
terminal
pedum
led
racemes. Distribution Tropical South America, especially Venezuela. Mostly abundant in mountainous
and
varie-
districts.
gated leaves. Propagate by division of roots in spring or autumn, planting in deep soil. Alkaloids, chief!) galegine and Constituents
chief!)
('specially in the seed
pai inc.
tannic
;
a glucoside, galuteoline;
saponin;
acid;
vitamin
C;
bitter
ses
dried flowering plant, seeds
Galacto-
gogue; hypoglycaemic diuretic; diaphoretic. ;
A
tea of Goat's
action
and
Constituents
Volatile
is
Rue
has supportive antidiabetic
used to promote milk flow
women and animals. The fresh juice clots milk and may
in
both
be used
in
cheese-making.
glucoside: alkaloids.
stem bark
Stimulant ionic. South America locally in
cm in length. Leaves prickly, cuneate. whorls of 6 or 8-. coarse-haired on the leaf margins. Flowers very small, white, or greenish-
ing 120 in
cm long inflorescences borne on and extending longer than the leaves. Distribution European native: prefers moist nutrient-rich loamy soils, in weedy sites, particularly field and garden edges and
white on 2-3 leaf axils
Cultivation Constituents
Uses
Wild plant.
A
glycoside, asperuloside.
dried flowering plant, freshly expressed
Vulnerary; weak diuretic. Used externally to treat wounds and ulcers, and internally in painful urination associated with cystitis; in enlarged lymph glands, and in psoriasis. The herb reduces body temperature and blood pressure slightly. Also employed juice
homc-opathic
allv
The dried plant
may
roasted
provide
seeds
be drunk as a tea. and the
an
excellent
coffee
Galium verum
L rl'BIaceae
Ladies' Bedstraw
combination with sliced Lemon and sugar, Angostura bitters was used for hiccups. Formerly an ingredient of some commercial
The pleasant honey scent of the flowers and aroma of the dried leaves and stems made this an admirable herb for stuffing mattresses in medieval times. It was commonly mixed with brae ken or some aromatic or flearepelling herb for this purpose. Dioscorides knew it as gallon or the milk plant, and it was used throughout Europe from the time of the
acts as a fish poison.
Contra-indicatiom Large doses cause diarrhoea.
Galium apanne L rubiaceae Goosegrass Cleavers Clivers
Many
of the
common names
in the distribution of the plant via
which assist animal coats.
The Greeks
meaning
also by the globular seed capsules
man
called
it
philanthropon
because the leaves and
fruit cling to
love
the
Cheese
Rennet Yellow
Bcdstraw hay-like
Greeks
refer to the cling-
ing nature of the steins of this common weed of roadsides and hedgerows, a character shared
94
habit,
Once- considered a valuable tonic, and used in lexers iii preference to Cinchona Bark. In
Angostura Cusparia Bark First used in 1759 in Madrid by Minis. Angostura was introduced into England by
Annual herb with straggling
the trailing, quadrangular, rough, stem attain-
for
bitter liqueurs.
rutaceae
Description
substitute.
diarrhoea and dysentery.
dyspepsia, chronic
The bark Galipea cuspana St Hilaire
oil;
angosturine; a bitter substance, cus-
Employed
principles. I
Wild plant.
Cultivation
Uses
conditions.
hedgerows.
layer.
Leaves
flowers
has been widely used in folk medi-
teenth century Angostura was considered an
by Dr Siegert
lias lilac
It
cine for centuries, generally being considered
effective tonic,
Hartlandii (Hort.)
clothes.
Charlotte. Until the end of the nine-
until the
1800s as a
means
of
curdling
GAL-GEL milk
cheese manufacture. A perennial herb
in
with
Description
decumbent somewhat woody
or
erect
round
stems,
with 4 prominent edges or almost square. glabrous, slightly branched and from 20-80 cm tall. Leaves white and slightly hairy on the underside, recurved, bristle-tipped, in whorls
mm
wide. of8-i2, linear, 1.5-2.5 cm long, 12 wide, smelling of honey, on Flowers 2-3 terminal panicles, golden-yellow, appearing
mm
summer
to mid-autumn. European native; now a weed in the eastern United States. On semi-dry or dry
early
Distribution
grassland.
Wild
Cultivation
plant.
saponin: an enzyme,
Constituents Silicic acid;
rennin.
Weak
dried flowering plant
Uses
diuretic:
styptic.
Formerly employed as a diuretic for dropsy and in epilepsy. Applied externally to wounds and some skin eruptions.
therapeutic value, but
Strong decoctions curdle milk when boiled. and may be used in cheese manufacture: the
mild evacuant since
herb also colours cheese a greenish-yellow. A rd dye can be obtained from the lower stem.
promotes
Mnsisis
salicylate.
from before
methyl
produced
was formerly obtained
It
young birch th.it was il
now
of Wintergre en
oil
synthetically
oi
trees
Betula
tenia
largely .
and
isolated from the Winter-
green plant. Wintergreen was once mentioned in the United States Pharmacopoeia but has tievei iv
it
much medical
attracted
widely used
Gaul tier,
Di
afta
Quebec
about
in
stems and ereci
bearing
1
.1
physician
is
named
practising
in
still
shrub with branches to
1
<
",
mi,
him
5
oil oi
gaultheria
01 oil oi
winter-
obtained by distillation ol the leaves and omprises chiefly methyl salicylate, and an alcohol, a ketone and an estei 1
Usa
An
Stimulant; astringent; tonic;
leaves, oil
aromatic
< ;
ounter-ii
inliision
oi
1
throat gargle, as
.1
may be used
dou< he and
foi
as
,
(
headai Iks
lie oil is readily absorbed by the skin and is employed in various aches and pains, including rheumatism, ft is occasionally used internally as .in emulsion against hookworm. Leaves may be used as tea substitute I
.1
he
flavouring agent preparations. I
oil
is
a
medic
it
,i|
and made
many
fungi
it
to cultivate
and
identify
responsible
for
human and animal
Today most
of the
for this
by
revolutionized possible
of the bacteria disease.
Agar produced is employed purpose, and although Japanese Agar various
species
Gelidium
oi
is
various dental
Agar
from either Chondrus enspu^ 01 combination of the two, the New Zealand variety from Pterocladia lucida, and Australian from Gracilaria conBritish
is
Gigartina stellata or a
fervoidts.
t
I
nited Slates.
on poles driven into (he sea bed. ol
onstituents Chiefly .1
sulphuric ester
also a ti,u
1
oi
c
omposed
<>l
,1
boh v di ale and mineral salts.
ol a cat
protein,
nun salt, complex;
,d<
greyish-white
Uses
dried
strips
obtained by drying the liquor resulting
At;, ii •;
translucent
,kI\
Unlike gelatine Agar-Agar has no nutritive
ic
e.
oil
may
irritate
;
Yellow Jessamine Yellow Jasmine Root Gelsemium
name
the
is
of
derived from the Italian Gelsomino the- true Jessamine or Jasmine. It
was introduced early
to
medicine accidentally
in the
nineteenth century after a Mississippi
planter mistakenly took a tea
made from
plant to cure bilious lexer. The
first
the
were
tests
made
in 1852, and it eventually entered the United States Pharmacopoeia, and the British Pharmaceutical Codex. Until quite recently it was used in various mixtures lor migraine treatment, but it is toxic even in quite small doses and now seldom used. /), upturn Perennial evergreen vine to 10 m on woody purplish-brown rhizomes stem slender, woody, bearing opposite lanceolate to ovatc;
1
01
cm
lanceolate,
short-petioled
lout;, entire,
shiny dark green above, and paler
leaves
2.5
to
beneath. Flowers yellow, 2.5 4 cm long, highly fragrant, 6 on axillary or terminal cymes, appearing from mid-spring to mid-summer. 1
Native to southern United States, Mexico, Guatemala; in moist woodlands. Cultivation Wild plant; sometimes cultivated Distribution
as
cover,
or
in
greenhouses.
Propagate from cuttings or from divisions
ol
root-stock in the late spring. Constituents Alkaloids: gelsemine,
c
must not be used internally without
The pure
stabilize
Gelsemium sempervirens Ait. loganiaceae
horticulturally
Wild marine pi. mi: collected commercially and sometimes encouraged to grow
Cultivation
(
and thus
to
,i
seaweed to 25 cm long; ha II us develops from a persistent basal the portion each growing season, is cylindrical 01 flattened, pinnately subdivided and ofa tough consistency. The spherical fruit appear in the late autumn and winter months. Distribution Gelidium amansu Km/.. G. elegam Kutz. and G. polycladum Sond. are found in the maritime zones of Japan and G. cartilagineum Gaill.) in the maritime zones ol South Africa Description Perennial
from boiling the seaweed for ') liouis In the presence ol dilute sulphuric acid) Bulk laxative emulsion si.ibih/i
ContTO'indicationi
skin;
in
1880s
bacteriological research
and
itant
the leaves
and
bacteria the
considered the finest and has the greatest gel
is
11
of in
strength, other seaweeds also provide Agar;
Arbutin: ericolin; urson; tannin;
al-,
Koch
used
purifiers.
cm tall. cm long,
and shin) above, palei beneath, petiolate and apiculate; whin- flowers 7.5 mm long, solitary and drooping, appearing from the leal base in mid and late summer, and followed l>\ scarlet berries 7 nun in diameter. Distribution North American native, from Newfoundland to Georgia. On poor soils. Cultivation Wild plant. <
cultivation
Robert
Also
,i
the
for
creeping
glabrous
a volatile oil
the
made from
the top oval leaves,
al
h
750.
Evergreen
Description
attention, nor
in lolk traditions,
Gelidium spp. rhodophyceae Agar-Agar Japanese Isinglass The use of Agar as a semi-solid medium
peristalsis.
in
emulsions of other laxatives. Mostly employed as the basis of bacteriological culture media, and as a thickening agent in some foodstuffs, both commercially and domestically. Employed as the physical base for certain air
Gaultheria procumbens L Ericaceae Wintergreen Checkerbcrrv Mountain Lea
Most commercial
absorbs water
intestine, increases the faeces bulk,
i
i
used medically as
it is it
sempervirine
and gelsemicine; phytosterol; resin; fixed oil; emodin monomethyl ether /3-methylaeculetin. Action largely due to the alkaloids which ;
depress the central nervous
swem.
Sedative; rhizome and roots nervine. Formerly employed in the treatment of neuralgia, sic k headac he, menstrual and rheumatic pains and pat in ulai ly migi aine and trigeminal neuralgia. A perfume can be Uses
dried
195
GEX-GLE tall. Bearing glabrous or pubescent forked branches and 1.5-3 cm l° n Ei oblong-elliptic or
oblong-lanceolate,
nearly
alternate,
glabrous, simple leaves. Flowers 15 golden yellow, in racemes 3—7.5
appearing mid-summer
to early
sessile,
mm
long,
cm
long,
•
*^Bk^
*J^
4W
~i
B Ai
5£
^-V\
1£ j
^^l^H^rSEva
autumn, and
followed by long narrow pods.
Native
Distribution
to
Europe and western
Asia: naturalized in North America.
Intro-
duced elsewhere. On dryish loamy or sandv -oiK in light woodland, pastures, heaths and meadows. Cultivation Wild plant.
The
Constituents
yellow
h^mJ3
alkaloids, sparteine, cvtisine
and methyl-cytisine: a Havone. glycoside,
genistein; a
The
luteolin.
combined W^^L
action weakly cardio-active and vasoconstric-
^
tive.
(lowering plant, -red-, leaves Emetic; purgative; diuretic: weakly cardio-active. u
(
>
Formerly used
rheumatism and
dropsy,
and purgative:
a- a diuretic
as
a
The young bud- may
L
dyspepsia.
pan- POISONOl double vision, giddiness, respiratory depression and death. Gelsemium i- more strongly depressant than Hemlock. All
toxic effects include
dye.
appetite,
Not to be used internally during pregnane) or hypertension.
eating.
L gentianaceae
In
material
known,
centuries
as
a
i-
and
bitter
1
the most bitter plant
been
has
used
Several
tonic.
L legimino-u Dyer's Greenweed Dyer's Broom A- the common name suggests this herb was an important dyeing plant, and was often combined with Woad to produce a green wool dye.
Europe and North America have been employed for the same purpose, and it i- not certain which of the European species was known to the Greeks.
It
i-
which
closely in
related
the
Genista, but unlike
weed does not qualities and
to
Sarothamnus
Middle Ages was tin-
now
called
plant Dyer's Green-
possess verj is
scoparius
itself
strong medicinal
mainly employed
in
homecraft dyeing;. Description Perennial
trate or
decumbent,
herbaceous shrub, prosm. usually 30-50 cm
to
i
name
(rutin-. King of Illyria
Some
since.
Di
167
b.c
for
cleaning wounds.
in veterinary
medicine
is
used as a bitter prepara-
L geraniaceae American Cranesbill Wild Geranium The specific name of American Cranesbill
.
is
derived from macula meaning spotted, since the leaves
become blotched with whitish-green is from the Greek crane after the beak-like shape nl
they age. Geranium for the
plant- survive as long a- 50 years.
Herbaceous perennial
scription
reaching 60
taproot
thick
180
i-
the
Geranium maculatum
word
however,
powder
he fermented root
who. according to Dioscorides, introduced the herb to medicine. It has been widely employed ever
gentiana,
stimulates
tion in alcoholic drink-.
when
he
it
improve appetite.
derived from
I
doses
for
other
Gentiana species native to
Genista tinctoria
small
and should be taken an hour before
Formerly used externally to
Gentian Yellow Gentian Yellow Gentian root
fc
particularly useful in anorexia associated with
also used as a
Contra-indicatiom
m k!m
Acts as a tonic on the gastro-intestinal system:
aper substitute. The (lowering plant furnishes a yellow-green
Gentiana lutea
'"
j
1
salivation.
be pickled and used as a
Contra-indications
the flowers.
jL
v-
''
prophylactic
1
made from
^ |j^^
in
against hydrophobia.
cm
to
1
10
cm on Stem-
long.
-imple and erect, glabrous, bearing oval. 5 7 veined, shiny leaves 30 cm long and 15 cm wide: lower leaves on -hort petioles, upper leaves sessile. Bright yellow flowers. 2.5 -3
cm
peduncles in 3-10 flowered axillarv clusters, appearing late summer to early autumn on plants at least 10 years old. Distribution Native to Europe and Asia Minor: introduced elsewhere. Common in mountain
on
long,
pastures,
long
and
on calcareous
wooded mountain forest-, which are porous but often
thinly soils
moist. Cultivation in
Wild and cultivated commercialh
Eastern Europe and North America.
Unsaturated lactones gentiopicroamarogentine and gentiopicrine. which are partially or totally converted depending Constituents
sides
upon
.
the
method
glvcosides. gentiin oil:
to
the
bitter
volatile
sugars: mucilage: tannin.
The combined bile
of drying
and gentiamarine:
and
its
action stimulates secretion of
release from the gall bladder.
dried root, and dried fermented root Cholagogue; choleretic: stomachic: promote-
4
v->
GEN-GLE the fruit; hence also the herb's common names. This was a favourite herb of the American Indians, once official in the United States Pharmacopoeia, but now restricted to folk
medicine. Description
stem
Erect hairy perennial to 60
solitary,
stout rhizome.
Some
are long-petioled. 15
cm
2.5-4
forking,
leaves opposite, 7.5-
wide, 5-lobed, deeply incised and cut at
end,
the
leaves arise
Stem
cm
on from root and
occasionally
but
cm
hairy.
Flowers rose-purple, large. cm long peduncles, 2-3
wide, on 2.5
pubescent, reddish stems to 45 cm. Leaves opposite, palmate with 3-5 leaflets with deeply cut divisions, on long petioles, deep green
and
mm—
cm 1 red tinged. Flowers pink or rose, 5 wide, in pairs or peduncles arising in terminal axils. Petals
Appear
have
early
3 longitudinal
summer
white
stripes.
autumn.
to late
Native to North America, Eurasia and North Africa; common on rocky soils, walls, mixed and deciduous woodland edges, preferring moist and nitrogenous soils. Cultivation Wild plant. Distribution
flowers arising in the axils, appear late spring
Constituents Volatile oil; tannin; a bitter sub-
summer. Distribution North American native. Cultivation Wild plant. Constituents Tannic and gallic acids, 10—25%, which produce astringent action; oleo-resin.
stance, geraniine.
to late
Uses
dried
rhizome
Astringent;
styptic.
Useful in diarrhoea, in haemorrhage of the
upper gastro-intestinal tract, haemorrhoids, peptic ulcers and aphthous ulcers. Formerly recommended in dysentery and cholera. Used as a douche in leucorrhoea, as a gargle for sore throats, and in the powdered form externally to stop
wound
bleeding.
L geraniaceae
Geranium robertianum
Herb Robert Red Robin A common herb in Europe and
an old medi-
plant which was once official in tin Middle Ages, and ascribed to St Robert or Pope Robert, hence the medieval name lierba sanctu ruperti. It is probable that the plant was commonly associated with magic and goblins
names
it
t
rellcc ted in
the range ol
has been given in various
countries.
Still
used
in folk
European
medicine
in
mam
parts of the world. /)>
tcription
|
Of most
plant
diuretic: sedative.
use externally for treatment of skin
and
eruptions, stomatitis, bruises
The
dried
plant,
weak
may
leaves
erysipelas.
be chewed or used as a gargle
inflammations of the mouth and throat. Formerly used in diarrhoea and applied externally as a poultice to relieve inflammations: also used as an eyewash. in
01
dec
smelling annual
01
umbent. glandular-
Glechoma hederacea
Ground Geum urbanum L rosaceae Avens Herb Bennet Wood Avens Avens is also known as Herb Bennet
names which derive
Ivy
Gill
L labiatae Over The Ground/Field
Balm In the second century a.d.
or
directly
Ground
the use of exes,
and
it
is
Galen was aware of
Ivy for treating inflamed
probable that the herb was a
Irom the medieval name lurba bent dicta from the Latin meaning the blessed herb, since the strongly aromatic roots were thought to drive
remedy from the The plant was also employed to impart flavour to it and
away
keeping qualities. Glechoma was used much earlier than hops were, being widely employed
evil spirits.
For
this
and
it
I
In
reason amulets of the herb were worn,
was
also kept in
botanical
name
popular
folk
reflects
the
roots'
is
also
Distribution
Native
form.
naturalized
in
is
1
;
<
mm
European
Distribution
common
native:
wood
wasteland,
<
iillr,
glycoside
in
Pubescent perennial, strong-smeldecumbent stems which form a dense mat. Leaves hairy. Ions; petioled and rotund or renilorm to 4 cm wide, coarsely crenate and deeply cordate at the base. Flowers in clusters of 3 borne in the Description
ling with Ions; creeping or
_>
terminal
leaf axils,
mid-spring
damp
to earl)
bluish
or
pink,
appear
summer.
to Europe, north Asia: North America. Common on grassland in open woods and ten wood-
prefers moist
soil.
Wild plant.
iilmn
Volatile
Constituent
eugenol,
its
edges, hedgerows,
mixed and deciduous woodland; nitrogenous
improve
known
old English
thickets,
to
as Alehoof or Tunhooffrom an word for the herb. hofe. and from the process of mashing and fermenting the brew know n as tunning. It
from the Greek meaning to produce an agreeable smell. The fragrance is unfortunately lost on drying. It is rarely used toda\ e\ epi in lolk medicine. Description Perennial herb on clove-smelling rhizome 2 cm thick, bearing 7 cm long, richl) branched down) stems to 30 cm. Leaves 3-lobed, the terminal leaflets largest, irregular, renate 01 dentate: upper leaves palmate and sessile. PaleyelloH flowers, 5-petalled, 5 7 diameter, in loose open panicles, appearing earl) summer to late autumn. Variable in geum
scent:
earliest times. in clarifying ale
until the early 1600s.
homes. also
(
Unpleasantly
biennial, on erec
flowering
fresh
|
Benedict's herb:
cinal
in earlier times, a lac
i'ses
Styptic: astringent:
the
oil,
geoside
comprising
being
lattei in
mainl)
combined
as
a
the fresh plant: tannin;
bitter print iples.
Uses
dried
rhizome,
Astringent: styptii
matoi Useful ioiik
;
fresh
flowering
plant
hitter: tonic; anti-inflam-
\
in
to
diarrhoea, and as an aromatic bittei
promote appetite following
illness.
wounds to reduce inflammation, and employed as a gargle lor sore gums or in Applied
to
halitosis
The dried rhi/ome was formerl) substitute for Cloves;
used as
a
used as a pot
herb
in
broths and soups, and hunt; with clothes to repel moths.
Also used tO flavour
ale.
i<)7
GLY-HAM land, preferring moist, nitrogenous
Essential
Constituents
oil;
tannin;
a
bitter
compound, glechomine.
Formerly mostly used
to soothe coughs,
and
as
gentle stimulant tonic following digestive
once applied externally as a the treatment of bruises, contus-
disorders. Also
poultice for
and
ions,
sore eyes.
Taken
as snuff to relieve
headache.
Used
as a tea
and
known
Glycyrrhiza glabra
ales.
L leguminosae
Liquorice has been used medicinally for 3000 years and was recorded on Assyrian tablets and Egyptian papyri. It was known as Scythian
Theophrastus
to
commonest
varieties exist, the
and
glycyrrhiza
and
the
old
names
radix dulcis reflected the sweet
taste of the roots.
corruption of the medieval from glycyrrhiza. Now grown on a wide scale, it docs not appear to have been cultivated in Central or Western Europe until the fifteenth century, and il was first introduced to the Pontefract district of England by the Dominican Black Friars.
Liquorice
is
a
gliquiricia, itself
Glycyrrhizin
3o"
starch
:
20 -30 lilac-blue loose racemes 10 15 cm
Inflorescence
cm
long
in
of
Appearing mid to late summer, followed by reddish-brown pod, 1-2.5 crn on gDistribution Europe to West Pakistan. On deep sandy rich soils, preferably in river valleys. Cultivation Wild plant, although rarely wild in central and western Europe and more common in eastern Europe. Introduced to temperate long, arising in leaf axils.
'
.comprising
of glycyrrhizic
protein; fat; resin; asparagin:
volatile oil; saponins.
Demul-
inflammatory. in coughs and bronchitis, and in the treatment of gastric ulcers: also has a mineralocorticoid action in treatment of Addison's disease. Once used as an eye lotion for use on inflamed eyelids. Used as a sweetening agent and flavouring in pharmaceutical preparations, and once in the powdered form as a base in pill manufacture. Used to flavour some beers such as Guinness. Large quantities are employed in tobacco flavouring some tobaccos contain io° n Liquorice in snuff" manufacture, and in confei .
tionery.
Root
pulp incorporated in insulating mill mushroom compost. Contra-indications Large doses may cause sodium retention and potassium loss leading to water board, and
retention, hypertension,
headache and short-
ness of breath.
As
its
name
L compositae
Low Cudweed
Everlasting
indicates.
Marsh Cudweed
derives
from
the
Latin
is
an
name
uliginosus
meaning of marshy places. Gnaphalium is from the Greek gnaphalon meaning a flock of wool, from
its
woolly appearance. has never achieved wide use even
The herb folk
medicine,
Constituents Volatile oil; resin; tannic acid: the
combined action bemg
antiseptic
and
astrin-
gent.
dried flowering plant
i'ses
septic; antitussive;
weak
aphthous
Astringent; anti-
diaphoretic.
and mouthwash
in
quinsy and tonsillitis. Also of benefit in diarrhoea, pharyngitis and laryn-
A
gitis.
ulcers,
may
poultice
be applied externally to
cuts, bruises or ulcers.
Once used
in
smoking mixtures.
L Malvaceae Cotton Cotton Root The plant has been cultivated in India Gossypium herbaceum
since
the earliest times as a source of Cotton fibre,
and
its
botanical
name
name
gossypium
is
the ancient
Cotton-producing plant. The method of cultivation was introduced to China and Egypt from India in about 500 B.C.. and in 1774 G. herbaceum was taken to the United States. This species of Cotton is also called Levant Cotton: many other species and varieties are employed today in cotton manufacture including American Upland Cotton G. hirsutum L Chinese Cotton G. arboreum L and Sea Island Cotton {G. barbadense L Latin
for the
.
and is rarely mentioned in Although it possesses useful
it is still
The species G. peruvianum was probably grown in Peru before Cotton was cultivated in Egypt. Description Herbaceous annual, in warm climates biennial or perennial, forming a subshrub to 1.5 m with branching stems, hairy or occasionally glabrous, bearing reticulate, coriaceous and cordate leaves, with 5-7 acute and lanceolate lobes. Flowers yellow with purple
mm
in
classical writings.
properties,
acidic,
.
inhabitant ofwel situations; the specific uliginosum
autumn. European native. On damp, sandy soils - especially wet heathland. Cultivation Wild plant. to early
Specifically used as a gargle
dried root-stock, dried extract
Uses
Marsh Cudweed
1
salts
flavonoid glycosides, liquiritoside and isoliquiritoside; sucrose and dextrose 5-10'
Gnaphalium uliginosum
reach 8 m. Erect stem bearing 4 7 pairs of leaflets 2.5 5 cm long, ovate, glutinous flowers
5—10%
acid;
may
1
on primary taproot
beneath.
are var. typica
var. glandulifera.
Constituents
Herbaceous perennial. 50 cm .5 m 15 cm long which subdivides into 3—5 subsidiary roots 1.25 m in length and several horizontal stolons which Description tall,
Several
Of value
as Gill tea.
Liquorice Licorice
root
Distribution
in early winter.
cent; expectorant: laxative: spasmolytic: anti-
to clarify beers
Drunk
3-4-year-old plants
calcium and potassium
vulnerary. a
wide, with brown bracts, and overtopped 4 by the terminal leaves. Appearing late summer
Persia,
and Tonic; diuretic;
fresh flowering plant
i'ses
mm
and extensively cultivated in Russia, Spain and India. Propagated by root division in autumn: roots harvested from zones,
soil.
Wild plant; a variegated variety is grown horticulturally as ground cover. Propagate by division in the autumn. Cultivation
long 3-4 celled centre, followed by 18 capsule containing about 36 seeds covered with greyish trichomes. lint. Distribution Originally native to East
and now
rarely used.
Description Annual, 5-20 cm tall, with woolly, ascending or decumbent stems, much branched at the base: bearing narrow, spirally arranged, simple, oblong, woolly leaves 1-5 cm long. Small flower-heads in terminal clusters, vellow.
»k
to
Indies,
Arabia and Asia Minor: prefers
and loams, especially alluvial soils. Wild plant: widelv cultivated in United States, India and Egypt. Seed sown in rows 1-1 .5 m apart, later thinning to 30-60 cm rich sands Cultivation
apart; manure applied in early stages of growth, and plants are treated as annuals to prevent insect and disease attacks. Constituents root bark acid resin: dihydroxy
benzoic acid: salicylic acid: fatty acids: ceryl alcohol; betaine; sugars; phytosterol: phenolic •
,
^
_*^^^^>^*'
mm
Sjimg
substances. (root
i'ses
bark,
Formerly used
in
rhagia. Cotton seed oil for
^pmHo*
seed
oil
Abortifacient
emmenagogue.
\J0\ 4fu
the treatment of metroroil
is
used similarly to olive
external applications, but internally as a
oil have been administered intravenously in cases ol severe nutritional deficiency, or where nitro-
lubricant cathartic. Emulsions of the
gen-free diets are required.
Seed once used
«iK?
.98
j
£X
The The
oil is
seed
as a food.
employed
in soap manufacture. trichomes are a major source of
GLY-HAM Flowers
cm
1.5
vellowish
white or pink, with tube on short peduncles;
long,
corolla
appear singly
from
in leaf axils
summer
late
to
autumn.
early
Distribution Native to southern Europe: introduced to north and west Asia and North America. On marshy fields, in ditches, peat
bogs, river-banks, beside slow-flowing or stag-
nant water. Prefers wet calcareous stand summer drought.
but
soils,
will
Wild
Cultivation
plant.
cardeno-
Constituents Cardio-active glycosides lides
and gratiotoxin;
gratioline
i.
bitter
a
principle.
flowering
dried
Uses
Emetic:
root
plant,
cathartic; cardiotonic diuretic.
Formerly used
as
purgative and
violent
a
emetic, and as a diuretic in dropsical conditions.
and
Also in liver disorders such as jaundice Many other uses have
as a heart tonic.
been ascribed
cotton fibre.
No
Contra-indications
part of the plant should be
used internally without medical advice.
to the plant. Still
Highly toxic and drastically
Contra-indications
purgative. Large doses Gratiola officinalis
used homeo-
pathically.
may
cause death.
L scrophulariaceae L zygophyllaceae
Hedge Hyssop
Guaiacum
Hedge Hyssop belongs to the same family as Foxglove and possesses similar cardioactive
Guaiacum Wood or Resin Guaiacum Wood was first exported
was introduced to northern Europe in the Middle Ages and used as a purgative; its employment has been described as 'heroic' since it was so powerful, and. indeed, it was probably responsible lor several deaths. Nevertheless it was described as Gratia or Gratia Dei meaning thanks-be-to-God in appreproperties.
ciation of
its
It
After the sixteenth it
has recentl)
(
entut\
its
use dec lined, but
been introduced into homeo-
pathic practice. Description Perennial,
on white, scab, creeping
rhizome, from which arise erec or decumbent, square, simple or o< asionally brant lied stem1. eaves to 35 cm. opposite and decussate. t
<
sessile, finely
1
Wood,
The
achieved
-en. He. glabrous, and Lanceolate.
known
then
considerable
a
lignum
as
reputation
1
vittu,
the
in
sixteenth century tor the treatment of 'Frenche
pockes' or syphilis.
method
success
Its
was possibly due
administration
of
:
patients were
Wood
given massive doses of the
Taken
arthritis.
from the island of St Domingo in the Carribean in 5 after Oviedo had learnt of the drug guayacan from the local inhabitants.
to the
effectiveness.
officinale
decoction,
wrapped up in bed and shut in a hot room. In 193a it was demonsti ated that raising a patient's body temperature to |.» C was
as a hot decoction
it
is
mildly
when
diaphoretic; also useful in sore throats
applied as a lozenge.
Guaiacum
used as a colour
test to
detect the presence of oxidizing agents
which
will
turn
it
tincture
is
blue.
The hard wood was once used ture
of such
bowling alley
The
resin
edible fats
articles
in the
rulers,
manufacand
pulleys
balls.
employed and oils. is
as
as
an antioxidant
for
tightly
partially
Hamamelis virginiana L hamamelidaceae Witch Hazel A well-known garden ornamental and source
s\philis
of the distilled commercial preparation also
.1
effective method of destroying the bacterium. Guaiacum Resin was introduced to the London Pharmacopoeia in (677, but the drug was gradually relegated to
being merely a constituent of the proprietary blood-purifying mixtures ol the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries known as Compound
Mixtures,
Uterative
combined
often
which had DO
sars. ip. 11 ilia,
with
syphilis
in
effect
known as witch hazel. Forked Hamamelis branches were employed as divining rods by water diviners in North America, and Indians brought the medicinal virtues of the plant to the notice of European settlers. Hamamelis w.is included in the United States Pharmaco-
treatment. I
>
1
n />!
mi
1
reaching
Low to medium sized evergreen tree m; trunk covered with greenish-
18"
brown furrowed bark; ovate very obtuse
and
a 2 -celled
capsule-shaped
Distribution Native- to
coast
leaves
fruit.
Carribean
South Aim in
o|
pinnate with Blue flowers
leaflets, in pairs.
a;
islands, north
especially on arid
plains. Cultivation
Wild
and exported wine h
commercially
wood
or as the resin
eithei as the
extracted by heating the
is
Resin
Constituents
and
plant. Collected
/)-guaiai onii
10",,
vellow
,
;
20
25",,
ai id
,
jo ,
logs.
comprising
%-
guaiaretic acid
guaiaCU acid; guaiac -ft-resin guaiai vanillin; guaiacsaponin and guaiacsa-
ponic ac id
;
;
guaiaguttin.
heartwood. resin Focal stimulant: irritant; mild laxative; anti-inflammatory. Formerly frequently prescribed as a preventaUses
tive in
srW
kJ5$Lr*
gout and
in the
ran
treatment of rheumatoid
199
H ED-HIE poeia of 1882. and the leaves are
still
included
Peduncles long, thickening towards the
some national pharmacopoeias today. The name hamamelis is from the Greek words for apple and together, since the flowers and fruit are produced at the same time.
volucre. Flower-heads 7.5
Small tree or spreading shrub, from .5 2.5 m tall, stem usually single and to 10 cm in diameter. Bark smooth and brown. Leaves elliptic to obovate 7.5-12.5 cm long, coarselv crenate-dentate, downy pubescent when young. Flowers bright yellow externally, brownish-yellow inside, 2 cm long, strap-like, appearing in the late autumn when leaves have
ray florets are chrome-yellow
in
The
central disc
Grown
volatile oil, to
which
13 to
15%
a
ethyl alcohol
added.
is
tringent
;
As-
haemostatic.
Once employed
sprains, as distilled
A
is
the diluted tincture. Very dilute
witch ha/el
constituent
may
be used
proprietary
of
in
eye lotions.
haemorrhoid
ointments and cosmetic preparations ally as an astringent.
specific-
must not be confused with the tincture made from hark or leaves; the latter may be extremely astrin-
may
Hedera helix
cause disfigurement to the skin.
L araliaceae
Ivy Common Ivy/English Ivy The Ivy has never been widely accepted as having great medicinal value, vet it was once
much
respected as a magical plant protecting
and symbolizing
against evil spirits
fidelity.
was also dedicated to Bacchus, possibly It because an infusion of the leaves in wine was considered an effective preventative and treatment for drunkenness. For the same reason an Ivy bush painted above tavern doors symbolized the good quality of the wine served therein. No modern work has been undertaken to test ancient belief.
this
Some
Ivy plants
Description
may
Woody
means
reach more than 500
evergreen perennial, climb-
of adventitious roots
reaching great heights. 5 lobed,
3
2
cm
Young
long:
veins
to
and often
leaves usually
margins entire or nearly
from triangular-ovate 18
varying reniform. and from
often
so.
light-coloured.
I'pper leaves and those on fruiting branches unlobed, narrowly ovate. Flowers small, green-
j
i
)<
1
diameter
autumn on
to late
followed
:
garden
a
Russia. Hungary. United Mexico. Argentina and parts of Africa. horticulturally in sunny position from
-own
in late
spring to early
summer
they
10-year-
black, globose.
l>v
mm
t>
fruit.
Europe; widely naturaltemperate /ones and very common, although rarer in coniferous woodland. Distribution Native to
ized
in
Wild
Cultivation
extensively
plant;
grown
horticulturally with approximately 40 foliage
forms recognized. Saponin.
hederacoside
hederegenine.
vonng
Once
leaves
used
Antispasmodic.
internally
treatment
the
in
<>l
whooping-cough, neuralgia, rheumatic pain, bronchitis. The berries, though toxic, were considered an effective purgative. Leaves may be applied externally as a poultice fol some skin complaints, sores and rheumatic formerly
pain. For toothache the
with a
decoction
lilac k
gummy
mouth may
leaves
ol
were- formerly resin
the
plugged with the
produced
varnish was made' from the
be rinsed
vinegar;
in
bv
the plant.
gummy
A
resin.
The whole plant is POISONand should onlv be used externally. The berries mav cause blisters and the leaves
brown. Seed contains an unsaturated fixed albumin: lecithin: betaine: cho30°
he-stnut
Contra-indications
c
OUS
Constituents oil
:
dermatitis.
potassium nitrate: potassium carbonate; tannins: a flavonic glycoside,
L compositae Sunflower Common Sunflower The aptly named Sunflower is well-known
quercimetrin.
line: plant contain-
Helianthus annuus
the-
source of a fine salad
commercially
in several
other purposes. the
plant
is
Mexico where
Its
most it
is
oil.
and
is
cultivated
countries for this and
origins are uncertain, but
probably
indigenous
called chimalati.
seed, often
field as
growing the plant
to
American
Indians have long cultivated the Sunflower its
in the
for
same
maize.
was once believed that growing Sunflower near to one's home gave protection against malaria, which may be explained by the fact that an infusion of the flowers has weak insecticidal properties.
Robust annual from 30 cm to 5 m tall: stems erect, sometimes mottled, rounded and rough, bearing opposite leaves below and Description
alternate long-petioled. ovate, acute or inate leaves above. 10
cm
wide.
30
cm
seed,
Uses as
It
years of age. ing by
appearing mid
ish,
old plants
decayed teeth
Contra-indications Distilled witch hazel
gent and
seed
Uses
haemorrhages from the rectum, nose and uterus; now externally in the treatment of haemorrhoids and varicose veins. Distilled witch ha/el is applied to bruises and in
as
should not be transplanted. Several hybrids exist including some with double heads, and with colours ranging from a dull white to
Constituents
bark, leaves, flower-bearing twigs
Uses
found
often
:
Rumania. Bulgaria.
North American native; common in damp woods from Nova Scotia to Nebraska and Georgia. Cultivation Wild plant; cultivated horticultural^ as a hardy garden ornamental; prefers lime-free soil and flowers best in the open,
<>l
the
.
escape. Cultivated commercially, particularlv
Distribution
consists entirely
Wild
Cultivation
and profuse
It
brownish-purple and
sun.
in full
States.
flower-bearing twigs.
is
Distribution Native to Central America and western North America: introduced and widespread in many countries: tolerates most soils
fallen.
:
in-
diameter,
to 35 cm in diameter in cultivated forms, appearing late summer to early autumn.
1
although can be grown in semi-shade. Tannin, comprising hamamelitannin bark 6%, leaves u ",, gallic acid; calcium oxalate; and traces of volatile oil, saponin and flavenoid pigments. Leaves also contain phlobatannin. Distilled witch hazel is prepared from witch ha/el brush, the young
in
and up
Description
Constituents
cm
15
acum-
long and 10-20
llowei-
seed
oil.
occasionally
leal
and
Nutritive: expectorant: diuretic.
Formerly the seeds were considered useful
in
and bronchial infections: and leaves and flowers were used in malaria. Used externally on bruises, and a homeopaihically prepared tincture is employed in constipation. Sunflower oil is widely used in foodstuffs as a salad and margarine oil, and pharmaceutical^ as a substitute for olive or ground-nut oils. Seed is roasted and eaten, used as a Coffee substitute, ground into meal for cakes and soups. Unopened flower buds are boiled and eaten with butter in the same way as treating coughs
Artichoke-. It has excellent burning qualities and
used
in
old-fashioned
oil
may
be
lamps.
Leaves provide animal fodder, and when dried mav be used as a substitute for cigar tobacco.
Seed receptacles and paper manufacture.
stalk pith
may
be used in
HED-HIE Helleborus niger L ranunculaceae Black Hellebore Christmas Rose
Helleborus
the classical
is
name
for a closelv
and was a the White Hellebore and
related species Helleborus orientalis.
term also applied
to
other Hellebores by the Greeks.
Many and
of the Hellebores have similar actions,
L and
several species such as H. viridis
Green and Stinking Hellebores respectively, were employed by herbalists in the Middle Ages - largely for their
purgative
but also in the treatment of
effect,
certain skin complaints. Outside their use
is
now
homeopathy,
confined to horticulture.
Perennial
Description
an acid flavouring at least as early as 1774; the calices being the parts used. It is now being
generic name, Heracleum
after
(hence robust-
its
used in other parts of the world, and ally
popular
is
especi-
Switzerland where it is called used in wines and sauces.
in
stems bearing hairy, large (15-60 cm), pinnate to palmately lobed leaves. Flowers white in umbels of 5-15 cm diameter, appearing midsummer to mid-autumn. Variable in form. Distribution Native to Europe, northern Asia,
karkade and is Other parts ot the plant are used medicinally, and the stem yields an excellent fibre known as rosella hemp. Description Bushy annual reaching 2 m, forming a broad growth by branching at the base. Stems reddish and almost glabrous. Basal leaves undivided and ovate; stem leaves 3-lobed, 7.5-10 cm wide, lobes 2.5 cm wide and crenate. Flowers borne in the leaf axils.
western North America, in woodland, niass-
solitary,
have long been used both
ness; related species
human and animal
foodstuffs. Particularly
favoured by Scandinavian peoples. Description Stout, erect biennial or perennial
50-200 cm
tall,
with ridged, hollow
r
cm: on slowly
30
to
its
as
foetidus L, the
H.
L umbelliferae
Heracleum sphondylium
Cow Parsnip Hogweed A common weed, dedicated to Hercules
creeping, tangled, blackish-brown root-stock.
The
true stem does not rise
above ground:
basal leaves have long petioles, are leathery
and evergreen, serrate, and deeply divided into 7 or more oblong leaflets. Flowering stem simple or occasionally forked, bearing single white or purplish flowers cm wide, appear-
38
ing mid-winter to mid-spring.
European native; especially southand central mountainous regions. In mountain forests, open woodland, on stony, Distribution
ern
humus-rich, calcareous soils only. Cultivation Wild. Cultivated as a garden plant.
Propagate by division of root-stock, or from sown as soon as ripe, in the open or under a cold-frame. Well-drained shad) positions on seed
chalky
soil
include
are ideal. Horticultural varieties
var.
Constituents
Hayne
Altifolius
Wheel: both have large
A
and Potters
flowers.
cardenolide, hellebrigenine; sap-
onosides, comprising helleboreine and
borine; also protoanemonine.
helle-
The combined
action of the cardenolide and saponosides 1
I
dio-active
ai >
and purgativ
diird root-stock
Powerful hydragogue
cathartic; cardio-ai n\< •: <
)n< <
used
lo< al
heart tonic; local anaesthetic
irritant.
emmenagogi
purgative;
a
ai
is
<-.
;
abortive and
in
many other onditions. Now obsolete ex< epl in homeopathy which employs a tincture foi
land. roadsides, cm nutrient-rich, moist
treating
10
1
<
ei
|>s\
tain
The powdered stituent of sn<
*
1
hoses.
was once zing powders. root-stock
Contraindications All parts
duces
ii
applied
1800
m
Cultivation
pro-
plex
altitude.
long ovoid
Distribution Native to tropical Asia;
sphondrin;
Pimpinellin;
bergapetene,
oil;
com-
a
furo-coumarin
a
to
which the photosensitization is due. young shoots, seed. Ira\cs Stimulant:
lo< all\
stomachic
ol
the
gastro-
I
emmenagogue; mild
hypotensive;
:
aphrodisiac
Leal
remedies
in
used
Once
used to treat
The
bomeopathically.
seeds have a substantiated aphrodisiacal action.
used
Young in
Sudan and Mexico. Needs a
Wild, and cultivated commercially Ceylon, Egypt, Asia and Mexico. Can be grown horticultural!) from seed sown in the Cultivation
shoots can be cooked and eaten, 01
European
certain cast
beers.
Young
and eaten iaw Percutaneous photosensitizand possibl) permanent purple
tituents
i<
;
dried
l'u\
laxative
Used
ation
as
blisters
pigmentation
may
follow ingestion or handl-
A
light.
1
Hibiscus sabdariffa
L Malvaceae
is
the old Latin
introduced
to
I
ci
name
;
Africa and Asia as a cough remedy, dressing and diuretic Mostly employed
in
.
an acid flavouring
foi
this
a
I
1
.1
plant
Jamaica and used
as
for sauces,
jams,
jellies,
and chutneys.
pleasant tea which can also be used as a red
olout ant
Hieraaum Jamail
weak
antiscorbutic.
drinks, wines, curries
ing ol juice with subsequent exposure to sun-
Roselle Sudanese Tea Red
and phytosterolin. young calices Diuretic;
also glucosides
wound
.1-
Red and white lorms also exist. Organii acids, comprising tartaric,
citric, malic and hi hist acids; red pigment comprising gossipetin and hibiscin vitamin C;
sterna are peeled
Hibiscus
I
in
Contra-indications
which w
introduced
tropic a environ-
ment.
combination with othei
hypertension.
Now
epilepsy.
to
fruit.
early spring. benefit in
ol
is
and almost sessile: consisting ol red calyx and yellow corolla and followed In .'-cm
Wild plant.
Constituents
POISONOUS;
inflammation
con-
mucous membranes, and of the skm
violent
intestinal
a
soils.
I01
othei hei
pilosella
l>
teas.
L oompositae
Mouse-ear Hawkweed Mouse Bloodworl Ihe botanical name I In nil nun from the is
Greek
lot
hawk
alter the tradition thai
hawks
201
HOR-HYO considered
was a sacred grain. Besides
it
many
food and medicine,
its
use
from the early Egyptians have enjoyed beer obtained from fermented Barley. The Greeks and later generations grew a closely related species. H. distichon L, which itself was the parent of as
many
civilizations
other cultivated lorms.
annual grass, to 90 cm wide, short and tapering.
Description Stout erect
mm-2 cm
leaves 7
The terminal
spike
is
7.5-10
cm
long, erect or
occasionally nodding, topped by
many
long,
stout beards. Distribution
Temperate
H. vulgare
Cultivation
is
cereal crop.
a cultigen derived from
an oriental wild grass, either H. spontaneum Koch or H. ischnatherum 'Schulz. Wide commercial cultivation. Constituents Starch (75-80",, 1; proteins; fat; vitamins B and E; mucilage. Uses (seed, germinating seed Nutritive: demulcent. Barley water is a soothing preparation for inflammations of the gastro-intestinal system, and a nutritive demulcent in conj
I.
Cooked Barley
valescence. for sores.
The germinating
is
a useful poultice
grain contains an
hordenine. whose action resembles ephedrine and it is thus of use in bronchitis. A well-known cereal with many culinary uses in soups and stews. alkaloid,
improved it
for
belief, herbalists
some eye complaints, but
largely fallen into disuse.
Mouse-Ear
from
is
auricula muris,
it
apothecaries'
Flowers indistinct,
term
strobilus
summer
being a description of the shape
on creeping
autumn. Very variable in form. Distribution European native; introduced other temperate zones.
On
warm
to
Uses
Weak
diuretic;
used
in
the
treatment
Humulus of liver
and diarrhoea. Possesses weak antipyretic action and was used in the treatment of intermittent fever. The powdered enteritis
lupulus
L cannabaceae
diameter;
appear
late
Bine
The
Hops revolutionized brewing
use of
since
enabled beer to be kept for longer, yet although the plant was grown by the Romans Hop gardens were not widespread in France
it
gargle.
eleventh century, but the English only intro-
and
Germany
duced Hops
L gramineae
and
tenth
Hops were famous
in the
until
as a
the
ninth
replacement for traditional Alehoof and Alecost) in
bitter herbs (such as
Barley Big Barley/Bere/Six-rowed Barley
the sixteenth century. Pliny called the plant
Barley was the
lupus salictarius or 'willow
first
cereal crop to be cultivated
use has been traced back to Neolithic
The Egyptians their goddess
believed Isis,
it
was
intro-
while the Greeks
Wild:
cultivated
(5%
:
commercially,
bitter principles; resin.
(dried female strobilus
Young
centuries. Bavarian
vulgare
situations.
|
Mild sedative:
treatment of certain prostate disorders.
Hops Hop
herb arrests nose bleeds. Various claims have been made for its effect in eye conditions. Possesses antibiotic action, and is an effective
202
in
mid-autumn.
weak diuretic; weak antibiotic: bitter. Employed alone or in combination with other herbs as a soporific in insomnia and restlessness. Aids nervous indigestion and may be applied externally to ulcers. Once used in the
Wild plant.
Uses (dried flowering plant)
times.
greenish-yellow catkins,
in
tannins
dry waste-ground,
astringent; cholagogue; antibacterial.
duced by
in
and Chile. Propagate from cuttings taken in the early summer. Constituents Volatile oil (0.3—1%) comprising humulone, cohumulone, adhumulone, lupulone, colupulone, adlupulone and xanthlumol
an umbelliferone; antibiotic substances.
its
tall.
especially in northern Europe, United States
Constituents Volatile oils; tannic acid; flavones;
and
cm
2
to
Cultivation
dry grassland, rocky screes, preferring moderate sunshine and tolerating most soils.
Hordeum
rough-
m
Native to northern temperate hedgerows, thickets, alder, willow and osier groves, on damp humus-rich soils in
zones;
leafy runners,
forming a basal rosette of hairy leaves, 4 7 cm long, entire, oblong, white or grey on the underside; leafless stem. Flowers usually solitary, occasionally 2 4, reaching 10 40 cm high on hairy or bristly scape; flower-heads consist ofcapitula of ray florets only, sulphur yellow, appearing early summer to mid-
disorders,
:
to 6
Distribution
Description Perennial
Formerly
perennial
stemmed and twining clockwise
the female enclosed in a conical inflorescence
of the leaves.
Cultivation
as a kitchen herb.
Dioecious
and long-petioled.
employed has now
The common name
the
Hops were once grown Description
Leaves opposite usually 3-, sometimes 5- or 7-lobed, broad terminal lobe, coarsely serrate
their vision by using the plant's sap.
Beeause of this early
humele.
wolf
after
its
habit
of twining tightly around willows and other its damp natural habitat. Humulus is a medieval latinization of the Anglo-Saxon term.
trees in
shoots
and male flowers may be eaten
in salads.
The
oil is
used in some perfumes.
Stems once used in basket and wickerwork. Most widely employed in brewing. Hydrastis canadensis L ranunculaceae Golden Seal Orange Root; Ground
Raspberry Golden Seal was once common in the damp shady forests of North America and was used both as a dye and a medicine by the Indians. It entered the United States and British Pharmacopoeias as a treatment for uterine mucosa inflammation, and was so extensivelv
HOR-HYO
methods of commercial cultivation. Now it is a very expensive herb which still finds consider-
over-secretion of these membranes, while therapeutic doses aid in catarrhal conditions. The powdered root-stock was once used topically on mouth ulcers and as a snuff in
able use in folk medicine.
nasal catarrh.
America
collected in
the twentieth century
The name
Hydrastis
is
that by the beginning of it
was necessary
to devise
derived from the Greek
meaning water-acting after its effect on mucous membranes.
the
Low
herbaceous perennial from 15-30 cm tall; on knotted, gnarled, tortuous, sub-cylindrical rhizome which grows horizontally or obliquely and is 1-6 cm long and 4-15 thick, yellowish-brown outside and bright yellow internally. Flowering stem erect, subcylindrical, hairy, bearing two sessile, rounded, doubly-serrate leaves reaching 20 cm wide, each consisting of 5-9 lobes. Occasionally a single 24-cm wide root-leaf arises on a tall petiole from the root-stock. Single flower, wide, greenish-white, without petals. 7.5
mm
mm
appearing late spring to early summer followed summer by raspberry-shaped, inedible :
in late
berry.
Native to Canada and eastern United States; in shady woods and the edges of woodland on rich moist soil. Cultivation Wild, and becoming rarer. Cultivated commercially on damp humus-rich soil under artificial shading from root buds or divided root-stock; planted 20 cm apart in Distribution
early
autumn.
Constituent Alkaloids, hydrastine
berine
2%
.
canadine
trace
1
;
3% fixed
.
beroil;
volatile oil; resin: starch; also mineral salts.
dried root-stock
Bitter toni< stomachic; smooth-muscle stimulant; nervine stimulant ;anti-haemoi rhagic jhypoglycaemic. Used internally in atonic dyspepsia, anorexia or gastritis. Also in dysmenorrhoea and due to the menorrhagia. Its main action alkaloid hydrastine is on mucous membranes I'ses
;
laxative-;
especially
those of the uterus.
conjunctivitis,
Large doses
A weak as
infusion
is
employed
and
eardrops,
root tea
as
acts
mouthwash. was formerly drunk
antiseptic
The
secretion of Description
cause
in
an
as a tonic.
Produces a yellow or orange cloth dye. Contra-indications
A
Constituents
which
side,
heteroside (saponosidej, asiatico-
is
antibiotic
and
also assists in the
formation of scar tissue; triterpene acids, including indocentoic acid; a glycoside, indocentelloside; an alkaloid, hydrocotylin; resin; pectic acid; vitamin C; a bitter compound, vellarin; tannin (9° ); sugars; volatile oil. Uses (fresh or dried
plant)
Diuretic
tonic
;
purgative.
POISONOUS in large doses;
not to be used in pregnancy.
Used in India and Africa for 'blood-purifying' purposes in venereal conditions and tuberculosis. The active principle, asiaticoside, appears to exert a direct effect on the bacterium Mycobacterium leprae) involved in leprosy
L umbelliferae Indian Pennywort Centella, Indian Water Navel Wort Indian Pennywort was employed traditionally in the Indian and African continents as an important treatment of leprosy, and modern research has now shown that the plant does possess some action against the leprosy bacteria.
around the bacterium), and also assists scar healing for which purpose it is used
The herb
as a
Hydrocotyle asiatica
is
called
brahmi
the
in
Indian
Ayurvedic medical system which still employs it. In Europe it was last mentioned in the French Pharmacopoeia of 1884. attributed
Hydrocotyle
is
medicinal
properties
recently
attracted
one
attention
is
general beneficial tonic effect;
remains
many
with
and
this,
formerly
Also
ointments.
used
in in
fevers.
in
rheumatism and gastric complaints, including dysentery. There is some evidence it may act general tonic.
Used
Africa as a snuff.
in
Contra-indications
POISONOUS.
narcotic, producing vertigo
Large doses and possibly coma.
other
which has its supposed however,
Hyoscyamus niger
L solanaceae
Henbane Henbane
has a long medicinal history which
runs from the Assyrians to the present day, and
be proved.
to
waxy
(possibly by dissolving the protective
coat
Description Slender trailing umbelliferous plant
which derives from the sedative, analgesic and
with reddish prostrate stems, rooting at the
spasmolytic properties of the leaf's powerful
nodes, from which also arise
constituents. At various times
cm
1
-3 petioles to
bearing glabrous, entire-, or crenate, cm cupped, orbicular-renilbrm leaves, 7 long. Flower-heads hear ; or (> reddish, sessile 15
tall
1
",
Bowei
s.
Indigenous to subtropical /.ones Ceylon, southern Africa, southern United States. Malaysia. Also found in eastern Europe. On marsh) sues to a 600 m Distribution
Mich
as
India.
altitude. Cultivation
has been con-
and
an ingredient of witches' brews. Its name Hyoscyamus comes from the Greek meaning hog bean, a term which is still retained in some areas. The herb has had several other names including Symphoniaca, Jusquiamus, Henbell, Belene, Hennibone, and
Hennebane. Strongly
Description
Wild plant.
it
sidered as a love potion, a magical herb,
smelling,
coarse
erect,
annual or biennial: the former less robust and shorter than the biennial form which reaches 50 cm on a stem covered with long, jointed 30 hairs. Leaves pale-green, ovate-oblong, coarsedentate, hairy and slightly sticky, 5-30 cm ly long. Flowers on short stalks in leaf axils, or 1
terminal unilateral panicles; funnel-
sessile in
shaped,
cm
4
3
long,
yellow-brown or cream,
marked with purple veins, particularly at the petal base. Appearing late summer to earl) autumn (annual or early to mid-summei usually
|
biennial
,
Indigenous to Europe; widely throughout Eurasia and introduced to North America, Asia, Australia and Brazil. On waste-ground and roadsides, and in well-drained sandy or chalky soils. Cultivation Wild and cultivated, or collected, on a small scale. Seed sown in sunnv position in Distribution
distributed
summer
carl)
biennial
(annual)
and
.
the
soil
or
early
kepi
autumn
moist
until
germination. Alkaloids, hyosev amine, atropine
Constituents
and hyoscine sedative I'ses
1
ac lions
fresh
or
to
which the narcotic
and
aie due-.
dried
leaves,
Sedative; anti-
spasmodic analgesic. Formerly used in a wide range- ol neivous 01 painful conditions which required sedation ;
203
HVP-ILE An
alcoholic extract of the flowers dyes
silk
and
wool a violet-red, but does not colour cotton. Contra-indications If eaten by light-skinned animals, the herb may cause photosensitizaleading to sw elling of the face, generalized
tion,
skin
of
irritation
unpigmented
areas,
and
possible death.
Hyssopus
L labiatae
officinalis
Hyssop The genus Hyssopus
consists
of this single
and the herb's common name is practically identical in all European languages. Hyssop is a very ancient name and can be traced back almost unchanged through the Greek hussopos to the Hebrew esob. Whether Hyssopus officinalis is in fact the Hyssop frequently referred to in the Old Testament is doubtful, however - this was probably a marjoram - and how it came to be given the biblical name is not known. The herb was once much respected as a medicinal plant being mentioned by Paulus Aegnita in the seventh century, and was also used both for cosmetic and strewing purposes. Gerard 1597 described 3 varieties and Mawe species,
17781 6 varieties.
and analgesia, but due it is
now
to
poisonous nature
its
generally only employed internally
in
homeopathic dosage; it is retained, however, in several South American and European pharmacopoeias as an aid in spasm of the urinary tract, or
to alleviate the
griping caused
by strong purgatives. Oil of
may
Henbane
or a poultice of the fresh leaves
be applied externally
to relieve
rheumatic
pain. Contra-indicatiotu
POISONOUS. To
be used
Hypericum perforatum
L hypericaceae
St John's Wort John's Wort has been closely associated with supposed magical properties since the Greeks gave it the name hypericon. This indicated that St
The
oil
and
it
enough was believed
glands
to drive
away
evil
to purify the air.
when crushed
certainly release
a balsamic odour similar to incense. In addition the yellow flowers turn red
when crushed
due to the release of the red fluorescent pigment hypericine - and this was undoubtedly an important factor in the development of the folklore which surrounds the herb red signifying, of course, blood. As St John was beheaded, and the herb is in full flower on St John's
Day
(24 Junej,
it
became known as Wort
herba Sancti Ioannls and, later, as St John's
- the herb of St John. Besides the magical attributes which predate Christianity, Hypericum has real and effective medicinal properties and it is still widely used in European folk medicine. Description Perennial; rapidly spreading from many long runners produced at the base. Stem erect with 2 raised edges along its length, branched at the top, reaching 30-60 cm; bearing oblong or linear leaves 1.5-3 cm on Sopposite, entire, glabrous, and marked with '
204
spots.
Flowers 2-3
cm
flowered terminal cymes, appearing late sum-
mer
to
mid-autumn.
Distribution
Native
temperate
to
zones
oi
Europe and western Asia; naturalized in the Americas and Australasia. In open situation-. on semi-dry soils of various sorts, but particucalcareous
long, covered with fine hairs at the tips. Leave-
wide,
sessile
mm
cm
linear to oblong, 2.5
long and 4-9 so, opposite and
nearly
or
Wild plant. May be propagated by autumn, and efforts are being made cultivate it commercially.
mm
tomentose. Blue flowers 7.5-15 one-sided whorls in leaf
soils.
axils,
cm
long in terminal
the
long; appear late
Cultivation
inflorescence being 10
division in
summer
to
white forms occasionally occur. Distribution Native to central and southern Europe, and temperate western Asia: intro-
Constituents Volatile oil, called red oil: resin; a
Common
the smell was strong
oil
wide, yellow, consisting of 5 petals dotted with small black oil glands, and carried on many
larly
only under medical supervision.
spirits,
numerous translucent
Hyssop has had a mixed iortune as a culinary herb due to its strong flavour, and is now mostly employed for decorative purposes especially as a low hedge in herb gardens. Description Aromatic perennial subshrub with erect branched herbaceous stems 20-60 cm
red pigmented glycoside, hypericine; a poly-
phenolic flavonoid, hyperoside; tannin
whole herb and i6° carotene; vitamin C. in
/
the
(fresh
r«
or
in
flowering
dried
8-9%
the flower
plant,
;
fresh
weakly diuretic; sedative; anti-inflammatory: anti-diarrhoeic; cholagogue; antidepressant; antiviral; flower, fresh leaves) Vulnerary;
antibiotic; astringent.
Many virtues have been ascribed to this plant ranging from the antipyretic and anthelmintic properties reported by the most ancient writers, to
modern
Certainly
suggestions of antiviral activity.
when taken
internally
the
herb
stimulates both gastric and bile secretions, and is
effective in irregular menstruation.
It
has
been shown to improve the blood circulation and to be of use in some conditions characterized by neurosis and disturbed sleep pat-
one of the most
effective agents for assisting
in the healing of wounds or
burns when applied
externally, especially
where nervous
tissue has
been damaged;
also applied to
haemor-
rhoids and
Violet, red, pink or
North America. On rocky, calsunny situations. Cultivation Wild in native habitat: occasionally wild elsewhere as a garden escape. Cultivated commercially in Europe. Russia and India. Wide horticultural employment as an ornamental; propagate by seed sown in spring, root division in spring or autumn, or cuttings
duced
into
careous dry
soils in
taken in late spring or early summer. Plant out cm apart in full sun on well-drained light
30
soil,
and
Replace
clip occasionally.
after 4 or
5 years. Constituents Volatile oil
(0.2-1%
glycoside, diosmin; tannin
Uses
\
:
a flavonoid
8
dried flowering tops, fresh leaf
Tonic;
stomachic; expectorant; carminative; sedative:
weak diaphoretic: weak
diuretic: astrin-
gent: mild spasmolytic.
employed in bronchitis and the improve appetite and to common stimulate gastric secretions; and as a gargle to
it
is
The
cold;
soothe sore throats. perspiration and
plant contains an has been patented as a possible food preservative. Leaves once used
weak.
as a salad herb.
A
antibiotic
autumn.
Specifically
terns. It is
to early
bruises.
which
cuts or bruises treat
may
The herb
around the
eyes.
hysterical conditions,
constituent of
also
reduces
be applied externally to
some herb
but teas.
Once used
to
action
is
its
HYP-ILE The plant was not called Holly until the seventeenth century, previously having been -
known
as
Holy Tree and
name
holen.
the
Quercus
ilex),
name Ilex was the Holm or Holly Oak
botanical
Its
name
ancient
the
for
while aquifolium
meaning point and
\.ji
Holme;
earlier as
being derived from the old English plant
latter
from the Latin well-known
is
leaf after the
shape of its leaves. Description Evergreen shrub or tree usually 2-5 m, occasionally to 12 m tall; with manv spreading glabrous branches forming an oblong-shaped plant. Leaves shiny, leathery, ovate or oblong-ovate, 4-7.5 cm long, margins wavy and spiked with 6-mm long spines, shortpetioled. Small unisexual or bisexual, dull white, scented flowers produced in axillary clusters on previous year's growth, appearing
mid-summer.
early to
Native
Distribution
Europe and widely
to
dis-
tributed from western Asia to China: intro-
duced elsewhere. Common in deciduous woodland, less so in mixed or coniferous woodland: on most soils but preferably humus-rich, acid, moist well-drained types.
Wild. Cultivated horticultural!} for
Cultivation
decorative purposes and as hedging: avoid planting in frost-prone
be used to flavour meats
oil
distilled
employed
from the flow trine; tops is liqueur and perfumery
the
in
industries.
Ilex aquifolium
Holly
Bark:
tannin;
pectin:
substances.
pigment.
yellow
a
ilixanthine.
or soups.
The
unknown
theobromine:
ilicine;
may
Small quantities
sites.
Leaves: tannin; a bitter substance,
Constituents
L aquifoliaceae
Common
Holly'English Holly
Although Holly is no longer considered of any importance medically, it has retained an important role
in
the traditions associated with
Christmas and in northern Europe red HolK berries and branches are symbolic ot Christperhaps representing drops of mas-time blood and a crown ol thoi as
/
a
[eaves
Once used and
ployed
in
diuretic: tonic.
the treatment of fevers, bron-
rheumatism.
chitis
Wood
weak
Antipyretic: in
em-
Occasionally
diarrhoea, and as a tonic tea.
used
for
engraving.
and
purgative
are
Berries
Contra-indications toxi<
Ilex
par aguariensis St Hil. aquifoliaceae
Mate Verba Mate/Paraguay Tea/Hervea Mate has been taken
as a refreshing stimulant
American inhabitants
tonic drink by South
long helm, the Jesuits
orded the habit in the Although in many South Amei .in ountries it is drunk more frequently than any other beverage, 'Jesuits' tea' as it was rei
sixteenth century. 11
liisi
(
1
become known
ailed has only recently
Europe
an alternative
.1-
to
in
Indian or Chinese
tea.
/>
Evergreen shrub or tree
ptiot
to 6
m.
often kept low in cultivation; branches glab-
rous bearing glossy, obovate. crenate-scrrate. short-petioled, alternate leaves,
to
\
cm
long:
Rowers white and axillary, followed rounded, reddish 7-mm diameter fruit. Distribution
Brazil.
Argentina.
Chile,
In
Peru,
Paraguay; frequently in mountainous areas. Cultivation Wild, and cultivated commercially in Paraguay. Con tituenti Caffeine (0.2 2",, chlorogenu :
acid
to
bromine
ib",, '
:
add; theo-
neochlorogenii
atei hols; the
<
ombined
ai
tion being
I01111
Uses
dried leaves
Tonic; nervine; diuretii
;
itimulant.
Almost entirely employed
manner ol
ol
as a tonii
Indian or Chines*
,m\ undesli able stimulant
effi
1
tea in the
but devoid
tea. 1
Ilex verticillata (L) Gray aquifoliaceae Black Alder Winterberry/Feverbush North American Indians were the first
this attractive plant for
to use
medical purposes and
was once included in the United States Pharmacopoeia; it was also used homeopathically. Other remedies have now replaced it, even in folk medicine, and it is rarely found in use as other than a garden ornamental. It was formerly classified as Prinos verticillatus L. The specific epithet verticillatus means whorled or clustered around the stem, after the arrangement of the flowers and fruit. Description Upright and spreading deciduous it
shrub 12-3
m
ta "-
with thin obovate, oval or
ILL-IRI acuminate, serrate pubescent on lower veins; petiolate and alternate. Flowers dioecious, white, small, in groups of usually less than 10. on short peduncles in umbels, appearing in oblanceolate,
4-7.5
leaves,
acute
cm
to
long,
and
leaf axils in late spring
early
summer.
Followed by bright red globose berry in
7.5
mm
diameter.
American native, from and Wisconsin; introduced elsewhere. Usually in woodland thickets on wet. marshy, rich soils or beside rivers and North
Distribution
Canada
to Florida
lakes. Cultivation Wild plant. Cultivated as a garden ornamental for its attractive berries which remain until mid-winter on the bare branches. Requires rich soil in damp, preferably shadv. site.
Constituents
resins;
Uses
Tannins
unknown
(fresh
(to
5%);
bitter principles;
substances.
bark,
rarely
1
60 1, but even
to flavour tea
in
it
1694
when
was rare
The Latin name
in
and
A
fruit. It
is
also classified as
closely related species
which
anisatum
/.
cm
large, to 7
in diameter, solitary or
bose, yellow, the ray florets
that
religiosum
/.
L
.
Siebold
or Japanese Star Anise, which in the East is sometimes found as an adulterant of the Chinese Star Anise, has poisonous leaves and fruit due to their content of sikimitoxin. This plant is called the 'mad herb' in China, but in
corymnumerous, long,
and arranged in a single row. appearto mid-autumn. Distribution Native to central and southern Europe and north-west Asia, naturalized in
slender,
ing
L
mid-summer
nited States: introduced elsewhere.
On damp
it is revered and used at funerals. Fruit of the plant cannot be used, and may be distinguished by their lack of aniseed smell, unlike the Chinese variety.
Japan
Description
Small tender evergreen tree or shrub
5 m; leaves aromatic, alternate, entire, shiny. 7.5 cm long, elliptic and acuminate: to
magnolia-like attractive greenish-yellow soliunscented flowers with many petals.
tary,
dried
bark,
fruit
Followed by 4-cm wide. 8-rayed consisting of one-seeded
The bark may be employed
collected
as
an infusion or
decoction in the treatment of diarrhoea, or as a tonic following severe diarrhoea or feverish complaints. It aits as a carminative and
promotes both the appetite and the digestion. Due to its astringent action it was once used externally as a wash in skin complaints sik h as
The
means
illicium
it
entices from the very pleasant scent of the tree
Astringent; antipyretic; bitter; tonic.
herpes and ulcers.
Dutch used
the
Europe.
berries possess slight
antihelmintic and laxative action, but should not be used as the effective dose is slightly toxic.
they are
requiring aniseed flavour. It has long been used as a spice in the East, but was not seen in Europe until 1588 when Candish brought a sample from the Philippines to London. Clusius first described it in
which are
when green, and then sun-dried woody and reddish-brown.
until
Distribution Indigenous to south and southwest China and north Vietnam: introduced elsewhere. On well-drained soils, frequentlv
above a 2500-m altitude. Cultivation Wild and cultivated in south China and parts of eastern Asia. Prefers sheltered sunny situations on well-drained, moistureretaining
soils.
anethol:
8o-o,o
to
fixed
10",, oil;
.
comprising
sugar:
resin:
tannin.
dried
Uses
fruit
soils near ruins probably because they were once cultivated near monasteries, etc. or .
Constituents Volatile oil Illicium verum Hook. f. magnoliaceae Star Anise Chinese Anise The oil obtained by steam distillation ot the fruit of Star Anise is now an important substitute for expensive European aniseed oil. and is widely used in commercial preparations
star-like fruit
follicles
Carminative; slightly stimu-
lant; mild expectorant.
employed as an aniseed flavouring and as a carminative for digestive disorders. Used in cough remedies as an expectorant and considered to benefit the bronchial mucous membranes. Used in the East as a spice, particularly with duck and pork: added to tea and coffee in China. The oil is of commercial importance as an aniseed flavouring for drinks and liqueurs.
roadsides and woodland edges.
Wild. Limited cultivation in central Europe: on rich moist soil from seed sown in spring or by division of root-stock in autumn. Plant in semi-shaded position at back of the Cultivation
Chiefly
border.
agent,
Constituents
Inulin
4"
:
essential
oil.
com-
prising a mixture of lactones, chiefly alanto-
lactone: resin; a complex camphor, elecam-
pane camphor: mucilage. dried root-stock
Uses sive:
Bactericidal: antitus-
expectorant; tonic: weak cholagogue.
Almost exclusively employed
in the
treatment
of respiratory disorders, especially bronchitis,
coughs, and catarrh. Also used to promote
L compositae Elecampane Scabwort
an aromatic
Once
Inula helenium
appetite as
Elecampane
treatment of skin diseases and in veterinary medicine for the same purposes -
employed
used
medicine cough remedies and has always been popular both as a medicine and a condiment. Its use as a flavouring in sweets continued until the 1920s, and it was is still
in folk
as a favourite constituent of
it
acts as
hence
its
other name, Scabwort.
is
Formerly candied and eaten
as a
sweetmeat:
used in the flavouring of certain sweets.
employed
Still
Much
central Europe.
names, but helenium is from Helenus. of Priam - a somewhat obscure association - while elecampane is derived from the ancient Latin name inula campana via the French enule-campane. It was commonly used both by the early Anglo-Saxons and Celts as well as by the Greeks and Romans: the Welsh
The herb
strongly antibacterial.
traditionally cultivated in herb gardens.
controversy surrounds the origin of the
tonic.
in the
in
some wines and liqueurs
in
plant's
the
son
called
it
marchalan in the thirteenth century.
Description Tall attractive perennial to 2
m; on
15-cm long taproot. Stems hairy,
erect,
thick
bearing large, alternate, elliptical leaves to cm long and 15 cm wide, velvety beneath, hairy above, dentate-serrate, the lower leaves
45
petiolate. others partly clasping.
206
Flower-heads
Iris foetidissima
L iridaceae
Stinking Iris Gladdon Scarlet-seeded Iris Most Iris species possess substances in the fresh root-stock which act as purgatives, and when purging was a popular form of medicinal treatment Stinking Gladdon was commonly used.
The name Gladdon is derived from meaning a little sword after
gladiolus
of
its
the Latin the shape
leaves: while the term stinking
is
an
inaccurate description of the roast-beef smell of
its
crushed leaves.
Description
Slow growing perennial on slender
ILL-IRI should be considered a variety, florentina, of others consider /. florentina is a /. germanica ;
synonym /.
some feel it rs a true own, pure white, variety -
of/, spuria, while
species with
its
florentina var. albicans.
The white
Florentine Iris became associated with Florence in the early Middle Ages, and the plant's cultivation there was described by Petrus de Crescentiis in the thirteenth century. It is still
represented on the heraldic arms of the
used as a powerful purgative. It is now rarely used even in folk medicine. Used as a bitter flavouring in certain liqueurs.
Widely employed as a violet scent in the perfume industry, and as a fixative in pot-pourri manufacture. May be used in some tooth powders or dusting powders.
on stout rhizome bearing 45 cm tall, 3-4 cm wide, sword-shaped leaves, and flowering stalk reaching 60 cm-i m. Terminal flower-head usuallv 2-flowered. sessile: the flowers unscented. white tinged with violet and with a yellow beard, or pure white
root-stock
may
be
powdered root-stock cause vomiting. Tlu powder
may
city.
Fresh
Contra-indications
violently purgative. Large doses of the
cause allergic reactions.
Description Perennial
Iris versicolor
L iridaceae
Blue Flag Flag
Lily
common American
and beardless. Appearing early to mid-summer. Variable in the form and colour of the flowers. Distribution Native to southern Europe; natur-
herb which was employed by both the Indians and early settlers as a remedy for gastric complaints. It was once included in the United States Pharmacopoeia and is still believed in folk medicine to be a blood purifier in eruptive skin
alized in central Europe. Persia, north India:
conditions.
introduced elsewhere. Tolerates most welldrained soils, but prefers sunny, stony, dry.
In some places the plant is known as Liver Lily because of its particular effect on that organ. The herb may be a hybrid between the closely related /. virginica (L) and another Iris. /)- Hiiption Perennial bog plant on thick branched creeping root-stock bearing erect, stout, coarse stem 30 cm— 1 10 cm tall, and sword-shaped leaves 20 cm-i m long, 15
hilly situations.
Cultivation
Wild. Cultivated commerciallv in India and Egypt. Propagate by
Italy. Persia,
division of root-stocks in late spring or earlv
autumn, planting in deep, sunny position.
rich,
well-drained
Blue Flag
is
a
mm
soil in
horizontal rhizome; producing 60 90-cm tall branched stems which bear glossy dark green, narrow (3 cm) leaves, 30-45 cm long. Leaves remain during winter, and are sometimes
Flowers
variegated.
inconspicuous,
purple-
grey with purple veins, beardless, appearing early to
mid-summer and followed by 4-5-cm
long capsule containing scarlet-red
globose
seeds.
Native
Distribution
to
North Africa, west and
south Europe. Prefers rich moist
soils
bv rivers
or ponds in a semi-shaded position. Cultivation Wild. Cultivated horticultural!) bv
root-stock
division
spring
late
in
summer. Requires humus-rich wet Constituents I 'ses
)ik e
(
ate ot
Off
earl)
soil.
Acrid resin; unknown substances.
Purgath
fresh root-stoc k
c.
used as a purgative by drinking a macer-
lush root
tli<-
No
in ale.
longer employed
inc-dic ally.
Chief!) cultivated tor the
use'
Bowel capsules and seeds arrangements. ripe
of in
its
alti.n
dve
dried (lowei
germanica v ar. florentina Dykes iridaceae
Iris
Orris Florentine Iris In Greek word iris means I
the
rainbow
used to describe the variable coloiiiiny
members Orris, dct
tive
ot this iv eel
term
ol
the
genus.
dire*
for
,u\<\ is
the
llv
from
11 is.
is
the desc rip-
violet-scented,
powdered
rOOt-StOCk which has been used in perfunieiv since
and
Egyptians
the
Several spec iesoi hybrids ol /.
Onis
ol
germanica
winch
L
f
the
.ire
ancient
used as the some
most
especially
Greeks.
/.
e
important are nermanun vat
Lamk. and /. florentina L. Due- to the variation and hybridization of this group, some authorities believethat /. florentina L is not a distinct species and
florentina
Dykes),
/.
pallida
Constituents
Essential
ing myristi<
oh di
H v
.11
nl
.1
and
ini;
.11
nl
* > i
85%
0.2%
0.1
I
ketone, none-, w
slot
compris-
aye: resin
;
hie h
develops mi
tannic acid: starch
ide.
;
yellow,
2
appearing early
to
Formerl)
used
treatment
ol
in
mixed
remedies
foi
(resh
juice
places on peaty
the
was one
apsule.
Distribution North-east
chest complaints such as bron-
and asthma. The
c
e
peduncles,
mid-summer, followed by
;
.
marked with
6 per plant, on short
globose, leathery
dried root-stock Stomachic; diuretii .110111,1111 weak expee tenant. Uses
hills
w
in
Attrae live blue or violet Mowers,
sugars.
c
1
I
and methyl myristate
North America;
in
wet
soils.
limn Wild plant. Constituents irisin;
An
acrid
volatile oil;
resinous
substance,
fixed oil; starch;
tannic
207
ISA-JUN acid: an unidentified alkaloid.
dried
Uses
leaves
root-stock;
on the stem
persist
Purgative;
for
weeks.
European native: introduced
Distribution
On
else-
humus-rich, well-drained chalky
diuretic: sialagogue: emetic.
where.
Chiefly employed in eruptive skin conditions
waste places in sunny situations. Cultivation Wild. Cultivated in western Europe
caused by a sluggish gastro-intestinal system
and constipation. bile and
saliva,
It
stimulates
gastric
the
secretions,
flow of
acting
particularly on the liver and pancreas. Leaves
Propagate from seed sown in sunny position on well-drained, very rich soil, in late summer. Thin to 40 cm apart bv transuntil the 1930s.
applied externally on bruises.
planting in early spring.
Large doses cause nausea, vomiting and facial neuralgias. Handling the
Seeds itself readily, but acts as a short-lived perennial if the unripe flower-heads are re-
Contra-indications
plant
may
moved.
cause dermatitis.
Indigo
Constituent*
L cruciferae Woad Dyer's Weed
Woad was
cultivated as the source of a blue
Europe and was only superseded 50 vears ago by indigo, which was first extracted from subtropical Indigo/era dvestufffor over 2000 years
developed by fermenting
lea\
Isatis tinctoria
in
species. is an ancient name for a healing herb, which was described bv Dioscorides as being an excellent stvptic. Doubtless the habit adopted by ancient Britons of painting their
Isatis
bodies with a paste of the leaves served the dual
fermented leaves, rarely fresh leaver Uses Vulnerary styptic. Once employed externally to stop bleeding and assist in the healing of wounds and ulcer-. Too poisonous and astringent to be used internalK. Traditionally the source of a blue dye obtained bv fermenting, drying and refermenting the crushed leaves, and adding lime-water to the :
product.
final
POISONOUS.
Contra-indication*
Not
be
to
used internally.
purpose of frightening their enemies and heal-
wounds of battle. The herb is now mainly
Jateorhiza palmata Mier-
ing the
of historical interest,
although a- its blue colour is more permanent than Indigojera indigo it is in demand l>> homecraft d\> Description Biennial from 45 cm to 130 cm tall: produces in the first year a rosette of entire or toothed, oblong or obovate leaves from which arises stout, erect stems branching near the top. bearing lanceolate to linear glaucous sessile
mfm-permaceak
Calumba Colombo Calumba remains
favourite
a
tonic
for
the
treatment of gastric disorders in Africa and India, and retains a place as a bitter in some European pharmacopoeias. In East Africa it is
known
kalumb
as
or
koamua and
been used as a treatment
for
has long
diarrhoea and as
The Portuguese introduced
it
to
Europe
in the
seventeenth century when it was considered an antidote to poisons, but it was generally
numerous, in 45 cm wide panicled racemes, produced in earlv to mid-summer. and followed by pendulous black seeds that
neglected until Percival promoted
very
cm
long
at the
was valued
Sua
it
in
to increase the intestinal
the blood pressure.
Used
An
tone and lower
excellent bitter tonic.
yellow dye.
as a
and in 788 it was included in the London Pharmacopoeia. Lamarck first described the plant in 1797 and called it Menispermum palmatum. B\
/)
1
781
it
criptum
Tall
at
dioecious
kilo
1
twining perennial
Annual stems herbaceous, membranous, alternate, palmate-lobed. long-petioled leaves, and insignificant greenish-white flowers, which are followed by a moon-shaped stone contained within a globose drupe. Male flowers in fleshv tuberous root.
hairs
and bearing
cm
panicles 30
L jlglandaceae Butternut White walnut Oil-nut
Juglans cinerea
The walnut family
derive their generic name.
Juglans, from the Latin Iovis glans
177
vine: often reaching the tops of trees. Large large,
meaning
the
nut of Jupiter after the ancient belief that the gods ate walnuts.
Most of the names of this tree, in fact, refer to nut. for example, butternut. Oil-nut and
its
Lemon
nut. indicating both the oily nature
and shape of the fruit. This species is described as both white and as J. cinerea after the light colour of
its
bark, the botanical
name
being
derived from the Latin cinereus meaning ashcoloured.
It
is
thus distinguished from the
closely related black walnut. J. nigra. Oil from the nut was once used as a strongly
flavoured seasoning in America.
long.
Indigenous to East Africa, especially northern Mozambique: introduced elsewhere, for example. Brazil. In forests. Cultivation Wild. Some small-scale cultivation Distribution
Tree from 12-30 m tall: bark light deeply furrowed with broad rid, branches pubescent, bearing 11-19 opposite Description
grey,
com-
5-12.5 cm long, irregularly serrate, acuminate, short-petioled and oblong lanceoFlowers in drooping catkins. Fruit late.
3 yellow alkaloids, columbamine. jatrorrhizine. palmatine: bitter
elongated, pointed. 4 cm long in groups of 2-5. externally sticks and strong smelling, contain-
in East Africa.
Volatile
Constituents
prising
oil
0.07—1.15%
,
mainly thymol:
principles,
chasmanthin and a lactone, columand
bin: traces of the sapogenins. diosgenin
krvptogenin: mucilage: starch. Uses
dried
root
Stomachic:
bitter
tonic.
Chiefly employed as an aqueous infusion
in,
vomiting during pregnancy or atonic dyspepsia associated with hypochlorhydria. In Africa is it used as a remedy for diarrhoea and dysentery, and in India as an antipyretic and anthelmintic.
208
alkaloids present in the root have been
a general tonic, as well as being used as a dye.
base and 4 cm long near the flowering top. Small yellow flowers,
leaves. 10
The
shown
leaflets.
'
ing an edible nut.
North American native, from New England to Georgia and Maryland. Introduced elsewhere. In rich damp woods or close to rivers, on well-drained soils. Distribution
Wild. Fixed oils: a complex resin, called juglandin. containing nucin. inner root bark: ripening fruit. leaseUses Cathartic: anthelmintic: sveak rubefacient. Cultivation
Constituents
ISA -J UN The bark was formerly used as a domestic remedy for constipation. The oil from the fruit was employed to remove tapeworms. It is now rarelv used even in folk medicine.
Ripening fruit can be pickled. The sap produces a syrup similar
to
maple
mixture applied to the head! Both the green walnut husks and fresh leaves have been used as a brown hair dye for centuries, remaining as the main constituent of proprietary hair tints until the beginning of the twentieth century.
Root bark, leaves and wool dve.
fruit
provide a brown
of varieties exist, and the
is variable. Tree to 30 m: bark Usually 7 or 9 glabrous leaflets. entire, acute, oblong-ovate. 5-12.5 cm long. Male flowers in drooping catkins appear late spring to early summer. Indistinct female flowers followed by almost globular, glabrous fruit singly or in groups of 3. Distribution Native to western Asia, south-east Europe. China and the Himalayas. Introduced
form of the
hyoYocarbons
terpene
limonene
sesquiterpenes
cadinene. elemene
.
a-pinene.
comprisina; /?-pinene.
oc-caryophyllene.
bitter substances, alcohols,
.
and a monocyclic cyclobutane monoterpenoid. junionone; resin sugar 30-33 10% ;
A number
Description
syrup.
0.5—2%
Constituents Essential oil
tree
silverv-sjrev.
organic acids. dried
i'ses
fruit, leafy
branchlets
Antiseptic:
diuretic: stimulant: carminative: rubefacient.
Used
internally as a urinary antiseptic, speci-
promotes gastric secreappetite. Applied externally to relieve rheumatic pain, to counteract alopecia, as a styptic and to wounds. Used homeopathically and in veterinary medicine. fically in cystitis: also
and improves
tions
the
elsewhere. In open woodland.
Widely cultivated
Wild.
Cultivation
for
its
timber. Constituents
A
Fixed
Fruit:
oils:
vitamin
C.
compound, juglone: hydrojuglone: tannic acid: unknown substances. Leaves:
bitter
Tonic: astrinweakly hypogly-
dried leaves, fresh fruit
Uses
anti-inflammatory:
gent:
caemic.
wide range of and used both internally and externally. Also emploved homeopathically for the same purposes. Ripening fruit can be pickled. The ripe nuts are of commercial importance. Oil expressed from the nuts provides a cooking oil. and is occasionally employed in non-drying; artists Leaves considered of benefit eruptive
skin
in a
conditions,
paints.
Timber used
in furniture.
Leaves yield a brown dye.
L cipressaceae iommon Juniper Juniperus 1^ the classical name lor this Juniperus communis
Juniper
Juglans regia
Walnut I
L
ji
Persian
his tree
gi.andaceae
Walnut
hears the
both because
oi
its
name
meaning royal, appearance and source of timber Theophrastus a-
regia,
attractive
its historical importance as a and food. It was known to karuon, and Plim who believed it entered Europe from Persia first dew ribed the use oi
(
considered
especially
derived
from
suggested that the green husk- be boiled with
Geneva
as the
lead,
lor
ashes,
dyeing white hair oil
and earthworms,
and
the
a ipice,
it
an important
still
is
Berries are
used
to
and
flavour meats, gin
Once used as a spice and substitute pepper, and when roasted as a coffee
liqueurs. lor
substitute Contra-indications
or
when
Not
be used in pregnane)
to
the kidneys are inflamed.
flavouring lor certain preserved meats, liqueurs
and
brown He
the shells
variable
and widely distributed plant ol the northern temperate zones, which has remained in use from the Greek and Arabic physicians to the present day. Although no longer generally
turn,
gin.
an
The English word gin is of Hollands was first ailed which, in
abbreviation
-.pirit
c
stems from the Dutch jenci>> meaning
Juniper. ()nl\ kilogram 0! the berries is used to flavour over 100 lures gin. /> cription Variable, from a dense procumbent 1
(
sin
ub
to a
needle-like,
\2
5
m
tall
13
evergreen. Leaves
tree-;
mm
long,
spreading from the bran< Flowers upper siniaci
>i
in
hlets.
whorls
ol
^.
bluish-white on
indistinct,
axillary,
dioecious, greenish-yellow, appeal late spring to
earl)
summer: followed
diameter blue-black,
fleshy
.
b\
10
7.5
Mediterranean also An in Norway to Soviet Union, west Himalayas, North America. On moorland, open coniferous lon-sts and Distribution
Native
mm
3-seeded berries.
10
region;
north-
Juniperus sabina L cipressaceae Savin Savin lops
5a\
in
ary
has a lone; history as a stimulant veterin-
drug
in
wounds and toxicity,
used as a
lowed b\
distributed
Ivbamtti
tamariscifolia
cv.
prostrala
:
its
\l\
humans.
laic-
sprint;
fol-
mm
Native to central and south Europe lie mi the Caucasus to south Siberia North America. ( )n sunny mountain
Distribution
moun-
Cultivation
communis
to
diameter brownish-purple, j-seeded berries on pendulous pedil els. 7
Also
J.
lor
to the
has never been w
yellow, dioecious, appearing
slopes.
Gard.,
it
Due
Evergreen shrub, usually lowgrowing and of spreading habit, to 1 m tall: sometimes a small tree, to 7.5 m. Young leaves Opposite, acute and pointed: older leaves scale-like, adhering to branchlets, closely bright green. Flowers indistinct, greenish-
Wild Berries collected commercially. Other forms may be used, foi example, communis ssp. nana Syme, J. communis ssp. / 11
of animals.
Description
tain slopes.
Be|s~«
ulcers
however, medicine
heaths,
Cultivation
Europe, and was applied
in
Wild,
drown
horticultural!)
which purpose Ait. and fabina
hedt^e-plant, for
Laws, are also used
/'.
as
a
J. tabina var. var. variegata
LAC-LAV Constituents Volatile oil
(1-4%), similar
to that
of J. communis; tannic acid; resin. Uses (young green shoots) Powerful uterine stimulant; emmenagogue; irritant.
Now only used externally, with care, as a stimulant dressing for blisters, wounds, ulcers, and to remove warts. Employed in veterinary medicine. Contra-indications
POISONOUS
and occasion-
Causes severe gastro-intestinal irritation, haematuria and hallucinations. To be used only under medical supervision. ally fatal.
weak,
was used
it
an adulterant of true
as
opium and entered the Edinburgh and other European pharmacopoeias as a cough suppressant. The common Garden Lettuce, (L. L), was also once used as a source of lactucarium, but by breeding out the bitterness of this salad herb modern cultivars only contain a trace of the complex.
sativa
Strongly smelling biennial,
Description
pro-
ducing a rosette of obovate, undivided leaves 12-30 cm long in the first year, and an erect stout, cylindrical, pale green branched stem to 1.5 m high in the second. Stem-leaves dark green, clasping, scanty, alternate, ovate-oblong.
Numerous
flower-heads, arranged in panicles, pale
short-stalked,
summer
appearing
yellow,
late
mid-autumn. Distribution European native. On dry nitrogenrich soils, in wasteland and hillsides. Cultivation Wild. Formerly cultivated on a to
small scale.
Lactucarium,
Constituents
comprising
bitter
substances (lactucine, lactucopicrin, lactucic acid); crystalline substances
(including lac-
caoutchouc;
sugar;
tucerin);
traces
of
a
mydriatic alkaloid; and other substances. Uses (dried latex, dried leaves occasionally] Mild sedative; mild hypnotic. Formerly used as a constituent of remedies
employed
L compositae Wild Lettuce Greater Prickly
May
Lactuca virosa
Lettuce
be used
in
Contra-indications
and a closely related species L. scariola L, was cultivated on a small scale in western Europe as the source of lactucarium the dried latex which In the nineteenth century
in the
this,
treatment of irritable coughs. insomnia or restlessness.
The
latex
is
very irritant to
the eyes.
Lamium album L labiatae White Dead-Nettie Blind
Lapsana communis
This
in 1799.
often found growing close to or
Although
its
action
as
a
sedative
is
fairly
not a true nettle, nor
is
related to the nettle family, but
it
botanically
album does
/,.
bear a superficial similarity to nettles and
fact that
generic
it
reflects the
does not possess any sting, while
name Lamium
is
is
among them.
The common name Dead-Nettie
its
from the Greek word
shape of the plant's flower. historically, but nevertheless a useful medical plant particularly for menstrual problems. for throat after the
Not of importance
20-60 cm tall, spreading by underground stolons; stems rigid, square, bearing opposite, decussate, stalked or sessile, Description Perennial
downy, deeply dentate, nettle-shaped leaves, 4-6 cm long. Flowers off-white, usually 5-8 (or occasionally to 16) in axillary whorls, the calyx consisting of 5 long, toothed projections.
Appearing early summer to late autumn. Distribution European native; introduced elsewhere. in
On
sunny
rich soils in waste places, preferably
positions.
Cultivation
Constituents
Wild. Traces of essential
mucilage;
oil;
tannic acid; flavonic heterosides, (kaempferol,
potassium salts; histamine; ramine; and unknown substances. isoquercitin)
;
Uses (flowering plant) Astringent
;
ty-
expector-
ant; diuretic; vulnerary; anti-inflammatory.
Useful internally in
cystitis,
leucorrhoea and
particularly metrorrhagia; as a bowel regulator,
it
can be used to treat either diarrhoea
or constipation in respiratory or nasal catarrh. ;
210
L compositae
Nipplewort
Nettle
exudes from the cut surface of the plants stem. It was introduced to medical practice in 1771 by Collin and called 'lettuce opium' by Coxe
is
externally to wounds it is both and healing. It may also be applied to haemorrhoids and burns. Young leaves may be boiled and eaten as a green vegetable, or added to soups.
Applied
styptic
In
the
papillaris
sixteenth
century
this
by the apothecaries,
was
called
after the Latin
meaning nipple, since the herb was employed to treat cracked nipples a use which may originally have been
papilla
traditionally
LAC-LAV by
suggested
nipple-shaped
the
unopened
i"
I
with similar composition comprising mainly cineol.
j,
flower buds.
leaf,
In some parts of Europe ointments made from the fresh juice are still used for this purpose.
Uses (berries, leaves,
Annual 20 cm- 120 cm; stem
Description
much branched near
hairy.
the top, bearing three
types of alternate leaves, the lower lyre-shaped, and petiolate, the upper small,
the middle oval
and
sessile
entirely of ray
arranged
Flowers
lanceolate. florets,
composed
yellow, in small capitula,
in panicles,
appear early summer
to
From Europe
in thickets, to
an
Employed
antiseptic.
stimulant
in
A
flavouring in some liqueurs. Most widely used as a culinary herb
freshly
dried
leaf).
Can be used
i^the
both
in
m
an 1800
wood
edges,
altitude.
Wild.
Unknown.
Constituents
Uses
as
liniments in veterinary medicine.
northern Asia: humus-rich moist
naturalized in America. On on wild or cultivated land,
Cultivation
and
to
soils
and
expressed from berries)
Antiseptic; stimulant; stomachic; weak insecticide. Formerly used to stimulate digestion. Once used externally to relieve rheumatic pain
savoury and some sweet dishes and confections.
mid-autumn. Distribution
oil
to that of the
leaves,
(fresh
juice)
fresh
Laxative;
vulnerary.
Traditionally used externally to treat cracked nipples or to promote the flow of milk from the
Considered
breast.
useful
constipation
in
associated with liver problems. Supposed, but
May
unproven, antidiabeti" agent. to wounds Young radish
be applied
or cuts.
flavoured leaves eaten in salads,
or boiled as a green vegetable.
Native
Distribution
mediterranean region;
to
widely distributed in southern Europe; intro-
L lauraceae
Laurus nobilis
Bay Tree Sweet Bay/Sweet
duced elsewhere. Often on poor, well-drained
This
soils.
Laurel an ancient aromatic plant, once dedicated to Apollo, and for thousands of years it was considered to be a powerful antiseptic. It is a vital ingredient of the genuine bouquet is
garni. Its botanical name emphasizes the respecl with which the ancients held the plant: laurus from the Latin meaning to praise, and nobilis meaning renowned or famous. This was the leal used to make the victor's crown ol laurels in classical tunes and the tree was once called the baccot lauri or noble berrv tree, from which bv direct association with the victor's (Town the- modern French
educational term barralaureat
derived.
is
Evergreen tree to [5 m; with gre) shiny bark. Usually grown as a bush to 1 m. Leaves leathery, dark green, shiny above, Description
lanceolate
to
oblong-lanceolate,
em
7.",
3
Constituents Volatile oil,
t<
1
dark purple berries. introduced
mountain
elsewhere;
Minor and Europe; in
sheltered
sunny
l.issiliecl
and is which
as
/..
vera
DC
and
closely related to is
it
however,
/..
/,.
inferior
oil,
Chaix.,
officinalis
lati/olia Yill.
sometimes confused. which is also called
ail
the
This species has also been
traditional herbs. (
of
The /..
with
latter,
spun
I.
called spike lavender
and
ies
,ue not clear-
probable that French Lavender has been used longer lor medicinal
Iv
Uses
dried flowers; rubefacient;
differentiated
it
is
prevent vertigo and fainting. Mav also he used as ,111 antiseptic
ai
The
horticultural varieties were developed
and
Constituents
prising
<
;
cineol,
e>il
1
eugenol,
bittei principles,
Many
3%), comterpenes;
berries)
(at
(25
omprising glyceryl laurate; volatile
oil
although
I
L.
angustifolia
entury.
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, but some- of these are now difficult to obtain. in the
Description
Aromatic perennial subshrub
cm; on woody stem. Leaves
to
as a in
mild
gastric
in
5 long, the smaller often clustered in axils,
grey-green
and tomentose.
grey-blue,
b
mid-summer
to
usually
mm long, in spikes on 10-20 cm long; appearing early autumn.
15
peduncles from
Flowers
to
lotion lor
cuts. oil is used as an insect repellent; to mask unpleasant odours in ointments; in perfumery
as a flavouring agent.
Dried flowers are employed sachets,
moth
repellents
in
scented pillows,
and pot-pourris.
80
opposite, entire,
very narrow, lanceolate or oblong-linear, 2
cm
autumn.
Heaves) Volatile
geraniol,
tannii ae id
\o%
or early
medicine internally
to counteract rheumatic pain, or embrocations. Lavender oil vapour is traditionally inhaled
popular Strewing and cosmetic herb from
summer
antispasmodic;
diuretic.
employed
least the twelfth
late
in folk
weak
disturbances characterized by flatulence. Externallv the oil is stimulant and is occasionally
Cultivation
on rich soil; or in tubs filled with rich soil which should be ke-pt moisi and protected in winter. Propagate from cuttings in autumn, or by layering ol lower branches in
used
Still
of lavender] Carminat-
sedative;
sedative and cough suppressant, or
on
frost-free sites,
oil
antiseptic; stimulant;
a
Wild plant. Grown hortic ulturally commercial scale as a garden ornamental, especially in Holland and Belgium. Plant hushes in late spring or mid-autumn, in sunny
comprising an alcohol, a hydroxveou-
tonic
purposes,
a
early
acetate;
linalyl
ive-;
was
valleys on rich soils.
in spring,
ole; geraniol.
vi
Lavender English Lavender One of the most popular and well-known
In classical writings these spec
Distribution Native' to Asia
long taken
marin, hcrniarin eucalyptol; limonene; cineLavandula angustifolia Mill. LABIA!
produces
mm-diame
and
linalol,
oil.
",
cm
hardwood cuttings taken between spring and late summer.
or
summer and
1
in
germination may be slow). Or
apart
use green cutting, 10
|
by
cm
45
long. Flowers small, yellowish, in groups ol 3 in the leaf axils, appearing late spring to earl)
followed
Wild. Cultivated commercially
Cultivation
southern Europe. Very wide horticultural use as garden ornamental. Propagate from seed sown in pans in late spring, later planting out
Lavandula dentata
L
i.abiatae
Fringed Lavender French Lavenclei This best
is
one
of the least
grown indoors
hardy lavenders and
is
or as a winter flowering pot
plant under glass. Its
botanical
name
ive fern-like leaves
dentata refers to the attract-
which
arc
quite different
21
l
LAV-LEV from those of English Lavender. The aroma of being a Fringed Lavender is also different sweet blend of Rosemary and Lavender. Description Aromatic perennial, usually shrubby from 30-80 cm tall; leaves 3-4 cm long, green or grey, pubescent, pinnately dentate, truncately toothed. Deep lavender flowers, 6-15 long on small, long pedlinear, light
mm
uncled spikes, 7.5-20 cm long, appear winter. Distribution Native to the mediterranean region as far east as Malta; introduced elsewhere. Cultivation Wild. Grown horticulturally as a garden plant in warm climates, and as a greenhouse or indoor pot plant elsewhere. Propagate
For
the hardier L. angustifolia Mill. Description
Perennial subshrub, 30
Leaves linear, narrow, hairy, entire, greygreen, 1.5-4 cm l° n g- Flowers 3 long, dark purple, specked with orange, in short wide spikes on 3 cm long peduncle. Flowers surmounted by attractive purple bracts onethird or one-quarter the length of the spike; appearing mid-spring to early summer. Distribution Native to the mediterranean regtall.
mm
ion; also the
Canary
Islands,
Turkey and Asia
Minor; introduced elsewhere. In coastal on sandy soils.
sites
*
from cuttings in sandy, slightly alkaline soil; prune to prevent straggling growth or cut back to produce a bushy plant. Requires full sun and feeding occasionally with liquid manure if
grown
m
cm-i
**"
I'
in pots.
Constituents Volatile oil.
Uses (dried flowering plant, dried leaves) Cultivated as a winter-flowering ornamental. Dried flowers and leaves used in floral arrange-
ments "nd
in scented sachets
this
reason
it
has long been used to dye the
and hair - and the Berbers colour both corpses and young babies with the dye, as well as using it in marriage cerenails,
hands,
feet
still
monies.
The shrub now
has a
very wide
and commercial henna varies greatly in composition and quality - often being adulterated with Lucerne leaves or powdered Acacia catechu, Catechu. The variety distribution
now
considered
finest for use as a hair
dye
Green Henna gives the deepest red tones and is made from young shoots, while so-called 'compound henna' consists of inferior leaf and synthetic dyes. The comes from
botanical
Persia.
name
Lawsonia
is
named
Surveyor-General of North Carolina, burned to death by Indians in 1712.
after the
who was
Shrub to 6 m with glabrous branches bearing greenish brown, opposite, shortly petiolate, oblong or broadly lanceolate leaves, 1.5-5 cm on g> I_2 cm wide. Small highly scented, white, light red or deep red flowers to 7.5 diameter in a corymbose terminal panicle, followed by spherical fruits diameter. 7.5 Variable in form. Distribution Indigenous to Arabia, Persia, India, Egypt and Australia; naturalized in tropical America; introduced elsewhere. Cultivation Wild. Grown horticulturally as an ornamental and cultivated commercially for the leaves, mainly in India, Egypt, China, Description
'
mm
and pot-pourris.
mm
Morocco and
Iran.
Constituents Fats; resin;
*«-j
mannitol; volatile oil; lawsone (henno-
fixed oil; a yellow pigment,
tannic acid or oxynaphthochinon). Uses (dried leaves, dried green shoots, dried
'
folk
cultivated indoors as a pot plant; requires a soil, full
sunlight,
and
occasional feeding with liquid manure. Constituents Volatile oil.
^^^^
Uses (dried flowers, dried leaves, dried flower-
ing plant) Antiseptic; antispasmodic; carminative; vulnerary; stimulant; insect repellent.
L labiatae French Lavender Spanish Lavender
Lavandula stoechas
This
is
the lavender species
known and
which was
best
Romans and Arabs - usually an antiseptic and sweet-smelling. herb for inclusion in bath and other washing water. The generic name lavandula is derived from the latin lavare meaning to wash. Like L. dentata, the scent is somewhat ba'sam-like and a mixture of Rosemary and Lavender. It continued to be used medicinally (known as ancient Greeks,
as
Flores
stoechados,
sticadore
or
stoechas
arabica)
and was even included in the London Pharmacopoeia of 1746. Gradually, however, it was replaced by until
2
I
2
the eighteenth century,
Formerly used in a wide range of complaints; only employed in southern Europe as a mild sedative, antiseptic and remedy for nausea and vomiting. The flowers may be used
now
possibly most widely used by the
in conserves.
Dried flowers and leaves employed such as sachets.
in scented
articles
Lawsonia inermis
for the treatment of leprosy in African medicine; the powdered leaf has also been
used to treat intestinal amoebiasis.
Wild plant. Grown horticulturally as a garden ornamental in warm countries, and occasionally in cooler temperate zones in very warm protected sites. May be propagated from seed sown under glass in spring or from cuttings taken in spring or summer. Also Cultivation
dry, sandy, well-drained
twigs) Astringent; stimulant.
Used
L lythraceae
Henna
Mignonette Tree/Egyptian Privet Henna, or Al Kenna as it is called in Arabic, has played an important role in religion and
mysticism in the East for centuries. The red colouring produced from the leaf was considered to represent the fire and blood of the earth, and to link mankind with nature.
Most widely used
as a hair, skin
and
nail dye.
LAV-LEV arranged in whorls of 6-12 in leaf axils; appearing mid-summer to mid-autumn. Distribution European native; introduced elsewhere. Usually rare or localized on wasteground and roadsides near ruins. On welldrained, light, calcareous soils in sunny situations.
May
Wild.
Cultivation
be propagated by root
mid-autumn
division in
or late spring. Sell-
seeds easily.
Tannic
Constituents
acid
leonurinine;
alkaloid,
essential
;
oil
glucosides;
a
The combined
principle, leonurine.
an
;
bitter
action
is
sedative.
Uses (fresh or dried flowering plant) Sedative; antispasmodic; emmenagogue; cardiotonic; hypotensive; slightly astringent. Formerly used in the treatment of bronchitis, diarrhoea, asthma, and rheumatism. Now considered of benefit in amenorrhoea and
and
dysmenorrhoea,
useful
specifically
in
tachycardia.
May
be of use in anxiety. Employed homeo-
pathically. Contra-indications
pregnant women name Motherwort.
Ledum groenlandicum Oed. Ericaceae
to treat
Labrador Tea Marsh Tea (synonym L. lalifolium named after Greenland where it
Its
Jacq.j
cardiaca,
It is
is
heart,
in profusion.
rarely used today, perhaps because of
American War
its
during the of Independence it was one of
narcotic
slightly
but
qualities,
several herbs used as a substitute for tea.
Labrador Tea may be grown horticullurallv exposed
cold, wet,
A
sites.
closely related
called
plant, L. palustre
Marsh Tea and has
Description
in
L
also
is
similar properties.
Evergreen shrub
to
90 cm; bearing
aromatic, alternate, entire leaves 3-5 cm long petioles. Leaves folded back at the
on short
edges, green above
Flowers small
and
and rust-coloured beneath.
(to 12
- hence
from
while
the the
Greek generic
kardiaca
term,
meaning
May
be cultivated
in
Koch umbelliferae
Parsley
With its interesting and unusual flavour Lovage has a wide culinary potential, but it is not widely used except as a soup flavouring.
Greeks, who called it ligustikon, chewed the seed to aid digestion and relieve flatulence - a
The
medicinal use which was promoted in the Middle Ages by Benedictine monks. The common name is derived from the fact that in many European countries the herb had a traditional reputation as a love
aphrodisiac. tion
of the
The
Ligusticum,
once grew
or
a corrup-
in
after
abund-
ance.
Glabrous aromatic perennial on
petiolcd, ovate-cuneate, to 3-pinnate leaves,
70 cm long and 50 cm wide near the base, smaller at the top. Flowers small, greenish yellow, in umbels 5—7.5
mid-
Tannic acid; arbutin;
summer, followed by
cm
wide, appearing
7.5 mm long oblong fruit.
Southern European native; naturMinor and eastern United States; introduced elsewhere. Tolerates most soils except heavy clay.
comprising ledol
;
mineral
Formerly added
to
sails
Once
beer to increase
12-* its
in-
toxicant properties. Contra-indications
use of the tea
may
alized
resin: essen-
used to treat dysentery and diarrhoea. Now rarely used as a tea.
Evidence suggests excessive cause delirium or poisoning.
in
Asia
Very rarely wild, and then usually garden escape. Gultivated commercially on a small scale in central Europe, and widely as a garden herb. Seed sown as soon as ripe or in spring in well-manured, moist, but welldrained soil; transplanting 60 cm apart. Also propagate by root division in autumn or Cultivation
as a
Leonurm cardiaca L labiatae
spring,
replanting 5
Motherwort
reached
in
Leommii
species
from
of the world, which include
various /..
parts
(ibiricus,
L.
L. demmutus and /.. helerophyllu\. been shown in animal experiments to possess hypotensive and sedative properties.
glaucescens
,
have-
European species L. cardiaca has the- same properties and was used smce the early Greeks he
it
charm
Stem stout and hollow, bearing large dark green long-
cold wet
Uses (leaves, fresh or dried) Astringent.
I
name
earlier
Liguria, Italy, where
is
Distribution
Constituents
Several
name
botanical
stout fleshy root-stock to 2.20 m.
autumn. tial oil,
Lovage Love
Description
on thin pedicels in terminal clusters; appearing in spring. Distribution Native to Greenland and Ganada. In sphagnum bogs and wet peaty soils in colder parts of the northern hemisphere. Wild.
is
from the Latin leo or lion and the Greek oura or tail, since it was thought that the tall, leafy stem resembled a lions tail. Once commonly grown in herb gardens but now rare, even in the wild. Description Strongly smelling erect perennial 90-150 cm tall; on stout stem, square in section, branching below and hairy. Leaves pale green beneath, darker above, long petioled, serrate, the lower leaves deeply palmately lobed, the upper leaves less deeply 3-Iobed. Flowers pale pink to purple, very hairy, small.
mm wide), scented, white,
situations; propagate by root division in
name
Leonurus,
carried
Cultivation
May cause contact dermatitis.
its
Levisticum officinale
action on the heart led to the specific
This aromatic herb,
grows
for anxiety
Constituents
3-5
cm
deep.
Full
size
is
years.
Essential
oil
comprising mainly
jimbelliferone and butyl phthalidine; resin; starch;
sugars;
tannin;
gum; vitamin C;
coumarin. Uses (dried root, fresh or dried plant, seed)
Diuretic; stomachic;
emmenagogue;
expect-
orant.
213
LIA-LOB Formerly used as a diuretic, in the treatment of rheumatism and migraine, and for bronchial catarrh. Of use in flatulence and to promote
chapmannii, also called Blazing Star, contains a
the appetite.
substance
Sometimes employed externally
to treat
still
some
root
L.
A
callilepis).
related
species,
L.
which has been shown
(liatrin),
to
possess anti-cancer properties.
simple skin problems.
The powdered
found as a horticultural plant, sometimes
called
Nearly glabrous erect perennial on stem 30 cm-2 m, bearing alternate linear, punctate leaves, 30 cm long and 10 wide. Flowers dark blue, 4-8 diameter, in groups of 5-13, in dense spikes 40 cm long, appearing from early to late autumn. Distribution North American native from Massachusetts to Florida and Arizona. On rich, damp meadow soils or near marshes. Cultivation Wild. May be propagated by root Description
was once used
as a pepper.
tuberous
root;
mm
division
mm
early
in
manured, damp
spring, soils.
A
planting in wellwhite variety alba
exists.
Constituents
Coumarin; unknown substances.
Uses (root, fresh plant) Diuretic; antibacterial.
Formerly used
in
New England
as a treatment
for venereal diseases, particularly
The decoction
is
gonorrhoea.
of use as a gargle for the
treatment of sore throats.
Powdered
root
and
leaf
may
be employed in
scented sachets and pot-pourris.
The leaf was once used to flavour tobacco. The powdered root and leaf may also be used Once used
as a diuretic, but
it
is
rather too
as
an insect repellent.
strong for this purpose.
The herb may
Leaves once employed as a tobacco flavouring. Largely cultivated as an attractive late flowering garden herb, and as a source of vanilla-
a
scented leaves for use in pot-pourris.
Lovage Sea
hardy
Ligusticum scoticum
The
leaf
may
be used as
a'
flavouring in soups,
sauces and salads, and as a vegetable; the seed
and with meat.
in biscuits
Young
stems
may
Stems and leaf
stalks
eaten in the same
origin,
be candied like Angelica.
way
can be blanched and as celery.
Contra-indications Large quantities should not be taken by pregnant women or by people suffering from kidney disease.
while spicata refers to the spikes on
which the flowers are carried. Although now rarely used medicinally
it
is
sist for weeks. This species possesses coumarin
which
is
responsible for
its
in
its
leaves
attractive scent.
Glabrous perennial on thick tuber-
Description
ous root-stock, to 1.2 m. Leaves alternate, clasping, narrow, entire, spoon-shaped and fleshy to 25 cm long. Flowers bright purple on spikes 35 cm long; appearing early to late
autumn. North American native. On damp meadows and open woods.
Distribution soils in
Cultivation
Wild. Propagate by root division
in
early spring. (
Constituents
Coumarin; unknown substances.
Uses (dried root, fresh or dried leaf) Diuretic.
214
is
so called because
larly collected
ceased
to
be of medicinal or culinary import-
ance. Description
Coarse
perennial
to
60
cm on
Stem red below, bearing dark green, long stemmed, ternate leaves with branched
Liatris odoratissima Willd. compositae Deer's Tongue Vanilla Plant Deer's Tongue, so called because of the shape of its leaves, is one of 40 species in the North American Blazing Star or Liatris genus. The group is difficult to classify botanically due to hybridization between species, but is characterized by attractive flower-heads which per-
L umbelliferae
Parsley
it was particuand used as a culinary herb in Scotland, where it is known as shunis. North American Indians also ate it, peeling the stem and eating it raw. Because of its viatmin C content, the plant was also popular with sailors and fishermen suffering from scurvy. It was once cultivated, but has long
This herb
compositae Blazing Star Dense Button Snakeroot The botanical name, Liatris, is of unknown Liatris spicata Willd.
be employed horticulturally as
late flowering plant.
root-stock.
LIA-LOB few segments, 3-5 cm wide, toothed on upper half only. Flowers yellowish white, in umbels,
and stems may be eaten raw as a as a vegetable. Stems can be candied like Angelica, and they may also be eaten in the same way as celery. The seed may be powdered and used like
Flax has been described in detail in all the classical writings of the Egyptians, Hebrews, Greeks and Romans, and was promoted in northern Europe first by the Romans and later by Charlemagne; Irish linen manufacture, however, was not reported until a.d. 500. Description Thin annual, branching at the base, from 30-130 cm tall; stems erect, usually glabrous with narrow, sessile, linear or lanceolate alternate glaucous green leaves, 3-5 cm long, and marked with 3 veins. Flowers 5-petalled, blue or occasionally white or red, 3 cm diameter, on erect terminal panicles, appearing mid to late summer and followed by globose capsules somewhat longer than the calices. Variable in form depending upon variety and environment. Distribution Originally Asian widely distributed through temperate and subtropical zones, often as escape from cultivation. Especially on well-drained wasteland in sunny
Pepper.
situations.
appearing
late
summer
early
to
autumn,
with prominent ridges. Distribution Sub-arctic Atlantic coasts; occasionally inland. Especially on rocky shores followed by
and
fruit
river estuaries.
May
Cultivation
Wild.
fresh seed,
and grown
be propagated from
in
damp,
slightly
shady
situations. Constituents Essential oil,
comprising umbelli-
ferone; starch; vitamin C. Uses (root, fresh plant, seed)
Diuretic; aro-
matic; carminative. Once used medicinally as an aromatic flavouring and in the treatment of rheumatism.
Young
leaves
salad, or
The
cooked
root
was formerly chewed
as a
tobacco
Bath water
may
be scented by the root.
Cultivation
Unknown
seed
it.
century,
but was charged with one of his patients with
after poisoning
Cutler examined
and
its
anti-asthmatic proper-
was introduced to medicine in 1829. It is now rarely used. The generic name, Lobelia, is after the Flemish botanist Matthias de L'Obel (1538-1616),
ties in
181
3,
the herb
British
in the wild state.
grown
for
England, Argentina, North (United States, Morocco, USSR), (United States, USSR, India,
(Holland,
Africa), oil
Linum usitatissimum L linaceae Flax Linseed Flax has been of exceptional economic importance to man and has been grown since 5000 B.C. It was used by Mesopotamians and and by early Egyptians who wrapped their mummies in cloth made from it. Unknown in the wild state, it is thought to have been derived from the Pale Flax, L. bienne
murder
;
Different cultivars are commercially
substitute.
nineteenth
and fibre Middle East). Some varieties are biennial. Seed is sown in drills in late spring or early summer, on dryish, well-drained soils. Constituents (seed) Fixed oil (30-40%) comprising the glycerides of linoleic, linolenic and other fatty acids, and stearic and palmitic acids; mucilage
(6%) a cyanogenic glycoside, linamarine; vitamin F; pectin; other nitro;
genous substances. The laxative action to the oil and mucilage content. Uses
(stem,
seed,
seed-oil,
is
powdered
due oil-
exhausted seed) Laxative; demulcent; antiinflammatory. Seed is of value internally as a mild laxative; it is sometimes combined with other anti-inflammatory medicinal plants for the treatment of respiratory and gastrointestinal inflammatory disorders. Both the seed and powdered seed may be applied externally as a poultice to relieve pain
and heal skin wounds, certain skin conditions and suppurations. Seed may be roasted and eaten, and unripe capsules can be eaten raw.
The
oil
has been
used for culinary purposes. in
It is of importance and varnish manufacture. Fibre from stems is very widely used in linen and
paint
the
cloth manufacture.
Although linseed
oil
injlata refers to
the
way
in
which the seed
Description Hairy, erect, somewhat angled stem from 20-70 cm, branching near the top, containing an acrid latex, and bearing oval or ovate-lanceolate, alternate, sessile, toothed leaves. Flowers pale blue externally, often violet within, small
(4-6
mm
long), irregular,
on loose terminal spike-like racemes; followed by 2-celled capsule which inflates to a cm 1
long oval, glabrous structure.
Native to North America from Georgia. Introduced elsewhere. Cultivation Wild. Propagated from seed sown on the surface of rich soil, in the autumn. Constituents Alkaloids (0.3-0.4%) comprising, Distribution
Labrador
to
lobeline, lobelidine, lobelanine, isolobelanine; is
rarely used internally
as a purgative in
humans,
ary medicine for
this
Exhausted seed pulp
while
capsule inflates during ripening.
it
is
used in veterin-
purpose. is
also lobelic acid; inflatin; resin; fat; fixed oil;
caoutchouc (India rubber). In small doses the
combined action
utilized as cattle foddei
dilates bronchioles
and
re-
laxes bronchial muscles.
Uses (dried fruiting plant) Expectorant; antiLobelia injlata
L lobei.iaceae
Indian Tobacco Lobelia Indian Tobacco is so called because it was formerly smoked by North American Indians to relieve asthma and related conditions Mill,
by selection and cultivation.
Today
several cultivars exist,
seeds which are used for
oil
small seeded types which are cloth manufacture.
some with large and the used in linen and
extraction,
Early settlers used it for a wide variety of complaints, and some early American herbalists considered it almost a panacea. Samuel
Thomson, who was an important physiomedical particularly
school
of
figure in the
herbal
promoted Lobelia
in
medicine, the
early
asthmatic; emetic; diaphoretic. Of benefit in chronic bronchitis with associated dyspnoea and in bronchial asthma.
Formerly used to induce vomiting and in the treatment of whooping cough, croup and tetanus. May be applied externally to relieve pain and irritation caused by rheumatism, bruises, bites
and certain
Contra-indications
skin conditions.
POISONOUS- may be fatal.
Large doses cause purgation, vomiting, conmedullary and respiratory depression.
vulsions,
215
LON-LYT Lonicera caprifolium
L caprifoliaceae
only because of the yellow colour of the moss's spores, but also because they burn brightly in a
Perfoliate Honeysuckle Honeysuckle receives its common name from an old habit of sucking the sweet honey-tasting nectar from the flowers, while this species most common in southern Europe - is also called perfoliate because its upper leaves surround the stem. Now widely used as a climbing or hedge plant. Description Climbing deciduous shrub. Stems glabrous to 6 m. Leaves opposite simple, oval. to cm long, green above glaucous beneath; 5
similar
Appearing early
to
to
powdered sulphur.
generic name, Lycopodium, means fox or wolf foot - another illusion to the shape of the plant.
This and closely related species, such as L. selago L (the Fir Club Moss were once widelyused medicinally, especially in North America and continental Europe. The use of the spores in treating wounds, which was introduced by German apothecaries in the seventeenth century, continues to this day in several .
the upper 2 or 3 leaf pairs united at their base forming a cup (connate). Flowers fragrant, pale yellow, 4-5 cm long, corolla not glandular, borne in terminal whorls of 2-3. Bracts large.
manner
The
parts of the world.
Procumbent evergreen perennial
Description
moss, reaching at least 100
mid-summer and
cm
long: rooting
along the branching stem which
hence
trees
The
its
sixteenth-century or Lonitzei
relets
Lonicera,
German
thin
and
name Woodbine.
alternative
name.
generic
is
to
.1
physician, Lonicei
.
deciduous Climbing, twining, shrub: stems to 9 in. Leaves opposite, simple. ovate to oblong-ovate, 4 7.5 cm long; dark green above, often glaucous or pale beneath; Description
upper leaves not united. Flowers fragrant, yellow, glandular,
borne
peduncled.
terminal
j
-,
cm
Bracts small.
clusters.
Appearing mid-summer
to
long, corolla
many-flowered,
in
mid-autumn and
followed by red berries. Distribution
Native
to
Europe, western Asia
and
North Africa; introduced elsewhere. Especially on porous sandy or loam soils, in mixed woodland. Calcifugous.
followed by orange berries.
Native to central and southern Europe and western Asia: introduced elsewhere. On well-drained loamy soils. Calci-
propagate from woody cuttings taken in early autumn and rooted in peat and sand mix or by
fugous.
layering in late
Cultivation Wild. Cultivated horticulturally propagate from woody cuttings taken in early autumn and rooted in peat and sand mix or by
Constituents
Distribution
;
layering in late Constituents
summer.
Uses
flowering plant
Diuretic:
antiseptic:
emetic; expectorant. Similar actions to Honeysuckle
L
L.
periclymenum
POISONOUS
berries.
Ex-
horticulturally:
summer. The
varieties
oar.
are garden plants. Mucilage: an amorphous gluco-
var. Belgica
flowering plant
Diuretic:
antiseptic:
internally
for
con-
several
ditions;
but now recommended
external
use as an application for skin in-
only
for
POISONOUS
berries:
ex-
is the taller growing of the two common European honeysuckles, and may live for 50 years. It is often found bound tightly around
This
2l6
Distribution
World-wide distribution on acidic
erous woodland and grassland, especially
spores
Fixed
ilavatus,
is
It
which
it
(50% compris-
lycopodium
oleic
whole muscus
carries.
has also been called vegetable sulphur, not
plant
in
phytosterin:
acids:
2%
acid; a carbohydrate, pollenin
so called because of the club-shaped
fruiting bodies
oil
ing glycerides of palmitic, stearic, arachitic
sporonine: lycopodic acid
L lycopodiaceae Club Moss Stags-Horn Moss Club Moss, known to apothecaries as
in
mountainous districts. Cultivation Wild plant.
and
ternal use only.
Lycopodium clavatum
L caprifoliaceae Honeysuckle Woodbine
1
.
Constituents
fections.
ternal use only.
Lonicera periclymenum
mm
narrow, pointed, bristled leaves, 3-5 long. Spores yellow, minute, carried in large numbers in yellow-green cones, usually or 2 rarely 3 which are borne at the ends of stalks extending from aerial branches, to 15 cm long. Spores ripe from early to mid-
or silica-containing soils; on moorland, conif-
expectorant; emetic; slightly astringent. used
densely covered with bright green, smooth,
autumn.
side: salicylic acid; sugars; invertin.
Contra-indications
.
Contra-indications
Aurea and
Formerly
side; salicylic acid: sugars; invertin.
Cultivated
:
Uses
Mucilage: an amorphous gluco-
Wild.
Cultivation
addition
:
hydrocaffeic
45 to
the
above,
contains alkaloids (0.12% comprising clavatoxine, clavatine and lycopodine. Uses ^spores ient;
Vulnerary; haemostatic: aper-
weak antispasmodic.
LON-LYT Tannic acid;
Wild.
in the treatment of inflammatory disbladder kidney, liver and Use now incontinence. urinary in and orders,
lycopine; flavone glycosides.
Constituents
Uses (fresh or dried flowering plant; Sedative;
lycopine; flavone glycosides.
confined to its external application as a soothing dusting powder for wounds and in skin irritations such as in eczema. Also em-
anti-haemorrhagic; cardioactive; antithyroi-
Uses (fresh or dried flowering plant) Sedative;
ds.
Formerly used internallv
is
ployed homeopathically. Hypoglycaemic action has been demonstrated experimentally. It was also used to coat pills to prevent their adhesion when stored. Once used as a basis for medicinal snuffs and as a vehicle for the application of powdered herbs
Constituents
uses
have been ascribed
may
be used internally. The if introduced to
L labiatae Gipsywort Gypsyweed Called Gipsywort because
More
stained
skin
their
weed. it
was supposed
with
the
herb.
certainly the plant has been of use as a
Although quite closely related to the mints this herb lacks aroma almost entirely. Description Perennial on creeping rhizome. Stems erect, simple or branched from 30-100 tall;
bearing opposite, shortly petiolate,
ovate-lanceolate to elliptic leaves up to 10 long.
Weed
Lower
leaves
pinnate,
mm
crenate. Flowers, 3 dotted with purple,
upper
cm
leaves
diameter, white and
numerous, in dense whorls in upper leaf axils. Appearing late summer to mid-autumn. Distribution Native to Europe, western Asia: introduced to North America. On many soil types, but especially those which are flooded: river margins, marshland and ditches. Cultivation
Wild.
is
Tannic acid;
essential oil; a bitter,
L labiatae
Virginia Bugle
Weed
is
in
the
diabetes.
Lythrum salicaria L lythraceae Purple Loosestrife Spiked Loosestrife This is still popular in European folk medicine,
was
name, Lythrum,
very similar to the
the latter half of the nineteenth century effectiveness
Action the same as that of L. europaeus. It has also been employed in the treatment of
thiolus thought
Weed
action was investigated originally in
Its
dic; hypoglycaemic.
and was once used in tanning leather. Pliny described a purple-red Lysimachia which Mat-
,
cloth dye for centuries.
cm
Lycopus virginicus
Bugle
which
linen.
European Gipsywort (also known as Gypsyweed and is itself sometimes called Gypsy-
Lycopus europaeus
gypsies
fresh juice provides a black dye,
Virginia Bugle
a flame.
it
gland.
permanent on wool and
ignite explosively
herb;
haemoptysis and other forms of haemorrhage including menorrhagia. It is a sedative, as it reduces the pulse rate in conditions involving an overactive thyroid
The
powder may
to this
has been used in the treatment of tuberculosis,
to the
only the spores
Cultivation
anti-haemorrhagic; cardio-active; antithyroi-
Many
Still
nose and ears. employed in firework manufacture. Contra-indications The whole plant is toxic;
essential oil; a bitter,
treatment
and
its
of internal
blood after
its
is
this species.
The
generic
derived from the Greek for
haemostatic properties. Salicaria
refers to the Willow-like (Salix
appearance of the
means willow)
leaves.
somewhat downy perennial 50-175 cm tall, on creeping rhizome; stem square and branched at the top. Leaves mostly Description Erect,
haemorrhages and other conditions led to its inclusion in the United States Pharmacopoeia. It is
now
This
rarely used outside folk medicine.
species
Gipsywort
[L.
is
slightly
europaeus)
more
active
than
when used medi-
cinally.
Perennial
Description
Stem
from
15-60
erect, glabrous or nearly so,
stolons
the
at
base,
cm
tall.
producing
and bearing ovate or
oblong-lanceolate, shortly petiolate, coarsely
Flowers whitish, sometimes heavily marked with purple, small, in loose axillary whorls; appearing late summer to serrate
leaves.
\\
f:
/*#•&
*
HP B TOf
mid-autumn. North American native; from Labrador to Florida and British Colombia. Distribution
On
rich,
espei iaIK
damp soils, in shady situations. marshy land and moist forests.
opposite, cordate below, lanceolate above to 10 cm. Flowers purple in whorled clusters tall,
leafy
summer
to
on
terminal spikes; appearing mid-
mid-autumn.
Native to Europe and western Asia, Russia. Introduced and naturalized in other
Distribution
temperate zones. In reed-beds, ditches, 1500
m
to
altitude.
Cultivation
may
fen-
beside stagnant or flowing water;
land,
Wild. Horticultural cultivars exist:
be propagated by seed or by division in
spring.
pectin; essential oil; Constituents Tannins; provitamin A; calcium oxalate; a glycoside,
The combined action is antibacterial and haemostatic. Uses (fresh or dried, whole flowering plant) vitexin.
Astringent; haemostatic; antibacterial; tonic.
An
excellent
cleanser,
gargle,
and of benefit
douche in
and
wound
diarrhoea or gastro-
intestinal disorders such as mild food poison-
ing Rapidly stops bleeding. Once used
in
diluted form as an eye-wash.
217
MAH-MAR Mahonia aquifolium (Pursh.) Nutt.
Description
BERBERIDACEAE
biennial.
Usually
pulled
Stem hairy, erect or decumbent, branched, 30-150 cm tall; bearing tomentose,
it out of the ground. Certainly Mandrake, like Henbane and Belladonna, was an ingredient of witches' brews and
after
reniform leaves, 4
McMahon.
round-cordate, long-petioled diameter, with 5-7 crenate lobes. Few pinkish-violet flowers, 4 cm diameter, 5-
poisons, but
Bernard The herb was introduced into
Europe
1823,
petalled, in clusters in leaf axils; appearing
in many European pharmacopoeias until the nineteenth century, and an official homeopathic preparation was
Mountain Grape Barberry This is known as Mahonia American
the
in
aquifolium
horticulturalist
and
is
now
often
grown
because of its attractive foliage and fruit. Description Fast growing evergreen shrub to 2 m: leaves consisting of 5 9 ovate leaflets 2-7 cm long, dark green and glossy, lighter beneath. Flowers yellowish-green, heavilv scented, in terminal racemes. Bears purpleblue smooth berries. Distribution
Indigenous
early
perennial,
or
cm
summer
to
mid-autumn.
Native
Distribution
Europe, western Asia,
to
North America; on porous nutrient-rich soils, especially hedge banks, field edges, and wasteland; in sunny situations. Cultivation Wild. Once grown as a garden plant propagate from seed sown in late spring, ;
to
mountainous regions
later thinning to 75
cm
of British Columbia. Distribution from British
Constituents
Mucilage;
Columbia
vitamins A,
B p B 2 C.
to
occasionally
Oregon. Introduced elsewhere.
apart. volatile
tannin:
oil;
Roman
employed It
it
was
also used
physicians
as
an
by the Greek and anaesthetic and
in early surgery.
continued to be included
introduced
in 1877.
Perennial on thick, branching, tuberous root; practically stemless. Leaves reaching 30 cm long, ovate and undulate, basal or nearly so, dark green. Flowers greenDescription
ish-yellow or purplish, 3 cm long, single or clustered within the leaves; appearing mid to
and followed by orange, globose, many-seeded fruit. Distribution Native to Himalayas and southeastern mediterranean region. On poor thin, sandy soils in full sun. Cultivation Wild plant. Rarely cultivated hortilate spring
,
fleshy,
culturally in historical gardens or in botanic
drug collections. Requires warm situation and winter protection in north Europe. Propagated from seed sown as soon as
ripe, or
by
division. Constituents Alkaloids, including atropine, sco-
polamine and action
is
hyoscyamine,
to
which the
due.
dried root, fresh leaves rarely
Sedative;
hallucinogenic; purgative; emetic; anodyne.
No
Cultivation
plant and
Wild
now
plant.
Cultivated as garden
I
h
1
and flowers, occasionally Demulcent; anti-inflammatory; laxat-
dried leaves
temperate /ones. Constituents Alkaloids comprising mainly berberine, berbamine and oxyacanthine. Uses dried rhizome and root Used in digestive complaints and for skin diseases especially psoriasis. Combined with Cascara uigrada for
roots)
use in constipation.
Externally
naturalized
in
ive: slightly astringent.
Useful
in
system.
Taken
irritation for the
of the
gastro-intestinal
treatment of coughs and
bronchitis.
Large doses are gently purgative.
may
be used as a soothing poultice.
supposed sedative effect is unproven. Leaves were once cooked as a vegetable; and seeds and capsules known as cheeses may be Its
Malva
sylvestris
L Malvaceae
Common Mallow
I
The Common Mallow was once
highly res-
pected as a medicinal plant and foodstuff, and from the days of the Romans was cultivated as a garden herb. In the sixteenth century it was given the all
name
omnimorbia,
- probably because of
its
meaning
a cure-
gently purgative
eaten raw in salads.
Mandragora
qfficinarum
L solanaceae
Mandrake Mandrake
is
the most
commonly
action; a practice which in itself was thought
those obsessed with magical rites
body of disease. The common name Mallow is from the Latin malva for soft and emollient, after the feel, and
ritual
to rid the
examby
and
orgiastic
with which some hallucinogenic and narcotic herbs became closely associated in the
dark ages.
was protected by the early Greek
properties respectively, of the leaves.
It
For medicinal purposes it has largely been replaced by the more effective Marshmallow.
who invested
218
cited
ple of the former abuse of medicinal plants
ful
collectors
the root with such fictitious
attributes as the ability to
kill
a
harm-
man who
longer used medicinally owing to
its
high
MAH-MAR The
toxicity.
leaves were once applied ex-
had
ternally to ulcers, while the root formerly
wide application in the relief of pain, treatment of nervous disorders and
in the as
an
Brazil to Mexico. Introduced to Africa, India
tall,
and south-east
leaves 1.5-5
Wild. Cultivated commercially by harvest time and replanting a
Cultivation lifting
it
Asia.
at
portion of the rhizome that has buds on
aphrodisiac. Contra-indications
POISONOUS
and danger-
ous; not to be used internally or externally.
it.
Starch small quantities of gum and
Constituents
;
Uses (starch, occasionally rhizome
Nutritive:
demulcent.
Arrowroot was first noticed on the West Indian island of Dominica at the end of the seventeenth century, and it was subsequently grown in Jamaica where it was employed both as a source of starch and as a poison antidote.
mm
Appearing
nutlets.
mid-summer
mid-
to
autumn. Native to southern and central Europe, North Africa, Asia; introduced elsewhere, often widespread. On dry grassland or pastures, field edges and wasteland, in warm Distribution
fibre.
Maranta arundinacea L marantaceae Arrowroot Maranta Starch
bearing wrinkled, dentate, ovate, opposite cm l° n g; tomentose beneath and long-petioled. Flowers whitish, 5-8 long, numerous in axillary whorls; followed by-
The powdered rhizome was applied to poisonous bites and wounds in some tropical
situations.
Wild. Cultivated commercially on a
countries.
Cultivation
Of
small scale by root division in mid-spring.
benefit as a soothing food-stuff following
diarrhoea or illness. Once employed in pill manufacture, and in barium meals for X-ray of the gastro-intestinal system. It may be candied as a sweet. It can also be used in cooking as a thickener. vulgare L labiatae White Horehound White Horehound has been used
Marrubium
remedy from present day.
is
still
as a
cough
included in the
an expectorant, and it remains a popular domestic and folk medicine. Wherever European emigrants have travelled they have taken this plant and grown it in herb and cottage thus
generic name. Pliny
and
mon name hunt
widely
distributing
Marrubium, was
first
it.
is
The
used by
refers to the bitter taste; the
meaning
com-
derived from the Old English a
downy
cm
thinning to 30 in
May
in late spring,
apart, or from cuttings taken
summer.
Constituents Tannins; volatile oil, comprising marrubiol; mucilage; resin; sterols; a bitter principle, marrubin; vitamin C.
Uses
Austrian and Hungarian pharmacopoeias as
gardens,
grown from seed sown
(dried
flowering
dried
plant,
leaves)
Expectorant; emmenagogue; weak diuretic;
the time of the Egyptians to the
The herb
also be
liar
plant.
Description Faintly aromatic woody perennial, almost entire plant is woolly. Branched near
the base; stems erect, nearly square,
30-60 cm
spasmolytic; weak diaphoretic.
Useful
in
specifically
many in
respiratory
bronchitis
disorders,
but
and coughs. Pro-
motes bile flow and stimulates the appetite. Considered of benefit in disorders of the gall bladder and stomach, and acts as a stomach tonic. Formerly used to treat menstrual pain. Possesses for
some weak sedative
action, suitable
use in conjunction with other herbs in
nervous tachycardia. May be applied externally to minor cuts and certain skin conditions. Laxative in large doses. Leaves may be used powdered as a bitter condiment, or whole as a tisane and in the
manufacture of the confection, Horehound candy.
The common name is thought to be derived from the fact that a pouliii e ol it was applied to arrow wounds. Its Brazilian name, however, is araruta, which may indicate a different etymological origin
Supplies of Arrowroot
from Jamaica
at
first
reached Europe
the beginning ol the nine-
it was being grown and by 1858 Maranta was a commer-
teenth century, but by 1840 in India,
cial
The
crop
in
generic
Georgia,
name
is
in
the
alter
B.
United States. Maranta, six-
teenth-ceniury Venetian botanist and physician; arundinacea relets to the reed-like shape
ol
the plant.
Although it is still used, it was much more popular before tin- 1914 1918 war. Description Herbaceous perennial on creeping rhizome and fleshy tuben; stems 60 mii 3 m tall,
thin, reed-like,
oblong,
and
4
petiolate,
to
cm wide
branched, bearing ovateglabrous,
ing around the stem.
on long thin
1
-,
30
cm
long
leaves; the petioles sheath-
pedum
Few
small, white flowers
les.
Distribution Native to tropical
America, from
219
MAT-MEL L compositae
Matricaria recutita
Wild Chamomile German or Wild Chamomile was previously called
M.
Chamomilla, but in botanical terms
not a true chamomile and
it
sometimes called Sweet False Chamomile. Although now is
also
it is
considered slightly inferior to Roman Chamomile (Chamaemelum nobile) - even its aroma being somewhat less pronounced - there is no certainty
tions
promoting bile and gastric secreand increasing the appetite. In large
doses
it is
disorders,
German Chamomile
which of the chamomiles was meant
by the chamaimelon of Dioscorides. Today both
and M. recutita are used for similar The name, Matricaria, is either from the root word mater meaning mother
emetic.
Promotes sweating and
common
cold; a
weak
Although
formerly used to treat painful menstruation, it is not very effective. May be applied as an antiseptic douche; used
aphthous ulcers; applied to haemorrhoids; or used as a poultice or compress for cuts, bruises, ulcers and skin as a gargle for
C. nobile
disorders.
purposes.
A
or from matrix, the Latin for
Employed as a tisane. Widely employed as an
womb,
after
its
use
used to treat the
is
infusion acts as a tonic.
flavouring
in
alcoholic
certain
drinks.
anti-allergic agent in
female complaints. Description Aromatic glabrous annual to 60 cm stems erect, much-branched, bearing 2-3 pinnate leaves with almost filiform segments. Flower-heads pedunculate, single at branch-
shampoos, and
apices. Flowers to 2 cm wide, ray florets (10-20) white; disc florets yellow; receptacle hollow and conical. Appearing early summer
Medicago sativa L leguminosae Lucerne Alfalfa The name, Medicago, is derived from Medea
for treating
let
cosmetic preparations.
A
constituent of
some
liquid
and dry hair and lightens
lotions. Highlights
fair hair.
in
North Africa where this important plant was thought to have originated. Certainly the Arabs have used Lucerne fodder for centuries to feed their horses, and it has been in cultivation for so long that, like Flax, it exists in
The
many
plant
Europe
when
different forms.
was
not
known
until the seventeenth
in
north-west
century however,
The
vated.
nutritive
Lucerne has few traditional medicinal gation has shown that
field, it is
uses
but recent investi-
of great nutritional
importance and contains, for example, four times as much vitamin C as citrus juice, measured weight for weight. Description Glabrous perennial 30 cm-i m; on deep, thick taproot; much-branched stem often forming dense bushy growth. Leaves pinnate, with 3 denticulate leaflets to 3 cm long, obovate-oblong. Flowers 1.5-3 cm on g> '
on axillary racemes, appearing late summer to mid-autumn; followed by pubescent spiralled seed pod. Distribution Originally native to mediterranean violet-blue,
mid-autumn
or sometimes later. Indigenous to Europe, northern Asia, naturalized in North America; widespread on wasteland, farmland and in gardens. Cultivation Wild. Cultivated and collected commercially in central Europe. Propagate from seed sown thinly in the autumn, or with to
less
success in the spring.
Constituents Volatile oil (0.3-0.
75%) compris-
(chamazulene),
azulene
ing
farnesene,
a-
bisabolol, sesquiterpenes, palustrine, quercetol,
methoxycoumarin,
salicylic acid;
tane;
fatty
furfural
acids
to
also apigenin
and flavonic
The anti-inflammatory a-bisabolol,
spasmolytic
;
choline; phytosterol; triacon-
but
action
antiseptic action
due
action
also
due
to
heterosides.
due mainly chamazulene; is
dicyclic
to
to several
ether;
components.
Uses (dried flower-heads) Anti-inflammatory; antiseptic;
antispasmodic;
carminative.
Of
great benefit as an aromatic bitter for gastric
220
Uses (fresh or dried leaf, occasionally seed)
was given the name lucerna meaning lamp, after the bright shiny appearance of the seeds. The specific name sativa means cultiit
outside the veterinary
Distribution
substance, coumestrol.
region
and
western
Asia;
naturalized
in
North America. Now worldwide in distribution, especially on dry, light or chalky soils. Cultivation Wild as an escape. Many strains exist and the form of the plant depends on the variety grown. Very widely cultivated as fodder and for commercial purposes. Seed sown in late spring after risk of frost has passed, preferably on calcareous loam, which is free of weeds and prepared to a fine tilth. When grown commercially, seed is usually inocu-
Nutritive; diuretic; anti-haemorrhagic.
seed was once used by Indians as an
abortifacient.
Of
benefit
as
a
tonic
and
herb; an infusion taken regularly
promotes appetite and leads to weight inA very rich source of vitamin C, when
crease.
used fresh.
May
be applied
externally
to
aid
wound
healing.
Used
The
as a beverage.
leaf is
employed
as a salad herb, or
cooked
as a vegetable.
The
sprouted indoors and eaten as a and amino-acids. Of considerable veterinary importance as a food-stuff; in cows it increases milk yield. One of the major commercial sources of chlorophyll; also a source of vitamin K,. seed
is
rich source of vitamins
The
seed provides a yellow dye. Formerly used
as a diluent to adjust the strength of powdered
medicinal plants such as
Digitalis.
Melaleuca leucadendron L myrtaceae Cajuput Tree Punk Tree
lated
Cajuput oil is extracted by steam distillation from the leaves of a number of related Australasian trees or shrubs, all of which are members of the Bottle Brush group. Melaleuca leucadendron is the most important commercial source. The characteristic flowering spike with its numerous long creamy-white stamens led to
drine;
meaning white from the Greek for black and white, after the trunk and bark colours of one of the species. The word Cajuput is derived directly from the local Malaysian name kqyu-puti which means white wood - another reference to the colour. The oil was first noticed by Rumphius in the
with a specific nitrogen-fixing root nodule bacterium to ensure growth. Replace after 5-7 years. Very drought resistant. Constituents Protein (16%) fat (3%) vitamins C, B p B 2 D, E, K,; provitamin A; several mineral salts, including potassium, calcium and phosphorus; choline; trimethylamine: betaine; alfafa saponin; an alkaloid, stachy;
;
,
a
bitter
principle;
a
hormonal
the specific tree,
name
leucadendron
while melaleuca
is
MAT-MEL seventeenth century
late
who
described the use
of the plant by Malaysians. Lochner, a physician to the German Emperor, and von Wittneben, promoted its use in the early eighteenth century particularly in Ger-
many, where it was called Oleum Wittnebianum. Description Large tree with spongy, shiny and branches usually pendulous, oblong tapering strongly-veined
bark;
peeling
bearing
1.5-2
leaves,
cm wide and 5-10 cm
long.
Flowers creamy white, small, with numerous stamens extending 15 mm, borne on terminal spikes to 15 cm long, which themselves terminate in a tuft of leaves; followed by brown
Medic, leguminosae
Melilotus alba
White Melilot White Sweet
ointments
Clover/
Bokhara Clover This is the taller of the common melilots and although of little benefit to man directly it is of great importance as an agricultural fodder crop, honey plant and cover crop for green manuring. Spoiled White Sweet Clover may sometimes cause cattle poisoning due to the presence of large quantities of dicoumarol, which delays blood coagulation and leads to severe, often internal, haemorrhage. Evidence suggests the cultivated races of the herb have
terpineol, 1-pinene, aldehydes, including those
lower concentrations of dicoumarol. Description Sweet smelling erect, branched, annual or biennial from 1-2.5 m ta ^- Stems ribbed longitudinally, glabrous, bearing pinnate leaves with oblong, denticulate leaflets 1.8-4 cm l° n g- Flowers white, honey-scented, small (4 long), numerous, on long thin, erect, terminal racemes; appearing midsummer to early autumn and followed by
of benzoic, valeric and butyric acids.
small pods.
capsules.
Native to Australasia and Malayintroduced elsewhere in tropical situations,
Distribution sia
;
swamps.
especially
Wild. Limited cultivation; propa-
Cultivation
mm
gate from cuttings. Oil
Constituents
Uses
comprising
and
leaves
occasionally
(oil,
cineole
(60"
ulant; rubefacient; antihelmintic; expector-
treatment of oil
Of
and
for the
some
Used externally
in
oils for
rheumatic pain;
in various liniments;
and
scabies;
treat
to
in
cavities
to
relieve pain.
A
tea
Oil
is
and
is
also
All
essential
is
now made commercially.
of commercial
importance
as
a
flavouring for cheese and tobacco and was
once used in beer manufacture. Its botanical name, Melilotus, means honey-lotus or honey clover,
The
and
reflects the
sweetness of its nectar.
hay-like smell of the substance
coumarin
develops only when the plant is dried, and it was for this aromatic property that Common Melilot was once used as a strewing herb.
Known
to the apothecaries as corona regis, or it is
not
now used
very widely.
cm; stems
Flowers yellow, honeylong) borne on long, racemes, appearing mid-
leaflets.
narrow
axillary
summer
to early
mm
autumn.
Coumarin and
related substances,
released on drying; a glycoside, melilotoside;
the leaves.
leaves repel insects.
Contra-induations in
It
Constituents
made from
used only
botic preparation
Distribution
stimulant-rubbing tooth
officinalis
Eurasian native; naturalized in North America. Especially on nitrogenous wasteland, embankments and fields. Cultivation Wild plant. Collected commercially.
digestive dis-
orders.
(L) Pall, leguminosae Melilot Yellow Sweet Clover This member of the Laburnum family (which is also called Wild Laburnum) is a very old medicinal plant from which an antithromMelilotus
Common
denticulate
removal of roundworms.
benefit internally in
and
honey plant.
scented, small (4-6
is
excreted via the lungs), as a gastro-intestinal antiseptic,
greatest importance as cattle fodder,
glabrous or pubescent, ribbed, erect or decumbent, branched. Bearing trifoliate leaves, and obovate or oblanceolate, 1-2 cm long,
ant. in the
skin
antibacterial ac-
Formerly used homeopathically.
tivity.
Of
weak
Description Straggly biennial to 130
Carminative; antispasmodic; antiseptic; stim-
Formerly used internally
promote the healing of
the kings crown,
twigs)
chronic bronchitis and tuberculosis (the
to
complaints. Possesses
fixed oil; melilotic acid. oils
Uses (dried flowering plant) Aromatic; carminative; expectorant; antithrombotic; anti-
should be
very small quantities.
spasmodic; antibiotic. Formerly used in a wide range of conditions.
Native to Asia and Europe. NaturNorth America, especially the eastern
Distribution
alized in
introduced
varieties
states;
weedy wastelands, nitrogenous herb,
M.
Hubam
soils in
alba
sunny
var.
elsewhere.
In
on stony and
situations.
An annual
Wild.
Cultivation
especially
annua
variety of this,
Coe,
also
called
developed as a droughtresistant, high weight yielding fodder and honey yielding crop, is grown worldwide from seed sown in spring. Clover,
Constituents
Coumarin and
related substances;
occasionally dicoumarol (melitoxinj
Dicoumarol
acts as a vitamin
K
;
fixed
oil.
antagonist,
thus reducing prothrombin synthesis which
delays blood coagulation. Uses (cured fresh plant, occasionally flowering plant;
Nutritive; aromatic; stimulant; vul-
nerary.
Rarely used medicinally, but used in Central as a stimulant. May be employer! in
America
22
1
MEL-MEN May be taken regularly to help prevent thrombosis; also to treat bronchial catarrh and flatulence. Externally applied to wounds and skin inflammations
on inflamed
eyes.
and can be used with care
The
seeds possess antibiotic
activity.
Formerly used
in
herb beer; flowers and seeds
used to flavour Gruyere cheese, snuff and
smoking tobacco. May be employed
some meat
in
dishes, for
Native to southern Europe; mediterranean region; central Europe; introduced
Distribution
and widespread on nutrient-rich
soils in
;
required
clothes.
comprising
Large doses are emetic.
common
sunny position. Cultivation Wild. Cultivated commercially and horticulturally from seed sown in mid to late spring (slow germination) or by root division in spring or autumn. Prefers rich, moist soil in sunny position with some shade; some shelter
example, rabbit. Limited cosmetic use where hay-like aroma is required. Repels moths and is used to protect Contra-indications
northern temperate zones,
in
often as a garden escape. Especially
to frost.
in cooler climates, as
A
variegated form
Constituents (fresh plant)
it is
susceptible
exists.
Essential oil (0.1%)
citral, linalol, citronellal
aniol; tannins
(5%
;
and
ger-
a bitter principle; resin;
succinic acid.
L labiatae Balm Lemon Balm/Common Balm
Melissa
Uses (fresh or dried leaves, occasionally flower-
officinalis
Although Balm has been cultivated in the mediterranean region for over 2000 years, it was for almost half this period considered important only as a bee plant, and until the fifteenth century was known as either melissophyllon, Greek for bee leaf, or apiastrum, Latin
bee plant.
for
modern botanical
Its
name, The Arabs introduced
Melissa, reflects this early association.
specifically of benefit in
and
it
bites.
medicinal herb anxiety or depression,
it
as a
has been used as a sedative or tonic tea
Balm
ever since.
has frequently been incorpor-
ated in proprietary cordials or liqueurs, and
its
name The
de
popularity in France led to
Balm
its
an abbreviation for balsam sweet aroma, but this aroma is rapidly
France.
is
alter
its
lost,
together with
value, on drying
much
and
of
its
therapeutic
storing.
Description Sweet-smelling perennial, on slightly
oil) Carminative; diaphoretic; antispasmodic; sedative. Of use in aromatic waters or as a tea for the treatment of minor gastric disturbances, nausea and headaches. Also used in conjunction with other remedies to treat nervous tachycardia and restlessness. Some hypotensive action. Fresh leaf is soothing when rubbed on insect
ing tops,
Oil once used alone as a diaphoretic, but
is
slightly toxic.
Wide
culinary potential where delicate lemon
flavour
is
common
required.
An
important constituent of several liqueurs, including Benedictine and Chartreuse. Useful in wine cups and cold drinks. Taken alone .1.1
tisane.
A useful bee plant. May be used in pot-pourris, in
herb mixtures
for
herb pillows, and aromatic baths.
hairy square stem, branching near the top,
from 30 80 cm. Leaves opposite, petiolate, ovate,
greenish-yellow,
dentate,
to
7.5
cm
dentate or crenate-
long;
lemon
scented.
mints, although in the Middle Ages
L
1
Flowers
which
is
sometimes
and rather
lilac
florescence, 4
species hybridizes readily with other mints,
this.
producing a large array of varieties.
Distribution
mid-autumn.
It is
This
strong-smelling and not as pleasant as most
rarely
2
many
in
cm
Appearing
2-6 cm
long.
diameter, with usually only
late
Native
1
summer
to
to late autumn. Europe and naturalized
On
northern temperate zones.
beside
soils,
crisp;
or red, in rounded terminal in-
axillan whorls of flowers beneath
Flowers whitish, occasionally pinkish or yellow; small (0.75-1.5 cm long) in scanty axillary clusters; appearing late summer to
in distinct varieties.
of
oil
Spearmint. Description Strong-smelling perennial; variable in form. Angular, glabrous or pubescent, much-branched stem to m, on stolons. Leaves opposite, serrate, decussate, ovate, petiolate,
plant
related Mentha spicata
used as a commercial source of
is
Mentha aquatica L labiatae
to exist
The
as a strewing herb.
Water Mint A very variable considered
then called menastrum/ was used
Water Mint
streams,
in
ditches
and
wet on
regularly flooded land. Cultivation
Wild.
May
be propagated by stolon
division in spring. Plant in water or keep very
wet.
(poco oil, to 0.85 linalol comprising menthofuran. acetate, holine; limonene, L-carvol; also betaine; succinic acid; glucose; menthyl pentose; dotConstituents Volatile oil
•
ricontane; aquaticol; tannins. fresh herb, occasionally root bark and i'ses i
oil)
Carminative; antispasmodic; cholagogue;
slightly astringent.
Of benefit
as a
warm
infusion in disturbances
of the gastro-intestinal system, particularly diarrhoea, and intestinal spasms. Also useful in the treatment of the
common
cold
and
in
painful menstruation. In Africa the root bark is
employed
in the
treatment of diarrhoea and
colds.
May Mav
be taken as a tisane. be employed with discretion
in
scented
articles.
Once used
as a strewing herb.
Contra-indications
222
Large doses may be emetic.
MEL-MEN Mentha x
piperita
L labiatae
Cultivation
Peppermint Peppermint herbs, but
1696
when
is
it
now one
was not
of the best
known of all
definitely recorded until
the botanist, Ray. published a brief
description of a pepper-tasting mint which
had, near to that date, first been observed by Eales in Hertfordshire, England.
Dr
In his Histona plantarum
1
704 Ray
called the
mint Peper-mint or Mentha palustris, and although the latter correctly refers to the marsh-loving nature of the plant, no satisfactory explanation can be given for his erroneous
an escape, and seldom
as
cially
and horticulturally
in
many
commer-
parts of the
autumn and cm deep. Water
world. Divide stolons in
replant
M. odorata, is therefore rather more accurate than the present one, which suggests only a lemon
scent.
Very aromatic decumbent, glab-
Description
well in 30 cm apart, 5 ordinary garden situations; replace after 5 years. Does not breed true if raised from seed. comprising Constituents Volatile oil (to 2°
cm tall, on overground leafy stolons. Stems branched, bearing dark green, purple-tinged, smooth, ovate or
menthol (50%), menthone, menthyl isovalerate, cineole. jasmone, phellandrene. amy!
rounded dense terminal spikes or in upper leaf axils, appearing from mid to late autumn. Distribution European native, naturalized else-
;
alcohol, acetaldehyde. cadinene; tannins; bitter
compounds.
Uses
(fresh
or
dried
plant,
oil)
Aromatic
rous perennial from 30-60
elliptic, petiolate leaves
where.
On
rich,
stimulant; carminative: antiseptic; antispas-
partial shade.
has nevertheless been retained. Pepper-
modic; anti-inflammatory: cholagogue. May be employed in a variety of gastrointestinal disorders where its antispasmodic, anti-flatulent and appetite-promoting actions
Cultivation
mint's medicinal value was soon recognized
and within 25 years of its description the herb was included in the London Pharmacopoeia it is still retained in many national pharmacopoeias.
Botanically
the
herb
represents
a
hybrid
between M. spicata and M. some authorities is thought to
exist as
varietal forms called Black
(forma rubescens
and by two main
aquatica
.
and White forma pallescens) Peppermints. Description Aromatic perennial on root-stock producing runners. Stem square, erect, somewhat branched above, slightly hairy, either purple Black Peppermint or much less so White Peppermint from 30 cm m tall; 1
,
deeply dentate leaves. 1 8 cm long and 2.5 cm wide. Flowers mauve (occasionally white 1
irregularly
spike 3—7.5
arranged on a conical terminal cm long; appearing late summer
mid-autumn. European Dative; widelv distributed and often naturalized. In sunn) 01 to
Distribution
partially shad) conditions on rich
damp
hedgerows, ditches and
found neat
habitation.
it
is
also
soils;
moist
soils
in conditions of
cm
Constituents Volatile oil.
Uses (fresh or dried leaves)
Used sparingly
in
Not used medicincold
tisanes, jellies,
drinks, or salads.
May
be employed
in a
range of scented and
cosmetic articles.
L labiatae
Mentha pulegium
Pennyroyal Pudding Grass
required.
Well-known culinary
uses.
Also employed to flavour some liqueurs.
The
oil
may
cause allergic
reactions.
Mentha x piperita LABIATAE
Mauve
deep.
ally.
Contra-indicatwns
l° n §-
Wild. Cultivated horticulturally by
headaches and agitation. Used in conjunction with other remedies for the common cold. Both the herb and the oil may be used externally in baths to treat cuts and skin rashes. Wide cosmetic, dental and confectionery use of the oil where a mint flavouring or cold-taste is
cm
division of stolons in spring; planting 5
are required. Particularly useful in nervous
variable. Bearing petiolate green or purple-
green, lanceolate, or ovate-lanceolate, acute,
1.5-4
flowers in
common
description of the plant's taste; the
name
Wild only
established permanently. Cultivated
Ehr.
var. citrata
Bergamot Mint Eau
Briq.
Pennyroyal was held in very high repute for centuries throughout Europe and was the most popular of all the members of the mint family, being used both for a wide range of medicinal purposes and in various ancient
many
ceremonies.
regarded as the originator of its name is derived from pulex meaning flea, since both the fresh plant and the smoke from the burning leaves were used to eradicate Pliny
de Cologne Mint
( hrange Mint This mint is one of the most attractivelv scented of all herbs and should occupy a place in every herb garden. The aroma is. however,
somewhat intangible and
it
is
variously des-
cribed as lemon, orange, bergamot, lavender
and can <\c ( k>logne mint the latter being (he most widely used. Its former botanical name,
is
pulegium which
the insects.
This association with fleas has been retained in
botanical name given to the plant by Linnaeus. Before his scientific classification the
the
superficial
appearance and unusual aroma of
the herb led to
it
being considered as a tin
inc.
was an old French name for thyme and this plant was designated the royal thyme heme puliol royali and thus the corruption, Pennyroyal. The modern French name is la menthe Pouliot from puliol. Although long considered an abortifacient, it has been found Puliol
that
tltis
cllcct
dose of the
oil
is
usually only possible with a
which
is
highly toxic and leads
kidney damage. The plant can therefore be used as a flavouring agent, but only when the concentration of pulegone does not exceed 20 mg in kg of the to irreversible
1
product being flavoured. The American Pennyroyal (Hedeoma pulegioides final
I.
Pers.) has similar properties
Description
Aromatu
perennial
and
uses.
with
much
blanched prostrate 01 erect stems to 30 cm on overground runners. Leaves dark tall; green, slightly hairy, petiolate. oblong 01 oval innate 01 senate, 0.8 2 cm long. Flowers mauve-blue, in rounded dense axillary whorls, along upper halfol the stem. Appearing late summer to early autumn. Distribution Native to Europe, North Africa and western Asia; introduced elsewhere. On nutrient-rich, moist hut sandy soils. Prefers sunny situations. Cultivation
Wild.
Commercial
cultivation
223
MEN-MOR Grown
limited.
horticulturally; the prostrate
form as a lawn (var. decumbens) or for aromatic ground cover. Sow seed in late spring under glass
cool
in
zones,
planting out
early
in
is
more
fore
employed
Bowles Mint (also sometimes incorrectly called Apple Mint) is a hybrid between this species
and M.
protect from hard frosts. Propagate also by
rotundifolia
autumn
or spring, or from
summer. Constituents Volatile oil (0.5-1%) comprising a ketone, pulegone (80-90%), to which the action is largely due; also menthone; /?-
cuttings taken in the
far
kitchen.
summer on open, friable, loamy soil 15-20 cm apart. Keep well watered in dry weather, and root division in
and mav theremore widely in the
subtle than most mints
be
spicata,
but
'Bowles
is
known
usually
Variety.
An
variegated form of Apple Mint
grown
as a
Description
is
as
M.
attractive
commonly
garden ornamental. Aromatic pubescent perennial on
margin deeply serrate, to 6 cm long. Flowers pale lilac, on cylindrical, irregularly flowered terminal spikes 5-10 cm long, appearing early autumn. Distribution Native to southern Europe. Widelv curled,
damp, shady sites near habitation. Cultivation Wild. Very widely cultivated commercially and as a garden plant. Propagate from stolon division in the autumn; plant 5 cm naturalized, especially in
caryophyllene; methylcyclohexanol; iso-menthone; tannins. Uses (fresh or dried flowering plant) Emmenagogue; antispasmodic; carminative.
May
be used
in
minor
Vi
gastric disturbances,
and menstrual
flatulence, nausea, headache,
leafy stolons, bearing erect,
somewhat branch-
ed, thin stems to 90 cm. Leaves green, white
and velvety beneath, sessile, oblong to round. crenate-serrate, 3-10 cm long. Flowers white, (team to pink, on dense irregularly flowered, somewhat pointed terminal spikes, from 3 o cm long; appearing early to mid-autumn. Distribution European native; widely naturalized; on damp soils in ditches and waste places. Cultivation Wild. Widelv cultivated horticulturally.
common
of benefit at the onset of the
Fresh leaves irritations
may
and
it is
it
stolon
division
in
acts as a rube-
facient.
May
be taken, weak, as a tea (Organy tea). Formerly used as a flavouring in puddings.
ries
Mentha spicata L labiatae Spearmint Garden Mint/Pea Mint Spearmint was formerly known as Mentha viridis L; the specific name viridis meaning green emphasized the bright green colour of
The modern
botanical name, and the
the herb.
The
may
shape of both the inflorescence and the leaves. In the sixteenth century the plant was called Spere mynte and even then, as today, it was the most commonly used of all mints. The Romans were responsible for its distribution throughout north and west Europe. Besides important culinary and flavouring uses it is still retained in the Hungarian Pharmacopoeia for its medical use.
been used
as a
Contra-indications
genito-urinary uterine
May
Somewhat tract
in
irritant
possibly
movements; not
nancy, or
it
has
to
the
dye plant.
to
causing reflex
be used in preg-
kidney disease.
cause contact dermatitis.
224
on
rotundifolia (L)
its
It
reflect the
spear or spike-like
Aromatic nearly glabrous perennial underground stolons. Stems erect, square, somewhat branched, from 30-60 cm tall. Leaves smooth and green, opposite, almost sessile, lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate and Description
Huds. labiatae Apple Mint Round-leaved Mint Apple Mint is so-called simply because aroma is a combination of mint and apples. Mentha
for
used as a flavouring agent in
oil is
and
garnishing and general toilet-
and confectionery.
Menyanthes
trifoliata
Buckbean Marsh
L menyanthaceae Trefoil/Bog Bean
is the old Greek name for an and distinctive herb, common loand sometimes extensive in shallow water
Mmyanthes attractive
common name,
In the eastern mediterranean region
use in sauces, jellies, hot
and
Not used medicinally. Many culinary uses, including meat and fish, egg dishes, fruit dishes, jellies, hot and cold beverages, sauces and vinegars. Once used in confectionery manufacture. fresh leaf)
sachets.
repellent.
Wide culinary cold beverages, flavouring.
drawer
be used in cosmetics as an insect
Uses (fresh or dried leaf, oil Carminative; aromatic; antispasmodic; weak emmenagogue. Similar uses to Peppermint.
The
Useful in scented articles, particularly clothes oil
Volatile oil comprising menthol, carvone, limonene; vitamin A; tannins.
autumn.
cold.
be applied externally to skin
insect bites, as
by
true. Constituents
Constituents Volatile oil; tannins.
Uses
pain. In combination with other remedies
Propagate
deep and water well. Replace after 4 years. Rarely grown from seed since it does not breed
leafy
cally in
many
cooler parts of the northern hemis-
Greek name means flower of the month, which reflects not only the duration of its beautiful shaggy flowers, but also its beneficial effects on menstrual pain. At one time Buckbean was considered in Germany to be a panacea and was used to treat many ailments from gout to scurvy and rheumatism. The Swedes, Norwegians, Icelanders and Scots also phere.
Its
particularly favoured this bitter tasting plant. It is
now
generally considered to be a useful
substitute for Gentian Root.
The common name, Bog Bean,
is
less
than 200
and is derived from the German Bocksbohnen meaning goat's beans, which in English became Buckbean. Description Glabrous, aquatic perennial on years old
black, creeping, thick horizontal root-stock;
bearing alternate, basal,
trifoliate leaves
with
pale prominent midribs, sheathing at the base.
MEN-MOR on petioles the base
to
25
cm
high. Petioles thicker at
and surrounded by
bracts. Leaflets
obovate or oblong, entire, sessile, terminal, 4-7.5 cm long, dark green. Flowers white; pinkish or purplish externally with shaggypetals, 15
on
mm long,
long
scapes;
10-15 per terminal raceme appearing early to mid-
summer.
as a garden ornamental for its combination of orange scent and attractive flowers. It is called Bergamot because of its scent which resembles
Bergamot orange. Several now exist of which the best-known that of a
varieties is
Cam-
bridge Scarlet; other types are salmon, rose, purple, or white in colour - but the wild, red .U. didyma
is
the most aromatic.
times root and
agogue; expectorant.
May
be
used
less
ing Iceland and Greenland. In ditches, fresh-
century Spanish medical botanist Nicholas de
skin problems.
water marsh and bog, reed-beds and meadows which are always wet and consist of acidic, peaty soils.
Purple Bergamot
America
zones, from North
temperate
northern
Wild plant. May be grown as a pond or bog plant by division of root-stock in spring or autumn. Constituents A glycoside, menyanthin; bitter Cultivation
principles,
loganine,
meliatine;
sweroside,
flavone heterosides; inulin; vitamin C; cho-
malic acid. Uses (dried leaves, occasionally dried whole plant Bitter tonic emmenagogue stomachic. line; resin;
;
;
I
The
fresh plant
tic.
Now
was formerly used
of greatest
benefit
as a cathar-
intestinal tonic; stimulates gastric
secretions,
and hence promotes
a
gastro-
and
biliary
as
appetite.
a direct beneficial effect on the liver;
it
It
has
is
of
Monardes, and
is
closely related to
\M.
fistulosa
L)
Wild or which is
Oswego Tea - and which has long been used by American Indians for medicinal purposes. Oswego derives its name from the Oswego River district near Lake Ontario in the United States where the herb grew in abundance and from where most supplies originally came. After the Boston Tea Party, 1773, a protest at the tea duty imposed on the colonies, Oswego Tea replaced Indian tea in also called
many American
households.
Aromatic, usually glabrous perennial from 40-100 cm tall; stems erect, acutely quadrangular, bearing opposite, serrate, ovate to ovate-lanceolate dark green, often redtinged, leaves to 15 cm long. Flowers scarletDescription
red,
4-5 cm
relieve
to
nausea,
vomiting and, with
headaches and
success,
chial catarrh
to
tea
colds.
It
is
also
taken internally and by inhalation of the water vapour (pouring on boiling water) for bron-
to Siberia includ-
Native
a
as
flatulence, menstrual pain,
Red Bergamot belongs to the Monarda or Horsemint genus, named after the sixteenth-
Distribution
Carminative; stimulant;
oil)
weak diaphoretic; weak emmen-
rubefacient;
and sore throats. Formerly used externally as an ointment
May
be taken as a
tea,
for
and used sparingly
in
salads.
Useful
a
in
wide
very
range
of
scented
articles.
Once an ingredient of The oil is sometimes used Morns
nigra
hair in
preparations.
perfumery.
L moraceae
Common Mulberry Morus and morarius were the classical Latin names for the Mulberry and come from the Latin verb meaning to delay after the tree's
Mulberry
Black or
bud formation until had passed. The Greeks knew both moron and sukamnos - from its sweet-
habit of delaying spring the cold weather it
as
ness; the fruit being only slightly less sweet
than the sweetest
fruits
known
to
them, namelv
long, usually in solitary terminal
whorls, with slightly hairy calyx. Appearing late
summer
to mid-autumn. North American
native, from Ontario to Georgia: naturalized in South America. On moist nutrient-rich soils preferring shade but tolerating full sun: especially deciduous woodland. Cultivation Wild. Cultivated throughout the world as a horticultural plant; occasionally wild as an escape. Many horticultural forms exist Propagate from seed sown in spring or by root division in spring; succeeds best on lighl soils and may be a vigorous grower. Cut back each autumn and replace after 3 years. Constituents Volatile oil comprising compounds related 10 thymol; tannic acid. Uses (fresh or dried flowering plant; someDistribution
grape and cherry. Until the fifteenth nigra was important as a medicinal plant, and its leaves were used for silkworm rearing, but after this date it was mostly the
fit;,
century
M
.
replaced by the oriental species
M.
alba L.
The tree is now becoming quite scarce in parts of Europe. Description Bushy tree to 10 m; branches dark coloured, ovate-,
value in amenorrhoea, and possesses some antihelmintic activity. The root has been used externally to treat obstinate skin complaints.
serrate,
Leaves once used
lout;,
in
brewing and baking and
may
be taken as a tonic tea Leaves used as a tobacco substitute.
Contra-indications
Not
to
be used
ma\
cause-
numerous, consisting of 2 stigmas. Fruit to 3
in
the-
treat-
vomiting and diarrhoea
Bee Baim/Oswego
BergamOl has become
wicle-K
cm
purplish red.
Native
to
western Asia, Persia and
/ones.
I
e
ea ultl\ ale-el
Wild. Cultivated as a fruit-tree in protected from cold winds and Propagate from cuttings taken in early
Cultivation
areas that frost.
Reel
variable, flowers unisexual
green perianths and Distribution
Monarda didyma L i.abiatak
Red Bergamot
somewhat
catkins; the female,
the Caucasus; introduced to other temperate
tneni of diarrhoea. Large closes ol the whole-
plant
bearing thick, alternate, cordatecm long; margins
pointed leaves, 5-20
arc-
by layering Requires a loamy
autumn. Slow grow-
spiint; or
in
ing.
soil in
Constituents
(fruit)
warm
Sugar (lO%);
position. malic-
acid
225
MYR-MYR (2%); pectin; gum; vitamin C. Uses (fresh fruit, root bark and occasionally helmintic.
by grey, waxy, spherical, -seeded berries. Appearing late spring to mid-summer. Distribution North American native, especially on the East Coast from New Jersey to Florida.
Until recently the leaves were employed in the Balkans as an hypoglycaemic agent for use in diabetes. The root bark was formerly used as a cathartic and to remove tapeworms. Once used to colour medicines.
On poor, sandy, well-drained soils, but frequently near swamps or marshland. In coniferous woodland and thickets near the sea. Cultivation Wild. Constituents (berries) Myrica wax, comprising
Now
glycerides of palmitic,
leaves) Nutritive; laxative; antipyretic; anti-
employed as a food, and in the home manufacture of wines, jams, and conusually
1
and myristic
stearic
;
serves.
(root bark)
May
acid; an acrid resin, myricinic acid; an astrin-
be used as a dyestuff.
gent resin; Myrica
Wax
cerifera
L myricaceae
starch. Action largely
and common names of this fragrant North American plant indicate the fine yellow or light green wax (strictly an edible fat) which is produced on the berries as they specific
(root
fresh
leaves)
Astringent;
weak diaphoretic;
tonic; sialogogue. Principally
gargle,
sore
douche and poultice
throats,
May
colitis,
East Coast of the United States and was used in
feverish conditions.
mem-
soap and candle manufacture. Related
and medicinal
purposes; in South Africa, for example, M. cordifolia L is both a source of berry wax and a valuable anti-diarrhoeic remedy. is
now unused
M.
cerifera
employed
in the
leucorrhoea
or myrica wax, was once widely collected on the
bers of the Myrica genus are used throughout
diarrhoea,
the
as a
treatment of
and
be used internally
common
ulcers
res-
mucous cold and
for
Powdered bark formerly
taken as a snuff in the treatment of nasal may be chewed to promote salivation, aid gingivitis, and reduce toothache. Once taken as a tonic tea. Wax used in candle and soap manufacture. Contra-indications
some proprietary domestic
cause flatulence.
Large
emetic;
doses
may
late to lanceolate, acute leaves
3-7.5
cm
long.
Flowers consist of short, conical or globular scaly catkins, either sterile or fertile; followed
acidic soil in a shady position.
Uses
I
(
Myrtle or Myrica wax;
berries;
M.
similar to
cerifera
(Wax
Myrtle),
leaves)
volatile oil.
berries'
wax, occasionally leaves and
bark) Aromatic; insecticide. Formerly used externally to treat scabies.
may
be employed with discretion
as a spice in soups
and
stews. Berries
can be
similarly used.
Leaves formerly flavoured beer (Gale beer),
and may
also be used as a tea.
Wax may
be used in the manufacture of aromatic candles. Roots and stem bark dye wool yellow. Repels fleas and may thus be used in scented sachets.
Myristica fragrans Houtt.
myristicaceae
Mace Nutmeg The
early history of the use of Mace (the outer covering of the seed of the plant; and Nutmeg (the seed itself) is not known with certaintv. but it is improbable that these spices were
L myricaceae Bog Myrtle Sweet Gale Myrica gale
century, however, both
Bog Myrtle was once one of the many important herbs used in northern Europe to flavour beer, and was both widely collected and
were obtaining them from the Far East, and they were known in Europe by 1191. In that year they were one of several fumigant strewing aromatics used in the streets of Rome during
protected by law.
the coronation of
The
herb's ability to repel
and destroy
insects,
such as fleas, led to the now obsolete common Flea Wood, and the plants' domestic employment in mattresses and linen drawers. Small quantities can be used as a flavouring in
name
Emperor Henry VI. Around 1300 an Arabian writer, Kazwini, had named the Molucca Islands as the source of both materials, but it was not until 1506 to 151 2 that the Portugese took possession of the Islands
and began a
spice
monopoly which was
branchlets reddish and growing almost vertically, bearing grey-green oblanceolate, glan-
be continued by the Dutch and English until the beginning of the nineteenth century. recognized for centuries that It has been moderate doses of Nutmeg cause a feeling of
dular-pubescent, aromatic, obtuse leaves 3-6 cm long. Brown and yellowish-green uni-
unreality and visual have now been shown
sexual flowers borne in dense apical catkins to
alkaloidal constituent, myristicin,
meat
dishes.
Description
15
mm
Deciduous shrub
to
to
1.5
m
tall;
long; appearing late spring to early
summer, and followed bv numerous small
226
damp,
Constituents
used by the Greeks and Romans. By the sixth Indians and Arabs
cold cures such as Composition Powders.
Fragrant perennial evergreen (occasionally semi-deciduous or deciduous) dioecious shrub (1-3 m) or evergreen tree (to 10 m), much branched with pubescent, somewhat rough branchlets bearing glandular, entire or occasionally serrulate oblong-lanceo-
a
catarrh. Small pieces of bark
outside folk medicine except as
Description
suckers, by division or from cuttings. Requires
Dried leaves
wax, occasionally
pectively.
a constituent of
to
berries'
bark,
Uses
ripen. This substance, called bayberry tallow
the world for various domestic
due
the resin content.
Myrtle Bayberry/Candleberry
Both the
Volatile oil; tannic acid; gallic
gum;
Distribution Native to north-west Europe; north America as far south as Virginia; Asia. Introduced elsewhere. Especially in thickets on wet heathland or fens. To 600 m altitude. Cultivation Wild. May be propagated from
Aromatic
acids lauric acid unsaturated fatty acids, ;
flattened berries.
illusions.
to
These
effects
be caused by a proto-
which
psychotropic with structural similarities mescaline - found in the Peyote Cactus.
is
a to
MYR-MYR Description
Tall,
bushy, glabrous,
dioecious,
m. Leaves yellowish, evergreen tree to coriaceous, petiolate elliptic - or oblonglong, lanceolate, 5-12 cm long. Flowers 6 in axillary umbels; followed by nearly globular or pear-shaped, red or yellow, pedunculous fruit which splits on maturing to release the ovoid seed (Nutmeg) surrounded by a scarlet aril (Mace). Distribution Indigenous to the Molucca Islands; introduced and widespread in the tropics. Frequently on volcanic soils in shade 12
mm
appearing early large (2-2.5
cm
mid-spring; followed by
to
ridged brown
l° n g)
Distribution European native. Introduced to some temperate regions, locally naturalized.
On
grassy
in
soils,
mountainous regions;
hedgerows, often in shady sites, but
prefers
tolerates full sun. Cultivation
Wild. Cultivated commercially on a
small scale in Western Europe, and elsewhere as a
mid
garden herb. Propagate from seed sown in or late spring on well-drained, but humus-
rich, soil in partial
shade; transplant to 45
cm
Cultivation
Wild; now cultivated
in East
and
bearing glossy dark green, opposite, entire, 3-5 cm long and dotted with transparent oil glands. Petioles short. Flowers pure white, but often rose coloured, very fragrant, 5-petalled to 2 cm wide, numerous golden stamens; on long thin pedicels in pairs in leaf axils; appearing mid to late summer and followed by 12-mm diameter acute, ovate to lanceolate leaves,
bluish berries. Distribution
Outside the tropics may be grown as an in humusornamental hothouse plant, enriched soil with high ambient temperature and humidity. Propagate from woody cuttings in a peat and sand mix. (kernel)
Volatile
Asia,
summer, under glass in a sand and peat mix. Usually slow growing in cool regions. malic acid vitamin C.
Constituents Volatile oil
resin; tannic acid;
;
citric
;
acid
Uses (fresh or dried leaves, dried fruit, dried
(5—15%)
oil
comprising eugenol and iso-eugenol; fixed
to mediterranean region growing to 800 m altitude;
Native
introduced elsewhere. Cultivation Wild. Cultivated as a garden plant against south-facing walls in all except the warmest south European sites. Requires full sun and well-drained, medium rich soil. Propagate from woody cuttings, taken in
Zanzibar, Brazil, Ceylon and India. Trees first produce seed in ninth or tenth year of growth and may last 80 years. Indies,
Constituents
Aromatic evergreen shrub 1-3 m taller. Highly branched,
and western
and high humidity.
West
Description
high; occasionally
fruit.
flower-buds,
oil
fresh
flowers,
occasionally
oil)
(25-40%) yielding nutmeg butter and com-
Astringent; antiseptic. Rarely used medicin-
prising myristic acid (60%), oleic, palmitic, and linoleic acids; also terpineol,
ally,
borneol and terpenes. Action mainly due to volatile carminative. Uses (seed,
aril,
occasionally
aromatic; stimulant.
Used
oil]
corrhoea,
acting as a
Carminative;
the
reduce flatulence, aid
improve the appetite and to treat diarrhoea, vomiting and nausea. Both Mace and Nutmeg may be used in a range of sweet and savoury food-stuffs. Mace is less strongly aromatic, and Nutmeg particularly complements milk and cheese dishes. The oil is employed as a flavouring agent and in some rubefacient liniments and hair lotions. digestion,
Contra-induations
was once used as a douche in leuand it was formerly employed internally for psoriasis and sinusitis. The fresh fruit juice has been used as a drink to stimulate infusion
oil,
I
in small doses to
POISONOUS.
n.m
Us.
apart. Taproots
may
be
lifted,
corns.
The
Constituents Essential oil, / 'ses
root,
established.
comprising anethole.
and weak
fresh or dried leaf, occasionally seed
(
Weak
diuretic; tonic: hypotensive;
antiseptic. Rarely used medicinally.
Once an
ingredient of wound-healing ointments.
used as a sugar substitute
and
They may
in
name
responsible for the botanical
meaning perfume, and grant, while
many
of
aroma
myrrhis
meaning fracommon names are
odorata
its
prefixed 'sweet' because of the taste of the
Until the sixteenth century Seseli,
a
name
first
is
used
although not necessarily
leaf.
was known as by Dioscorides
it
for
this
particular
A
honey plant.
useful
An
in
anise flavouring used in certain liqueurs.
Myrtus communis (Lj Herm. myrtaceae Myrtle Common Myrtle
Myrtle is frequently mentioned in the Old Testament, the writings of ancient poets and in the works of the Greeks and the Romans, to whom it was known as myrtos. Myrtus is directly derived from this old name, while communis means It
common.
was almost certainly because the aromatic
species.
leaves
Description Strongly smelling hirsute-pubescent
pudenda
perennial on stems 60-100
aphrodisiac, and carried by Israeli brides, lor
pale beneath,
grooved,
cm
tall.
hollow, branching Leaves bright green,
soft, thin, 2
or 3-pinnate to 30
long, with oblong-ovate,
cm
narrow-toothed segments. Stem-leaf petioles sheathing. Flowers small, white, in umbels 5 cm diameter, 1
added to roast pork for the minutes of cooking. Fresh flowers once added to salads. Formerly used in the manufacture of toilet water called Eau d'ange. leaves can be
final 10
tart fruit dishes.
salads.
aniseed-like
be crushed as pepper-
also be
Sweet Cicely
Its
may
same way
sweet conserves
Roots were once boiled, cooled, and eaten
sidered a useful plant.
as a spice in the
May
Myrrhis odorata (L) Scop, umbelliferae
Sweet Cicely was once cultivated as a pot shrub in Europe. It is among the first garden herbs to emerge after winter and is almost the last to die down, and it was therefore con-
and used
of the stomach. fruit
be used as a sugar substitute by diabetics. Fresh leaf and chopped green seed may be used in salads; leaves may be boiled as a vegetable or added to soups.
Myrrh
mucous membranes
Dried flower-buds and
may become rampant when
possibly epileptiform convulsions.
the
cut into sections
each having a bud, and replanted 5 cm deep in either spring or autumn. Often self-sown and
Even moderate doses overstimulate motor cortex causing disorientation, double vision, hallucination, tachycardia, and sparingly.
British
but a leaf decoction may be applied and haemorrhoids. An
externally to bruises
lauric
Venus,
bear
a
resemblance
to
the
female
that Myrtle has been dedicated to
that
it
has
been considered
as
an
example, at their weddings. Every part of the shrub is highly scented and in southern Europe it is used in a number of
home-made cosmetic
recipes.
•227
NAS-OLE Nasturtium
officinale
R.Br cruciferae
Nepeta cataria
Watercress Watercress is so common that its valuable medical and dietic values are often forgotten, even though for centuries it was an official medicine. Nasturtium is from the Latin nasi distortion
or
tortium
pungent
of the
nose,
after
its
taste.
Description
Aquatic perennial, either floating
Although
Catmint
freely
rooting,
terminal leaflet largest. Flowers small, white, in pedicelled racemes,
appearing early sum-
mid-autumn. European native; world-wide introduction and widespread naturalization. In ditches, streams to 2500 m altitude. Cultivation Wild, and world-wide commercial cultivation as a salad herb. Easily propagated by stem or root cuttings, taken at any time and to
Distribution
rooted in water. moist garden
soil
May be cultivated in rich, with frequent watering, but
pungency then
the
Constituents
amide a ;
herb possesses what
cats
and
many
con-
aroma,
it is
commonly Cats frequently damage
for this
reason
used to stuff toy mice. the plant in gardens, which is unfortunate since their attractive light grey foliage and long persistant flowers are suitable for formal displays.
with
this
by
relished
succulent
mer
alba L nymphaeaceae White Water Lily
Nymphaea
sider to be a disagreeable mint-like
stems; leaves dark green to bronze, entire, ovate, or cordate; pinnate when older, the
creeping
or
L labiatae
Catnip Catmint/Catnep
now
very rarely used for medicinal
purposes even in folk medicine. It was once used by hippies as a mild hallucinogen. Description Strongly smelling, branching, pubescent, erect perennial
40-100 cm
mid-autumn.
and calcium.
many
an excellent cough remedy when mixed be eaten raw or cooked and as a delicious soup.
Native to Europe, East and West Introduced and often naturalized in other temperate zones. On moist calcareous soils, especially road or railway sides, hedgeDistribution
Asia.
rows, in open situations.
May
be propagated from rooted in a peat and sand mix under glass or by root division in
Cultivation
Wild.
cuttings taken in
summer and
spring or autumn.
comprising thymol, and nepeacid; also tannic acid. Antispasmodic
Constituents
Volatile
oil
carvacrol, nepetol, nepetalactone talic
action due to the
oil
content.
Uses (dried - or occasionally fresh - flowering
Antispasmodic; anti-diarrhoeic; carstomachic; weak emmenagogue. The tea is of benefit in the treatment of a number of gastro-intestinal complaints but plant
minative;
particularly infantile colic also of value in the
and diarrhoea.
common
It
is
cold, irritability
and delayed menstruation. Externally it may be applied to cuts, abrasions and bruising. Combined with ground Cloves and Sassafras bark it was formerly applied to aching teeth. Leaves may be used with discretion as a flavouring (mint-like in sauces, and as a mildly
stimulant
tea.
Once smoked
may
to relieve chronic bronchitis
-
cause hallucinogenic effects. Contra-indications A mild hallucinogen when
but
this
smoked.
228
first \
.
modern
odorata
Aix
similar,
but
American White Pond properties and uses.
Lily:
is
the
fragrant,
more it
has
herb with stipu-
mm
America; introduced elsewhere. On rivers, ponds to 800 m altitude. Cultivation Wild. Cultivated as an ornamental aquatic. Propagate in spring from rhizomes planted under water not deeper than 50 cm. In cold situations the flowers and leaves are much reduced in size. A red variety, N. alba var. rubra Lonnr. is the parent of most water lily hybrids in cultivation. lakes,
with hone\.
May
retained as the
derived from the niloufar and Sanskrit nilotpala - terms used for the Indian Blue Lotus.
1
aphrodisiac, purgative and asthma remedy.
summer
still
common name was
branched, rhizome. Leaves reddish when young, later dark green, smooth and shining. Flowers white, 20-petalled, 5-20 cm diameter, stamens numerous and golden. Appearing mid-summer to early autumn, followed by 5-40 diameter obovoid fruit which opens under water. Distribution Native to Europe and North
countries including use as a contraceptive,
is
French Arabic
round or heart-shaped, floating leaves 10-30 cm in diameter; on horizontal, black,
pyretic; stomachic; irritant.
It
name Nenuphar
late,
volatile oil
from
Nymphaea is from the Greek nymphae meaning water nymphs, while the pre-sixteenth century
Description Perennial aquatic
to
,
attributes
indicating their possession of similar chemical constituents.
summer
Uses (leafy stems) Stimulant; diuretic; anti-
Numerous medicinal
The Chinese have coincidentally used two other members of the family Nymphaeaceae - Nelumbium nucifera Gaertn. and Euryale
similar
mm
comprising phenylethylisothiocyanate; minerals including manganese, iron, phosphorus, iodine
and some related plants may depress sexual activity.
Leaves 3-7 cm long, coarsely serrate, whitish beneath, grey-green above, ovate or oblong-ovate, petiolate. Flowers white, dotted with purple, or purple, 6 long, in crowded terminal whorls and spiked axillary whorls. Appearing midtall.
increases.
;
posed anaphrodisiac qualities of this attractive aquatic herb, it is now considered that N. alba
ferox Salisb. - for precisely similar purposes is
Vitamins A, B 2 C, D, E; nicotin-
glucoside, gluconasturtin
Although controversy surrounded the sup-
Constituents
Alkaloids,
especially
nupharine;
tannins as nymphaea-tannic acid; a cardenolide, nymphaline; mucilage. L'ses
rhizome, occasionally seeds
Weak
as-
tringent; antiseptic; antispasmodic: anaphrodisiac.
NAS-OLE A
may
decoction
throats, a
douche
be used as a gargle for sore in leucorrhoea, and extern-
ally for ulcers or,
much
an eye-
diluted, as
wash. Rarely used internally but acts as a sedative cardiac tonic, and is considered of benefit in spermatorrhoea. Once taken to
reduce libido. Well-cooked leaves once eaten as a vegetable. Fresh root once used as a soap substitute. Provides a dark brown dyestuff.
horticultural cultivation as a culinary herb.
Propagate from seed sown in early summer, or frost danger, on moist, well-drained,
after
medium-rich
soil
Varieties exist
in full sun.
with somewhat different aromas. Constituents Essential oil comprising mainly estragol (present also in French and Russian also eugenol, lineol and linalol: Tarragons sometimes thymol; tannins; basil camphor. Antispasmodic and other actions due to the oil ;
content.
Ocimum basilicum L labiatae Basil Sweet Basil Basil was introduced to Europe from the East in the sixteenth century as a culinary herb and
Uses (fresh leaf Antispasmodic: galactagogue; stomachic; carminative; mild sedative. May be employed in a wide range of simple gastro-intestinal complaints; particularly for stomach cramps and vomiting. Its weak sedative action may be used in the treatment of
nervous headaches or anxiety. Mainly used for culinary purposes salads,
meat
and
fish
in soups,
particularly
dishes;
compatible with tomatoes. Dried powdered leaf once taken as snuff. Basil oil, obtained by steam distillation, is used as a commercial flavouring and in perfumery as a substitute for mignonette scent. Oenothera biennis L onagraceae Evening Primrose Evening Star
Evening Primrose ha. ecently received attenfrom pharmaceutical concerns who dis-
tion
covered that
it
of reducing
is
not comparable with the flavour
<>l
leaves
from the garden Several lorms
freshly picked
are in cultivation, including
lettuce-leaved
.1
and the flavour varies with the volatile content; one type has a peppermint-like
variety, oil
taste.
and the smallet Hush Basil originally from Chile Ocimum minimum I. make excellent pot or window-box herl>s, and can only be grown indoors in cooler, temperate Both
this ipei ies
.
climates in wintei is
an
abbreviation
ol
Greek for kmglv herb. A related plant, Ocimum sanctum I., is still considered kingly or holy by the Hindus Description Much-branched aromatic annual ',<>
bo
phuton.
cm
tall,
with glabrous entire or slightly
serrate ovate leaves
reddish
in
purplish,
3-5 em
lout;
;
often slightly
Flowers small, white, or whorls of 6 flowers on open
colour. in
terminal racemes. Appearing
mid-summer
to
mid-autumn. Distribution
Native
to
southern
Middle East Naturalized and some Pa< ifx Islands. where in subtropical zones.
or
clotting
astringent; vulnerary; anticoagulent.
attack.
applied externally as a poultice or in ointments
This is an American native introduced to Europe in 1619 via the Padua Botanic Garden, and is now well established in parts of Europe.
eruptions,
has never been extensively used even in folk
medicine.
name Oenothera is of uncertain provenance may come from an older Greek plant name which signified that its roots were eaten I
In
but
it
to promote the appetite lor wine. As late as the nineteenth century in Germany, pickled 0. biennis roots were still eaten as an aperitif.
The
less
St, 11
is
emu />
well-known
common name Evening
derived from the
phosphorescent
that
tact
the petals
annual,
in
Asia,
parts
ol
Introduced
Iran,
Africa else-
Rarely wild. Cultivated commercentral and southern Europe, North
ed reddish, rough stems
to
1.25
m
bearing
alternate, lanceolate- to ovate, entire-, shortly
petiolate
leaves
4
cm
long.
Mowers
verj
parts of the plant
L oleaceae
Olea europaea
The Olive
is
well
known from
frequent refer-
ences in the Bible and in the writings of the to
whom
it
symbolized
peace.
varieties
much-branch-
all
Olive
cm
It
has been in cultivation for
and
for
now
reason
this
exist;
more than 3000
many
some providing
different oil
and
others the large fruit so frequently used in
and with
salads
The
drinks.
ancient Egyptians called the plant bak,
Romans knew
cm diameter, yellow, erect on fragrant, 3 i-petalled. opening in the evening.
while
spikes,
meaning
Appearing mid-summer to mid-autumn. Distribution North American nativeIntroduced and naturalized in Europe. In wastelands especially on dry, sandy or stemv soils
important commodity which may be extracted from the fruit. Description Evergreen tree usually to 8 m, and occasionally to 12 m. Branches pale grey, thin, thornless, bearing opposite, entire, lanceolate or oblong leaves, dark green above and lighter beneath; cm long. Floweis fragrant, numerous, off-white, borne on short panicles in leaf axils, followed by dark purple fruit
-)
such as railway embankments Cultivation Wild. May be propagated from seed sow 11 as soon as ripe, usually in late- summet in .
a
permanent
sunn)
position. Tolerates most soils in a
position.
varietie-s
cially in
hairy forms.
Ana, and in subtropical America Wid<
be eaten hot or cold; are edible.
years
arise-
be
the
producing, cm thick yellowish conical root. rosette ol obtuse basal leaves to 60 diameter, from which
May
treatment of minor wounds or skin and used internally for coughs, colds, gastric irritation and intestinal spasm. A direct effect on the liver is suspected but not proven. Young roots can be boiled or pickled, and can in
(.neks and Romans,
light at night.
Biennial, or occasionally
upturn
Cultivation
Africa,
compound capable
of blood
compressed
The common name basilikon
rate
substances,
whole plant Tannins; mucilage; resin; bitter principle; potassium salts. i'ses (fresh whole plant, fresh root, seeds) Antispasmodic; nutritive; demulcent; weak
thrombus formation, and hence possibly acting as a prophylactic against some forms of heart
It
popular with cooks who utilize it- vw eet, pungent flavour. Unfortunatclv the dried herb
is still
possesses a
the
unknown anticoagulant
exist
Constituents
Readily
self-sown.
Several
including large-flowered
and
the
Unsatutated
lam
acids;
as olea
from oleum
375
clrupe-
)
1
,5
Distribution
seed)
it
after the large quantity of this
oil,
4
cm
Native
long. to
mediterranean region,
introduced elsewhere-.
229
OPH-OXA Wild only as an escape. The wild parent of the Olive is considered to be Olea europaea var. oleaster DC, which may be differentiated by its thorny branches, wider leaves and smaller fruit. Cultivated commerCultivation
and domestically on a wide scale in the Peninsula, North Africa, southern France, Greece, Italy and the Middle East. cially
Iberian
by
Propagated
grafting
from
or
suckers;
fruiting begins in the second year of growth. (fruit) Oil (to 70%) comprising mainly glycerides of oleic acid, also glycerides
Constituents
of palmitic, stearic, myristic and linoleic acids; protein; mineral
salts,
particularly calcium;
A
organic acids; vitamins (nicotinamide or B3). Uses
occasionally
fruit,
(oil,
B 2 and PP
B,
leaves)
fresh
Nutritive; demulcent; mildly purgative; antiseptic;
The
weakly astringent. used internally as a physical laxative
oil is
in chronic constipation,
and
flow of gastric secretions
as
reduces the
it
has been used to
it
oval leaf blade which sheaths the stalk of the fertile spike the latter usually 2-5 cm long and ;
above the leaf blade. Spores ripen early to mid-summer. Distribution Europe, North Africa, Asia and America. On grassland, pastures, scrub and rising
as a perennial in
fens.
Wild
Cultivation Constituents
hardy annual
plant.
Unknown.
warm
Uses (fresh leaf, fresh juice) Vulnerary.
later thinning to 25
and
glass
plant
cm
40°
Annual Marjoram
acid.
for
peptic
Externally
ulcers.
it
may
be
applied as a liniment or embrocation for a variety of purposes, particularly as the vehicle for
more
The
active substances.
leaves possess antiseptic activity
been used
in a decoction for
They may
also
wound
and have
treatment.
have some antipyretic and
hypotensive activity.
For medicinal purposes the oil should be extracted by the cold press' method to retain ;
its
many
has been cultivated in Europe
centuries for
its
culinary and medi-
cinal value. Majorana or maiorana
name
The fruit is of considerable commercial importance
in the food industry.
The
oil is
of culinary importance and
is
also
used in soap manufacture.
L ophioglossaceae botanical
names
refer to
the distinctive shape of this small fern's leaves
glossa
meaning snake and meaning tongue. Once famous as a Greek
ophis
wound-healing herb
it is
now
only of historical
on small, yellow, fibrous tall. Stem solitary, arising from root-stock crown, round, hollow and succulent, expanding at 5-10 cm above ground level into broad, leathery, concave, Fern,
root-stock; to 20
230
cm
septic.
Useful in most simple gastro-intestinal
dis-
minutes of cooking.
shape of the spherical, clustered is one of the most important of all western culinary herbs and its
use in meat flavouring
German name
is
emphasized by the
orders,
Employed
May
as a tisane.
be used in domestic cosmetic waters, and
scented articles.
Wurstkraut or sausage herb.
aromatic perennial (usually grown as an annual or biennial), 30-60 cm tall, with square, branched, tomentose stems; sometimes occurring as a subshrub. Leaves
small and
or toothed, petiolate, opposite,
insignificant,
cm
l° n g-
white
to
Flowers pink,
in
3-5 per cluster. mid-autumn. Distribution Native to North Africa, Middle East, parts of India. Introduced and naturalclustered
Appearing
ized
late
in
spikes,
summer
south-west
in
region, central
On
interest.
Description
Weak
antispasmodic; carminative; choleretic; aromatic; weak hypotensive; anti-
knot-like
spherical
common and
the
or dried flowering plant)
(fresh
flower spikes. This plant
elliptic, entire
Adder's Tongue
from
Uses
expectorant;
and an excellent digestive aid. Similar external uses to Oregano (Origanum vulgare). Very wide culinary use; particularly in meat dishes, but must be added only in the last 10
greyish-pubescent, 0.75-3
Both the
a very old
unknown derivation by which the plant was known when first introduced to Europe in the Middle Ages. The common name Knotted Marjoram refers to the unusual of
j;
Description Spicy
active ingredients.
Ophioglossum vulgatum
is
borneol and other terpenes (to mucilage; bitter substances; tannic
terpineol,
Also classified botanically as Majorana horten-
treat
apart; or raise under
when hardened off. oil (to 2%) comprising
out
Constituents Essential
it
zones;
Europe and
North America sow seed in late spring or early summer, on medium-rich, finely prepared soil,
L labiatae Sweet Marjoram Knotted Marjoram/ Origanum majorana
Moench.
temperate
sensitive to frost. In north-west
Formerly an ingredient of wound healing ointments, and once used internally for the same purpose. Not used today.
sis
regions or as a half-
cooler
in
to
Africa,
mediterranean
Europe and North America.
dryish or well-drained, nutrient-rich
sunny
soils,
positions.
Cultivation
Wild. Impermanently established in
commerEurope and the
parts of central Europe. Cultivated
America, central mediterranean region. Grown horticulturally cially in Asia,
Origanum
onites
L labiatae
Pot Marjoram This
is
also
from the
known as Majorana onites Benth. name onitin used by Pliny in
classical
first century. This species was not cultivated very widely in north-west Europe or America, and was only introduced to Great Britain in the eighteenth century. Pot Mar-
the
joram
is
inferior to
Sweet Marjoram and
is
now
only cultivated as an alternative in areas too cold for 0. majorana, or where the decorative
perennial variegated variety
is
required for
ornamental purposes. Description Aromatic perennial on erect tomentose
or hirsute stems to 30
cm
tall;
leaves
tomentose and usually ovate, 0.75-2.5 cm long. Flowers small, white to pink, in numerous ovoid spikelets arranged in a serrate, sessile,
OPH-OXA
Appearing
cluster.
summer
late
mid-
frequently bushy, on horizontal root-stock, to
May be used to flav
Europe,
75 cm tall. Leaves glabrous, opposite and decussate, entire or obscurely toothed, petio-
to
autumn. Distribution
Native
to Sicily, south-east
Syria and Asia Minor. light
well-drained
hillsides.
Prefers
sun and
full
open positions and
soils in
upper
leaves
Wild. Cultivated in cooler climates
or corymbose clusters,
terpenes; also bitter nibftancts; tannic acid
altitude.
i
Not used medicinal purposes. Employed in cooking as a substitute For Swcd Marjoram, although its flavour is inferior. Variegated forms may be used as garden ornamentals.
Far
On
East.
but
gravelly
dry,
usually
nutrient-rich
especially
positions;
clearings
hedgebanks,
cm
apart.
southern
Italy.
The nature
composition and
the in
of both the volatile
some extent the plant's appearance depends on where it is cultivated. I he southern European product is far more pungent and bears little resemblance in flavour
oil
to that I
to
from the cooler north.
Essential
name Origanum is from the Greek and ganos meaning mountain glamour, or
joy ol the mountain, appearance and aroma
plant; vulgare Description
after ol tin
tin
attractive
bushy flowering
means common. hairy aromatk
l.ini
(to 15",,
to
2000
m
oil
(0.5%) comprising
origanene, carvacrol; bitter
,
Uses (dried flowering plant, occasionally
oil)
Expectorant antiseptic; antispasmodic; carminative; tonic; stomachic; anti-inflammat;
ory.
Useful
specifically
for
gastro-intestinal
or
respiratory disorders; particularly coughs as-
sociated with upper respiratory tract infection,
and
colic or indigestion.
all\
in
May
be used extern-
where an Weakly sedative
baths, inhalants or poultices
antiseptic action
he generk
oros
woodland
forms exist including a
Several
principles; tannic acid; resins.
in
L oxalidaceae
Sorrel Irish Shamrock Oxalis is from the Greek for sour, after the taste of this small attractive herb which contains quite high concentrations of oxalic acid and its salts. It was cultivated from at least the fourteenth century as a major sauce herb, but it was displaced after the introduction of the unrelated French Sorrel (Rumex scutatus L). DescriptionSlemless perennial on scaly rhizome,
variegated form with golden leaves.
Oregano Wild Marjoram Although Wild Marjoram is now cultivated commercially in some parts of the world, most particularly
;
cultivated
thymol
from the wild
The Rouge) once used
commercially in North America. Propagate from seed sown in late spring on warm site, later thinning to 30
Constituents
and
or
warm
in
(
Collected commercially in
Wild. Italy,
Origanum vulgare L labiatae
collet ted
mm
calcareous soils
and peripheries, roadsides;
Cultivation
region,
6-8
on short spikes appearing late summer
mid-autumn. European native; also in Iran, Middle East and Himalayas. Introduced to
southern
still
Wood
to
Uses (fresh or dried flowering plant
mediterranean
Oxalis acetosella
rose-
Distribution
for
supplies are
long,
long, bracteoles purple, borne
semi-hardy alternative to 0. majorana: from cuttings in early summer, root division in spring or autumn, or from seed sown cm deep in light, dry soil in late spring crimination may be slow or poor). Variegated forms exist. In very cold positions grow in pots and keep in a cool greenhouse during winter. Constituents Essential oil (to i%), comprising as a
cm
Flowers
reddish.
often
purple, sometimes pink to whitish,
Tolerates most conditions
Cultivation
pointed, broadly ovate 1.5-4.5
late,
as a tisane
our beer.
is
required.
and of some benefit
in nervous headaches or Aids digestion. commercial and domestic ulmary use as
irritability.
Wide
a flavouring, especially in
<
meat dishes and
stuffings.
perennial,
Oil and herb used in (osmetic industry.
231
PAE-PAP reaching 5-8 cm. Pale green leaves composed of 3 obcordate leaflets on long petiole. Flowers 5-petalled, white tinged with purple veins and yellow flecks at corolla base, solitary on long
appearing
peduncles;
spring
late
to
early
summer. Europe, north and central Asia, Japan; introduced elsewhere. On acidic, humus-rich moist soils in mixed or deciduous woodland shade, to 2000 m. Cultivation Wild plant. Cultivated by root Native
Distribution
to
status
of P.
Western
officinalis
folk medicine,
declined
rapidly in but the herb is still
especially so.
Only
to
be used by medical
personnel.
retained in Chinese traditional medicine today.
Panax pseudoginseng Wallich araliaceae
on thick, knotted, dark, root-stock, producing stout succulent stem 60 cm- m tall. Leaves biternate or ternate, with ovate-lanceolate leaflets, 3 cm wide, dark green above and lighter beneath. Single red, or occasionally pink or whitish, flower: large and
Ginseng
Description Perennial
1
and composed of 8
Ginseng is so well known in both the East and West that it has become the most widely used of all medicinal herbs. The Koreans and Chinese have employed it as a panacea for This
centuries.
is
reflected
weakly antipyretic.
The word
Ginseng
Once used
elsewhere.
Schin-seng,
meaning man
division in spring. Constituents to
Oxalic acid and potassium oxalate, taste is due; mucilage vitamin C.
which the
Uses
i
fresh
;
and
leaves
root-stock)
internally as a spring tonic (es-
pecially in Iceland), in fevers,
alcohol consumption.
Now
an external application scabies,
and
of the leaves
Diuretic;
as a gargle.
may
be used
and
after excess
principally used as
treatment of Small quantities only for the
in salads or sauces.
Large quantities are POISONOUS. To be avoided by those predispose <1 to gout, rheumatism or renal calculi. Contra-indications
Paeonia
officinalis
L paeoniaceae
Peony Common Peony The Peony was first used very early in medical history and is named after Paeon, the physician of the Greek gods.
included
in
many
Known
as paeonia,
it
was
very early medicinal recipes
and one, accredited to Pliny, combined this herb with Mint (Mentha spp.) and Chick Pea (Cicer arietinum L) for the specific treatment of both kidney and bladder stones, which, it was claimed, the mixture would dissolve. After the sixteenth century the medicinal
petals
Propagated by division of root-stock in early autumn or from seed sown in spring on deeply-dug, well-manured soil. Once established, it must not be moved. Wild.
in
its
botanical
name, Panax from pan meaning all, and akos meaning remedy. It was so highly prized in the Orient that not only did emperors monopolize the rights to harvest the roots, but wars were
and 5 petal-like sepals, to 20 cm diameter. Appearing early summer to early autumn* Distribution Native to southern Europe from France to Albania, and western Europe. Widely introduced as garden ornamental attractive
fought over them. is
derived from Jin-chen or root or like a
man,
human
Benzoic acid (5%) 1-asparagin; an alkaloid; a ketone, paeonol a
shape of the root. In commerce various grades exist depending on shape, age and colour. Red Korean Ginseng is one of the most expensive and sought-after types, and Ginseng production in Korea is carefully controlled by the government. The wide range of effects on human physiology claimed by Chinese physicians have only
heteroside.
The
recently
stimulates
uterine
Cultivation
Several forms plena
exist,
and Rosea
Constituents
essential oil;
including Alba plena, Rubra
plena.
;
alkaloid
is
vasoconstrictive:
may
and
contractions,
increase blood coagulation. Uses dried root-stock Vasoconstrictor; antispasmodic; diuretic; sedative; emmenagogue. Formerly used specifically in the treatment of both renal and gall-bladder calculi. Also once
used for a variety of other conditions including (hose of a nervous origin, gastric disorders,
varicose
veins
and haemorrhoids.
effective in the latter condition, but
May
now
be
rarely
used. Contra-indications
POISONOUS,
the
flowers
after the peculiar
been tentatively acknowledged by WCstern pharmacologists who have created a new term, adaptogen, to explain the normalizing effect of the active ingredients.
Panax pseudoginseng was formerly C.
ginseng
A.
Mey and
P.
classified as P.
schinseng
Nees.
Russian scientists claim that another member of the Araliaceae family, Eleutherococcus senticosus or Siberian Ginseng, possesses similar adaptogenic properties to Ginseng. A related species, Panax fruticosum L, is used in some Polynesian Islands as both a food and medicine. Description Perennial 60-80 cm tall on aromatic, frequently bifurcated, spindle-shaped root-stock; bearing persistent fleshy scales at
stem base. Single erect stem, unbranched and reddish, bearing whorl of 3 or 5 palmate leaves, the
leaflet
finely
thin,
acuminate, 8-13
cm
yellow, small, few,
serrate,
gradually
long. Flowers greenishin
single
terminal ped-
uncled umbel; appearing mid to late summer and followed by bright red drupe-like berry on elongated peduncle. Distribution Native to China Manchuria and Korea. In damp, cool, humus-rich woodland. Cultivation Wild, but becoming rare. Cultivated
on an increasing scale commercially in Korea and China, from seed and carefully selected seedlings, by a complex horticultural procedure involving specially prepared seed-beds, transplantation and shading. Harvested up to 9 years after planting. Constituents Volatile oils, comprising sapogenin
central nervous panaxin; panax acid: a (with hypoglycaemic activity glycoside, panaquilon (acting as a vasocon-
and panacen (stimulating the system ginsenin 1
;
a
saponin,
;
strictive stimulant); ginsennosides; phytoster-
hormones; vitamins B and B,: mucilage; several other substances; all combining to produce a complex total effect.
ols;
T
Uses (dried root) Tonic; adaptogenic. in a very wide range of conditions, but
Used
particularly of benefit where increased mental
232
PAE-PAP and physical
efficiency
the patient
exposed
is
is
required, or where
and external
to internal
phvsiological stress factors
-
such as ageing,
surgery or disease.
Large doses may cause deand nervous disorders. Do not combine with any herbal remedies con-
Contra-indications
pression, insomnia
China
taining iron, or with Indian or Camellia spp.
teas
.
North American native from Minnesota. Exclusively in cool, humus-rich woodlands. Cultivation Formerly wild. Now extremely rare. Cultivated commercially in the same way as
Principally used as a colouring agent for medi-
to
to
Panax
pseudoginseng
Tonic; adaptogenic. Similar Panax pseudoginseng Wallich.
Uses (dried root to
L papaveraceae
Papaver rhoeas
Corn Poppy
This has the same general properties
Corn Poppv as
Panax
Oriental relative, and from exported to China by Canadian Jesuits, until the end of the nineteenth century it was so heavily collected that it is
pseudoginseng,
1718,
now
when
its
first
unknown
practically
in its
natural wild
Most supplies are today cultivated in Wisconsin and exported to the East some probably return to the United States and Europe fraudulently described as the more expensive Chinese or Korean root. There is evidence that any North American little Indian tribes beside the Chippewas or Ojibwas used the herb to he same extent as the Chinese. habitat.
;
t
Perennial
Description
aromatic,
12.5-45
occasionally
cm
bifurcated,
ta "
on
spindle-
shaped root-stock, bearing thin scales at stem base which are shed during growth. Stem
unbranched and reddish, bear-
simple-, erect,
Field Poppy/Flanders
Poppy
have been collected
petals
for
this
species,
its
being
action
Description Slender erect
cm
branched annual
hairy stem bearing deeply pinnate,
;
5 cm diameter, solitary, deep red with purplish flecks at the base (occasionally to
white), on long peduncles. Appearing earl) to
summer, followed by ovoid capsule. Native to Europe and Asia, naturalized in North America and introduced elsewhere. In fields, arable land, on roadsides, late
Distribution
especially
1
700
after
soils
m
soil
disturbance.
or loam, in
warm
On
altitude.
Cultivation
Wild
plant.
Constituents (flower)
Pigments comprising
adine, rhoeagenine
in single
in long.
Flowers pink, small, lew,
terminal, peduncled umbel; appear-
late- summer and followed by a cluster of red drupe-like berries on elongated peduncle.
ing
either
positions; to
minate. 8
c
90
sessile,
anthoc yanins, mecocyanin and cyanidol
g
to
short leaves with lanceolate segments. Flowers
chalky
;
tin
mu-
cilage; traces of the crystalline alkaloids, rhoe-
Uses
and wine.
Seed
is
sprinkled on bread, biscuits and cakes.
Poppy seed
oil
is
used in cooking.
Papaver somniferum
L papaveraceae
The abuse
of this medicinal plant and its products has caused considerable human misery and a great deal of governmental effort has gone into controlling its cultivation
and distribution. America and other nations have recently attempted to dissuade Turkish farmers, for example, from cultivating it on so large a scale, for it presents a formidable problem of drug abuse - and is therefore an extremely lucrative crop.
similar.
ing whorl of 3 or 5 palmate leaves; the- leaflets obovate, thin, coarsely serrate, abruptly acu1
as a
colouring agent since at least the fifteenth century, and were employed from the earliest limes as a medicine. P. dubium L is often substituted
cine
Opium Poppy
Wallich.
American Ginseng
irritable coughs.
chitis
Quebec
Panax pseudoginseng. Constituents Similar
Panax quinquefolium L araliaceae
and particularly
Distribution
fresh,
dried
and rhoearubine. flowers
rarely;
Sedative;
The Opium Poppy of
however, provided the
killers,
times. Extraction of the achieved by cutting the green capsule with a small sharp implement and scraping ofF the soft material which will exude within the following 24 hours. Opium syrup was particularly advocated in
since
the
opium
earliest
or latex
is
the treatment of coughs by an eleventhcentury Arabian physician, Mesue, and as late as the seventeenth century this preparation was still widely known as Syrupus de Meconio Mesuae. I
he plant's specific
name
somniferum
means
sleep inducing. Description
Of
m
;
pain
all
substance
antispasmodic diaphoretic. benefit in colic, anxiety, tonsillitis, bron-
has,
morphine ~ a which has not been artificially synthesized and opium which has been employed in medicine in the eastern mediterranean, the Middle East and western Asia,
greatest
tall;
Glaucous annual from 60 cm 1.25 rigid, seldom branched and then
stem
233
PAR-PET only at the base, sometimes slightly hairy; bearing glossy, cordate, unequal, coarsely leaves
7.5-10
cm
10-25
dentate leaves,
usually clasping.
cm
l° n g> tne upper Flowers 4-petalled,
wide, entire, of variable colour;
pink or purple markings. Sometimes red or purple. Appearing late summer to early autumn and followed by usually white or lilac with
ovoid, glabrous, then woody, capsules.
Native to Middle East, south-east Europe, western Asia. Introduced elsewhere. On shallow loamy or chalky soils in sunny situations; especially wasteland as escape. Cultivation Cultivated plant, especially in Turkey, India and China. Occasionally wild as an Distribution
Panetaria diffusa Mert.
& Koch
urticacae
Pellitory of the Wall Pellitory This plant has been used for centuries and was described as a medicinal plant by Pliny and as a vegetable by Theophrastus. It is commonly found on ruins and old walls, hence its name parietaria from the Latin paries meaning a wall. As it was a favourite of the apothecaries and herbalists - who used it almost exclusively for urinary complaints - it was formerly an official herb and therefore
cm
12% morphine;
Opium
oil)
of cough, and
now
morphine and other infusion
capsules of the ally to sprains
Poppy was once applied externand bruises.
Ripe seed (which does not contain harmful
may
on bread and
be used in curries or sprinkled The seed oil provides two
cakes.
products: a culinary
oil
(olivette),
and an
Dried capsules arrangements. Contra-indications
dried
flower
DANGEROUS. To
be used
are
used
only by medical personnel.
234
in
To be avoided by hay fever one of several species shown to rhinitis
and possibly hyper-
pneumonitis.
L passifloraceae
species are
predominantly of sub-
United States for its effective sedative and has been retained in certain national pharmacopoeias; it is also a popular folk medicine and constituent of some proprietary herbal sedative preparations.
Passion-flower, from the Latin, passiflora,
named
is
of sulphur.
supposed symbolic association between the anatomical and numerical arrangement of the flowers and the elements of
Description Perennial with reddish, hairy stems.
the crucifixion.
Pellitory contains an unusually large quantity
erect
and spreading or sometimes decumbent
cm
Leaves alternate, petiolate, entire, ovate to lanceolate, mostly acuminate, softly hairy. Flowers greenish, unisexual, female terminal, male lateral; appearing mid20 75
summer
artists' oil.
is
properties,
Narcotic
alkaloidal
effective
in the
the source of purified pain-killing
much more
complaints. This herb was introduced in 1867
alkaloid
made from powdered
is
American origin, and several have been employed traditionally for a variety of
has traditionally been used in
is
fresh plant
tropical
the relief of pain, diarrhoea and certain forms
substances)
The
Passiflora incarnata
lecithin.
An
pyelitis.
Passion Flower Maypop
(seeds) Oil (to
Uses (dried latex, ripe seeds, seed
drugs.
in the treatment of cystitis, with or without bladder stones, and less frequently in
Passiflora
content, and
sedative.
Employed
sensitivity
(capsules)
25%
Demul-
Uses (dried or fresh flowering plant cent; diuretic.
cause allergic
At least 25 alkaloids mainly comprising morphine (0.1-0.3%), also codeine, papaverine, narcotine, meconic
60%);
Sulphur; tannic acid; bitter principotassium and calcium salts; mucilage. Diuretic action due to the presence of potassium salts and flavones. Constituents
Contra-indications
apart.
acid, thebaine, narceine. (latex)
in mid-spring, plant in
soil.
ples; flavones;
sufferers; this
Seed is mixed with 4 parts of sand and sown from mid-autumn to late spring; thinning to 25
Divide root-stock
cracks with peaty
than the dried herb.
classified as P. officinalis L.
escape. Possibly derived from Papaver setigerum and developed by centuries of cultivation.
Constituents
walls.
to
Distribution
tall.
mid-autumn. European native. Beneath or
on strong, woody, climbing by means of axillary tendrils. Leaves serrate, 3-lobed, cordate, petiolate, 7.5-12.5 cm long. Flowers Description Perennial vine
hairy stem 6
cm
m tall,
wide, appearing early to late
cm
700 m altitude. Cultivation Wild. May be grown on low stone
Distribution
To
to 10
and followed by
crevices of old walls; occasionally in hedge-
rows.
m
attractive, white, with pink or purple calyx,
4-7.5 in the
after the
in
summer
edible, yellow, ovoid fruit 5
diameter.
Introduced
Native to
to
southern United States.
Bermuda and
elsewhere.
On
PAR-PET New
Zealand, Australia, North America and elsewhere. In deep nitrogenous or calcareous soils on wasteland
loamy, nutrient-rich soils in full sun. Cultivation Wild. Occasionally cultivated; the
commercial sources of the edible passion
Uruguay and introduced
fruit
and meadows. To 1000 m. Cultivation Wild plant. Extensive commercial
or Granadilla are Passiflora edulis Sims, or less
commonly
P. ligularis Juss. P. caerulea
L
is
the
most common species grown as a climbing shrub in warmer temperate zones. Constituents (fruit) Ascorbic acid; flavonoids; citric and malic acids; amylopectin; fixed oil. (flowering plant) Alkaloids comprising harmine, harmol, passiflorine; a cyanogenic
cultivation for the edible root, especially the cultivar
P.
var.
sativa
spring and
lift
root in
(0.03% ); pectin; marin, bergaptene Uses
and flowering
effects
employed
are
in
The
fruit
is
in
commercial
drinks
in
vitamin
C
furo-cou-
.
aromatic;
Diuretic;
and
to
promote appetite.
may
be cooked and eaten. Root extract to flavour schnapps. Contra-indications May cause photodermatoses; gloves should be worn when handling leaves. tops
employed
and some
Pelargonium graveolens L'Herit
geraniaceae
Fresh leaves can be added to cakes before baking; to sweet fruit dishes, and cold summer
Rose Geranium Pelargonium
countries. Contra-indications Sedative.
To
be taken only
under medical supervision. *
Pastinaca saliva
L umbelliferae
Parsnip Wild Parsnip The Parsnip fa fourteenth-century name was once a major
Roman
word
pastus for food.
It
was largely replaced by the Carrot in the eleventh century, probably because of dangers it
for related
In the rose-scented geranium group the species most commonly cultivated in temperate gardens and homes is P. graveolems. Other species which are grown commercially as sources of oil of Geranium include P. capitatum. P. radens and
dishes.
and these may be employed for similar domestic and culinary purposes. Almost all scented Geraniums - or more correctly Pelargoniums are South African natives. They were introduced to England from Gape Province in 1632 but were largely
scented articles, and cosmetic bath prepar-
P. odoratissimum:
foodstuff being called
pastinacea after the Latin
of mistaking
%
a
Principally used as a root vegetable; the leafy
various
tonic
refreshing,
edible,
(to 0.2
root)
leaf,
oil;
Traditionally employed in urinary disorders as a diuretic,
neuralgias.
employed
(fresh
seed in
nutritive; mild sedative.
tops, fruit)
Antispasmodic; sedative; anodyne. Principally of benefit in the treatment of nervous tachycardia, anxiety and insomnia; also used in certain types of convulsion or spasmodic complaints such as epilepsy. Its
anodyne
Sow
autumn.
essential
heteroside; flavonoids; passiflortannoid; mar-
Ehrh.
hortensis
soil.
Constituents (root): Protein; starch;
acugin. Uses (dried fruiting
saliva
Requires deeply dug loamy
but poisonous species
of the Umbelliferae family.
unknown
Thick-rooted biennial. 50 120 cm tall, with hairy, robust, grooved Stem becoming hollow. Leaves pinnate or bipinnate with ovate or oblong, sessile, toothed leaflets j 10
was recognized by the French. Oil of Geranium is an essential ingredient of certain perfumes lor men, and some of the hnest qualit) used lor this purpose nines from Rhodesia and Reunion. Pelargonium is derived from the Greek for
Description
cm
long. Greenish yellow flowers in ompound umbels appearing mid to late summer. Distribution
(
Eurasian
native.
Naturalized
in
until
1847
when
their potential in
perfumery
i
stork's bill alter the fruit's shape.
Bushy aromatic perennial, becomm. Leaves long-petioled, hairy. lobed, circular to cordate-ovate, margins
5
7
1
dentate. Flowers 2.5 sessile or
nearly
so.
cm
oil
of importance in the perfumery
is
and
industry,
wide, pink, unseented,
on short-peduncled, dense
is
often used as a substitute for
may
Dried leaves ations.
An
attractive house plant.
thought to resemble the shape of the Butterbur leaf. In French the plant is known as chapeau du diable
devil's hat.
The common name Butterbur may le.iv
was once wrapped
i's.
1685 Schroder described several preparations from this plant for use against the Plague: they included the juice extracted from the root; an alcoholic extract; the fresh leaves
On
folk
soils in lull
sun.
loamy
medic
Widely cultivated as house plant. Cultivated commercially in the warmer louth-west mediterranean region, central and southern Africa and Reunion. In coolei temperate /ones grow as tender perennial, sinking pots in the garden during the summer, .1
bringing plants indoors before threal of
pinkish
reeping,
hollow,
purplish
flowers
appear
flowers
are
1
,i<
a
.
Mm,
are
1
oil,
or dried leal, oil Aromatic; N01 used medirinallv in Europe: in
the roots oi certain Pelargonium sp<<
employed
in
the treatment ol diarrhoea.
h-s
.
Male and
stems.
violet
emes, but the former are
and the
7
female
both
plants;
different
pinkish
date and roundish.
Volatile
-
on
comprising mainly geraniol, also linalol, geranyl tiglate, citronellol, eitronella lorminate and iso-meni hone.
I,
(fresh
from the whole
only seldom used in
Semi-aquatic perennial on thick, rhizome Flowers appear before the leaves, from mid-spring to early summer, on 10 40 cm long, stout, scaly, c
short-stalked,
Uses
now
inc.
propagated from cuttings taken in Hi summer and Struck in a peal and sand mix. Several cultivars exist, and the aroma varies from lemon to apple. host. Easily
astringent
oil distilled
is
Description
Cultivation Wild.
Constituents
indicate
in these large
In
elsewhere.
well-drained,
Schcrb.
Butterbur Bog Rhubarb The botanical name is derived from the Greek petasos, meaning a large Greek hat that was
plant. Butterbur
dryish,
May &
Gaertn.,
Petasitcs hvbridus (L)
C.UMPOS11AE
South African native. Introduced
Distribution
.mil
be employed in a variety of
and (lowers; and an
umbels.
oil
of Rose.
that butter
Description
ing woody, to
The
12
latter arc
on
spike-like
mm wide and mm wide
3-6
and long-stalked. Leaves, appearing towards (he end of flowering, arc- large, to 90 cm wide, long stalked, woolly underneath, deeply corDistribution
European
native;
on
wet,
careous and stony soils, beside streams, in did lies or flooded pasture. Cultivation (
Wild.
onstituents Inulin;
mucilage;
cal-
rivers,
an
helianthenine; tannic acid; petasine and oil;
essential
235
PET-PHY an alkaloid.
petasitine;
rhizome,
(dried
Uses
Portugese, Yugoslavian and Czechoslovakian occasionally
fresh
or
dried flowers and leaves) Vulnerary; astringent;
weak
diuretic;
expectorant;
antispas-
modic; weak emmenagogue. Principally used homeopathically in the treatment of neck pains and headache. Fresh leaves
and flowers may be applied as a poultice to wounds. Rhizome may be employed in combination with other inulin-containing remedies for
certain eruptive skin conditions.
used as an antispasmodic tract infections
and
for
in
Once
coughs, urinary
pharmacopoeias, and the seed is found in French and Portugese pharmacopoeias. The botanical name for this herb has changed several times; it has previously been classified as Petroselinum hortenso Hoffm., P. sativum Hoffm., Apium petroselinum L, A. crispum Mill., and Carum petroselinum Benth. Description Biennial or short-lived perennial on Swiss,
stout vertical taproot; stems solid, branching,
cm tall (usually 30 cm). Leaves deltoid, pinnate, segments 1-2 cm long, cuneate-ovate, to 75
much curled (depending on cultivar). Flowers small, greenish-yellow or yellowish, in flat-topped, 2-5 cm wide compound umbels, appearing mid-summer to early autumn; followed by 2.5 long, ribbed, ovoid fruit. Distribution Native to northern and central Europe. Introduced and naturalized elsewhere, including some subtropical zones (such
stammering.
stalked,
rm
mm
as the
West
Indies).
u ,
*A
.
i
"
<
\^\&mki^M?44£.
j*
.vwVK^hB
Petroselinum crispum (Mill.)
Nyman
UMBELLIFERAE Parsley
The Greeks
differentiated
between
Marsh
Celery or Smallage (heleio selinon) and Rock Celery or Parsley [petros selinon). Both types were associated with death and funerals and only later on in Roman times were they used as food. Pliny stated that every sauce and salad contained what was then known to the
Romans
Today Parsley is known of all garnishing herbs in the West, and a number of varieties exist. Columas apium - or Parsley.
the best
ella (a.d. 42)
was the
first to
mention a curly
form - the type now favoured in Englishspeaking countries. It lacks, however, the hardiness of plain-leaved varieties, though it is less likely to be confused with the highly poisonous Fool's Parsley
(Aethusa cynapium).
forms are commonly cultivated: the Neapolitan or celery-leaved; the
At
least three other
fern-leaved; rooted.
and the Hamburg or turnip-
Parsley root
is
still
retained in the
Description Similar to P. crispum but leaf seg-
in
drills
early spring to early
encourage leaf growth. Requires rich, moist, open soil in partial shade or full sun; a good watering during hot weather and protection under cloches during winter. Germination is often poor and slow (to 8 weeks) and may be encouraged by pouring boiling water in drills immediately after sowing. The plain-leaved varieties tolerate extremes of cold and dryness better than the curly-leaved varieties. Constituents Essential oil comprising apiol, apiolin,
myristicin,
pinene;
to
flavonoids;
a
glucoside; apiin; provitamin A; ascorbic acid.
Action largely due essential oil,
to the apiol
blood-flow
increases
content of the
which stimulates the appetite and the
to
digestive
tract,
and
P. sativum var. tuberosum
Bernh.
ments usually not curled or crisped, and taproot is fleshy, 5 cm wide and 12.5 cm long. Distribution North and east European cultivated plant. Cultivation Cultivated horticulturally
and com-
mercially particularly in Holland, France and
Germany. Seed is sown in early spring on deep, rich, well-dug soil; watered well during dry weather; and roots harvested from mid-autumn onwards. Frost resistant. Constituents Similar to P. crispum; the root also
contains bergapten. Uses
(cooked
Cooked
Not used medicinally.
root)
soup mixes. Flavour resembles both Celery and Parsley. as a vegetable; or used in
uterus and mucosae. Uses (fresh or dried leaves, dried root, dried
occasionally
seed,
oil)
Diuretic:
emmenag-
ogue; stomachic; carminative. Effective in dysmenorrhoea, amenorrhoea, as a diuretic, anti-flatulent
and
to stimulate the
appetite.
The
use of the leaf for culinary purposes
known. The (Parsley tea).
is
well
was formerly used as a tea May be chewed to destroy garlic
leaf
odour on the breath. Dried stems of use
as a
green dye. Contra-indications
The
oil
either the oil or the leaf
They may
should only be used
may
cause abortion.
also cause polyneuritis. Apiol
and
myristicin can induce fatty degeneration of the liver,
and
gastro-intestinal haemorrhages.
Peumus boldus Molina monimiaceae
Boldo Boldu Chilean Andes is still South American and European pharmacopoeias, and is employed predominantly for liver disease. The leaves, which are the only parts used in medicine, This
native
retained
in
of the
several
were first tested in Europe in 1869 by the French physician Dujardin-Baumez. Other botanical names for Boldo, which is the local Chilean name, included Boldoa fragrans Gay and Ruizia fragrans Pavon. Description Aromatic, dioecious, evergreen shrub 5-6 m tall leaves shortly petiolate, grey;
green, coriaceous, entire,
terminal racemes. Distribution
This variety of Parsley was probably first developed in Holland since it was once called Dutch Parsley. Fuchs described it as oreoselinum in Germany in the mid-sixteenth century, and the name Hamburg Parsley was used by Mawe Miller
(1691-1771), the curator of the Chelsea Physic Garden, introduced it to England in 1727, but it was only in
1778.
Philip
revolute,
elliptical,
UMBELLIFERAE Parsley
somewhat
upper and lower surfaces slightly pubescent, upper surface covered with small papillae. Flowers small, pinkish, on open ovate or
Petroselinum crispum var. tuberosum Crovetto
Turnip Rooted Parsley Hamburg
236
still
is
seed sown in
under medical supervision. Very large doses of
\M
for a
plant
radicosum Bailey
summer. Remove flower-heads
'
The
1880.
Wild. Extensively cultivated horticulturally and commercially. Propagate from Cultivation
I
century - from 1780 to frequently found in France and Germany in vegetable markets. It is also described botanically as P. crispum var.
popular there
Chilean native. Introduced elsewhere. Especially on sunny slopes. Cultivation Wild. Limited cultivation in Morocco and elsewhere. Constituents Volatile
mainly eucalyptol, comprising mainly
oil
(to
2%) comprising
also ascaridol; alkaloids,
boldine
(to
o.i°
);
a
(boldoglucin or boldina). Cholagogue action due to the presence of boldine. Antihelmintic action due to ascaridol.
glycoside,
boldin
PET-PHY Uses (dried leaves, occasionally bark) Cholagogue; choleretic; stomachic; sedative; diu-
a dehiscent oblong
retic; sternutatory; antihelmintic. Formerly used as a tonic where quinine was contraindicated; in rheumatism; and in certain
Distribution
urinary tract infections, including gonorrhoea. Of benefit in the treatment of hepatic congestion and gallstones; used to stimulate the
countries.
cm
long.
Native to west coast of Africa, especially Nigeria, Cameroun, Togo, Dahomey; introduced to Brazil and other tropical
On swampy
river banks.
Wild, and collected commercially in West Africa. Ripe seed germinated and plant grown in greenhouses in temperate zones. Constituents Alkaloids comprising mainly eserine (physostigmine) to 0.3%, also calabarine; Cultivation
and release of bile, and hence to aid and as a tonic in gall-bladder The powdered leaf may be used to
secretion
digestion, disease.
pod 16 cm long, and con-
taining 2 or 3 seeds to 3
starch (to
induce sneezing. The aromatic fruit pulp can be eaten. Bark was once used in tanning. Contra- indications Large doses cause vomiting.
50%);
proteins (to
23%).
Uses (cotyledons from ripe seed) Miotic.
Now
used exclusively in opthalmology - to contract the pupil in the eye, and decrease intro-ocular
Uses
(fruit,
rarely
leaves)
Diuretic;
anti-
pyretic; mild sedative; nutritive; laxative.
Formerly employed in the treatment of renal rheumatism, arthritis and gout. The
calculi,
in
may be eaten in small quantities or used jams, and the whole plant (except the root)
is
used in certain diuretic wines.
fruit
Contra-indications
Large quantities
may
cause
diarrhoea. Physostigma venenosum Balfour
leguminosae
Calabar Bean Ordeal Bean/Esere Nut Calabar Bean is named after the area in southeast Nigeria, and near to the modern Port Harcourt, where the plant is most commonly pressure in glaucoma. Formerly employed in
found.
L solanaceae Bladder Cherry Chinese Lantern
known locally as esere, hence one of its common names Esere Nut. The plant's
physostigmine,
Dioscorides called the herb phusalis or strychnos
cotyledons were once used
kaloid used in
Physalis alkekengi
It
-
and considered it a sedative. Although several other Physalis species unused for jams, they are now seldom of medicin-
halikakabos
al interest.
Description Perennial (often
grown
as
annual)
on creeping rhizome, reaching 20 110 cm. Leaves entire, ovate, petiolate to 8 cm. Flowers solitary, whitish, nodding, appearing early summer to late autumn and followed by red globose berry enclosed in paper-thin, orange-red calyx. Distribution Native from central and south-east Europe and western Asia to Japan. On dry calcareous soils in vineyards and wasteland, to
1500
m
is
altitude.
by ordeal in Africa in which the accused had to drink the powdered bean. An explanation for the fact that the innocent generally survived and the guilty died is that in the former case the entire quantity was drunk thereby inducing violent vomiting and purging which removed much of the poison; while the guilty person sipped the potion, allowing rapid absorption of the alkaloids from the gastro-intestinal tract and thereforesubsequentdeathfrom cardiac arrest. was introduced to Europe in 1840 by It Daniell, and its medicinal properties were recognized in i860. The plant has no place in modern medicine, and physostigmine (its chief constituent) has now largely been replaced by in trials
Wild frequently as a garden escape. Cultivated as an ornamental from seed sown. as early as possible, or under glass Require!
neostigmine.
warm
large, ternate, pinnate; flowers purple, 3
Cultivation
;
on climbing woody stem thick) reaching 15 m tall. Leaves
Description Perennial (to 5
cm
cm
wide, produced on long pendulous axillary
including malic and citric; a bitter substance, physaline; pectin; pectinase; glucose.
racemes, each possessing 30 or more flowers; appearing early to mid-spring, and followed by
Constituents
(fruit;
a parasympathomimetic alsome of the above conditions
and
in the treatment of myasthenia gravis (a neuro-muscular disease), and to induce peristalsis in
ity.
post-operative gastro-intestinal debil-
Calabarine and physostigmine exert op-
posite effects; the action of the seed
is
therefore
frequently different from that of pure alkaloids.
Once
used in veterinary medicine.
Contra-indications
may
Very
POISONOUS.
Death
be caused by cardiac arrest or respiratory
paralysis. Phytolacca americana L phytolaccaceae Poke Weed Poke Root/Pigeonbcrry
Phytolacca
is
derived from the Greek phyton
meaning plant and pigment),
propagated by division. Vitamin C; organic acids
position. Also
tetanus and rheumatism. Used as a source of
the French lac (a reddish
reflecting
the
berries'
ability
to
produce a crimson dye. The herb was introduced to American settlers by Indians to whom it was known as pocan or cocum and from which the name Poke Weed originates. Traditionally Poke Weed was used as an emetic and as a remedy for venereal
*37
PIC-PIM but by 1830 Geiger had discovered other medicinal attributes. diseases,
Because of its complex chemical constituents the herb has received considerable scientific attention, and among other things it has been shown to possess a mitogenic phytohaemagglutin called Poke Weed mitogen factor
(PWM)
which
snails,
is
agent
to
for
immuno-
modern medicine.
logical purposes in
Another
employed
is
which has the ability to destroy being examined in Africa as a possible factor,
control the carrier of Bilharzia. a
and
a hydrolysis product, phytolaccagenin;
and dicarboxy oleanand saponins; potassium
jaligonic acid; carboxy
enes; various steroids (berries)
salts,
Saponins
(to
25%); mucilage;
tannic acid; phytolaccinic acid; red pigment, caryophylline. (leaf) Anti-viral protein, called
PAP and
similar to interferon; rubber; fatty Note: the exact chemical status and nature of phytolaccin and phytolaccine are
oil.
not fully known.
young cooked Emetic; purgative: narcotic; sternu-
Uses (dried root, occasionally leaves)
which invades and organs and which is contracted by washing in water containing
tatory; molluscicidal; spermicidal; fungicide; anti-rheumatic; anti-catarrhal. Root principally used internally in the treatment of
certain snail*.
smooth hollow on large fleshy
throat infections associated with swollen glands; acting particularly on the lymphatics. Also used in chronic rheumatism and upper
petiolate, alternate, entire, ovate-lanceolate or
respiratory tract infections. Externally it is applied as an ointment or poultice in fungal
disease caused by a parasite
destroys
many body
Description Perennial with thick,
25-3. 5 m tall, Leaves unpleasantly scented,
purplish stem,
branched
1.
root.
cm long, acute at both ends. Flowers white or sometimes pinkish, 7.5 wide, bisexual, on many-flowered terminal, then lateral, racemes from 5-20 cm long. oblong, 10-30
mm
Appearing
late
summer
to
mid-autumn and
followed by purple-red, globose berries to
1
cm
diameter.
haemorrhoids and scabies. was once applied externally to ulcers and tumours, but it is not very effective. In Hungary the root is employed as an abortifacient, and in Mauritius it is infections, ulcers,
from
Juice
the
berries
considered to be a sedative. After special treatment the berries to colour
also
may be
used
wine and confectionery. They have
been used
as a
colouring in
artists' paint.
Toxic and dangerous: it should only be used by medical personnel. To remove harmful substances it is important to soak in salt water, and cook well with 3 changes of water. The use of the young cooked plant, however, is not advised. When handling the mature plant gloves should be worn. May cause haematological abnormalities, violent Conlra-mdications
emesis and possibly death. Picea abies (L) Karst.
pinaceae
Picea
is
now
name for a tree which commonly planted conifer in
the ancient Latin the most
North America and Europe. but strong timber.
employed
It
yields a light
Norway Spruce
is
locally
manufacture of spruce beer by fermenting with yeast the leaves and twigs in a in the
sugar solution.
Monoecious evergreen tree to 40 m bark reddish brown, branches pendulous, pubescent or glabrous, bearing quadrangular leaves 14-18 long. Female cones cylindrical-oblong to 18 cm, woody and pendulous. Male cones catkin-like. Distribution Central and north European native. Introduced elsewhere. Cultivation Wild. Extensively grown for timber. Numerous horticultural cultivars used as ornamentals. Constituents Resin comprising a - and /? - piceaDescription tall;
mm
North American native, from New England to Texas and Florida. Introduced elsewhere, particularly in the mediterranean region. Especially on rich, light soils in newly Distribution
cleared land, field edges, roadsides. Cultivation Wild. Cultivated on a marketgarden scale in Carolina and elsewhere in the United States. Propagated from seed sown in spring or from root division in spring or autumn. Prefers sunny situation on deeply-
dug, nutrient-rich, well-drained
crop of vegetable leaf lifting roots in late ly in a
may
box of
be cut
when
15
A winter
may
autumn
damp
soils.
be obtained by and planting close-
peat, kept indoors; leaf
cm
long.
Neutral principle, phytolaccin; alkaloidal substance, phytolaccine; phylolaccic acid; phytolaccatoxin (cyanchotoxin) Constituents (root)
238
Quassia Jamaican
pimarolic, piceapimarinic and piceapimaric
and juroresene; also volatile oil. Burgundy pitch, wood) Burgundy pitch was formerly used in counter-irritant plasters for the treatment of lumbago, rheumatism and chronic bronchitis. Young tips (the spray) used in beer manu-
Quassia/Bitter Ash
name given by Linnaeus amara L in honour of a Guyanan slave called Quassi who had used the wood from this 2 m-high shrub to treat fevers. Quassia amara L or the Bitter Wood of Surinam (Surinam Quassia was therefore introduced to Europe (1756) and entered the London Quassia was a generic
to Quassia
1
Pharmacopoeia in 1788. By 79 however the much larger, but closely related, West Indian tree, Picrasma excelsa (then known as Quassia excelsa Swartz] had been shown to possess very similar properties and this so-called Bitter Wood of Jamaica was imported to England. It replaced Surinam Quassia in the London Pharmacopoeia of 1
Norway Spruce is
Picrasma excelsa (SW.) Planchon simarubaceae
1
1809, but in several other countries - including
Holland and Germany - Quassia amara has remained to this day the official Quassia. The Indians use another related plant, Picrasma quassioides
Benn.
for exactly the
Description Ash-like tree to 20
same purposes.
m
tall;
leaves
opposite, entire, unequally pinnate; the leaflets
pointed at both ends, ovate. Flowers
conspicuous, greenish, appearing late to
early
winter;
followed
in-
autumn
by shiny black
drupes. Distribution Native to West Indies, particularly Jamaica (on lower mountains and plains), St Vincent and Antigua. Cultivation Wild. Trees felled and sawn into
m
long for export for quassia chip
acids
logs
Uses (resin,
manufacture and
2
for
local
pharmaceutical
processing. Constituents sin,
a- and /?-piceaand neoquassin, to
Resin comprising
isoquassin (picrasmini
facture in north Europe.
which the action is due. Uses (stem wood) Bitter tonic: stomachic:
The
insecticide.
timber, white deal, is of great economic importance and a main source of paper pulp.
benefit
in
A powerful loss
non-astringent bitter of
of appetite
due
to
gastric
PIC-PIM debility.
Stimulates
and an enema to
also entered into the composition of several
gall-bladder
the
Once used
gastric secretion
as
Hop
substitute to render ale bitter.
Of
may be
used as a
its its
high cost, and it is often replaced by Chinese Anise (Illicium verum Hook). Description Aromatic, pubescent annual on thin root, to 75 cm tall. Stems erect, bearing long-petiolate, simple, coarsely-toothed, reni-
Infusions of Quassia chips, sweetened with sugar, or used alone,
aphrodisiac mixtures. In recent years
use as a flavouring has declined because of
classic
eradicate threadworm, and as an ingredient of lotions to destroy pediculi and other parasites. Roasted, powdered wood once employed as a
fly killer.
form lower leaves, 2.5-5 cm l° n g> an<^ 2 or 3 lobed, cuneate, entire or toothed upper leaves.
service as a horticultural insecticide des-
troying red spider, woolly aphids and greenfly. Contra-indications Large doses iritate the stom-
Flowers whitish, small, numerous in open, thin, compound umbels; appearing late sum-
ach and cause vomiting.
mer ish,
to early
autumn, and followed by brown-
ribbed, aromatic, ovate
fruit.
Egypt, the Levant and parts of the eastern mediterranean. On dry poor soils in sunny situations. Cultivation Wild, or occasionally wild as an escape. Widely cultivated commercially in
Distribution
Indigenous
many warm
to
countries,
particularly
India,
Turkey, south mediterranean region, Mexico, Chile and Soviet Union. Propagate from seed sown in spring, later thinning to 30 cm apart; cannot be transplanted successfully. Will not produce ripe seeds in cold northern zones. Constituents
(seed)
Volatile
comprising mainly anethole
oil
(to
(to
85°
),
3.5%) methyl
chavicol (estragol) (to 15%); also fixed oil (to 20° ); starch; choline; sugars; mucilage. entire, glossy
to
12.5
cm
and leathery; oblong-lanceolate
long.
Flowers small
(to
mm
7.5
many-flowered cymes borne in Appearing mid-summer to early autumn and followed by dark brown, wide white,
in
the upper axils.
globose, 6 Distribution
co,
West
mm
Native Indies.
Prefers hilly Cultivation
wide. 2-celled berries.
Central America, MexiIntroduced to Indonesia. soils.
Wild. Cultivated commercially in
Central America; collected commercially in May be propagated by cuttings or
Jamaica.
layering, but in northern zones only
to volatile oil content.
Uses (ripe seed, fresh leaf, occasionally oil)
Mild expectorant carminative galactagogue ;
weak
;
diuretic; laxative; antispasmodic.
Especially effective in flatulence or flatulent
Aids digestion and improves the appetite by promotion of gastric secretions. Stimulates the mammary gland secretions and acts as a cough suppressant. Used in the treatment of bronchial catarrh. Used in combination with other laxatives. Once emploved in asthma powders. The oil may be combined satisfactorily with colic.
to
environments on calcareous
Action mostly due
grown
as a
non-flowering greenhouse ornamental.
myrtaceae
Pimenta dioica (L) Merr.
Constituenti Volatile oil (to
Allspice Pimento/Jamaica Pepper Must of the European supplies <>l Allspice ome from Jamaica where plantations ol n.it ural woodland consisting predominantly oi these trees are called Pimento walks. The berries an harvested by hand when green and unripe. and then either sun or kiln-dried. he name Pimento derives from the Spanish i
I
pimienta or pimiento similarity in shape
meaning pepper,
after tin-
4.5%) comprising
mainly eugenol (to 65%), also cineole, phellandrene, caryophyllene. Uses (dried unripe berries, oil) Carminative; aromatic stimulant. Used as the source of oil of Pimento, which was once employed as a carminative-.
Powdered berries are of benefit in and to disguise the uste
flatulence, dyspepsia ol
They may also be stimulant lotions and plasters.
disagreeable medicines.
incorporated
in
peppercorns. Pimienta
Print ipally used as a flavouring in rice, curries,
comes from the medieval term pigmentum meaning spicery. The spi
puddings and cakes, and in pickling. The tree provides wood which was one e much used in the manufacture of umbrella handles and walking sticks.
to
itself
<
before
Ray
in
<
[693 described
it
as
Allspict
combination of the flavours <>l cinnamon, nutmeg and loves. Botanically it has been lassified as Myrtus ilimia L, M. pimenta L, Eugenia pimenta DC, and Pimenta officinalis Lindl. the last nam< emphasizing that the plant was included in the official British Pharmacopoeia from 1721 to because of
its
<
<
191
1
Aromatic evergreen tree to 13 m, resembling a large Myrtle; haves petiolati Description
Pimpmella amsum L umbelliferae Anise Aniseed
Aniseed is one of the most ancient of spices and was cultivated by the Egyptians and later by the Greeks and Arabs. The early Arabic name was anysum from which was derived the Greek anison or anneson and the Latin anisum. Dioscorides considered that Egyptian Aniseed was sec ond only to that grown in Crete. In the Middle Ages it was largely used as a spue and as a carminative medicine, but it
239
PIM-PLA liquorice in cough lozenges, or used alone as an
may
antiseptic.
and
Important
manufacturing industries
in
as a
flavouring for food, liqueurs. Fresh leaf may be used in salads. Seed is added to vegetable
chewed
curries, or
sweeten the breath.
to
It
is
occasionally used in perfumery, for example, as a constituent of eau
de Cologne.
although
certainly used by the ancients
it
be the kaukalis which Dioscorides referred
Formerly employed
as a
mild sedative and
externally as a poultice or bath to treat wounds.
The young fresh leaf can be included in salads. The oil has limited use in certain liqueurs as a
PINACEAE
Dwarf Mountain Pine This variety of Mountain Pine a pure essential oil as
W
which
is
the source of
is
variously described
The Rumanian,
Pini Pumiliones.
Swiss,
the
in
oil
is
retained
Yugoslavian.
Hungarian, Austrian and Czechoslovakian pharmacopoeias, and it is especially popular in Swiss. Italian and Hungarian medicinal use. Pumilio Pine Oil is produced by distillation of the fresh young needles (which are shown in the illustration, below). It has been used since
*'
at least the
In
diseases,
Dr
James
Prosser
described
its
and suggested
its
use in an atomizer
Description Low prostrate shrub with glabrous, dark brownish, erect branchlets, and a grey somewhat scaly bark. Leaves to 3.5 cm long,
crowded in clusters or fasciCones dark brown to yellowish, almost sessile, deciduous and dehis-
stiff,
cles,
needle-like,
bright
green.
cent, ovoid to 4
cm
long.
Native to the mountains ofsouthern and central Europe. Rarely introduced elsewhere. Often on light, sandy or rocky soils. Distribution
German
physicians used
it
particularly from
Middle Ages onwards and it appeared in a number of pharmacopoeias including those of Augsburg (1640), Wiirttemberg 11741 and the
Prussia (1799- 1829). In seventeenth-century
Germany
is
was an
ingredient of "magic powders'. Description Perennial
taproot.
on unpleasantly smelling
Stem 30-100 cm
hairy, finely furrowed;
pinnate
1-2.5
strong, slightly 1
or 2-
with
leaves,
segments,
tall,
bearing few
cm
ovate to lanceolate l° n S- Flowers white or
compound umbels to 5 cm diameter. Appearing late summer to early autumn. pink in
Distribution
Native
to
Europe, Middle East and
and naturalized in New Zealand and the United States. On dry, grassy, shallow, stony and calcareous soils in warm situations to 2500 m altitude. Siberia. Introduced
Cultivation
Wild.
comprising coumarinic substances including isopimpinellin and pimpinellin; saponosides; bitter princiConstituents Volatile oil (to o.4°
i
ples; resin; tannic acid.
Uses
(dried
root,
occasionally
fresh
root
Expectorant; vulnerary; diuretic; stomachic; antiseptic; weak galactagogue; weak sedative. May be used in combination with other remedies for genito-urinary infections. Alone it is of benefit in the treatment of respiratory
upper respiratory and throat infections in the
tract catarrh, tions
240
tract
infec-
latter case
it
sub-
Stimulant; counter-irritant appears to possess slight anaesthetic properties. Inhaled as steam, the oil is of benefit in the treatment of coughs, laryngitis, chronic bronchitis, catarrh, asthma and other respiratory diseases since it exerts dilatatory action on the bronchi, the oil may be taken internally in small doses in the form of lozenges, syrups, or on sugar. The infusion of leaves is inhaled in the treatment of similar
sometimes
respiratory disorders.
Cultivation
Wild plant infrequently cultivated
horticulturally as an ornamental. Constituents
(oil)
Esters
Piper betle L piperacae Betel Betel Leaf
Betel as
chewing
popular
peans.
as
is
a habit
among Malays almost among Euro-
tobacco smoking
The method
consists of rolling
up a
slice
Nut (Areca catechu L with a little Lime (Chunami (made by burning seashellsi, inside a leaf of Betel, and then slowly chewing the
or Areca
called a quid.
Chavica siriboa
Miq.
is
sometimes used as a
substitute for Betel Leaf.
Shrub, climbing by adventitious semi-woody, enlarged at nodes, bearing entire, or undulate, thick, glo^\ broadly ovate, slightly cordate leaves on 2.5 cm long petioles. Flowers yellowish in dense pendulous cylindrical spikes to 5 cm long: followed by fleshy fruit. Distribution Indigenous to India, Ceylon and Malaysia. Introduced elsewhere. Requires hot and moist environment, in partial shade. Cultivation Wild. Cultivated in India and the Far East. comprisConstituents Essential oil 0.2— 1.0% ing cadenene, chavicol, chavibetol and sesDescription
rootlets; stems
to disinfect sickrooms.
#
unknown
Uses (fresh leaves
and
mixture
seventeenth century.
Britain,
beneficial action in 1888 for certain respiratory
n
(leaves,) Esters; resins;
Pumilio Pine Oil, Pine Needle Oil and
Oleum
to in his writings.
mainly bornyl acetate,
small quantities of glycosides; stances.
Pinus mugo var. pumilio (Haenke) Zenari
Burnet Saxifrage This somewhat variable herb is widely distributed throughout much of Europe but was not
may
internally.
bitter flavouring.
L umbelliferae
Pimpinella saxifraga
be used as a gargle. It promotes gastric gland secretions when taken
mammary
(4-10%) comprising
quiterpenes; also sugars; starch: tannic acid:
PIM-PLA acid; diastase (to 2",,
Ceylon, India and the East Indies.
.
Stimulant; antiseptic; carminative; sialogogue; tonic; stomachic. Leaves commonly employed as a masticatory Uses (leaves,
oil)
in the East; they act as a general tonic, pro-
mote
and
salivary
gastric
secretions,
digestion, decrease perspiration
aid
and increase
physical endurance.
Constituents Volatile oii
cubebic acid
Cubeb
L piperaceae
comprising
1%), cubebin, cadinene, several terpenes and sesquiterpenes; resin: fixed oil; starch; calcium and magnesium malate. Action largely due to cubebic acid which has a local irritant and stimulant effect on mucous membranes. dried
Uses Piper cubeba
(5-2O o
(to
unripe
fruit,
occasionally
oil)
Antiseptic; diuretic; stimulant; expectorant:
Cubebs/Tailed Pepper the East Indian name
Cubeb was
for this spice
stomachic; carminative. Once used in the treatment of genito-urinary tract infections, including gonorrhoea. May be of benefit in cystitis, indigestion, and if incorporated in lozenges, can be used for coughs, bronchitis and respiratory complaints. Formerly employed in the United States in asthma cigarettes. Principally of use as a condiment; the flavour
resembles Allspice, and
and
is
suitable for sauces
fruit dishes.
Piper nigrum L piperaceae Pepper Black Pepper
Historically one of the most important spices
the alkaloids piperine, piperidine
which has been very highly prized since the earliest days of East-West trade. It has been used as a form of currency: during the siege of Rome a.d. 408 part of the city's ransom was paid in Pepper berries, and a thousand years later "pepper rents' were commonly paid to landlords. The quest for Pepper by European nations led them to discover a maritime route to the East. During the Middle Ages much of the- wealth of Venice was derived from its Pepper trade. In England the control of the spice trade was in the hands of the Guild of Pepperers (or
ine;
derived from Piper or Pepper
Piperarit
from
Guild was later to become incorporated with the Grocers Company, which in turn eventually lost its control over clings and spit es to the apothecaries. P. nigrum as early as
which
as early as the tenth century
was recog-
nized by the Arabs to be a product ol Java. authorities consider that the Arabic
Some word
kababe
referred fruit.
to
a
was
a
collective
number
Indeed,
even
ol
in
which
term
similar cubeb-like
modern
times
the
peppercorn-like berries are frequently adulterated with inferior Piper species such as
and The spice has enjoyed varying popularity. In the thirteenth century it was Commonly found in Europe as a medic ine and as a condiment, but by the- end of the- seventeenth century it was both uncommon and expensive. In England it had fallen into almost complete disuse by the early nineteenth century, but was reintroduced in 1815 alter Piper crassipes, P. ribesundes, P. mollissimum
P.
muncatum.
verification of
medical
therapeutic effects b\ serving in the far East
its
office rs
Arms
t
picking the
produce
:
this
White Pepper. Instead unripe berries and drying them
source- of
also the
is
154
<>l
dark skin (pericarp White Peppei was to Theophrastus and his Greek contemporaries but In the Middle Ages it had lost its popularity. Although still used most White Pepper is now. in lac 1, decorticated Pepper in .
known
that the outer layer by
is
incompletely removed
machinery
/) cription
and chavic-
piperettine which
hydrolyzes to piperidine and piperettic acid; traces of
hydrocyanic acid; resins
starch
30%
to
(to
6%
:
.
dried unripe fruit) Stomachic; carmin-
Uses
ative; aromatic stimulant; antibacterial; insecticide; diaphoretic.
Stimulates taste-buds and thus causes reflex stimulation of gastric secretions. atonic
membranes and and
Also
dyspepsia.
Employed in mucous
stimulates
part of the nervous system,
body temperature. May be used as a and externally as a rubefacient. East
raises
gargle,
Africans use
as
it
an abortifacient. They also
consider that the body odour resulting from eating the
fruit repels
Mostly employed
mosquitoes.
as a stimulating
and food preservative,
as,
for
condiment
example,
in
sausage meats. Plantago major L plantaginaceae Greater Plantain Rat-tail Plantain/ Wavbread This and some closely related Plantago
major var. asiatica Decne.
as P.
sue h
lanceolata
L have
species
and
P.
a long traditional use in the
treatment of sores which has recently been by modern examination of the
vindicated
plant's action.
Perennial
climbing shrub: stem strong and woody bearing tdossv prominently nerved, ovate-oblong to orbicular leaves, to 18 cm loncj; and 12cm wide, on 2 cm long petioles. Flowers white-, usually dioecious, on glabrous spike-s from 5 15 cm long. Followed In (> diameter globose, yellow and then red, fruit. .
mm
Distribution
compound
yellow
to
black variety, the fruit is allowed to ripen on the \ me and then soaked to removethe
tin
a
Native- to southern
India; intro-
The
unattractive and tenacious Plantains are
the scourge of gardeners, but
many
are
still
highly respected in folk medicine from Africa
Vietnam.
to
Leaves entire or
Description Perennial.
slightly
toothed, long petioled, ovate to elliptic,
cm
5-20
forming a basal rosette. Leaves prominently 7-veincd and no more than twice as long as the petiole. Flowers inconspicuous wide, numerous, yellowish-green, with 3 lilac and then yellow anthers; on cylindrical long,
Climbing perennial or shrub; stems smooth and flcxuous, bearing glabrous entire, acuminate, petiolate, oblong or ovate-oblong, coriaceous and obliquely cordate leaves. Flowen dioee ions, in spikes, and followed l)\ brownish globose fruit to *> nun diam<
duced
and China; frequently
Distribution Native- to
Distribution Native to south-east
w
other temperate zones. Widely distributed on cultivated land, wasteland and roadside.
Description
i<
ally
1
Asia, especi-
Sumatra and Java. Introduced elsewhe n
Cultivation
Wild. Cultivated commercially
in
Brazil.
to
tropical Asia.
Malagas)
In tropical forests: requires
Republic. shade and
high humidity Cultivation
Wild. Cultivated commercially
Indonesia, South India. West
ill)
Indies.
in
Brazil
in mixed plantations other lucrative Crops SUCh as Coffee. Will
yield a crop for
approximately 10 years. 2.5%), comprising
Constituents Volatile oil (to
mm
spike 5 to
40
cm
lout;.
Appearing
earl)
summer
mid-autumn.
Prefers
moist
Europe. Introduced
to
sandy or loamy nutrient-rich
24
l
PLA-POL but tolerates most conditions. Wild plant. In eastern
soils,
Cultivation
commercial cultivation of
P. lanceolata L. has
recently begun. Constituents
Mucilage;
(leaf)
bin (rhinanthin)
pentacyclic
a
;
the
enzymes emulsin and
invertin; potassium salts (too.5°
22%);
)
;
citric acid.
a trisaccharide, plante-
ose; aucubin; choline; various organic acids.
Uses (dried leaves, seed) Vulnerary; diuretic;
expectorant; astringent; bacteriostatic. Principally of use as a poultice, ointment or in decoctionfortheexternal treatment of wounds, ulcers
and
eye-wash
bites.
in
Dioscorides'
day,
derived from the Greek for flea ipsylla) - an allusion to the seed's appearance. Apothecaries
triterpene, oleanolic acid; a glycoside, aucu-
(seed) Oil (to
They have been used since and the specific name is
Psyllium.
as
Europe
Also used as a gargle and as an
blepharitis
and
conjunctivitis.
called the seed Pulicariae, from the Latin for flea.
In India P. ovata Forskal,
commonly known
Ispaghula,
precisely
used
is
may
purposes, and
for
the
as
same
therefore replace Psyllium.
Annual with
erect thin hairy stems bearing sessile, long thin (acicular) grey-green glandular leaves; opposite or in whorls of 3-6 leaves. Flowers small, numerous, white, in globose spikes borne on long peduncles; appearing late spring to late summer, and followed by 2-3 long, dark Description
IO ~35
cm
ta U>
mm
brown
glossy seeds.
Native to the mediterranean reFrance, Spain and North Africa. On poor, dry sandy soils in full sun. Cultivation'Wild. Cultivated commercially from Distribution
gion;
especially
seed sown in the spring.
and followed
mucilage
Constituents Oil;
to
10%
.
compris-
Distribution
onic acid, to which
to Florida
therapeutic action
is
due.
soils
Emollient
seeds
Usei
Used
treatment of chronic constipation; mucilage swells considerably in water and the gelatinous mass acts as a bulk the
in the
seed's
purgative.
The
emollient action makes this
herb also suitable for use in severe diarrhoea. It can be used as a soothing eye lotion. Young leaves may be added to salads.
Employed
The
plant has the ability to destroy a wide
range of micro-organisms, and stimulates the
in
Wild.
Cultivation
Collected commercially
cosmetic preparations,
May
eastern North America.
in
be propagated
by division of root-stock in the autumn, or from seed sown in the spring. Requires damp, humus-rich soils, and partial shade. Constituents Podophyllotoxin and related substances such as picropodophyllin: podophylloresin; qucrcetin; a-
industrially to dress muslin.
An ingredient of certain
long,
streams.
laxative.
;
35 cm
fruit.
North American native from Texas and Quebec. On damp nitrogenous open woodland, pastures and near
ing xylose, arabinose, galactose, and galacturits
autumn by
in early
ovoid, yellow edible
and
/J-peltatin; starch;
(lavonoids. Purgative action
due
to the
podo-
phyllotoxin and podophylloresin content.
such as face masks.
American Mandrake Podophyllum/
Podophyllin or podophyllum resin is produced by adding the alcoholic tincture to water. Usei (rhizome, Podophyllum resin Powerful
in constipation.
Common
purgative; gastro-intestinal irritant; antihel-
Formerly used to treat various haemorrhages including post-partum haemorrhage; also bronchitis, bronchial catarrh and coughs. An
The name May-apple
healing process (epithelization
The
.
may
be employed internally to treat diarrhoea, and conversely the seed is of benefit leaf
effective diuretic.
The young
Plantago psyllium
Psyllium
Employed homcopathically.
leaf was once used as a pot-herb.
L plantaginaceae
Flea Seed
Seeds from several Plantago species which have the ability to swell in water due to their high mucilage content have been used for medicinal
and other purposes. P. psyllium and P. indica L. seeds are rich in mucilage and both are commercially known
L berberidaceae
Podophyllum peltatum
May-apple is
and acidic
that the juicy
derived from the fact
mintic; anti-mitotic. Used locally externally
sometimes
soft venereal warts and on other warts. Both resin and rhizome have been employed as a purgative in cases of chronic constipation with associated liver complaints, although
fruits are
eaten, and, despite their laxative effects, they
were once on
sale in
some American markets.
All other parts of the plant must, however, be
on
considered as poisonous, and the powerful nature of the dried rhizome is emphasized by
actual choleretic action
is
Normally combined with
less drastic
the size of the therapeutic dose - 0.12 of a
Contra-indications
gram. American Mandrake was long used as an emetic by the Indians; but its purgative effect was introduced to medicine by Schopf who was the physician to German 1787
severe
fighting
soldiers
Independence.
It
in
the
first
American War of entered
the
United
Pharmacopoeia in 1820 and is also in the Spanish and Portugese pharmacopoeias
remedies.
POISONOUS. May
cause
or
poly-
gastro-intestinal
irritation
External application must be care-
neuritis. fully
not substantiated.
restricted
to
abnormal
tissue
only:
systemic absorption has been shown to cause poisoning. Not to be used during pregnancy.
Only
to
be used b\ medical personnel.
States
although
now
lum The
resin.
for
foot-leaf;
generic
only as the source of Podophyl-
is
derived from the Greek
while peltatum
means
shield-
on reddish-brown, long 5-15 mm diameter. Stems simple, erect to 45 cm, bearing or 2, 7-9 deeply lobed drooping leaves, to 30 cm wide. Flowers white, borne singly on nodding peduncle in the stem bifurcation between 2 leaves. Petals fleshy, 6 or 9; stamens 12 or 18; corolla to 5 cm wide. Appearing early summer Description Perennial _'
m
1,
cylindrical rhizome
1
242
has one of the strongest and most perfumes known and for this reason was traditionally used to scent Indian linen, to distinguish material of Indian nrisrin. Several of the 40 species in the genus Pogostemon are now used as a source of Patchouli oil,
Patchouli
name
shaped. to
Pogostemon patchouli Pellet labiatae
Patchouli oil
distinctive
which has therefore become of somewhat variable
quality.
Besides
known
P.
patchouli
Pell.
and Blanco Benth. Patchouli is mostly derived from the Javanese species P. comosus Miq. Alternative sources from different genera which
is
P. cablin
also
as P. heyeanus Benth. ,
PLA-POL commonly found;
include Microtaena cymosa Prain and Plectran-
species
thus patchouli Clarke.
properties as P. vulgaris but
m
and hence
Description Aromatic perennial to stems erect, square, slightly hirsute, bearing opposite, ovate or triangular leaves approximately 3-5 cm long. Flowers whitish, often i
marked with purple, arranged terminal and axillary spikes.
in
tall;
has the same
it it
more
is
bitter
acts as a bitter tonic. Early writers
was the polygala and and Dioscorides respectively - both from the Greek meaning much milk but this cannot be certain and several Milkdecided that P.
vulgaris
polugalon of Pliny
groups on
now
wort's
and
the
retain
traditional
virtue of
India; introduced to West Indies and parts of South America. Requires tropical or sub-
being galactogogues. Description Perennial 10-30 cm tall, with erect or decumbent stems. Leaves alternate, ever-
tropical conditions.
green, obovate to lanceolate,
Native
Distribution
south-east
to
Asia
Wild. Cultivated commercially and
Cultivation
5-35
mm
long.
Flowers usually blue, occasionally pink or whitish, in loose racemes; appearing early
horticulturally from seed sown in the spring, or by division of root-stock in spring or autumn, or from cuttings taken in late spring. May be grown as a greenhouse plant in temperate zones. Use a rich or medium-rich potting compost, and strike heeled cuttings in high
summer
autumn. to Europe; on grassland, heathland, mountain pastures, in sandy, wellto early
Distribution
drained,
Native
humus-rich
but
to
soils
m
2000
altitude.
humidity.
Wild. Propagate from seed sown in
Cultivation
comprising cadinene, stearoptene and related compounds. Obtained from leaves by distillation. Constituents Oil
Uses (dried leaves,
oil)
Not commonly used
Once considered
Antiseptic; insecticide.
for
medicinal purposes.
to act as a stimulant.
Principally of use as a perfume.
employed
a
in
The
oil
may
be
wide range of cosmetic pre-
parations, including soaps.
It
is
also used in
incense. Leaves can be incorporated in potpourris,
scented sachets and other scented
articles.
Valerianae graecae, was still retained in some European pharmacopoeias and was employed predominantly as an antisyphilitic agent or in
the treatment of rabies.
The common name
refers to the ladder-like
shape of the leaves. Description Perennial from 30 cm to m tall; stems erect bearing short, petiolate or sessile, alternate, pinnate leaves. Basal leaves from 1
12.5
7.5
cm
long, long-petiolatc. the petioles
being winged; 1-21 lanceolate than stem leaves, from 15
leaflets large)
1
mm
I
lowers blue, 5-petalled, 3
drooping
panicles,
to 2
cm
appearing
cm
long.
diameter, late
in
mid-
to
summer. European
Distribution
native.
Introduced
to
temperate zones.
damp
Prefers
soils
near streams in the partial
shade of woodland. Wild, usually rare and localized. garden escape. Cultivated horticulturally from seed sown in spring or by
soil
autumn. Requires rich, soil and the addition of
ine
Cultivation
Found
as a
division
the
in
moisture-retaining lime.
Mowers larger
;
/'.
lilac
Bcnth.
has
white caeruleum var. himalayanum Baker lias -blue Mowers. Both may be found in
caeruleum
/'.
var.
lacteum
cultivation as Jacob's Ladder. Constituents
Unknown.
Polemonium
is
herb which
;i
into disuse. poll
in
an ancienl It
murium ,mrl
wine
in
name
lias
now
was known lo the root was oik
I
c
<>l
uncertain
largely fallen )ios( 01
late
a
to possess
Weak blood-
Principally ol horticultural use in formal histoi H al
administered
cases ol dysentery, toothache
and
[830 the herb, then called Herba
do not cover with
comprising gaulthcr-
and other compounds; saponins; polygalic acid and senegine; mucilage; resin. / ses (dried whole plant, dried root) Expectorr
ant; diuretic; laxative; stomachic. Traditionally considered to be a galactogogue,
unsubstantiated.
is
Of
use in bron-
and pulmonary complaints, often com-
bined with other remedies; but not effective as once supposed.
in
asthma
The is
leaves
and
root
similar to Saponaria
make
a crude soap
officinalis
but
which
less effective.
and
gardens.
Polygonum
bistorta
L polygonaceae
Bistort Snake Rooi/Snakeweed
ides as
againsi the bites ol poisonous animals. \
Once considered
Constituents Essential oil,
chitis
purilying qualities, but now no longer used lor medicinal purposes.
PolemOTlium caeruleum L POLEMONIACEAE Jacob's Ladder Chains (.nek Valerian
origin lor
.
surface;
soil
or germination will be poor.
but this
Uses (dried flowering plant, dried toot
diaphoretic
spring on the
L polyoalacbai Milkwort
Polygala vulgaris
Bistort belongs to the- knotweeel genus,
Common
members of which
In ha Iky areas and in continental Km ope the very similar Bitter Milkwort /'. amarn I, is the 1
swollen
or
man)
are characterized by their
jointed
stems.
means nianv-kneed from
Polygonum the
itself
stem's shape.
t;
POL POT rhizome and
Bistorta describes the
Latin
shape of the underground
known
is
from the
twice twisted, after the snake-like
for
parts. It used to
be
as Serpentaria or Serpentaria rubra (after
the red colour within the blackish rhizome)
which has
some confusion since both L and Arum maculatum L Serpentaria in the sixteenth and
led to
haemorrhoids. The powdered rhizome Once used in the treatment of tuberculosis faction uncertain The root is edible after it has been soaked in water and then roasted.
and
to
acts as a styptic.
.
Young
shoots
and leaves may be boiled and
decaying tree trunks. Requires damp, shady sheltered conditions.
Wild. Several varieties cultivated most of these forms being characterized by attractive foliage. Cultivation
for horticultural purposes;
Constituents
Essential
oil;
mucilage:
sugars;
Artemisia dracunculus
eaten as spring greens.
tannic
were
Used
polypodine; various mineral salts. Cholagogue action largely due to polypodine.
also called
seventeenth centuries. There are over 200 species of Polygonum and
one was not introduced into medical practice until the Renaissance; the leaf, howthis
ever
is still
included
in the
Pharmacoppharmacopoeias of Swiss
in veterinary
medicine.
Polypodium vulgare L polypodiaceae Polypody Root Common Polypody
Dioscorides
knew
a purgative.
He
herb.
mucilaginous root as a poultice
on thick, somewhat flattened and twisted S-shaped rhizome; stem m tall. erect 25 50 cm or occasionallv to Radical leaves broadly ovate or lanceolate, lighter and hairy beneath, 5 15 cm long, outline wavy stem leaves sparse, smaller, triangu-
fractured fingers.
Description Perennial
1
drug and prescribed
it
also used the pulverized fresh for
sprained or
Cholagogue; expector-
Small doses promote the appetite: stronger decoctions are useful in the treatment of chest infections,
and bronchial catarrh. mild laxative and anti-
coughs,
Large doses act
as a
Populus candicans Ait. salicaceae
Balm of Gilead
in
The
was usually only used for its expectorant action, which is weak. A related Peruvian Polypody, P- calaguala Ruiz whose
used
It is
now
rarely used
and
it
Poplar Buds
Balm of Gilead has been
descriptive term for a
number
of different plants.
of
first
it
is
extinct in
its
Indian and Egyptian homes, although
,
One
and possibly the original Balm of the Bible was the oleo-resin obtained from Balsamodendron opobalsamum Kunth. also called the Balm of Mecca. Miraculous properties wereonce attributed to this aromatic substance but it is now obsolete in Europe and most the
authorities consider
opening. Flowers pale pink or rarel)
diameter in white, numerous, small (4 dense solitary, cylindrical terminal spikes <>l
mm
saponoside,
as
;
mm
a
helmintic with some action against tapeworms. the
lar-acuminate. Petioles variable in length and triangular in section; leaves iolded longitudinally before
resins;
Uses (dried rhizome
footed.
the past
bitter
ant; laxative; antihelmintic.
Brake Root Both the generic and common names of this fern refer to the branching habit of the rhizome; the Latin polypodium means many-
and the rhizome in the France and Russia. It was certainly an important food in the spring in northern countries from earliest times sometimes even being cultivated as a garden
oeia
acid;
former it
mav
survive locally in the Middle East.
Canada Balsam from
mid-summer
Wild plant. Tannic acid to 20% oxalic acid vitamin C; starch action due to the astringen-
Abies bahamea Marshall was also once called Balm of Gilead. but the commercial product is now derived from P. candicans which is also known as P. balsamijera var. candicans Gray and P. gileadensis Rouleau and from the Balsam Poplar, P. balsamijera L. also called P. tacamahacca Mill. It is probable that several other substitutes from the Poplar family such as P. tremuloides Michx. are
cy of the tannins.
known
Uses (dried rhizome) Strong astringent; anti-
Description
10
15
diameter. Appearing
autumn. Distribution European to early
native.
On
moist
silice-
ous nutrient-rich grassland, mixed woodland, fenland and alpine mats. Particularly on higher ground, and Frequently near water. Cultivation
Constituents
:
.
;
I
;
;
Useful in decoction or infusion for diarrhoea or
aphthous ulcers, stomatitis and Applied externally to cuts or sores
as a gargle in
common name
is
Calahualae
was shown
in
the 1930s to possess better expectorant qualities
than
this species.
Description
Perennial fern on long creeping
somewhat flattened rhizome to 10 mm thick, bearing numerous brown scales, and from which the stipes grow to 10-50 cm. Leaves smooth, deeply pinnate, with 20-40 lanceolate, alternate and opposite, obtuse or semiacute sometimes curved, segments; midribs prominent. Sporangia in light brown circular sori
arranged either side of main segmental
nerve.
Native to Europe, western Asia: introduced to North America and other temperate regions. Frequently found on old walls, rocky ground, woodland, ruins and old Distribution
244
Balm of Gilead.
Tree to 20 m occasionally to 30 m spreading with open and irregular top: leaves
inflammatory vulnerary.
gingivitis.
as
.
POL-POT dark
above,
lighter
and
beneath,
hirsute
Native from Greece to Introduced elsewhere. On dry, sano
Distribution
cordate, alternate, petiolate. broad-ovate or
cm on g- Flowers in drooping to 15 cm long. Winter leaf buds
10-15
deltoid,
scaly catkins
'
and highly aromatic.
sticky, resinous
Distribution
Uncertain origin. Introduced and temperate countries.
Frequently beside rivers. Wild. Cultivated horticulturally as aromatic garden ornamental. Cultivation
Oleo-resin;
compounds
salicylic
including salicin and salicin benzoate; buds yield to 40° of an alcohol-soluble extractive. Uses dried or rarely fresh leaf buds, occasion(
ally
Antiseptic:
oleo-resin;
rubefacient: ex-
pectorant.
Used
internally
respiratory
coughs,
in
and
laryngitis
employed
treatment of upper
the
bronchitis.
ointments
in
particularly
infections,
tract
for
May
external
be
appli-
cation to relieve the local pain and irritation of arthritis, cuts
and
An
bruises.
excellent gargle
for sore throats.
The buds can where
articles is
be used in a range of scented a
heavy resinous balsamic aroma
Wild. Cultivated horticultura'
Cultivation
t
Purslane has long been used as a foodstuff
early autumn on light, well-drained soil; water well and harvest 6-8 weeks after sowing. Leaves of the cultivated varieties may be less sharp than the wild plant. Constituents
plant
i
collected from the wild
in
Africa,
organic acids
pulmonary and
The
skin diseases.
spring crop can be obtained by successive
when
plantings on hotbeds or in frames. Grown semi-commercially in France, Italv and Holland.
used fresh and
may
remedies
the
for
erties,
and
The
be incorporated with other
treatment of urino-genital
low blood pressure
in conditions of to
induce more vigorous contracsubtropical coun-
in several
somewhat fleshy,
ipatulate, sessile leaves
Flowers small in groups
or
summei seed
1
;
7.5 of
9
mm
the petals soon
apsule.
yellow,
1,
or
.'
cm
long.
sessile, single
appearing ill and reveal
3, I,
1
in
late
a small
Not
herb)
used
for
medicinal
The stem and
taste.
A
it
may
has a sharp
leaves are pickled for
traditional
ingredient of the
French soup bonne femme and the Middle East Portulaca oleracea v?LT. sativa
DC.
I.
salad, jattoush.
The
rULAC vcKAE
I'OK
Garden Purslane Green Kit<
attractive golden-leaved variety
north-west
in
Europe from the end of the sixteenth century end of the eighteenth entury, but in (
English speaking countries
now
is
it
rarely
grown.
Potentilla anserina L rosaceae Silverweed Wild Tansy There are more than 300 species
in the genus found in the northern temperate zones, and Silverweed is one of the most easily recognized with its silky-silver leaf undersides. This characteristic Potentilla,
varieties wen- developed from the Wild Purslane of which the Green, Golden and large-leaved Golden were the best known. Only the Green and Golden varieties are now easily obtained, the latter sometimes errone-
Several
led to both
most
its
of which
current
argent
Yellow Purslane. The true Yellow Purslane is I', lutea Soland and is found New /ealand. 111
meaning powerful
I
he
(
the
onimon name
is
from the old Latin name while oleracea means
lor the plant porcilocca]
vegetable garden herb used Description
plant
taller
,1
Annual. Similar
stems and
to
oleracea
/'.
<
leaves. Distribution
temperate and subdeveloped in tinsouthern Europe. Prefers
Widespread
tropical
/ones.
Middle
Last
in
Probably 01
nitrogen-rich, well-drained dryish
soils
m
lull
sun.
Only found Propagate as
Cultivation
in
ape.
for
1
15
•
20
cm
suIIk tent
apart
water
be possible from
in
the wild as a garden P.
oleracea L.
rows 30
<
m
Plant
apart.
II
given, 2 or g gatherings will each plant. winter and early
is
A
The generic name
common name and
is
the
Argentaria (from
from the Latin
potens
after the medicinal action of
the group, most of
which contain high per-
centages of tannin and are thus strong astringents.
Anserina
L but
50 m, with thi< kei green succulent spatulate
reat hing
bright
.1
cooking.
in
are
names Argentina and meaning silver).
earlier
ously being desc ribed as a separate species, P.
or
be
gardens.
hen-garden Purslane
sativa
may
used for horticultura] purposes in formal herb
Purslane/
until the
Annual or biennial with flesh) decumbent stems to 15 cm; pinkish, and bearing opposite,
(fresh
Uses
purposes. Principally eaten cooked but
winter use.
a salad herb.
emetic by the Zulu. or
Constituents Similar to P. oleracea L.
also be used sparingly in salads;
cooked vegetable and
a
.is
a useful diuretic
leaf has vasoconstrictive prop-
Extensively used tries
It is
Garden Purslane was popular
prostrate
seed and
root are reported to be antihelmintic but this
India and the Far East and used for culinary and medicinal purposes. The related plan! P. quadrifida L is used in South Africa as an Description
to
(2%). The combined action being predominantly diuretic and tonic. Uses (fresh herb Diuretic: tonic; anti-scorbutic. Due to its high vitamin C content the plant was once an important remedy for scurvy. It has also been used in a variety of
tions of the heart.
1
in
[%); sacchariferoid
duced into cultivation in Europe in the Middle Ages. It was first grown in England in 1582 but was probably well-known in 1.1 and France long before this a-- Ruellius described both the wild and erect cultivated garden form in 1536. 1
per 100 g fresh
in fresh, 7o
sitosterol: volatile oil; resins;
infections. in
mg
(700
salts (i°
dry plant); urea; oxalic acid: carotenoid pigments; alkaloids (o.03° ); glucoside: /?-
can be used
still
C
Vitamin
potassium
;
India and the Middle East, and was intro-
is
y for
Middle and Far East. A number of varieties and cultigens have been developed from this wild species. Propagate from seed sown successively from late spring to
has not been proved.
required.
\i Portulaca oleracea L PORTULACA( Purslane Wild Purslane/ Yellow Portulaca
It
n'tro-
sun.
soils in full
centuries in the
naturalized in several
Constituents
gen-rich weedy
J una.
comes
fron
e
Latin anserinus mean-
ing pertaining to geese, since the birds were
thought
to
be particularly partial to the leaves;
many animals
are happy to graze on the plant. The Silverweed has been identified as the Mynophyllon of Dioscorides who suggested boiling the plant in salted water lot the treatment of haemorrhages. Description Silkv perennial 20 40 cm tall, on short, thick root-Stock from which arise long creeping stolons (to 80 cm long) which toot at the nodes. Radical leaves 5-25 cm long, compound, pinnate, silvery-white and hairy beneath; 14 24 leaflets, 6 cm long, alternately large and small, oval, deeply dentate. 1
'I
I
POT-PR U Many
ations.
Rhatany
have noted that for economic
authorities
only
preferred
is
reasons, since the plants possess similar actions.
Rhatany was brought to women of Lima who preserve their teeth, while Tormen-
coincidental that
It is
the notice of Ruiz by the
used
to
it
was long used as an astringent tooth powder. P. erecta was apparently not widely tilla
used in medicine until the sixteenth centur\ it first found favour in the treatment of
when
the name Tormentilla is derived from the Latin tormina meaning colic. It is still employed widely in European folk
colic
;
medicine, and occasionally of
manufacture
in the
artists' colours.
10-40 cm tall on thick woody, long to 20 cm rhizome, reddish internally. Stems prostrate or more
Description Perennial,
cm
to 3
Flowers 5-petalled, golden yellow, to 2 cm diameter, borne singly on long stems arising
from the basal
rosette.
Appearing mid
to late
summer. where.
On
damp damp
soils;
native. Introduced else-
10-15 10-30
m
;
resins; flavours:
starch.
flowering
cm
sessile.
long,
Flowers
mm cm
yellow,
wide, l
only
carried
peduncles,
thin
4-petalled.
on
long
arising
from
singly
axils. Appearing from early summer autumn. Distribution Native to Europe. West Asia and
stem-leaf
Tannins; choline;
(dried
altitude.
1
'
embankments,
an alcohol, tormentol Uses
ovate, leaflets.
roadsides, railway
-2
narrow and long stalked. 3-lobed. broadh basal leaves, with v ° mrn long
nitrogen-rich, loamy, undisturbed
pastureland to 1500 Cultivation Wild. Constituents
usually erect, thin, branched, bearing
5-lobed stem leaves, with leaflets
European
Distribution
1,
plant,
dried
leaves,
to early
Siberia; rarer in the mediterranean region.
damp
On
occasionally root-stock) Astringent: antispas-
light,
modic; tonic; stomachic.
land, fenland, open deciduous and coniferous woodland, and often in hilly regions. To 2200
Used
in the
treatment of diarrhoea, painful
acidic,
menstruation weak action and as a digestive aid in indigestion. Formerly used to treat
m
various haemorrhages including those arising
Constituents
.
I
from haemorrhoids;
as a
douche
in
leucorr-
hoea, and for uterine spasms. Externally
it
may
soils,
particularly heath-
altitude.
Wild plant.
Cultivation
on
storage
Calcchol-iannins to 20% which convert to phlobaphcncs: an .
alcohol, tormentol; a glycoside, tormentillinc
be applied to cuts and wounds, and it is of use as a gargle in mouth complaints such as ulcers. Employed homeopathically. The roots
quinovic acid also found in Cinchona bark. Uses dried root-stock Astringent haemostat-
may
ic;
be roasted, boiled or eaten raw.
rosaceae Tormentil The red colouring matter found in the rootstock of this herb appears to be identical with a Potentilla erecta (L) Raiisch.
Tormentilla
substance
Common
known
as ratanhia-red present in
sugars;
starch:
a
bitter,
chinovic
acid
or
:
'
anti-inflammatory; vulnerary. A powerful remedy in severe diarrhoea, largely due to its high tannin content. Principally used to much benefit externally as an infusion
on
cuts,
wounds, abrasions and burns, includThe plant promotes epitheliz-
ing sunburn. ation.
It
is
also used as a lotion for topical
Sanguisorba means either blood-ball or blood stopping after both the appearance and action of the inflorescence and whole plant.
on woody root-stock forming a clump of branching grooved stems bearing leaves subdivided into serrate lobes, oblong or orbicular. 7 Flowers greenish or reddish brow n. small, in a dense rounded terminal panicle to 15 diameter; appearing early to mid-summer. Distribution Native to Europe and Asia: introduced and sometimes naturalized elsewhere. On dryish porous calcareous grassland, woodland edges, roadsides, in warm situations to Perennial
Description
20-70 cm 1
tall,
1
mm
1
700
m
altitude.
Wild. Cultivated as a salad herb
Cultivation
from seed sown
Remove
the root-bark of Krameria triandra Ruiz and Pav.
applications to haemorrhoids, frostbite, and as
Peruvian Rhatany, an astringent plant which was introduced to Europe in 796 by Hipolito Ruiz and which has now largely replaced Tormentilla in several official prepar-
a gargle in throat
the flowers to encourage production of leaf.
The powdered
Suitable as an edging plant in formal herb
or
1
and mouth inflammations. root-stock is an excellent
root
extract
is
used in certain forms of
The roots provide a red Once used in tanning.
dye.
A powerful astringent; must be used internally with care. Prolonged contact with the skin should be avoided, as it may cause scarring. L rosaceae Salad Burnet Garden Burnet Poterium sanguisorba
has been cultivated as a salad herb at least
since Lyte recorded
-'
{) \
Vitamin C;
essential oil; tannins;
was
also
it
(whole fresh or dried plant, fresh
i'ses
dried
rarely
Contra-indications
1578. but
Constituents
flavones; a saponoside.
schnapps.
It
spring or autumn.
garden designs.
styptic.
A
in
in Dodoens' Herball of
known
root-stock
leaf;
Astringent;
vulnerary; haemostatic; carminative; digestive.
Chewing
the leaf assists digestion,
w hile
in-
whole plant are of use in treating haemorrhoids or diarrhoea. The root decoction is an excellent haemostatic and can be used on all cuts and wounds. Traditionallv considered of benefit in the menopause, but fusions of the
this
is
unsubstantiated.
as Sanguisorba minor
from the time of Fuchs The Great 154.2 Burnet (Sanguisorba officinalis L) was preferred as the official medicinal plant, probably because it is larger; both species, however,
Primula veris L primulaceae Cowslip Paigle The Cowslip obtained its name by
possess similar properties.
signifying
corruption
from the old English cu-sloppt. occurrence in meadows freits
of 'cow slop'
POT PR L quented by domesticated animals. Changing agricultural practices, however, have led to its rapid disappearance in parts of Europe, and attempts to cultivate it on a commercial scale in eastern Europe have proved uneconomic. Tradition maintains that the Cowslip arose from the ground where St Peter dropped his keys, hence the English, French and German common names, Keys of Heaven, Clef de St
and
Pierre
Primula after
is
Schliisselblumen.
The
generic
from the Latin primus meaning
first
on short, rhizome surrounded by leaf bases and producing long thin rootlets. Leaves obtuse, ovate-oblong, finely hairy and crenate, 5-20 cm long, narrowing at the base into a winged petiole, equally long as the leaf blade. 1-30 Description Soft-pubescent perennial
stout
deep yellow flowers marked with orange. 10-15 mm diameter, on a nodding umbel surmounting a 10-30 cm long stalk (scape). Appearing late spring to late summer. Distribution Native to northern and central Europe, Iran. Introduced and sometimes naturalized elsewhere. On porous calcareous mixed or soils in meadows and pastures, deciduous woodland; preferably in warm dryish situations. To 2000 m altitude. Cultivation Wild. May be propagated from seed sown as soon as ripe, or by division of rootstock in autumn. The Oxlip P. elatior (L) Hill is frequently mistaken for the Cowslip but may be distinguished by its lack of orange marking and its possession of a seed capsule longer than P.
wmvar. Kleynii darker
has
it
Hort.
yellow
found in cultivation to salmon coloured
is
:
flowers.
Vitamin C; saponins to m Savonoid pigments; a volatile oil, primula camphor: the heterosiclcs primulaveroside and prim veroside enzymes; mineral salts. Uses (dried root-stock, dried Mowers and ;
calices, occasionally dried
antispasmodic;
weak
leaves
Expector-
diuretic;
Primula vulgaris Huds. primulaceae
Primrose The Primrose is so popular now almost extinct close to
weak
to
be a
drinks, conserves, cos-
and subtle smell. They are to the north Europeans the epitome of spring, and are well named since the word Primrose comes from the Latin prima rosa, meaning the first rose (of
flowers are used as a weakly sedative tea
:
as for Primula
veris.
The genus
Primula comprises more than 400
which hybridize readily and are an important horticultural group. This species, for example, hybridizes with P. veris L to produce the so-called Common Oxlip. Description Perennial on short thick root-stock Leaves wrinkled, blunt, obovate-spatulate, hairy beneath, glabrous above, crenulate, species
8-20 cm than
long,
the
Prunella vulgaris
L labiatae
Self Heal Heal-all/Woundwort A common weed throughout America and from western Europe to China. Its easy availability led no doubt to its commonest use in stemming blood flow resulting from domestic accidents and fights; hence the common names Carpenter's Herb, Touch and Heal, Sicklewort, Hercules Woundwort, and the plant's historical pre-eminence as a vulnerary herb. It has other uses: the Chinese, for example, discovered its antipyretic and diuretic actions and still use it in gout in conjunction with other remedies.
Sixteenth-century adherents of the Doctrine of Signatures saw the throat in the shape of the flower and introduced
the year).
narrowed
into a petiole shorter
Flowers
leaf blade.
occasionally purplish,
pale
yellow,
34 cm wide, solitary on cm
long.
summer. European native.
it
to treat diseases of the
and diphtheria. Hence its modern generic name Prunella which is derived via Brunella and Braunella from the throat such as quinsy
German
for
quinsy (Die
Braiine).
and Gemeine
called Brunelle commune
It
is
still
Brunelle in
France and Germany respectively. Description Aromatic perennial with creeping rhizome on square erect or decumbent stems to 60 cm. Leaves either entire or toothed, opposite
petiolate,
ovate, 3-7.5
cm
and
decussate,
oblong-
long. Flowers violet-purple
Appearing
early spring to early Distribution in
On
rich,
damp
shady woodland, hedgerows, grass-
land.
Wild plant. Propagate by division on heavy or medium loam in semi-shade or
Cultivation
sun. Constituents
Uses
Saponins; volatile
dried root-stock,
oil.
fresh flowering plant
Expectorant; antispasmodic; diuretic; anodI
pneumonia and traditionally thought remedy for palsy and paralysis.
it is
large
metics or just for their attractive appearance
\
inflammatory conditions of the respiratory tract, bronchitis and coughs; li
The
home-made
base for
Of
benefit in
in spring that
urban areas. It has in fact always been heavily cropped by man, not so much as a medicine but rather as a
laxative.
to treat
by a violent and forearms.
sensitivity, characterized
Allergic individuals should avoid the plants.
soils
Constituents
ant;
primula
vesicular eruption on the fingers
pubescent pedicels to 20
the calyx.
Flowers may be candied, used in salads and in Primrose tea. Leaves once boiled as greens. Contra-indications The same precautions apply
particular form of contact dermatitis called
name
early flowering in the spring.
its
manufacture of home-made wines, and are candied and used as cake decorations. Contra-indications Some members of the Primulaceae, but particularly Primula obconica Hance, possess the quinone, primin, which causes a
also in the
in si il
.is
.in
expectorant
respiratory infections.
in
bronchitis and other
The
tisane
may
be of
and Formerly used in rheumatic disorders and in ointments lot '.km wounds and benefit
as
a
mild sedative
in
anxiety
insomnia.
blemishes.
mm long, borne in on compact spikes to 4 cm long. Appearing mid-summer to mid-autumn. Distribution Native to Europe, Asia and North America; introduced elsewhere. On moist, loamy, well-drained soils in grassland, pastures, open woodland; preferably in sunny
(occasionally pink) 8— 5 1
leaf axils
situations. Cultivation
Wild. Propagate from stem cuttings
summer and rooted in a peat and sand mix; or by division of clumps. The |)ink flowered form is sometimes called /'. taken
in
spring or
vulgaris vat. rubrifolia
variety
may
be
Beckhaus., while a white
found
as
/'.
vulgaris
var.
leucantha s< hur. Constituents
bitter
prim
Tannins; iples;
volatile oil;
unknown
an alkaloid;
substances.
247
PRU-PYR (dried flowering plant)
i'ses
Vulnerary;
as-
tringent; antiseptic; carminative.
vides the
Commonly
used as a mouthwash, gargle and wash in the treatment of sore throats, irritation and inflammation of the mouth, ulcers, cuts, burns, wounds and bruises. Once external
considered a specific against diphtheria. Rarelv used internally and then only in cases of mild
diarrhoea or flatulence.
acts
It
(Lj Schiibl. and Martens proHeart Cherries, and P. avium var. duracina (L) Schiibl. and Martens the Bigarreau Cherries, of which the best known are Napoleon and Windsor. Constituents (fruit stalks) Tannic acid; potassium salts; flavonoids. (fruit) Organic acids; provitamin A; tannins. var. Juliam
weak
a
as
bitter tonic.
Uses
dried fruit stalks
(fruit,
Strong infusions of the dried powdered herb
Many
are effective styptics.
used
parts of the tree have traditionally been
a
for
commercially,
the cultivated Cherry varieties but, unusually
diarrhoea.
European
tree
is,
Sweet Cherry described in It
fruits,
they are quite sweet.
therefore, understandably called in the
its
United States yet rarely
so
for use in
medicine as a
folk
diuretic.
They
have some
also
The
fruit
effect
used domestically
is
cases of mild
in
for
home-made manu-
conserves and commercially in liqueur facture
I
kirsch
The wood
native home.
purposes.
the dried fruit stalks are available
Prunus avium L rosaceae Wild Cherry Common Wild Cherry/Gean Th° fruit of P. avium are smaller than those of
The
of medicinal
variety
Today only
for wild
Diuretic; as-
tringent.
sun
.
a valuable timber.
is
has doubtless long been of domestic importstones have been disco ered in
ance since
its
Neolithic
remains.
r
This
species
has
also
provided the stock for the table Cherry while the Morello or So-ir Cherry comes from P. cerasus L. Prunus is an ancient name for the plum, while avium is the Latin for bird, which readily eat the fruit. The word cherry can be traced back to an Assyrian base karsu] the
Greek name for it was kerasos. Deciduous tree 10-20
m tall; bark smooth, reddish, peeling off transversely in strips; branches ascending bearing dark green, denta.'-, alternate somewhat variably shaped leaves, 10-15 cm on §' Dut usually oblongovate to oblong-obovate, and pubescent beneath Flowers white, 5-petalled, 3 cm wide, on long glabrous pedicels to 4 cm; appearing late Description
'
spring to earlv
summer
with the
leaves,
first
and followed by globular or cordate fruit which are first yellow, then red and finally purple. to
land. Cultivation
Wild - the
species from
cultivated Cherry was developed.
which the
It is
used for
grafting purposes in fruit-tree nurseries.
Many
different
ornamental forms
flowers,
variegated leaves,
weeping growth
The
variety P. avium
attractive foiiage.
exist
with double-
Mill.)
Webb rosaceae
D.A.
been
tree has
in cultivation in
Asia for thousands of years and
mentioned in Europe by tin
is
was introduced to of more than 10 kinds oi the seed which was then known as amugdale, and from which the Latin term amygdala was derived. The Romans called them .\ graecct o- Greek Nuts, and they have been Genesis. (
ir.eks
It
who knew
from a very early date. They do not seem to have been grown in France until the eighth century and were not cultivated
grown
;
:i
Italy
north-wesl
in
Micldlc Ages;
England
the
Europe tree
first
until
the
late
was planted
in
in the early sixteenth century. Eliza-
bethan cooking, however, used large quantities set I, and "Almond water' was frequently
of the c
allcf
or
and used much
certain recipes.
The
as
we now
use milk in
botanical classification of
is complicated and very many names will be found: Prunus amygdalus Batsch. and Amygdalus communis L are the commonest, but have low been superseded. Description Bush or tree from 3-7 m tall, with glabrous light-coloured branches, and narrow,
plant
different
glabrous finely dentate, acuminate, oblonglanceolate leaves 7.5-10 cm long, with gland-
bearing petiole. Flowers pink or white, usually solitary, 3-4 cm wide, sessile, appearing mid to late spring either with or efore the first leaves: followed by oblong-ovoid light green pubesI
4 cm long containing 2 seeds. Native to southern and central Asia, especially Persia. Introduced to southEurope 2500 years ago: now wio-spiead and cent
Di
fruit, to
'ribuii^n
m
altitude. To 3000 Wild. Widely cultivated, and is the
frequently naturalized. Cultivation
which many varieties have been developed. The Bitter Almond is P. dulcis var. amara (DC) Buckheim formerly P. amygdalus var. amara (DC) Focke), and the Sweet / Imond is P. dulcis var. dulcis (DC) original species from
Buckheim formerly P. (T.C. Ludw.) Focke). Other
amygdalus var. sativa varieties
cultigens provide fruit of different shapes sizes.
The
tree
is
somewhat
frost sensitive
should be planted on well-drained
248
position.
(seed)
fatty oil
65%
mide
The Almond
warm to
Protein
and and and
soil in full
;
mineral
contains up to dalin I
(to
20",,
;
edible
enzymes, mainly emulsin;
:
B 6 E and PP nicotinaBitter almond seed of a toxic glycoside, amyg-
vitamins A, B,, B 2 Ji
Almond
the
Native
Europe, western Asia; introduced elsewhere. In deciduous woodDistribution
and
Prunus dulcis
in a
Constituents
.
,
salts.
4%
.
oil,
res
seed
Demulcent:
fying agent. Sweet
Almond
nutritive; emulsi-
is predominantprepare emulsions in which other herbal remedies may be suspended, particularly for cough mixtures. The sweet oil is used
ly
used
oil
to
externally in massage
oils
and internally was once used
laxative. Bitter
Almond
flavouring
pharmaceutical
in
oil
as a
as a
preparations
and externally in demulcent skin and sunburn lotions, and is now used in the perfumery, liqueur and confectionery industries. Almond flour was formerly used in diabetic foodstuffs. Both
oils
toilet
preparations.
The
seed
are widely used in cosmetic ai.d
is
used
in
many
sweet and savoury
dishes. Conlra-indications
The raw
Bitter
contains cvanide derivatives and
Almond is
seed
POISON-
OUS. L rosaceae Cherry Laurel Cherry Bay/
Prunus laurocerasus
Common
Cherry Laurel
is now most commonly found as an ornamental hedge, and has never been of great importance medically although some Spanish and Swiss physicians once promoted it as a sedative. In Britain it was noticed first by Madden in Dublin 1731 following fatal poisoning by Irish cooks who mistakenly thought it could be used as a Bitter Almond flavouring. Its action is due to the presence of cyanide derivatives, which may be fatal even in small quantities. The plant was introduced to European botany by Pierre Belon and Clusius between 1550 and
The Cherry Laurel
1580. Description
Variable evergreen bush or small
tree usually
3-4
m
(occasionally 6
m
tall.
Leaves shiny, dark green, oblong, alternate, obtuse or occasionally retuse. short-petioled, 7.5-12.5 cm long. Flowers strongly scented, white, in slender racemes to 10 cm long, appearing late spring to early summer and
PRU-PYR is
replaced by a rosette of basal, long-petioled.
auriculate-cordate leaves.
Native to Europe; introduced elsewell-drained calcareous soils in mixed woodland and thickets; to 1000 m
Distribution
On
where.
Mucilage; tannins; mineral salts, potassium and silica; saponins;
very short petiole. Flowers orange-red, waxy, 4-5 cm long and wide, followed by large brownish-red or yellowish edible fruit (4-8 cm diameter) containing numerous seeds and soft pink pulp.
dried flowering plant! astringent; diure-
particularly Asia, Distribution Native to Afghanistan, Persia and the Himalayas. Natur-
altitude. Cultivation
Wild. Propagate by rootstock divis-
autumn
ion in
Constituents
especially
or after flowering.
allantoin.
Uses tic;
Deciduous tree or shrub to 6 m tall, with spiny tipped branches; leaves opposite, sub-opposite or clustered, glabrous, entire, oblong or oval-lanceolate with pellucid areas, 2.5-6.0 cm long, narrowing at the base to a
Description
weak expectorant. Of use
emollient;
in the
treatment of diarrhoea, haemorroids and some gastro-intestinal problems; also of some benefit in respiratory disorders such as bronchial catarrh.
the mediterranean region, India, South America, southern United States, and
alized in
parts of south
and
horticulturally.
Leaves once used
Both
mm
Native to south-east Europe, and western Asia to Iran. Introduced and often naturalized elsewhere. Frequently in valleys in
mintic action in areas
greenhouse ornamentals. Yellow bitter colouring
as
methylisopelletierine,
Wild. Introduced as an ornamental
summers nor
a dwarf grown in
and which the antihel-
tierine, pseudopelletierine, isopelletierine
hilly regions.
bush and successfully grown
are
matter; gallotannic acid (to 30%). (root bark) Alkaloids ^o o.o, ), comprising mainly pelle-
long.
neither the
(Pers.")
Constituents (fruit rind)
Distribution
Cultivation
and
this species
form. P. granatum var. nana
as a pot herb.
temperate zones followed by dark purple conical fruit to 15
east Africa.
Wild. Cultivated commercially and
Cultivation
where
triterpenes.
the winters are too
due; also tannins
is
Ursolic
(leaf)
and
betulic
citric
20°
(to
acids;
).
various
(10—20%
Invert sugar
(fruit)
(5—10%);
glucose
to
:
(0.5-3. 5%);
acid
extreme. Frequently used in hedging, when it should be pruned carefully with secateurs rather than generally clipped. May be propagated by cuttings taken in summer. Constituents The glycosides prulaurasin lauro-
and prunasin, which are decomposed
cerasin
water by the enzyme prunasr to release hydrogen cyanide, benzaldehyde and glucose. Cherry Laurel water is manufactured from the in
by
lea\ es
distillation.
Uses (Cherry Laurel water, very occasionally leaves] Sedative; antispasmodic.
The water was once used
in the treatment of nausea and vomiting, as a flavouring agent, and, much diluted, as an eye lotion. It is now obsolete in most countries. The leaves can only be applied externally in small quantities in mixed poultice for the temporary relief ol pain. .1
Contra-mdicatiom Very
POISONOUS. To
used
under medical luper-
internally
only
be Punica granatum
L pinicaceae
boric acid; vitamin C.
vision.
Pomegranate
fresh
Pulmonaria
Pomegranates are mentioned in nianv ane ient writings and have been depicted in various forms of illustration from the days of the Egyptians. Both the fruit rind and root bark were used
astringent which
Lungwort
boraoinai \i Jerusalem Cowslip Jerusalem
Sage This herbs
common names
officinalis I.
i
variously icier to
white spots on its leaves, the hange in its flower colour from pink to blue. 01 more frequently to its former application in lung tin
<
Hence
diseases.
which of
is
the generic
derh ed from
pulmonaria, and, by
its
name
Pulmonaria
medieval Latin name Lungwort.
translation,
Lungwort's reputation tar exceeded its therapeutic a< tion. however. Description Hairy perennial on creeping roottock, reaching 30 cm tall; items hairy and unbran< hed bearing lew, alternate, sessile, white-spotted, oval and slightly pointed leaves to 7
.
-,
(
in
long. Flowers blur-, pink, purplish 01
white, primrose-like, to 3
vmes; appearing spring Flowering stem Hies flown
1
cm to
long
in
in late
terminal
summer. lumma and
early
medicinally by the ancients, and Pliny and Dioscoricles
mentioned the
specifically
root
decoction as being effective in the destruction of tapeworms. Yet, although various parts of such as the fruit rind the plant can be traced
in the
writings of the apothecaries and
druggists, the valuable root bark apparently fell
2000 years
into disuse for
teenth century. In tions of
its use-
in
until the nine-
1807 Buchanan and then
Fleming reintroduced
The
it
India.
(
many
seeds.
fresh
leaf,
fruit)
mintic; antibacterial.
Astringent;
The
rind
is
antihel-
a powerful
is used in decoction in the treatment of dysentery and diarrhoea, and as an infusion for colitis or stomach ache. Also
used as a douche in leucorrhoea. The bark is removal of tapeworms (more
effective in the
when fresh emmenagogue.
effective
I
In
leaf
The fruit
and has been used
has antibacterial
applied externally cial
,
an
as
properties and
is
to sores.
fruit is bitter and refreshing; of commerimportance both as the whole fruit and in
drinks.
following observa-
word Punica is derived from tinLatin malum pumcum meaning the apple cil 11 thage, which is one of its early names while poma granata (and hence pomegranate means generic
apples with
(dried fruit rind, fresh or dried root bark,
/ 'ses
MJ. Roem. ROSACEAE Firethorn Everlasting Thorn Although closely related to the genus Crataegus some ol whose species provide valuable heart remedies, the Firethorn is now employed Pyracantha coccinea
only as
,111
ornamental. Pyracantha
is
from the
'H
QUE-RHA Description
Round-topped deciduous
tree to 40 smooth, later developing fissures; leaves 5-12.5 cm long, oblong-ovate with 3-7 lobes each side, petiole short (to cm). Small, greenish-yellow staminate flowers
m
bark
tall;
first
1
in thin catkins; pistillate flowers in spikes in
leaf axils;
appearing
late
spring
summer, and followed by ovoid
to
early
or oblong fruit
on peduncles 3-7.5 cm long. Distribution Native to North Africa, Europe and western Asia; introduced elsewhere. In forests, mixed woodland, on clay soils; from lowlands
mountainous regions. Wild plant. Planted commerciallv on estates and forestry land for timber. The variety Q. robur var. Jastigiata DC has a more columnar appearance while the Durmast or to
Cultivation
Sessile
Oak
(Q. petraea (Matt.) Liebleinj has a
spreading and
less
less
branched growth, and
sessile fruit.
Several forms of Q. petraea exist.
Constituents
Tannins
(to
20",,
:
a
glycoside,
(dried bark, occasionally dried leaves
/ 'ses
fruit)
and
Astringent: anti-inflammatory; antisep-
tic.
Used
as a
dout he to
Greek
for fire
and thorn
alter the red fruit
gargle for throat disorders: as a
leucorrhoea; externally as a lotion cuts, burns, abrasions, and for application
for
in
Much branched
The
Latin ranunculus means a
was given
name
frog
little
since
many
with
hollow,
and
it
of the 250 species in the group are aquatic or are found in this
very wet habitats.
Perennial
Description
erect
or
prostrate branched stem, on several clavate or
root-tubers; 5 25 cm tall. Leaves cordate, occasionally toothed, glabrous, petio-
haemorrhoids.
fusiform
and
and sheathed
late
at the base, glossy;
cm
4
1
long, the stem leaves being smallest. Flowers
shiny branches. Description
should be handled with care and only used externally.
quercitrin.
evergreen shrub or
yellow,
23
cm diameter with 8-12 petals, appearing mid to late spring on long
small tree to 5 m. Leaves dark green, acute, crenate-serrate, narrow-elliptic, .5 cm 5 cm
solitary,
long. Small, white flowers in large corymbs,
appearing early summer and followed by red or orange berries which last through the
Distribution Native to Europe. North Africa and western Asia. On rich nitrogenous soils in u el situations in woodland, meadows, ditches.
winter.
Prefers shade.
peduncles.
1
;
from south Europe to Escaped and naturalized in North America and elsewhere. Cultivation Wild. Cultivated as ornamental or wall shrub, often espaliered. Hardy on welldrained soils. Propagate by ripe wood cuttings under glass, by seed, or by layering. Prune back hard to promote branching. Dislikes Native
Distribution
western
Cultivation
damp
Uses
No
the fruit
I
Of
use as a winter ornamental for hedges or
L fagaceae
Oak English Oak/Pedunculate Oak No plant has been of greater symbolic, and magical importance in Europe than the Oak tree, and its esteem has been traced back to the earliest Indo-Germanic religions. No other plant has provided more in the construction of buildings, ships, weapons and fine furniture. Oak's strength and durability were unequalled, and as a result the vast Oak forests of Europe have been virtually destroyed. Although its bark provides an excellent astringent medicinal remedy, only herbalists used it to much extent, the apothereligious
and others preferring more
costly drugs.
250
deep,
in
Vitamin C: anthemol; tannins. herb,
fresh
»
The
occasionally
plant
is
dried
herb
specifically used in the
preparation of ointments
for external
appli-
cation to haemorrhoids.
The
walls.
caries
from root-
cm
acrid
and vesicant
juices from the sliced
tubers were once applied to warts.
purgative but toxic.
Quercus robur
w
Astringent.
Cyanogenic glycosides.
longer used for medicinal purposes; is
plant. Propagate
rich soils.
Constituents
transplanting. Constituents
Wild
tubers planted in the autumn, 5
Asia.
exotic
and
Used internally for haemorrhoids, diarrhoea and enteritis. Once used as a tonic tea. Roasted acorns have been used
as a coffee
Very young leaves were once eaten
POISONOUS
Contra-indications
substitute.
state; not to be used internally.
Valuable timber. Bark was once the most important agent for tanning leather; and also provided a variety of dyes, the colour depending upon the mordant
bruised plant
Raphanus
may
sativus
The
L cruciferae
well-known
fig-like
certain, but
where many
shape of the swollen root-tubers of
plant led to the specific epithet ficaria from ficus or fig. Earlier herbalists considered the same structure to resemble piles and by this
association they were used, with in the
much
success,
treatment of haemorrhoids.
Members
of the genus Ranunculus are not popular in folk medicine because of their poisonous and acrid nature, and all species
the fresh
cause skin irritation.
salad
herb
cultivation for so long that
Ranunculus fie aria L ranunculaceae Lesser Celandine Pilewort
in
Handling the
Radish This
used.
prevent
to
scurvy.
it
been
has
its
origin
probably originated
in
is
in
un-
China
varieties exist today including a
long-rooted, winter-harvested Chinese Radish, or
Daikon
1
a
Japanese name
.
which
is
some-
times cultivated in the West.
Some
authorities believe that R. sativus [sativus
means cultivated) is a cultivated variety of the Wild Radish or Wild Charlock R. raphanistrum L), a widespread and troublesome weed. Radishes have certainly been grown since the time of the Pharaohs, and the Greeks and
QUE-RHA Romans knew radix
several varieties including the
or round Radish
syriacan
(the
common
and
Rhamnus
long Radish
catharticus
L rhamnaceae
Uses (2 year old bark, fruit) Purgative diuretic. ;
Buckthorn
the radicula or
So
Only employed
common
a plant with so drastic an effect as powerful purgative has doubtless been used for a very long time. The Anglo-Saxons certainly recorded it in the ninth century, when it was known as Waythorn or Harts-
the latter
meaning simply root and being the source of the common name, Radish. The black Radishes which are the varieties now employed in homeopathic medicine were probably developed in Spain in the Middle
this
while
thorn,
the
thirteenth-century
Myddvai used
Contra-indications
boiled
be taken with great care.
physicians of
Annual or biennial on fleshy root of shape and colour; stem glaucous 60-90 cm bearing lyrate-divided, petiolate leaves with a large terminal segment. Flowers dark-violet, white-veined, in racemes appearing summer and followed by 3-7 cm long fruit
with honey. Three hundred years later Gerard was to recommend boiling them with broth;
Description
variable
(a silique).
Distribution
Worldwide on most
Cultivation Cultivated plant:
escape.
Many
soil types.
found wild
cultigens exist,
all
as
an
of which are
sown thinly on moist, friable an open position. Time of sowing depends on variety; but usually best sown raised from seed
soils
in
Constituents
An
they are rarely taken alone, and even
antibiotic glycoside, glucora-
phenine; mineral salts; vitamin C; oxalic acid. seeds contain linoleic and linolenic acids.
.
called
fresh root, fresh leaves, root juice, fresh
young seed pods
Antibiotic: bechic; tonic;
carminative; choleretic; nutritive. Of benefit in the relief of dyspepsia and used
to
Formerly employed in the treatment of coughs and bronchitis. May be used in combination with other remedies in the treatment of liver conditions especially where
promote
salivation.
bile secretion
is
inadequate. Also used homeo-
pathically.
The root and young leaves are eaten aa salad t). and the young seed pods ma) l>< pi< Ided. .1
lui
it
Spina
cervina;
Cordus.
Cervi
spina:
and Caeselpinus, Dodoens knew it as Rhamnus
Matthiolus, Spinus cervatis.
infectoria:
solutivus.
The
The
L'ses
when
Syrup of Buckthorn was first included in the London Pharmacopoeia in 1650 (it had appeared almost a century earlier in the German pharmacopoeias) it was mixed with Nutmeg, Cinnamon. Aniseed and Mastich fthe latter a gum from Pistacia lentiscus L The characteristic spine on the branches has led to most of its names: Crescenzi and Gesner
Spina
every three weeks.
fruit
plant
is
purposes, but
dyes.
Welsh
Ages.
its
treatment of chronic constipation; usually in association with other remedies. Juice from the fruit was once used in veterinary medicine as a laxative. The fruit and bark can be used as sources of in the
now rarely used for medicinal home dyers still employ the bark
golden-brown dyestuflT. Description Deciduous bushy shrub from 2—4 111 tall, occasionally to 6 m. Branches spreading irregularly, and often tipped with a spine bark reddish-brown and glossy. Leaves opposite, acute or obtuse, margins finely dentate, ovate, 3-6 cm long, 2 -5 cm wide. Flowers small, as a
Do
Strong purgative action;
to
not use fresh bark.
DC rhamnaceae Cascara Sagrada Sacred Bark Rhamnus purshiana Cascara sagrada
name
the
first
Mexicans who
means sacred bark and
this
was
given to the tree by Spanishnoted the American Indian use
of the bark as a laxative and tonic.
The
tree was mentioned in the eighteenthcentury American materia medicas but first described botanically in 18 14 by Pursh - hence the plants specific name. Use of the bark in conventional medicine began in 1877 and a year later a nauseous and bitter fluid extract for use in chronic constipation was available pharmaceutically. This extract was exported
Europe and it was not until 1883 that the bark itself was made available outside the United States of America. It has been conclusivelv demonstrated that the crude bark is to
:
greenish-yellow, usually unisexual, in delicate clusters in leaf axils,
appearing
late
spring to
mid-summer, and followed by 7.5 mm diameter globose, fleshy, black fruit drupe Native to north-west Europe, northern Asia, eastern North America. Wide-
Distribution
spread in scrub, woodland, forests, on calcareous soils to 1200 in altitude. Cultivation
Wild.
Planted
hedging. Cuttings taken
in
on
farmland
summei
as
are easily
I'm >ted.
Vitamin C: Erangula-emodin;sheschrysophanol; rhamnosterin; rhamnioaide; rhamnicogenol a Buoresi ent pigment,
Constituents
terine; 1
rhamnoMuoi
;
in
;
other yellow pigments. \er\
much more
effective as a purgative than
an) commercial preparation
bark; the
official
example only
fol
bark
is
made from
the
dried and liquid extracts are 15 per cent as active.
retained in
many
national
The
pharma-
copoeias. Description
Deciduous
m. Bark dark Leaves in tufts at
tree to to
grey, smoothly wrinkled.
branchlet tips; 5-15 cm long, elliptic to ovateoblong, either rounded or acute. Flowers in umbels, stalked, appearing spring and followed by black, globose fruit of 7.5 diameter.
mm
North American native from British Columbia to Washington state. In coniferous woodland, on mountain ridges and canyon Distribution
walls.
Wild plant. Anthraquinone glycosides 6 9% comprising cascara ides A, B, C and I) and Cultivation
Constituents
.
Othei glucosides, to whi« {
-
dried item li.uk.
li
al
the action leas)
6
is
monf
due. hs old
Ar)'
RHE-ROS Purgative; bitter stomachic.
May
be used in
small doses as an appetite stimulant. In large doses it acts as a laxative or a mild purgative.
chronic constipation. In small doses it may be used to treat diarrhoea, gastro-intestinal cat-
and
arrh,
to stimulate the appetite.
Sometimes the tincture is applied to childrens" fingernails to deter them from biting their
Added
nails.
with renal or urinary calculi.
to tonic
wines as a
Contra-indications
Not
to
Added
wines as a bitter. Not to be used by individuals with renal or urinary calculi.
bitter.
be used by individuals
Ribes nigrum
officinale Baill.
polygonaceae
Rhubarb This for
is
not the garden species
commonly grown
edible leaf stalks, that one being R.
its
rhabarbarum
The garden Rhubarb was
L.
western Europe in 1608 and was first cultivated at Padua botanic gardens by Prosper Alpinus; it was widely grown by the end of the eighteenth century, but the root has
introduced
to
never been used owing to a substance (the glycoside, rhaponticini which exerts a hor-
on humans. officinale, however, is one of two main species, the dried rhizomes of which have been important medicinally in China since around 2700 B.C. Both have been imported into
monal Rheum
effect
since the time of the early Greeks. Dioscorides described the drug as rheon or rfia,
Europe
hence the modern names. Because the main centre for trading in the drug has changed over the centuries, both this and other species have been variously described as Turkey, East Indian and Muscovitic rhubarbs. The plant was introduced to Europe in 1867 and limited cultivation led to further names such as English,
German,
Bucharest,
Dutch
and
French rhubarbs.
Rheum palmatum L polygonaceae Rhubarb Chinghai Rhubarb R. palmatum and some varieties such as R. palmatum var. tanguticum (L, Maxim., and R. palmatum var. palmatum (L Maxim., are now. and possibly always were, the main sources of medicinal Rhubarb. R. palmatum was introduced to European gardens in 1763, earlier than R. officinale Baill.. and like that species was cultivated commercially. It is still cultivated in Russia and
Germany, but
the Chinese product
is
superior.
In the Chinese herbal Pen-King 2700 b.c. the drug was called Ta-huang, meaning the great yellow, after
and
its
colour and reputation,
name was retained traders who collected it this
for
2000 years by
the in Tibet and the province of Kansu. R. palmatum is now called Chinghai or high-dried Rhubarb.
on thick rhizome, reach-
Description Perennial
m
ing 2
cordate
Large leaves
in
orbicular
base,
Flowers
lobed. small,
tall.
at
reddish
numerous,
to
clusters
in
basal clumps,
and
palmately
greenish-white,
on
tall,
stout,
hollow, finely grooved stem. Appearing mid to late
summer.
Distribution
to
north-east
Asia.
On
on thick rhizome, reachm wide, roundto elliptic, basal, 3-7 lobed. Flowers white small. numerous, in panicles on tall, stout, hollow, finely grooved stem. Appearing mid to late Description Perennial
ing 3
m
Leaves
tall.
well-known
1
fruit
formerly collected from the
wild in northern Europe and now extensively cultivated commercially and horticulturally.
Although
it
was once used
throat infections
it is
now
in folk
Ribes
is
an old Arabic name and the
means
epithet nigrum
colour of the wild
fruit.
Today
Description
Aromatic perennial shrub
.
Mild purgative; astring-
employed alone remedies
in
or in combination
the
treatment
of
deep, rich, moist
soils
at altitudes of
3000-
4000 m. Wild. Cultivated commercially in China, Russia, Germany and Central Europe. Requires moist, deep, well-manured soil: propagated from root division and root cuttCultivation
from seed. Occasionally grown as garden ornamental. Constituents Tannins: anthraquinone derivatings, rarely
ives
of aloe-emodin,
and rhein Uses
chrysophanol. emodin
to 10'
dried rhizome
Mild purgative: astring-
ent: bitter.
Principally
employed alone or
in
combination
with other remedies in the treatment of chronic constipation. In small doses it mav be used to treat diarrhoea, gastro-intestinal catarrh,
252
m,
long-petiolate. alternate or clustered leaves.
Flowers 4-10, greenish-white in pendulous racemes in leaf axils. Appearing late spring to early summer and followed by spherical, soft berries.
and central Europe, and west Asia. Introduced and naturalized in North America. On moist, loamy, slightly acidic soils in woodland. Cultivation Wild. Cultivated commercially and Description Native to north
horticulturally for fruit. Several cultivars exist.
Propagation by cuttings taken cool,
humid climate and
in
autumn.
clay
soils
provided they are well drained. Constant pruning is essential to good cropping. Constituents Anthocyanin pigments: vitamin C: pectin: sugars: various organic acids: essenUses
ent; bitter.
other
to 2
lacking spines and bearing 5-lobed. rounded,
fresh or dried
leaves,
The
with
culti-
vars have been developed.
Native to Tibet and west China, introduced elsewhere. On deep, rich, moist soil at altitudes of 3000 4000 m. Cultivation Wild. Cultivated in the East. Constituents Tannins; anthraquinone derivatives of aloe-emodin, chrysophanol, emodin and
Principally
green, yellow
tial oil.
Distribution
10%
specific
and white forms are grown, and many
diuretic: astringent; tonic.
Uses (dried rhizome
for
black, referring to the
summer.
rhein (to
medicine
not considered to be
of medicinal importance and finds greatest use in the food and drinks industries.
Prefers
Native
L saxifragaceae
Blackcurrant
A Rheum
to tonic
Contra-indications
and
to stimulate the appetite.
leaves
mav
fruit
Nutritive:
be used as an infusion to treat
RHE-ROS male below, female above: both without and in panicles. Followed by a smooth
diarrhoea: they are also weakly diaphoretic and have been included in cold remedies, and
cious;
to treat urinogenital infections.
or spiny capsule. 3
Once employed in matism. The fruit is
Distribution
from
treatment of rheuof value to those suffering the
hypertension,
possessing
or
capillary
an infusion as a sore throats. Leaves can be used as a
and can be used
fragility:
gargle for
in
petals
cm in diameter. Native to India, tropical Africa: distributed throughout tropical and main temperate regions. On most well-drained soils in full sun.
many
jams, drinks, cordials and liqueurs as well as eaten fresh.
cool,
L euphorbiaceae Castor Oil Plant Wonder Tree The Castor Oil Plant was certainly known to the Egyptians who employed the seed oil as an unguent base and also in lamps. Theophrastus. Dioscorides and other Greeks also knew both the plant and the oil. but considered the latter unfit for culinary use and suitable onh Ricinus communis
for external application
tion
maintained
for the
medically - a tradifollowing 1500 years
Wild. Cultivated commercially in especially South America.
Cultivation
tea substitute. Fruit widely used in conserves,
countries
Grown as a house plant in northern temperate zones, or outside in protected sites. Prefers well-drained clay or sandy loams. Propagate from seed planted in early spring or under glass, transplanting in India. Africa. Italy.
summer. Many
early
cultivars exist.
Protein
seed
Constituents
26%
to
fixed oil
:
50%
comprising ricinoleic. oleic, linoleic. stearic and hydroxystearic acids. One of the to
w hole seed
protein substances in the
albuminoid,
is
a toxic
which the poisoning
to
ricin.
is
due. seed
Uses
steam treated seed cake
oil.
Pur-
gative. Constituents
E.
enema to remove impacted faeces. Used externally as an emollient and a vehicle
pectin.
poisoning. Applied as an
for various
The
oil
is
he seed cake
I
is
used in
am
other flower symbol-
zenith of beaut) in the plain kingdom, I
I
alba
that n has generally
he epithet
Dog
is
been
and contempt.
treated with familiarity I
.
thought Britain was called Albion was covered with the white rose it
meaning white
onl)
iiu
identalb derogat-
coming original!) from the cynorrodon ol Plin) and Rout comma ol the Middle Ages aftei a supposed abilit) ol the root to cure 'mad-dog bites', or rabies. Apothecaries employed the briar balls or galls of the Dog Rose as a diuretii and the rose-hips were used as a tart ory,
reproduced
faithfully
in
th<
sixteenth-
century herbals of Turnei and Gerard. the end
supplies
the
"I
sixteenth
the
<>i
en]
century
ami from the
i
Up
to
European
East, notably
fruit
from the
200 /ears the supply
medicinally
shiik reason and mi much ot was only used infrequendy. In oil w.iv reintroduced to medicine in 70 by Canvane who had noted its use in the W< 11 Indies where was i.illerl Paltna Christi and agno Casta bv the Spanish, hem CaStO oil. and then ( !astoi oil Since the 7801 n has been retained as a pur
World Wai
India, bul
declined
Europe
t<>i
.1
period
ol
foi
il
I
1
j
il
«•
.
-
1
gative in
man) pharmacopoeias.
diuretic.
The seeds were once used as a The hips are used in conserves and
jams.
earliest times.
important
The
onl)
in
as a in h source ol
latter be<
This is a vigorous grower and possesses a strong fragrance which can be smelled at a
which led to its use as hedging plant from early times. The common and specific names come from the medieval Latin aculentus meaning thorny. Formerly classified as Rosa rubiginosa agg. and subdivided into two species. R. rubiginosa L and R. murantlia Borrer ex Sin., but now condistance, characteristics
a
sidered as R. tglanteria. Description Perennial
orbicular to
shrub 1—2
elliptic, to 3
cm
m
tall.
Leaves
long; pubescent
ame
Second
the
vitamin C.
Climbing and trailing prickly perennial shrub to 3 m. Leaves alternate, ovate /> cription
to
to
elliptic,
}
cm
senate,
long,
acute or
acuminate. Flowers aromatic, large, white or pale pink on long pedicels, appearing mid to late s<
summer. Followed
ar let false
lr
nils
by
hips
1
5
mm-long,
fleshy,
.
Native to Europe, North Africa, western Asia: introduced and naturalized elsewhere ( )n porous soil in hedgerows, Distribution
/> cription
Very variable annual herb <>i perennial tree from a 15 m tail, usually m. Leaves simple, alternate, long-petioled, 5 11 lobed, glossy, to m wide. Flowers monoej
1
lethargy.
L rosaceae Sweet Briar Eglantine
(
Plin)
or in
Rosa eglanteria
Briar
and since man started ullivation its seen lias been most highl) esteemed. The )<>^ R"-< however, was so common throughout Europe because
may be used as a laxative wound healing.
form of the seedless puree, are an excellent source of vitamin C. a tonic, and useful in
The Rose more than izes the
leaves
poultices to aid
Rose-hips, usually used as a tisane or in the
L rosaceae
Rosa camna
Tonic; laxative; diu-
and soap.
is
Dog Rose Dog
rose-hips, leaves
steam treatment destroys the
employed as a fertilizer. CoBtra-indications Whole seeds are toxic: not to be used internally. Large doses ,,i the oil ma) cause vomiting, colic and severe purgation. poison, ricin
Uses
:
retic; astringent.
The
ointments. Soothes eye irritations.
not suitable for cooking, but
the manufacture of paints, varnishes
.hkI
Vitamin C to 1.7% vitamins B. K; nicotinamide; organic acids; tannins:
Principally used to treat chronic constipation
but also in acute diarrhoea caused by food
woodland, thickets Cultivation
to
[600
in
111
altitude.
Wild.
253
ROS-RUM Flowers
and rusty-coloured beneath.
are toxic, possibly causing abortion, convul-
1—3,
bright pink, strongly scented, to 3 cm wide, appearing mid to late summer and followed by
sions,
round
Rubia tinctorum
and very
rarely, death.
Asia,
Madder
and naturalized elsewhere. In hedgerows and woodland edges. Cultivation Wild plant. A cultivar, Duplex, with double flowers is grown horticultural!} Constituents Tannins; essential oil.
Both the the Latin
L rubiaceae Madder early Greek name Erythrodanon and name Rubia come from a stem-word
meaning
red. since this has traditionally
Uses (flowers) Astringent.
alizarin.
scarlet false fruit
Distribution
Native
to
hip
.
Europe,
west
introduced
the source of a brilliant red
.
No it
longer used medicinally. In some countries employed in the treatment of diarrhoea
By the end of the nineteenth century the maddering wool or cotton consisted
of various steps including scouring in mild
hedging plant
in large gardens.
alkali, steeping in oily emulsions,
Rosa rugosa Thunb. rosaceae
Japanese Rose Turkestan Rose one of the most hardy of all roses and is both disease resistant and a profuse and continuous bloomer. The scent is rich and This
is
in addition
about 1330 by Raymundus Lullus, and still
extensively used in perfumery.
One
it
is
of the
most famous cosmetic preparations containing the herb was the Queen of Hungary's water. The apothecaries used Rosemary in a wide range of preparations including waters, tinctures, conserves, syrups, spirits and unguents: but today only the oil is included in the pharmacopoeias, while the leaf remains popular in folk medic inc. Aromatic, evergreen perennial Description shrub to 180 cm, usually 100 cm tall. Branches somewhat pubescent when young, becoming woody. Leaves simple, opposite, leathery, tomentose beneath, to 3.5 cm long. Flowers
Sweet Briar
as a
be used as a source of vitamin C. Description Perennial to 2 m. Very
prickly
59
elliptic Leaves subdivided into leaflets to 5 cm long. Flowers scented, white to rose, to 7.5 cm diameter, followed by large red or orange hip to 3 cm diameter. Distribution Native to Japan and China. Cultivation Wild. Widely cultivated as a large
stems.
number include roses,
of attractive hybrids, and varieties
Max
Graf, one of the lowest growing
obtained by crossing R. rugosa with R.
uichuraiana Crep. Constituents
(hips)
B,
C,
E,
K.;
nicotinamide; organic acids; tannins; pectin. Uses Rarely used for any purpose other than as a hedge plant.
officinalis
Rosemary The common and
L labiatae
to
sheltered position in cooler regions.
grown
in pots.
seed. Various cultivars are
most useful
is
5%
2
io-2O
o
linalol.i;
free
be the
sometimes
generic
names are derived
254
stem:
usually
sessile,
and spiky
long, tipped
lanceolate, at the
5-10 cm
margins. Flowers
small, greenish-yellow, in both axillary
terminal cymes; appearing early
and
mid-summer
to
autumn, followed by globose, purple-
black berry.
Native to south-east Europe. Asia
i
to
2%) comprising
and alcohols (mainly borneol and mainly
bornyl
acetate
organic acids: choline; saponoside;
heterosides; tannins. r
ses
I
fresh or dried leaves, oil
Tonic diuretic ;
aromatic; stomachic: carminative; antispasmodic cholagogue antiseptic emmenagogue. A leaf infusion has a wide variety of internal applications as indicated. The oil may be used ;
;
soothing
;
embrocations, is
and diluted
as
an
particularly effective in
neuralgia.
Wide culinary use of the leaf in meat dishes. The oil is employed widely in the cosmetic industry.
Leaf may be used
in
bath mixtures and aro-
matic preparations. Contra-indications
internally.
The
oil
deep, friable Constituents
should not be used
Extremely large doses of the leaf
soils.
medicinal red
The
comwhich the
Heteroside anthraquinones
prising mainly ruberythric acid
pectin.
.
Essential oil
esters
grown of which
the prostrate form,
called R. prostratus Hort. Constituents
May
Propagate by stem cuttings or
antiseptic gargle. It
from the early Latin ros maris or dew of the sea, from its habit of growing close to the sea and the dew-like appearance of the blossom at a distance. From earliest times its medicinal virtues were recognized and it has always been a popular aromatic plant. The oil was first extracted by distillation in
Climbing perennial, 60-100 cm on long, fleshy, much-branched rootstock. Leaves in whorls of 4-8 on stiff, prickly Description
tall,
drained alkaline soils in full sun or partial shade to 1000 m altitude. Cultivation Wild. Propagated from seed sown spring or autumn, or by root division. Prefers
Native
externally as an insect repellant, in various
Rosmarinus
L provides
mediterranean coast. commercially from the wild and cultivated only as a garden plant. Requires well-drained soil and warm, wind-
summer.
Cultivation Wild. Collected
I
Vitamin
Rubia peregrina
a rose-pink dye.
Minor; introduced to central and north-west Europe, and locally naturalized. On well-
Distribution
to
The Wild Madder
to
early
and is considered superior hedge plant. The hips may
in
Distribution
white to pink, small, short axillary racemes, appearing late spring
clove-like
washing
sheep dung, galling with oak galls, treating with alum and finally maddering with powdered and partially fermented roots. The dried roots w-ere first exported from southeast Europe and Turkey to other parts of Europe, and cultivation then commenced near the cloth centres of France, Holland, Germany and, less commonly, England. Even though it has long since been replaced by synthetic alizarin, it is still grown as a medicinal plant in central Europe and west Asia.
in
pale blue or rarely
somewhat
later called
process of
colic.
useful
been
permanent dye
Adrianople Red or Turkey Red,
is
and
A
Dyer's
action
is
mainlv
to
due:
colouring; matter includes
alizarin
,
madder purple
sugars:
madder
purpurin
.
ROS-RUM madder orange rubiacin xanthine I
rarely
root,
ses
and madder yellow
.
.
Choleretic;
stems
lealy
emmen-
tonic; antiseptic; diuretic; vulnerary;
Europe, fragments of the berry being found
agogue; laxative; antispasmodic.
The powdered
root
and
dissolution
is
much
of
archaeological excavations of Swiss villages.
and
Cultivation began in the Middle Ages, and the many European raspberry cultivars are all
bladder calculi; the remedy also acts as a prophylactic against stone formation. May be used externally to aid wound healing. The leafy stem in infusion can be used to treat constipation.
Root
is
employed
as a dye.
developed from this wild species. Prior to 1866 at which time over 41 varieties were known in the United States of America all American tvpes were also from R. idaeus. They are now also developed from R. ulmifolius Schott. R.
Cham and
ursinus
Rubus fructicosus agg. rosaceae
L. Rubus
Bramble
means
Blackberry
While the Raspberrv was named red French wine,
the
raspis,
after a sweet
common
fruit
of
more varieties and species grouped under the name R. fructicosus were simply blackberries, and the plant itself was the brom or thorny shrub, hence bramble.
the iooo or
In
German
the plant
Mount
'of
Mount
Schlechtend, R. occidentals
from the Latin
is
and idaeus abundance on
for red.
Ida', after
its
Upright or bent perennial 90-150 cm tall, with varying degrees of prickles or sometimes entirely lacking them. Leaves glabrous above, grey tomentose beneath, compris-
now
Europe Blackberry picking
Description
shrub
Variable
Rumex acetosa L polygonaceae Sorrel All sorrels are acidic and sour-tasting, and in former times were popular ingredients of sauces, especially those for
name
old French
plant's acidity
and
its
by R.
with
woody,
leaves
By the eighteenth was largely replaced by R. scutatus L in horticulture. The plant was known to the apothecaries as Herba Acetosa and was century or even
native:
especially
annins; sugars.
in
de< o< tion
douche and externally on been
(
redited with
antidiabetic
Wide \
ides
.1-
Sowers
.1
n,ut;li
01
have unsubstantiated I
bey
a< ti\ ity.
culinary
mm
ol
an orange dye.
the fruit.
many
in
to
I
he rool
|m<.-
cm
10
from
dispensatories
the
50-150 cm
nearly
tall,
long,
small,
summer
to early autumn. European native;
damp, loamy
Cultivation
Wild
soils to
plant.
2500
May
m
in altitude.
be propagated by
autumn. and juice Oxalic acid and potassium binoxalate (to t%); tartaric acid;
root division in Constituents
ing 3 or j ovate leaflets. Flowers small,
.is
ulcers.
\et
earlier.
it
also found in northern Asia. In meadowland on nitrogen-
in
Astringent; tonic; diuretit ust
how ever,
Distribution
fleshy, black, edible
Uses fdried or fresh leaves, fruit, rarely
Leaves may be
L.
The herb
the upper ones sessile. reddish-brown on slender, loose inflorescence to 40 cm long, appearing
Vitamin C; organic acids; I
acetosella
animals.
has, nevertheless, long been used as a salad and vegetable and was cultivated in the fourteenth
late
hedgerows, wood edges and gardens. ( )n moist 2400 m in altitude. Cultivation Wild. Introduced near habitation .hkI often rampant. pei tins,
by R.
man and
glabrous. Leaves rather thick, oblong-lanceo-
soils to
fruit
or
acetosa
occurring in both
rich,
Constituents
C
(mostly
latter substances are responsible for the
Description Perennial
fruit.
European
vitamin
salts
occasional cases of Sorrel poisoning caused
early
Distribution
its
potassium hydrogen oxalate).
These
Leaves palmate or ternate. and petiolate. Flowers white to pink in compound inflorescence appearing mid-summer to early 1>\
due to both and oxalate
is
oxalic acid
Flowers
followed
surele.
The
biennial stems densely covered with prickles
autumn and
The common
fish.
derived from sur meaning sour, via the
is
fifteenth to the nineteenth centuries.
practised.
still
and
cosmetic purposes.
included
is
the last ritualistic seasonal collet ting of
wild plant food
in wines, liqueurs, vinegars, syrups,
other confectionery, culinary and some
century,
Like raspberries they have been picked and eaten for thousands of vears and todav in much ol industrialized
Used for
either
Ida.
Description
called Brombeere.
still
is
in
value in the
of renal
elimination
L rosaceae Raspberry Like so many wild fruits the Raspberry has been known and used since prehistory in Rubus idaeus
1
b
in
leaf
vitamin C. (rhizome) A hyperoside, quercetin3-D-galactoside; anthracene; oxymethylanthraquinone; tannins 1025%). fresh leal, rhizome) Diuretic; laxative; Uses
drooping panicles in terminal axils, appearing early to mid-sunimer. followed by aromatii fleshy cone-shaped red to yellow Emit. Distribution Eurasian native, introduced and widespread. In woodland clearing] and edges, espet ially deciduous woodlands. On light soil, moist and rich 111 nun icnts. to 2OO0 in in
as
an astringent in diarrhoea
it
is
altitude
certain skin complaints, including acne.
Numerous
Wild.
Cultivation
cultivars
tonic; antiseptic; bitter.
The root decoction
is
used as a bitter tonic and :
also as a diuretic
not suitable lor use in either
young
;
or very
old people.
The
leaf may be
employed
in poultices to treat
propa-
gated by suckers 01 root cuttings. Canes should be removed alter fruiting to allow new ones primocanes to develop. Tolerates most soils. leaf
Constituents
acting
stances,
in
Fragarine and other subisolation as both uterine
muscle stimulants and relaxants, ai id; vitamin C; pectin. /
hs
oxv I
il
fresh 01
loi k
:
dned
leaves, fruit
leaf is of proven value during confinement, taken regularly and in small doses as ,m
In
infusion
it
and speeds parturition.
eases
is
menstruation and also
amounts I
Astringent;
nutritive; laxative.
larger doses the leal
ol
Citric
fruit
he
fruit
the fruit vs. is
is
ol in
benefit
diarrhoea. In large
mildly laxative.
formerly employed
phai mat eutn
al
and
het bal
in a
produi
ouring and oloui ing. Edible fruit is pi << onomit impot tarn
llav
In
painful
in
variety 1
as a
(
c
255
RUM
SAL
The young
leaf
is
edible fresh or cooked.
SONOUS,
it is stomachic and tonic, and in China it is considered antipyretic. The powdered root-stock in water is employed as a gargle for laryngitis and as a tooth powder
In small doses
Very large doses are POIcausing severe kidney damage. The
Contra-indications
herb should not be used by those predisposed to rheumatism, arthritis, gout, kidney stones or gastric hyper-acidity. The leal may cause
The
dermatitis.
in cases of
Rumex
crispus
L polygonaceae
Yellow Dock Curled Dock, Rumex
in gingivitis.
seed
highly astringent and
is
may
be used
diarrhoea.
Young leaves may be eaten as greens, but water should be changed twice during cooking. Contra-indications May cause dermatitis. Excessive doses produce nausea.
both this species and weed, the Broad-leaved Dock [R. obtusifolius L) have been used for the same medicinal purposes, and more recently they have been shown to possess similar chemi-
Rumex scutatus L polygonaceae French Sorrel Garden Sorrel While Rumex alpinus L or Monk's Rhubarb
cal constituents.
the most physiologically active of the
R. obtusifolius was known as Lapathum or Lapathum acutum from the fourteenth century, while the Yellow Dock was called Lapathum
species of Rumex. the French Sorrel is probably the least, and since it in addition
In
writings
ancient
common
another
calism
development of physiomedi-
In the
crispum.
early
the
in
nineteenth
century in
was used for obstinate skin complaints, while in Europe R. obtusifolius was used for the same condition. Today Rurm \ is found in English herbals. and Lapathum in European ones. Description Perennial 50-100 cm tall on stout rootstock. Leaves with undulate edges, lanAmerica. R.
crispus
lemony taste it has become the most popular of the edible sorrels. Once established its deeply-growing roots may
then as a broom or twitch to scrub chopping
be difficult to eradicate.
blocks,
possesses a mildly sour,
low-growing and glauLeaves petiolate, hastate,
Description Perennial,
cous,
10-50
cm
tall.
and
Christmas time, and the evergreen twigs are
duced elsewhere. Cultivation
in
Wild. Cultivated
as a salad herb in Propagate from seed sown thinning to 30 cm apart and
rich, moist soil.
spring,
It
Broom included
Eurasian native, widely distributed in temperate and subtropical countries as a weed. In anv rich, heavy soil in weed)
cm
Constituents
pinkish, minute, solitary or clustered, attached
(
is
cladode midrib, appearing mid-autumn and followed by red or yellow globose berries reaching 15 in diameter. Distribution Native from the Azores to Iran, including north-west Europe and the mediterranean region. Introduced elsewhere. In woodland thickets on poor, dry soil among rocks. To 600 m in altitude. Cultivation Wild. Grown horticulturally. and
starch;
to the
to late spring
)xymethylanthra-
;
rumicin;
thiamine.
;
mm
chryso-
tannins:
The combined
both astringent and purgative, and
is
described as tonic laxative. (root-stock,
Uses
young
leaves,
rarely
seed
Purgative: cholagogue; tonic; astringent.
much
associated function.
and
Of
value both internally and externally
skin complaints, especially
with
May
urticaria,
Erect evergreen perennial 30-90 leaves are minute and bract-like
The
tall.
and subtend the 4 cm-long, spine-pointed,
altitude.
quinone to 0.2% erftodin too.i% phanic acid: volatile oil: resin: action
and Hypothe rhizome
ovate, leaf-like cladodes. Flowers whitish or
Wild. Propagate from seed. root-stock
Eruscus
recommended
Bruscus,
of kidney stones.
Description
Distribution
to
glosson; Dioscorides in cases
winter decorations.
in florists'
related
is
autumn.
m
bears scarlet berries at
Asparagus and starts with young edible shoots which can be eaten in a similar way. The ancient names of Butchers
any
Cultivation
It
now used
Flowers small, reddish, unisexual, appearing mid to late summer. Distribution Native to Europe and Asia; intro-
whorls along a somewhat branched inflorescence, appearing mid-summer to mid-
places, to 1500
decoration for meat
finally as a
times.
festive
at
fleshy.
ceolate, large, crispy. Flowers greenish, small, in
is
European
where the cause
constipation
or
liver
collected
in
on a small commercial
Constituents
is
potassium
dys-
be applied to ringworm, scabies the parasites probably being
removing flower-heads
to
promote
leaf.
Water
well in hot weather. Tolerates partial shade or lull sun, and can be grown under cloches provide leaf throughout the year. Constituents Oxalates, in small quantities.
Uses
to
fresh leaf Diuretic.
oil;
scale.
saponoside:
resin;
salts.
dried root-stock,
['ses
leaves
destroved bv the rumicin content.
Essential
young
shoots,
rarely
Antipyretic; diuretic; vasoconstrictive.
Rarely used medicinally, but of value in some problems associated with venous circulation. Traditionally used in the treatment of haemorrhoids, gout and jaundice. The young shoots have been used in spring salads in the same way as Asparagus. Contra-indications Not to be used by individuals with hypertension.
Not used medicinally but moderate amounts of the leaf are diuretic.
Ruta graveolens
May
Rue Herb
be used with discretion in salads.
Contra-indications
Not suitable
for
those pre-
Rue
is
L rctaceae
of Grace Herbygrass
an ancient and important medicinal
plant of undoubted effectiveness which de-
disposed to kidney stones.
serves wider use by medical personnel; yet.
Ruscus aculeatus
L liliaceae
and use
Chinese herbal medicine, it is now only tained in the Swiss Pharmacopoeia.
teenth to the nineteenth centuries,
allv
crude repellent barrier
256
besides folk medicine application
Broom
Box Holly Jew's Myrtle This unusual member of the Lily family was associated with the meat trade from the six-
Butcher's
to
first
as a
vermin and animals.
It
in re-
had wide therapeutic application traditionand was also included as a major ingredi-
ent of the poison antidotes of Mithridates.
Its
RUM-SAL opposite, joined along their margins forming
marins; several other active substances. Uses (dried or fresh leaf, rarely juice)
Emmen-
agogue; abortifacient; antihelmintic; stomachic; diaphoretic.
Principally active on the uterus and in small
Distribution
doses beneficial for the relief of dysmenorrhoea
and
it
an emmenagogue.
acts as
pre-eminence as a
name was once thought Greek
reuo
meaning
effectiveness.
The
from the
to be derived
to set free after
its
ancients, however,
general
knew
hrute
differentiated
wound
its
use in
homeopathy
in
1818.
ive
Rue
and the plant has
is
strong and distinct-
to be used with care,
Salsola soda
L chenopodiaceae
Saltwort and the
Both
is
glass,
this species
and
closely related S. kali
in the
amounts of
large
manufacture of
the mineral-rich
sometimes precipitating mental conand the oil is capable of causing death. Handling the plant can cause allergic reac-
toxic,
fusion,
tions or phytophotodermatitis.
Salicornia europaea agg.
chenopodiaceae
Glasswort Marsh Samphire
A
It
it
has not enjoyed popular use in recent times;
maintaining the tradition of its employment in Mead known as sack, however, it is included in the Italian grape spirit Grappa con the old
manuL
replaced the southern Salsola soda
which had been exported northwards up the sixteenth century.
Its
other
it was eaten in the same way Samphire Crithmum maritimum L).
It is
now
rarely,
if
ever, used.
S. herbacea
to
common name
indicates
botanically as
Since the flavour of
salts.
butter.
L were once important
oil
facture.
introduced
knob of
The
as a source of materials used in glass
hrute,
plant's effect
mann
Large proportion of mineral
Uses (fresh plant) Diuretic.
as a flavouring.
on the uterus and the nervous system, and many, such as Bock in the fifteenth century and Lemery in the eighteenth, differentiated between the wild and garden herbs in medicinal application. Hahne-
from
Wild.
healing, in neuralgia, rheumat-
Writers after Dioscorides also emphasized the
to be derived
marshes
Rarely used medicinally. May be eaten either raw, or cooked with a
and hence the word Rue.
now thought
is
salt
Of much value in certain autonomic nervous system disorders; traditionally employed in epilepsy. Externally used to treat skin diseases,
herb of the salt marshes of Europe, especially found in the north and west, and one which as its common name suggests - was employed
Ruta
On
native.
it
and peganon and Dioscorides between a sharper 'mountain peganon' and a garden peganon'.
both as further
European
mid-
to
Constituents
employed in the perfumery industry. Contra-indications Must be used only by medical personnel. Must not be used at all by pregnant women as it is an abortifacient. Large doses are its
appearing early
flats.
Cultivation
ism and as an eye lotion. Also as a gargle. Leaves may be used, with discretion, in salads
protector against witchcraft and magic; the
mud
spikes,
Increases blood-flow to the gastro-intestinal system, aids in colic and acts as a stomachic.
to aid
beneficial effects led to
'segments'. Flowers minute, greenish, borne
on fleshy autumn.
It is
also
as
known
L.
Description Succulent annual or biennial with green leaves, and green or dull red uniformly candelabra-shaped stems, to 10 cm tall. Leaves
ash were exported from southern Europe and North Africa under the name Barilla. In
Europe
were
ruta.
north-west
Aromatic semi-evergreen perennial, glabrous and glaucous herb or subshrub to m. Deeply subdivided alternate leaves with spatulate or oblong 15 mm long segments. Flowers yellow in terminal corymbose inflorescence, appearing summer to early autumn.
placed over 300 years ago by the abundant local Salicornias, but in France and Italy they
Description
1
Distribution
north
Native
to
southern Europe, as
far
southern Alps. In sheltered positions on dry rocky or limestone soils. Cultivation Wild. Collected commercially from as
the
Grown horticulturally and propagated from seed sown in the spring, from cuttings taken in spring, or by careful division. Prefers full sun and well-drained soil. The the wild.
cultivar variegata with variegated leaves,
and
the variety var. divaricata (Ten. J Wilk., with bright yellow-green leaves, are also grown in
herb gardens. Constituents Volatile oil (to
0.6%), comprising
various ketones, but mainly methylnonylkcI'uic (to
90%),
also limonene, cineol,
toxin;
coumarin; alkaloids;
fixed oil;
ascorbic
bergapten; xantoacid;
both commercial and, to a medicinal importance until the
The herb was never German pharmacopoeias, since remedies are numerous. The plant is
nineteenth superior
re-
to be of
lesser extent,
included
species
century.
in
no longer used. Description
Decumbent annual with spreading
stems to 60 cm; leaves to 4 cm long, fleshy, sessile, simple and cylindrical; flowers usually
and insignificant. Appearing mid-autumn.
solitary, greenish late
summer
to
Native to mediterranean region. sandy seashores. Cultivation Wild plant. Constituents Mineral salts, particularly large quantities of sodium sulphate; alkaloids, salsoline and salsolidine. Distribution
On
Uses (fresh or dried plant] Diuretic.
No
longer
employed medicinally.
methyl
acetate; resin; tannins; the rhamno-glucoside, rutin;
continued
Salsola
furo-cou-
Salvia officinalis L labiatae Sage The Sage family is a large group
of horticultur-
•;
r
>7
SAL-SAX important plants which consists of over 750 species widely distributed throughout the world. Some are also of culinary use. others medicinal and at least one central American species is a powerful hallucinogen, traditionally employed in religious and magical rites. allv
The most important and officinalis,
known
is
Salvia
for millen-
ancient names include elifagus, elelisphanamed by Dioscorides lingua
ia. Its
kon
best
which has been cultivated
the latter
.
humana, selba and
from the Latin health
:
salvia.
solvere,
The name
meaning
and the old French
salvia
to be in
is
good
saulje gives us the
modern common name.
bitter
compounds including
Uses
fresh
picrosalvine.
or dried leaves,
oil
Antiseptic
antifungal; anti-inflammatory: astringent; carminative; emmenagogue; choleretic: weak hypoglycaemic. Wide medicinal application: especially effective as
an anti-sudorific
in cases of excessive
sweating, and also to reduce lactation. Lseful in
liver
and
disease,
respiratory tract infections,
nervous conditions such as anxiety or depression. Red Sage is an effective antiseptic gargle and may be used as a douche in leucorrhoea, or in baths to treat skin problems. It was traditionally employed in female in
At one time Sage was included in a brew called Sage Ale, and Sage tea was also a popular drink. The Chinese once preferred it to their local teas and exchanged their product with the Dutch for Sage tea. bartering on the basis
sterility.
of weight for weight.
Clary Clary Sage Muscatel Sage Sage is also known as Muscatel Sage since it is now almost exclusively grown
Subshrub from 30-70 cm
stem woody at the base, branched, quadrangular. white and woolly when young. Leaves oblong. 3-5 cm long, usually entire, glandular or rugose, grey-green, petiolate. Flowers violetDescription
blue, to 3
cm
long,
tall:
The oil
is
in
both the pharmaceutical
and culinary
industries.
Salvia sclarea
L labiatae
tries
Uses
fresh or dried leaves,
seed,
oil
Anti-
principal
and
medicine Oil
is
employment is as the source of the oil, most commonly used in herbal
is
it
to treat
vomiting.
of value in the perfume and flavouring
A
decorative garden plant.
L caprifoliaceae
Dwarf Elder Danewort
Clan,
commercially as the source of Muscatel oil, which is used in flavouring and in the perfumerv industrv. The leaves were once mixed
between 5 and 10 arranged Appearing early summer to
Of the
the 20 or so species in the genus Sambucus
Dwarf Elder
cologically,
is
the most active
and unlike
its
pharma-
close relative the
L its fruit should be considered The dark purple berries are
Elder 5. nigra poisonous.
as
Middle A^es both these and the root or root bark were used as such - although ancient Greek
certainly violently purgative: in the
physicians did not
recommend
their use.
Early names included chamaiakte. atnx and ebulus.
the
ebullire
meaning
describing
Grigson
Wide horticultural use and several commonly grown. In northern counNarrow-leaved Sage is grown from seed in spring, flowering early summer to early
in
last
shows
it
stemming from the Latin bubble out, and possibly
to
purgative action. The Englishman's Flora traces the
its
origin of the
.
common name Danewort and
has nothing to do with the spilled
blood of the Danes", from which the herb wa> once thought to grow: it is. in fact, derived from the danes. or diarrhoea, caused by the
autumn. Broad-leaved Sage does not flower in cool regions and cannot be raided from seed use cuttings taken in late spring or early sum-
plant.
The Anglo-Saxons and Gauls employed Dwarf Elder berries as a blue dye. and this is now the
mer. Red-leaved Sage Purple or Red Saa;e Variegated Sage and Tricolor Sage variegated and tipped with purple are all grown from cuttings or by layering. Old leggy plants should be earthed up in spring and rooted cuttings cut off and planted out in autumn. Replace every 47 years. comprising Constituents Volatile oil to 2% mainly thujone and cineol but including .
main
use for the herb.
Description Strong-smelling nial to
herbaceous peren-
120 cm, on creeping rhizome. Stems
numerous,
grooved,
bearing
long-pointed,
5-15 cm
long. Flowers
oblong, serrate,
leaflets
in flat-topped,
broad cymes, white
to pink:
appearing late summer to early autumn and followed by small black fruit. Distribution Native to Europe. North Africa. Asia; introduced elsewhere. On damp soils.
numerous
other substances: also tannins: organic acids; rosmarinic acid: oestrogens:
with Elderflower and employed in flavouring wines,
and
Clan.-
wine
itself
was a sixteenth-
century aphrodisiac. The name Clary comes from the Latin clarus after the use of its mucilaginous seeds to clear the eye of grit. Description Erect biennial 30-120 cm tall, flowering stems bristly. Leaves simple, aromatic, pubescent, petiolate. broad-ovate. 1522 cm long. Flowers white, lavender and pink, attractive, numerous, on terminal panicles.
Appearing early summer
to late
autumn.
Native to southern Europe on dry limey or sandy soils, to 1000 m altitude. Cultivation Wild. Grown commercially and horticulturally from seed sown thinly in spring. For blooming each year allow some Distribution
plants to self-seed, or plant even. year. Constituents Essential oil
^8
saponine; tannins:
spasmodic: stimulant; emmenagogue. The seed becomes mucilaginous in water and may then be used to extract foreign bodies from the eye. The leaves in infusion may be used as a gargle, douche, skin wash for ulcers and cuts, and in small doses may be taken to promote appetite. It reduces sweating. Its
Sambucus ebulus
varieties
late
esters; choline;
mucilage.
industries.
employed
on terminal spikes. early autumn. Distribution Native to southern Europe, notably the mediterranean region. On limestone soils in full sun slopes, to 750 m altitude. Cultivation Wild. Collected commercially from the wild, especially in Yugoslavia Dalmatian
Sage
and
linalol
too.i°
comprising
SAL-SAN wasteland, grassland or roadsides, to 1400
m
Wild
Cultivation
anthocyanins; tann-
organic acids.
gative. Rarely used fruit
owing
to
its
Pur-
drastic action.
produces a blue dye.
Contra-indications
such
exist,
as
The
berries
Sambucus nigra
should not be
L caprifoliaceae
Elder The Elder has been used continuously since the days of the Egyptians and probably before, and it is still included in certain modern cosmetic preparations as well as retaining its popularity in folk medicine. Elder flowers and Peppermint infusion is the medicine of choice
treatment of colds
homes in Europe. The plant has several that every part of the
comprising terpenes;
and quercitrin;
alkaloids;
tannins; vitamin C; mucilage; anthocyanins.
The combined
action
is
predominantly dia-
phoretic.
taken internally.
for the
varieties
Constituents Essential oil
the glucosides, rutin
Uses (root bark, fresh berries, flowers)
The
horticultural
dissected forms.
plant.
Constituents Essential oil; ins;
Some
white, golden-yellow, variegated, or deeply
altitude.
in
many country
and some believe Elder has some use. None uses,
more popular than elderberry wine, while Elder flowers soaked in lemon juice overnight
is
provide a most refreshing summer drink. Probably out of respect for its usefulness, the plant has been attributed with a variety of magical virtues, and many different European spirits were thought to inhabit it. In some
Uses (fresh or dried flowers, fruit, leaves, root bark, stem pith) Diaphoretic; laxative; anti-
spasmodic: diuretic; emollient. Mostly of use in combination with Peppermint and Yarrow in the treatment of colds and nasal catarrh, or alone as a gargle in throat infections.
Also of value with other remedies in constipation, haemorrhoids, rheumatism, bronchitis
and cystitis. The flowers are sometimes used as an ingredient of eye lotions. Young buds can be pickled, and the flowers can be eaten raw or used in various drinks including wines. Fruit valuable in conserves, pies, jams and also
They can be used in home Wide cosmetic use of the flowers.
wines.
dyeing.
Sanguinaria canadensis L papaveraceae Bloodroot Red Puccoon/Tetterwort Another common name for this small pretty herb is Indian Paint since it was one of the body stains iand clothing dyes) used by the Red Indians.
It
was known
akte,
doff their caps at the
rich soils in
modern generic name. Description Shrub or small
and
tree to
10
m
its
(all:
leaves dull green, subdivided into 5 elliptic, serrate acuminate leaflets, < g cm long.
Flowers white, 5
mm
diameter, numerous,
in
20 cm diameter: appealing mid-summer and followed by numerous flat-topped
cymes
to
it.
to the ancients as rixus, ixus
to
edible, purple, globose fruit to 8
mm
diameter. Native to Europe. North Africa. western Asia. Introduced elsewhere. In hedgerows, woodland edges, on nitrogen-rich soils. To 1000 m altitude. Distribution
woods and woodland
On
be used,
diluted, as a gargle in sore
throats.
POISONOUS.
Contra-indications
only.
The
therapeutic dose
is
Medical use
very small; large
doses are toxic, causing violent vomiting, and possibly death. Santolina chamaecyparissus L compositae Lavender Cotton Cotton Lavender/
French Lavender
used
clipped hedges of formal knot valued as an ingredient of
in the low,
was
gardens.
It
scented
sachets
also to
repel
drawers. Other than received
much
this
moths
in
clothes
the herb has not
attention, although
its
vermi-
fugal properties have been recognized from
the earliest times.
moist,
slopes in the
shade. Cultivation Wild. Introduced as a shady wild garden ornamental. Propagate by division in the autumn. A cultivar multiplex' with double flowers is found horticulturally. Constituents Alkaloids comprising sanguinarine,
protopine,
chelerythrine,
a-
and
fi-
homochelidonine, also chclidonic acid; an orange resin; gum; starch; sugars. Uses (dried rhizome) Expectorant: emetic; antipyretic spasmolytic cardio-active stimu;
;
;
lant; topical irritant; cathartic; antiseptic.
The
fresh juice
is
caustic (escharotic)
and has
Cultivation
Wild plant. Usually propagated by
been used against warts. The powdered drug has also been used externally to treat certain
SUCken or
CUttingS. Prefers moist
skin
soils.
much
well) in the sixteenth century, largely to be
Perennial
oblong capsule. Distribution North American native.
but mostly as sambucus which gives us
May
genus.
30 cm on thick rhizome; one leaf, basal, palmately lobed, petiolate, and only appearing when flower dies. Stem is a smooth scape to 20 cm, terminated by white, sometimes pinkish, flower. Solitary flower to 4 cm wide, appears midspring to early summer, followed by 3 cm-long still
capillary circulation.
This southern European native wasintroduced to cooler northern climates (which it tolerates
Description
plant or refuse to burn
employed in chronic bronchitis as and in cases of deficient
expectorant,
Introduced to medicine via folklore, it was used as a domestic remedy for gastric complaints. It was described by Geiger (1830) as having an action similar to Foxglove Digitalis purpurea L), and a century later in the HagerHandbuch as an emetic similar to Ipecacuanha. These are powerful properties for a domestic remedy, and the rhizome should not be used except under medical supervision, since in large doses it can be fatal. Sanguinaria describes the red colour of the rhizome and juice. It is the only species in the |
places old people
Principally
an
complaints and as a snuff in nasal polyps.
259
SAP-SCR The Greeks knew it as abrotonon and Romans as habrotanum, both referring to
the
shape of the flowering branches - a
tree-like
modern
characteristic also indicated in the specific
the
name. shrub 20-50
Description Perennial evergreen
much branched with silver-grey, tomentose leaves to 4 cm long, subdivided into
cm
tall;
small, thin segments. Flowers bright yellow,
numerous, but
rounded capitula
in solitary
the tips of branchlets; appearing to early
at
mid-summer
autumn.
Spain to Albania; North Africa; introduced elsewhere and locally escaped. On dry rocky soils in full sun, to 1000 m altitude. Cultivation Wild. Cultivated horticulturally from cuttings taken late summer, autumn or early spring, and rooted under glass in a peat and sand mix. Well-drained soil in full sun is required in cool climates. Clip in mid-spring to Distribution
On
shape. Constituents
unknown
Essential
bitter
oil;
principles;
substances.
moist but well-drained
and roadsides,
weak emmenagogue.
fuge; antispasmodic;
Rarely used medicinally. Leaves may be included in insect-repellent
sown
seed
Constituents
wasteland
soils in
horticulturally from
by
or
division.
5°
to
comprising
,
sachets.
Principally of use as a decorative evergreen
Uses
garden shrub. Especially suitable as a low
laxative; cholagogue; choleretic; expectorant.
hedge.
Once
fresh leaves, dried root-stock) Diuretic:
in
the treatment of certain skin
conditions, including psoriasis, eczema, Saponaria
officinalis
L caryophyllaceae
Soapwort Bouncing As both the
stock
and
suggest, the boiled leaves
names
generic
roots of this herb
may
be used as the source of a somewhat astringent lather suitable for cleaning woollen fabrics. How long the herb has been used as a natural soap (its cleaning properties being due to the presence of saponins in the plant) is uncertain. It is not known how widely it was employed, but it may have been known to the Assyrians and is certainly still used both in the
Middle East and rarely
in the
West
for clean-
ing old and delicate tapestries.
Dioscorides probably
knew
Saponaria
officinalis
Middle Ages
as Struthion while in the
it
was
variously called Herba Philippi, Sapanaria or
Herba
fullonis.
those
who
The
name
latter
fulled cloth (that
cleaned and thickened
it
1
is,
used
indicates that
the fullers it
and
acne. In India the specially prepared root-
Bet
common and
who
as a cleaning
and from this William Turner in his The Xames of Herbes (1548) called it 'Soap-
agent, wort'.
considered a galactagogue, and else-
is
where
has been employed as an expectorant
it
in respiratory complaints.
Fresh leaf
is
princi-
pally used as the source of a soap to clean old fabrics.
Contra-indications
To
be used internally only
under medical supervision. ex
Formerly classified as and known as Genista
Cytisus scoparius
1
L Link
in the early herbals, this
useful medicinal herb was employed by all the major European schools of medicine and is still in demand in folk medicine. It was the emblem of the Norman conquerors of England. Cytisus was the Greek name for a type of clover, which,
hardly resembles at all. Deciduous shrub to 3 m with many erect slender glabrous 5-angled branches bearing short-petioled obovate or oblanceoin fact,
it
Description
;
mm
Distribution
5-10
acute leaves,
yellow,
2-lipped,
2.5
cm
long.
long,
Flowers
appearing
spring and summer.
Central and southern European
Description Perennial, sparingly
native; naturalized in the United States.
rhizome bearing erect, 30-40 cm tall. Leaves opposite, ovate-lanceo-
wood
clusters;
long, 3-veined. Flowers pink
cm wide
appearing
in
dense terminal
mid-summer
to
mid-
autumn. Distribution
fringes, roadsides, in clearings to
On
500
m
altitude. Calcifugous. Cultivation
Wild plant; grown
horticulturally,
the variety Andreanus has yellow flowers with
dark crimson wings. Constituents Several alkaloids, including spar-
Native to
Europe and western
teine; flavonoid pigments; a glycoside, scop-
Asia.
arin; mineral salts; bitter principles; tannin;
Introduced and naturalized elsewhere.
volatile
260
and the
blood
pressure
is
especially
lowered.
Some
oxytocic
and therefore cannot be used in pregnancy. Constricts peripheral blood vessels, and of benefit in profuse menstruation. Seeds once served as a Coffee substitute, and the flowers and buds were pickled and eaten as Capers. Twigs used for basket manufacture. Bark yields fibre suitable for manufacture of paper and cloth. Formerly used to tan leather, and leaves yield a green dye. Contra-indications Large doses paralyze the autonomic ganglia; to be avoided in pregnancy activity,
Sassafras
as a fish poison.
cm
pur-
when
palpitation,
Sassafras albidum
Scotch Broom
usually appear alone in the axils, pale or bright
usually 7
Diuretic,
use in the treatment of tachycardia
functional
PAPILIONACEAE
late
or whitish to 4
flowering herb
Broom
to be treated in special ways can be used medicinally and it has been implicated in the poisoning of both animals and man, a property once recognized in its use
late,
(dried
Koch
before
branched, on finely pubescent stems
Uses
and hypertension.
L Wimmer
Sarothamnus scoparius
Soapwort has it
and conductivity of
lessens irritability
gative, anti-haemorrhagic.
Of
soils.
Saponins
saporubin and saprubrinic acid: gums; flavonoids; vitamin C; vitexin.
used
which
cardiac muscle.
altitude.
mid-spring,
in
Tolerates poor
m
Grown
Wild.
Cultivation
Uses (dried flowering stems, leaves) Vermi-
1500
to
oil.
Action largely due
to sparteine
This tree
is
Nutt.
Nees lalraceae
considered bv
manv
authorities to
SAP-SCR provided the first of the American medicinal plant drugs to reach Europe. Its action was noticed by Monardes during an
have
expedition to Florida
and
1564),
1
wood was imported to It was known firstly by
in
1574 the
Spain. the native Indian
name
flowered inflorescence, appearing late to
Distribution
Native to eastern mediterranean
and south-west Asia, introduced to South Africa, America and elsewhere. On dry region,
chalky
soils,
rocky
hills,
roadsides; to 800
pavame, and also the French sassafras. From 1582 the Germans called it lignum floridum and
altitude.
Fennel Wood,
the wild. Cultivated from seed
pauame after
as well as lignum
its
and the fennel-like aroma of the bark. The tree was grown in England as early as origin
1597. An Italian, Angelus Sala, first extracted the Sassafras oil by distillation, and it was this
summer
mid-autumn.
m
Wild. Collected commercially from
Cultivation
sown
in spring.
comprising mainly carvacrol and cymene; phenolic substances; resins; tannins; mucilage. Constituents Essential oil (to i.5°
!
Uses (fresh or dried leaves, dried flowering
product which in modern times has been used most frequently. It is now under scrutiny for possible toxicity problems, and in many countries it has been withdrawn as a flavour-
Antiseptic; expectorant; carminative; stomachic; stimulant; antihelmintic; diuretic. Principally of use in gastric complaints, to aid
ing.
beneficial antihelmintic action,
Aromatic deciduous
Description
tree to
Leaves variable, lobed or
tall.
30
m
entire, altern-
ovate to 12 cm long, darker above. Flowers greenish yellow, on clustered racemes to 5 cm
tops)
digestion or stimulate
appetite.
Possesses a
and can
also
be used as an antiseptic gargle. Once considered an effective aphrodisiac although this is
long; followed by dark blue fruit with fleshy
probably only due to its stimulant effect. oil is used commercially as a flavouring, as is the leaf which is an important constituent of
the wild.
The
Grown from seed sown in poor, welldrained and chalky soils in early to midautumn or propagated by division in spring or
red pedicel. Leaves attractively coloured in
salami.
autumn.
ate,
autumn.
1.5%) comprising mainly carvacrol and cymene; phenolic subConstituents Essential oil (to
North American native from cen-
Distribution tral to
southern states. Wild.
stances; resins; tannins; mucilage.
Cultivation
Constituents
Uses
3%
oil, to
comprising safrole
80%), phellandrene and pinene. Uses (root wood, root bark, oil
rarely)
The
tops)
Aro-
inner root bark in decoction
ornataj in
decoction to induce sweating. is
oil
and
rubefacient
although safer remedies
for
destroys
appetite.
used as an antiseptic gargle.
Possesses a
and can
also be
Once considered
an effective aphrodisiac although this is probably only due to its stimulant effect. The oil is used commercially as a flavouring, as is the leaf which is an important constituent of salami.
lice,
both purposes are
preferred. Pith from the stem forms a
or stimulate
beneficial antihelmintic action,
carminative and has been used for gastro-intestinal complaints, and in association with purgatives in constipation. The wood shavings were formerly administered with Guaiacum and Sarsaparilla [Smilax
The
Antiseptic;
digestion
is
aromatic and
mildly
or dried leaves, dried flowering
(fresh
expectorant; carminative; stomachic; stimulant; antihelmintic; diuretic. Principally of use in gastric complaints, to aid
to
matic; carminative; stimulant; diaphoretic; diuretic.
;
Scrophularia nodosa L scrophulariaceae Knotted Figwort
demul-
cent mucilage in water and can be used in eye
the lame properties and uses as Savory and is collected commercially both for the leaf and for the oil extracted from the leaves. The flavour of Winter Savory is, however, both coarser and stronger, but it has the advantage of being a hardier plant and a
Figwort is an interesting medicinal plant which modern examination. Like the Foxglove, which is also a member of the Scrophulariaceae, it possesses cardio-active substances which lead to increased myocardial contraction. It is not used in heart therapy however, and its main employment in folk medicine is a dermatological one, where its action on the liver is traditionally considered to benefit skin problems. Nineteenth-century research also indicated a hypoglycaemic action, and for a time the root was included as an
hortensis.
perennial evergreen, thus providing fresh leaf
antidiabetic agent.
ancient application against
effective
warmer climates. Winter Savory is also called Mountain Savory, hence its specific name montana. Description Shrubby evergreen perennial 10-40 cm tall, woody at the base, branched and forming a compact bush. Leaves
cervical
lotions.
Oil
deserves closer
used
is
Sassafras tea
made from
is
Contra-induatwns internally as
May
it
now under and perfumery.
food flavouring
in
review], tobacco flavouring
the
wood
should
Oil
not
shavings.
be
used
causes liver and kidney damage.
irritate the skin if
L labiatae Savory
sometimes incorrectly named as Satureia It is now most commonly used as a culinary herb, the name Savory emphasizing its culinary use. It has been employed in food flavouring for over 2000 years and probabb longer than Sage. The herb also possess s This
is
medicinal
properties
stimulant effect which led to
an aphrodisiac. this
Some
among herb,
was the origin of meaning satyr. The
the
and
first it
to
including
a
former use as
authorities believe that
effect
Satureia
its
introduce
the old
name
were a garden
Italians
this as
has been in cultivation since the
ninth century.
Annual, 30 10 m tall, pubescent, and branched. Leaves acute, entire, 3 cm
Description
erect
long. Flowers rose,
<
lilac
I
his
has
Summer
used externally.
Satureja hortensis
Summer
L labiatae Winter Savory
Satureja montana
or white, in a sparsely-
for
winter flavouring
oblong-linear long.
White
or or
in
sessile, entire,
oblanceolate,
pink
flowers,
flowering spikes appearing early
15-30 in
mm
terminal
summer
to
still
apothecaries'
fig)
The
plant's
older, traditional uses.
name
Ficaria major refer to the \\\tficus
or piles; while Scrophularia
(Latin
goitre and lymph nodes),
for
names indicate
Figwort and the
is
(Latin for
from scrophula
tuberculosis since
it
of the
was used
in
complaints characterized by swelling, such as
tumours and mastitis. Square-stemmed, strong-smelling
Description
Native to south-east Europe and North Africa; introduced elsewhere. On dry chalky soils, rocky hills and mountains to 1500
perennial, 40 to 120 cm tall, on tuberous rhizome; leaves opposite, undivided, decussate, ovate and glabrous. Flowers greenishbrown, to cm long in panicles appearing
m
mid-summer
early
autumn.
Distribution
altitude.
Cultivation
Wild. Collected commercially from
1
Distribution
to mid-autumn. European native. In wet woodland.
261
SED-SIL women formerly made a tea from the plant which they used before or during childIndian birth,
and
hoea.
The herb never
to treat conditions
such as leucorr-
much
attracted
atten-
however, and it was only included in the early nineteenth-century American Eclectic Materia Medica; Hale introduced a homeopathic preparation, however, of the fresh
tion
flowering plant in 1875.
The
plant contains
which have been implicated poisoning, and it is, therefore, now
toxic substances in cattle
seldom used. on thick horizontal
Description Perennial
root,
reaching 30-60 cm tall. The stem is grooved, erect and brown-streaked; basal leaves alternate, long petioled, obtuse, toothed, 3-15 cm long.
Stem
leaves oblong or lanceolate, lyrate
or pinnatifid. Flowers golden-yellow to 2
cm
wide, in corymbs, appearing early to mid-
summer. North American native; on nutwet soils, near to streams, marshland.
Distribution
fenland hedgerows, ditches, near streams.
1700
m
porous,
altitude.
On
To
nutrient-rich loamy, but
embankments and
Cultivation
roofs.
Wild.
Wild
cosides; mucilage;
plant.
unknown
semadine; gly-
substances.
Constituents
Uses (fresh leaves) Rubefacient; hypotensive;
ins,
irritant.
Cardio-active glycosides; saponcomprising mainly diosinine; hesperetin;
Use of the
substances.
external
Uses (dried root-stock, dried flowering tops)
warts and corns;
weak hypoglycaemic. Used in poultices for the external treatment of wounds, burns, ulcers and haemorrhoids. Formerly used externally and internally in glandular disorders, mastitis and tumerous conditions. Also used externally and internally in
chronic skin diseases such as eczema.
Contra-indications
heart
it
Owing
to
its
action on the
should only be used under medical
supervision.
Sedum acre L crassulaceae Biting Stonecrop Yellow Stonecrop or Wall-pepper The Wall-pepper, named after its habitat and taste, has never been considered of much medicinal importance, and even some of the ancient writers warned against It
its
internal use.
was, however, included in some sixteenth-
century apothecaries' remedies for intestinal parasites, and was known then as vermicularis. Similar, related plants were used for the
same
purpose and by 1741 the Wiirttemberg Phar-
macopoeia
specified
'
Vermicularis Jlore flavo\ the
yellow-flowered Vermicularis. In 1830 ble
employment
in epilepsy
its
possi-
had been recog-
was rarely used
for this purpose because the irritant substances it contains caused blisters. Description Fleshy perennial on creeping or decumbent stems forming mats 5-20 cm tall. long, thick, sessile, numerous, Leaves 3-4 cylindrical, arranged closely along the stem. Flowers yellow, to 15 wide, sparse, in terminal cymes; appearing mid-summer to
nized, but
it
mm
mm
autumn. European native; introduced elsewhere. On poor, dry, warm, calcareous or
Cultivation
Wild.
Constituents Alkaloids; tannins; resin;
fresh plant
must be restricted to
for local treatment of should be diluted with water to aid wound healing. The plant cannot safely be used in the treatment of hypertension. May be employed homeopathically.
application
Not
Contra-indications
External use
it
may
to
be used internally.
cause blistering.
Emmenagogue;
and
root)
diaphoretic; tonic; diuretic;
anti-haemorrhagic. used in the treatment of certain internal haemorrhages, especially pulmonary haemorrhage; in female complaints and in childbirth;
Once
in genito-urinary tract infections.
Considered
be a tonic in debility following illness. Contra-indications To be used only by medical to
personnel.
L compositae Golden Ragwort Liferoot/Squaw Weed
unknown
substances. Uses (fresh or dried flowering plant
vitamin C; palmitic and malic acids; unknown
choleretic; diuretic; cardio-active; vulnerary;
rient-rich in
Constituents Alkaloids including
soils.
Cultivation
rubble,
May
prove toxic.
Senecio aureus
Female Regulator and indeed most of its uses were traditionally concerned with female complaints. American Senecio aureus
is
also called
Senecio vulgaris
L compositae
Groundsel This common weed is known to most European gardeners as an unwelcome intruder in the vegetable plot, or wherever soil has been disturbed. Dioscorides called it erigeron and conit had cooling properties, a statement echoed 1600 years later by Culpeper who thought the herb of value in all diseases caused by 'heat'. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries Groundsel was frequently used in
sidered
it evidently fell out of 780 Hagen wrote that 'it had .'. formerly been used Dr Finazzi reintro-
various conditions, but fashion, since in
1
.
.
duced the herb
in
1824 for liver diseases, and a folk medicinal application
century later its included it being used in amenorrhoea and
dysmenorrhoea.
now known
It is
that, like
its
American relative S. aureus, it possesses toxic alkaloids which after prolonged or large dos-
damage the liver. The English name Groundsel, (from age
the old
English ground swallower) and the French
name
Toute-venue,
emphasize
the
weed's
vivacity. Description
Annual 4-60 cm
tall;
stems erect,
succulent, purple at the base. Leaves pinnatifid,
with
irregularly
toothed
lobes,
short-
petioled or half-clasping. Flowers yellow, the
mm
diameter in cylindrical
early
flower-heads to 4
Distribution
involucre, on terminal dense corymbose clus-
stony
262
soils,
or sand; especially on old walls,
ters;
appearing throughout the year. European native, introduced
Distribution
else-
SED-SIL where. Widespread and common on wild and cultivated soils, to 2000 m altitude. Cultivation Wild. Constituents Alkaloids including senecionine; mucilage; tannins; resin; various mineral salts;
unknown
months.
L
yields white or yellowish oil is
or
brown seed from
S. orientale
The black L (now classified
as a cultivar of S. indicum L) gives
an
which
oil
considered suitable for industrial purposes. Constituents Fixed oil (to 55%) comprising is
Uses (entire flowering plant)
Emmenagogue;
astringent; vulnerary; haemostatic.
Used
glycerides of palmitic, stearic, myristic, oleic
in
and
in various conditions
and other acids; a phenolic subsesamol; sesamin; choline; lecithin;
linoleic
associated with blood circulation or haemorr-
stance,
hages, and in problems of menstruation. Now very rarely employed, except externally as a
nicotinic acid; calcium salts.
wash
Nutritive;
Uses
for cuts.
Popularly used to feed caged birds.
and can damage the liver; under medical supervision.
to
seed
(seed,
fresh
oil,
laxative;
leaves
emollient;
rarely)
demulcent.
may be used as a poultice, as may The ground seed when mixed with
Fresh leaves
Large doses are dangerous
Contra-indications
suitable for both
culinary and medicinal purposes.
substances.
homeopathy. Once used
S. indicum
seed and the expressed
the seeds.
water can be used to treat bleeding haemorrhoids, and can be taken for genito-urinary infections when combined with other
be used only
remedies. Seeds are of benefit in constipation, and Indians consider a decoction acts as an
emmenagogue. The oil has wide medical, pharmaceutical and culinary application.
Sesame seed paste (tahini) is used in spreads, and pates. The seed is used to decorate and flavour bread. sauces, casseroles
from
plains
Carolina. In
drained
Florida and Texas to South swampy, low-lying land on well-
soils.
Wild. Sometimes transplanted as a garden cover plant. Constituents Fixed oil (to 1.5%) to which the Cultivation
action I 'ses
due.
is
partly dried ripe fruit) Tonic: stimulant
1
expectorant; nutritive; sedative. Although the is mildly sedative, the fruits have
general action a
stimulant
local
urinary
on
action
membranes of both
mucous and genito-
the
the respiratory
The
systems.
action
overall
considered tonic, especially following Serenoa repens
Small palmae Sabal
Principally used therefore in chronic
Bartr.,
Saw Palmetto
The generic name
Serenoa
is
named
Watson, an American botanist repens means creeping, and refers
acute
Screno
alter
[899 to the habit of t8<>f>
bronchitis,
cystitis,
catarrh,
is
illness.
and suband as a
tonic tea. Considered to be of benefit in sexual
and atrophy of
debility
the testes, but this
is
unsubstantiated.
the stems. This habit leads to dense stands of
Saw Palmetto growing along the coastal of Florida and Georgia
in the
plains
I'nited States of
America.
American Indians used the ground-up seed as food and considered the fruits were sedative and tonic. They were, therefore, included in some orthodox pharmacopoeias from 1830 for
about
100 years,
restricted
palm.
their
use
is
now
folk medicine. Saw Palmetto saw-toothed edges of the leaves ol was formerly known as S. serrulata
to
refers to the tin
but
It
(Michx.) Hook. Description Palm, usually low and shrubby, 9 m tall, sometimes to f) m tall, with prostrate 1
and creeping, branching stem,
often underground. Leaves very deeply divided to 20 legmen ts), 7-, (in wide, green 01 glaucous Flowers inconspicuous, on a brain lied luster, (
followed by SUCCUlent purple drupes fruit) won drying, darkening, and shrinking to 18
mm
Distribution
long.
North American native, on
(
oastal
Sesamum indicum L pedaliaceae
Sesame
Bennc/Gingclli
Sesame is still widely cultivated for its seed which yields the valuable Sesame or Gigelly oil
an edible
those of Olive
with similar properties to
oil
The name Sesame can be
oil.
traced back through the Arabic Simsim (
loptic
Semsem
name mentioned B.C.)
and
Egyptian Semsemt, a the Ebcrs Papyrus (c. 1800
to the early in
which indicates how long man has known
and used
the herb.
Description
Erect,
pubescent
annual
strongly
smelling,
cm
finely
Leaves variable, simple above, lanceolate or oblong, alternate or opposite. Flowers purple to whitish,
to
cm
3
solitary,
to
long,
axillary.
90
sub-erect
Followed
capsule containing numerous Distribution
Native
tall.
or
by flat
to the tropii
drooping, 3
cm-long
seeds.
s.
Widely cultivated in Africa, Asia and America, on sandy loam; the seed being sown broadcast and harvested within 4 Cultivation
L Gaertn. compositae Milk-thistle Marian Thistle/ Wild Artichoke Dioscorides described this herb as silybon but from early Christian times both Latin and common names have normally included the name of the Virgin Mary, after an old tradition that the white veination on the leaves came from her milk. From this there arose the
Silybum marianum
belief that
which there
the plant affected lactation is
for
no modern evidence. The herb
is
SIN-SOL Young leaves, and
shoots, peeled stems, receptacles
roots can be
Contra-indications
The
seed should be used only
by medical personnel. Sinapis alba
L cruciferae
ancient Greeks and
officinale
(L) Scop,
cruciferae
This herb was the erysimon of Dioscorides who prescribed it (combined with honey) against deadly poisons and a host of other diseases and pestilences.
Mustard White Mustard The
Sisymbrium
Hedge Mustard
cooked and eaten.
The Greek name was
the apothecaries' Herba erysimi,
Romans
used Mus-
Linnaeus who
classified
it
as
retained in
and even by
Erysimum
officinale
tard as a spice, usually ground up and sprinkl-
The development of the now known condiment began in France
ed over food. universally
and today over half comes from Dijon. White Mustard is closely related to the Wild Charlofck (Sinapis arvensis L), and is much less pungent than Black Mustard. There was no medicinal differentiation between the various types of Mustard seed until the London Pharmacopoeia of 1720. Description Branched annual to m high; slightly hairy stems; leaves generally oval and in the seventeenth century,
the world's supply
1
lobed. Flowers small, bright yellow, appearing
mid-summer
to early
autumn. Seed yellowish
in colour, in bristly pods.
Native to southern parts of Europe and western Asia. Introduced elsewhere. Cultivation Wild plant. Cultivated commercially on wide scale. Distribution
effective
upon
the liver, however, a property
it
shares with another species of the Compositae
Constituents
Family, the Artichoke; and,
A glycoside comprising sinalbin
;
an
recognizing
in that
name
the fact that
Hedge
Mustard had long been an official plant, and effective as an expectorant. Traditionally, and in practice, the herb or juice
enzyme,
myrosin,
the flower receptacle can be eaten.
presence
of cold
Milk Thistle was formerly cultivated quite
crushed.
may
widely, not only for the receptacle but also for
Uses (seed, leaves) Stimulant, irritant, emetic.
roots - the latter
Less powerful than Black Mustard and used in
Tragopogon porrifolius L). In
combination with it for similar purposes. Powerful preservative, effective against moulds and bacterial growth; used for this reason in
loss, and for this became known as the Singer's plant. Description Annual on branched, erect stem 30-90 cm tall, with 5-8 cm long basal leaves deeply pinnatifid and toothed; stem leaves thinner and hastate. Flowers small, pale yellow
young
the
stalks, leaves
resembling Salsify
(
like the
and
the eighteenth century the
Artichoke,
young shoots were
thought to be superior to the best cabbage. Medicinally the herb was often used in place of the Blessed Thistle (Cnicus benedictus L) and for a long time the seed was considered a specific for stitches in the side.
Description
Annual or biennial; 30-150 cm
tall
prominently grooved, seldom branched stem. Leaves large, oblong, shiny,
with
erect,
variegated and very spiny; sessile or clasping. Flowers violet-purple, thistle-like in a hemispherical capitula to 5
cm
and surrounded
the base by long spiny
at
long; usually solitary
appendages.
Appearing
elsewhere.
summer
to early
On dry rocky or stony soils in waste-
and roadsides to 600 m altitude. Cultivation Wild plant. Easily grown from seed; prefers sunny situation and well-drained soil.
lands, fields
Constituents Essential oil;
tyramine; histamine;
bitter principles; a flavonoid, silymarine.
Uses (powdered seed, fresh
and dried
whole and dried flowering plant, fresh root, young stems and shoots, fresh receptacle) Choleretic; cholagogue; bitter tonic; hyper-
tensive; diuretic.
The whole herb
leaves used in salads.
the is
be used fresh to restore the voice in
hoarseness or in complete
reason
is
of value in the stimulation of
assist digestion.
it
on long racemes, appearing early summer to mid-autumn. Distribution European native; in hedgerows, roadsides, railway embankments, most wasteland and weedy places and occasionally on 1700 m altitude. Wild. Once cultivated as a pot-herb. Constituents Sulphur-containing compounds;
walls.
To
Cultivation
cardenolides. Uses (fresh flowering tops, fresh juice) Expect-
bechic;
stomachic;
tonic;
diuretic;
laxative.
Useful in bronchitis, pharyngitis, tracheitis,
and
as a tonic.
May
be used with discretion in sauces; formerly eaten as a vegetable but the flavour is strong and disagreeable in large quantities. Contra-indications it is
As
it
has an effect on the heart
not suitable for the very young, old or those
with cardiovascular problems.
leaves,
fresh
appetite and to
Young
in
seed
orant;
autumn. Distribution Native to central and west Europe; introduced and naturalized in California and late
pickles.
which interact water when the
The powdered
Smilax ornata Hook.
f.
liliaceae
Sarsaparilla Sarsaparilla was introduced to Seville, Spain, between 1536 and 1545 from Mexico, and it soon received attention as a potential remedy - particularly following the reports
for syphilis
markedly choleretic
of successful treatment using the herb's roots
cardiovascular disorders.
sickness.
by Pedro de Ciezo de Leon in the 1540s. The plant was established as an official drug by the mid-sixteenth century and remained
ulcers
official
seeds taken in emulsion are
and of use
They
264
in certain
also act prophylactically against travel
Formerly used in the treatment of leg and varicose veins.
until
the
early
twentieth
century.
SIN-SOL was given various names, including and Sarmentum indicum, and by 1685 three main sorts, Mexican, Honduran and that from the province of Quito were being exported to Europe in large quantities. By the nineteenth century Sarsaparilla was established as a valuable alterative and tonic Initially
it
Zarzaparilla, Zarza-Parrilla, Salsa Parilla
for use in
rheumatic, syphilitic, scrophulous,
some
benefit in rheumatism.
gests
Smyrnium olusatrum L umbelliferae Alexanders Black Lovage/Horse Parsley Because of superficial similarities with other members of the Umbelliferae family, AlexBlack Lovage, Wild A medieval name Petroselinum Alexandrium or the Rock Parsley of
Celery,
root
now
is
retained in few national
pharmacopoeias, and besides use,
it
is
folk
medicinal
only employed as a vehicle and
flavouring agent for medicines, or as a soft
climates.
is
also
known
and Horse
as
Parsley.
Alexandria echoes these similarities and gives us the name Alexanders. It was known to Theophrastus as hipposelinon
and occasionally
as petroselinon, the latter
usually being applied to Parsley.
A
name
related
L, which had similar and uses was given the Greek name Smyrnion and from this the generic name of Alexanders is obtained. Both plants were official from the earliest times, and the root plant,
perfoliatum
S.
properties
drink flavouring. Description Dioecious,
means of paired
woody
vine climbing
in a sunny position from seed sown in the autumn. Its cultivation is similar to Celery.
Unknown.
Constituents
Uses (seed, dried
and
fresh root, fresh stems
and
leaves) Stomachic; diuretic.
anders
The
Evidence sug-
warmer
Employed as a pharmaceutical flavouring Used in soft drinks.
many
were reaching Europe. These included Honduran, Guatemalan, Brazilian, Jamaican, Mexican and Guayaquil Sarsaparillas. Of these, the socalled Jamaica Sarsaparilla (exported via Jamaica but actually from central America) was the only sort once allowed in the British Pharmacopoeia.
effective in
agent.
and chronic dermatological problems, and different types of root
more
is
it
Now
rarely used medicinally, the seed soaked
wine was formerly considered an emmenagogue, while the leaves were antiscorbutic in days when vitamin C was unavailable. The root is mildly diuretic and a bitter, thus promoting appetite. The seed is stomachic, and was once thought to be of benefit in asthma. The fresh juice may be used on cuts and wounds. Seed may be crushed and used with discretion as a condiment. Leaves, stem, root and shoots may be boiled and eaten. The fresh blanched stem and flower buds can be eaten raw. in
Solanum dulcamara
L solanaceae
Nightshade Bittersweet/Woody Nightshade The Solanaceae family consists of over 1700 some of which are of considerable economic importance - such as the Egg-plant, Pepino, and Potato. Others are of horticultural interest and several have been employed species,
by-
Stems prickly root-stock, from
stipular tendrils.
arising from rhizomatous which numerous thin, cylindrical roots also arise. Leaves alternate, variable. Flowers greenish to white, followed by berries. Distribution Native to Central America, especially Costa Rica. In humid forests, swamps, and river-banks.
for
medicinal purposes
Many, such
in all parts of the
world.
acid sitosterol-d-glycoside fatty acids sugars
have very poisonous berries due to their glycoalkaloid content. This irritant substance partially breaks down, however, in solution to yield steroidal alkamine aglycones which have an effect on the nervous system. Various parts of the plant (excluding the berries) have therefore been used appropriately in medicinal practice since as early as
resins.
the thirteenth century.
Uses (root) Alterative; diuretic; tonic. This
herb's stem
Cultivation
Wild.
The
thin rootlets are usually
collected from the wild. Constituents
Sarsaponin, a glycoside; sarsapic
;
remedy
;
is
ineffective in syphilis
;
and
is
now
as this species,
The
was introduced
sixteenth century
when
it
specific use of the in
Germany
in the
was called Dulcis
considered of low therapeutic value. It does assist in the elimination of urea and uric acid,
amara,
however, and
chemical changes mentioned above). Its medical use has almost disappeared in the last 30 years although it is included as a food flavouring provided the solanine content in the final food product is not more than 10 mg
is
thus of value in gout;
it
is
which
of so until 1830 in much of Europe. Alexanders has been most important as a culinary herb however, and its cultivation was described by Pliny and Columella in the first century a.d. Even Galen considered it more important as a food than a medicine. The leaves, the upper part of the roots, stem and shoots were most often used, but the flower buds were also added to salads. Like Celery the herb was blanched to remove bitterness. Due to the whims of fashion, Alexanders largely disappeared from gardens in the mid-eighteenth century, but it is worthy of modern
and seed remained
literally is
first
sweet bitter, after the taste then sweet (due to the
bitter,
per kg. Description
cm tall.
Shrubby perennial usually 60-170
sometimes climbing or trailing to 4 m Leaves ovate, pubescent, petiolate, entire
tall,
cultivation.
Glabrous biennial, 50-150 cm tall furrowed stem. Lower leaves to 30 cm long, compound, stalked, with broadly ovate segments to 6 cm long. Flowers yellow-green in sub-globose umbels to 10 cm wide appearing early to mid-summer and followed by aromatic Description
on
solid,
black seed. Distribution Native to west Europe, mediterranean region, and naturalized elsewhere; on moist soils in hedge banks, rocky soils, cliffs,
specially close to the sea. Cultivation
Wild
plant. Cultivated
on most
soils
265
SOL-STY 2
or
more
basal lobes; to 10
spotted
violet,
cm
with
green,
long. Flowers
bright
yellow
numerous in long-stalked cymes, appearing mid-summer or mid-autumn. Followed by ovoid, scarlet-red fruit to 12 anthers;
mm
diameter. Distribution
weedy on
Widespread. Native
places, stream edges,
damp
nutrient-rich
Cultivation
Wild
Constituents
Europe,
to
On
and North America.
Asia,
wasteland,
and woodland;
Leaves either dentate or entire. Flowers golden-yellow, to 15 wide, arranged in terminal panicles; appearing late summer to
mm
autumn.
late
Native
Distribution
and
to
Europe, North Africa
wood
edges,
grassland;
porous acid and calcareous
Alkaloids
(to
1%)
comprising
and solanine; glycosidal
and non-glycosidal saponins comprising dulcamaric and dulcamaretic acids. Uses (dried stems) Expectorant; diuretic. Formerly employed in decoction to treat asthma, catarrh, rheumatism and bronchitis, and especially of benefit in dermatological problems such as eczema, psoriasis and pity-
May
woodland
Asia. Introduced elsewhere. In
clearings,
soils.
plant.
solaceine, solaneine
pubescent, the basal ones obovate to oblanceolate and petiolate, to 10 cm long. Upper leaves smaller and becoming sessile. ate,
soils,
to
on deep 2800 m
altitude.
Wild plant. Propagated horticulturby division in spring or autumn, or from seed sown in spring. Prefers open conditions, and soils which are not too rich. Cultivation
ally
Constituents Essential oil; flavonoids; tannins;
saponins; various organic acids comprising
mainly
known
tartaric
citric,
and oxalic
acids; un-
substances.
be used homeopathically. All parts of the plant are POISONOUS; to be used only by medical
Uses (dried flowering plant) Anti-inflammatory expectorant vulnerary astringent weak-
personnel.
Of much
riasis.
Contra-indications
;
;
use applied externally in poultices or
ointments Solidago virgaurea
L compositae
ance.
It
is
to assist tissue healing; used intern-
same purpose, and
ally for the
Golden Rod The common name
;
;
ly diuretic.
also in urino-
genital inflammations or to treat chronic skin
refers to the herb's appearan attractive plant and has been
problems.
Formerly
taken as an adjuvant (assisting with other remedies, of benefit in
taken into cultivation as a useful late-flowering
agent)
ornamental. The herb is not certainly mentioned in ancient writings and there is evidence that it was particularly promoted by the Arabs in the
asthma, arthritis and rheumatism. Rarely used in cases of diarrhoea. Its ability to reduce cholesterol levels is not clinically
Once
substantiated.
takes place.
Middle Ages,
since to fifteenth
and sixteenthSpigelia marilandica
wound
The
herb, hence the
name
consolida
from the
make whole and hence its generic name. Traditionally it was employed both externally and internally. Clarke introduced an extract of the fresh flowers to homeopathic medicine in 1902, and in 1949 it was discovered by Hager that Brazilians used the Latin to
herb
closely
related
wound
plant, too.
S.
microglossa
m
DC
as a
Erect perennial to tall on knotted rhizome. Stems usually sparsely branched, sometimes unbranched. Leaves alternDescription
1
;
rarely
round-worms;
specifically used to expel
when purgation
the action only being effective It
was, therefore, usually adminis-
L loganiaceae Pink Root Carolina Pink/Worm Grass/
of use in the treatment of nervous headache.
Indian Pink
The remedy
generic
name
of this once popular North
American Indian remedy
for
round-worms
is
taken from Adrian van der Spiegel, a physician from Brussels
who
died in
Padua
in 1625, in
whose honour it was called Spigelia. The herb was particularly favoured in the southern States by the Cherokees, to whom it was known as unsteetla. It was introduced to medicine in the 1750s by Dr Garden and Dr Chalmers; it was included in the United States Pharmacopoeia, and continued to be used in orthodox medicine until 40 years ago. The name Pink Root comes from the internal colour of the root-stock. It was formerly classi-
from 30-60 cm tall. acuminate, sessile, ovate to ovate-lanceolate, somewhat pubescent beneath; 5 10 cm long. Flowers very attractive, 3-5 cm long, deep red outside, yellow inside, carried on erect, onesided terminal cymes; appearing early to late Distribution
rich,
American
North
New Jersey
deep
soils at
native;
incompletely
be of benefit leaves
may
be used, with discretion, as a
stomachic tea; they do not contain the same quantity of active substances as are found in the root-stock.
Betony is an interesting example of a herb which was attributed with magical properties from the earliest times when it was used medicinally, and which for some time retained an important place in folk medicine even though its value is
This
The EgyptBetony with magical properties, and it was the most important magical plant of the Anglo-Saxons, being mentioned as one of the medicinal plants in the eleventh-century work, the seriously questioned.
ians were the
first
to attribute
Lacnunga. Dioscorides
knew
authorities consider
it is only an astringent was once an ingredient of bitter
Wild
tonics), while others believe
An
plant.
alkaloid, spigeline; bitter prin-
ciples; resin; volatile oil; fixed oil; tannins;
content, which
is
to
the
as kestron while
in
Cultivation
due
it
the
Constituents
mostly
labiatae
Stachys officinalis (L) Trevisan
bitter
is
but
com-
plaints.
The
clearings.
action
studied,
certain nervous
in
woodland
the
thought to be
in
from
and Texas; the edges of woods and to Florida
is
is
Romans called it vettonica, from which the old name betonica is derived. It was previously known as Betonica officinalis L. Today opinions differ as to its value; some
summer. southern
may
now being
on twisted root-stock, Leaves opposite, entire,
Perennial
Description
powder
In small quantities the
fied as Lonicera marilandica L.
266
and rhizome,
tered in conjunction with a purgative.
it was known as Erba pagana and the Germans called it Consolida Saracema. Golden Rod has principally been used as a
century Italians
Uses (dried or fresh roots
fresh leaves) Antihelmintic; narcotic.
spigeline
a slightly toxic substance.
(it
however,
now
chiefly
it is
sedative.
employed
smoking mixtures and herbal
in
It
is,
herbal
snuffs, as well as
occasionally being used in folk medicine. Description Perennial with square stems; reach-
SOL-STY medicine by Dr Symons. It was soon an drug in the United States Pharmacopoeia, and entered European pharmacopoeias its action is markedly reduced if old tinctures or roots are employed, and it was found to be a better expectorant than an antisyphilitic. It is still retained in folk medicine and proprietary herbal products as an alterative. Its leaves are often marked with chancre-like which may have (like syphilitic lesions) spots
to
official
originally suggested
use in syphilis.
its
subshrub to 90 on thick, creeping root-stock. Stems clustered and regularly branched. Leaves very variable in form; from ovate to oblong or Description Glabrous, perennial
cm
tall,
lanceolate, sessile or short-petioled, toothed,
Distribution
long-petioled, 3-20 mm long; some leaves ovate and sessile. Flowers small, white, numerous on downwardly pointing stalks. Appearing early spring to mid-winter. Distribution European native; distributed worldwide, and often naturalized as a weed of importance. On all moist, cultivated land and
in
wasteland
to
altitude.
Cultivation
Wild
Wild plant. Constituents Tannins (to
Mineral salts including calcium and potassium salts; saponins. Uses (fresh stems and leaves) Vulnerary. The crushed plant may be used in poultices; once rubbed on arthritic joints to relieve discomfort. Used homeopathically in the treatment of rheumatism. Principally used as a salad herb or ma\ be cooked as a vegetable with a knob of butter added.
30-60 cm
ing
dentate,
tall.
slightly
Basal rosette of cordate,
and
long-petiolate
hairy,
strongly-nerved leaves. Flowers pink or purple, in
a dense, terminal spike surmounting a
mid-summer
long stalk; appearing
mid-
to
autumn.
European native; on sandy loams wood clearings, meadowland, to 1500 m
saponosides;
15%);
sub-
bitter
glucosides;
alkaloids
comprising betonicine and stachydrine. Uses (dried flowering tops, root-stock rarely)
emetic;
stomachic;
Astringent;
purgative;
vulnerary; sternutatory; bitter; sedative. The root may cause purgation and is not usually employed.
The herb in
is
an effective bitter tonic and useful
diarrhoea and
for external
application
in
may
states,
but
is
best
taken with other remedies. dried leaves
may
be used as a tea sub-
and are included
stitute,
in
smoking and
snull
I)r Benjamin named.
The
Stillingfleet, alter
use of the
herb as
was established
States well before 1828
media (L) Vill.
CARYOPHYLLACEAE
dry
W ild r
plant.
Constituents Volatile oil (to
months
12
with birds. It
has long been used as a bird feed, and in
winter
it
provides one
of
Seed lor them. Indeed,
the few sources ol fresh is
it
as a foodstuff lor
The commore than
ive; laxative; sialogogue.
Principally used now as an alterative in chronic skin problems, liver infections and urino-genital infections. In small doses it is laxative,
and
in large
doses
it
is
emetic and
in
pulmonary
purgative.
Of
an expectorant
benefit as
whom
it
was
Styrax benzoin
Benzoin It
was
in
a
spe<
i
I
u
against
the southern United
when
it
was introduced
it
Dryander styracaceae Benjamin
Gum
noted by Ibn Batuta following his to 1349, and he called
first
Sumatra in 1325 Java Frankincense
Arabic).
(or Luban Jawi The Arabic name was altered
in
to
Banjawi, Benzui, Benzoin and Benjamin over subsequent centuries.
The resin was imported to Europe following Garcia de Orta's description of the drug (1563), and in the
in
an
old) Expectorant; emetic; purgat-
in
bite
fixed oil;
Uses (dried or fresh root-stock, not
Chickweed and
4%);
ate; cyanogenic glycosides; starch. bined action is mildly irritant.
I'oiseau its
is this herb's English name, Imbed French name, Vogelmiere iis German, medieval Latin mOTSUl gtUlitUU liens all of these emphasizing die association
from light,
sun.
soils in full
Cultivation
visit to
The
Chickweed
native;
Card, eiphorbiaceae
Queen's Delight Queen's Root/Yaw-root Queen's Delight receives its generic name from
syphilis
Stellaria
American
Virginia to Florida and Texas. In sandy,
disorders.
mixtures. fresh plant provides a yellow dye.
mid-autumn. North
to
Distribution
acrid resin, sylvacrol; tannins; calcium oxal-
altitude.
plant.
Stil/ingia sylvatua
possess a mild sedative action of benefit
headaches and anxiety
The
m
to
wounds. It
2000
Constituents
Cultivation
stances;
ovate-acute,
green to red, 3- 11 cm long. Flowers monoecious, yellow, without petals, in dense, terminal spikes to 12 cm long; male flowers in clusters, female solitary. Appearing late spring
a
1582
name
it
was
list
listed as
of taxes levied at
Asa
Worms
(Sweet Asa) -
dulcis
retained until the 1850s.
By [800 the antiseptic properties of Benzoin had been fully recognized and both Simple and Compound Tinctures of Benzoin were regularly employed as preservatives in a wide range of medicinal and cosmetic preparations, the resin is still used today in herbal
animals and poor country lolk that it has received most attention; the ancient writers ignored it and it has few, if any, medicinal
and
applications.
elliptic to orbicular, entire or slightly dentate.
Stellaria
is
from the Latin
Stella
meaning
a star.
after the (lower shape:
preparations.
2
Vigorous annual, but rapidly propagating and found throughout (he year. Stems much-branched, decumbent and as-
Cultivation
'
ending, very Straggly, 10
40 (in
tall.
Leaves
to
7
m
tall;
leaves simple,
Flowers white, several, in drooping clusters on cm long pedicels. Distribution Native tosouth-east Asia, especially
while media serves to distinguish this plant fi >m both larger and smaller relatives as it me, ins middle. Description
Tree
Description
Sumatra;
mixed forests lose to rivers. Wild and cultivated commercially.
in
c
obtained by tapping 7 10 year old raping off the whitish exudation from the bark. Trees can be so treated for up to I
he
trees
ic
sin
and
is
se
267
SUC-TAX symphiton of Dioscorides. but
the
Roman
it probably was from the verb meaning to the name from which both the
conferva
join together
.
common name
medieval Consolidae maioris and
Comfrey are derived. Comfrey was once one of the main herbs used in treating fractures and hence the alternative name Knitbone. The pounded root forms a mucilaginous mass which can be bound around a fracture and which, when dry. holds the bone in place.
30- 1 20 cm tall, on thick brownish-black root-stock. Leaves and stem erect, with stiff hairs. Lower leaves to 25 cm Description Perennial.
long,
lanceolate,
petiolate.
Upper
narrower.
leaves
hairy
beneath.
Flowers
purplish,
pinkish or yellowish-white, in crowded ter-
minal
appearing early summer
cymes;
to
autumn.
early
Europe. Asia; introOn rich, wet streams, in ditches, on low-
Native
Distribution
to
duced and naturalized elsewhere. soils
near
lying
rivers,
meadowland. To 1500
m
altitude.
Propagated by division in spring and autumn, or by root cuttings from spring to autumn. Tolerates most conditions, but requires regular watering on dry soils. Constituents Mucilage: allantoin to 0.8 Cultivation
20 years, before they die.
Balsamic acids to 6o° comprising esters of cinnamic and benzoic acids: benzoresinol: benzaldehyde; styrol: vanillin: Constituents
and
several related substances.
The combined
predominantly antiseptic. Uses resin Carminative: antiseptic; diuretic:
action
is
mildly expectorant.
Used internally as a genito-urinary antiseptic, and as an expectorant in chronic bronchitis. Principally poultices
of benefit
and
an
as
antiseptic
in
and also applied directan antiseptic tincture. The
plasters,
ly to the skin as
an excellent preservative, suitable various pharmaceutical and cosmetic
tincture for
is
preparations.
can be used diluted as a mouth wash. Used in incense and aromatic products. It
toothed. Flowers dark blue, occasionally white. numerous, arranged in globular, involucral heads, terminating a long stalk. Appearing late summer to late autumn. Distribution Native to North Africa: Europe: western Siberia: introduced and naturalized in north-east United States and elsewhere. On moist soils in woods, pastures, fenland. and
To
m
The second
part of this herb's
Wild
Cultivation
plant.
in
which scratching
is
characteristic.
It
was
most
members
scratchy
seed
of
the
heads;
Dipsacaceae the
Fuller's
is
rarely used today.
Description Perennial
A decoction may be
stem erect 15-100 cm tall, usually glabrous. Basal leaves narrowly elliptic to obovatelanceolate, to 30 cm long, arranged in a rosette; stem leaves narrower and rarely
268
used externally
pruritus or to aid
healing or ulcers. Also used homeo-
Symphytum
officinale
L boraginaceae
Comfrey Knitbone Comfrey
has
received
much
attention
recent years both as a medicinal plant
viding a source of vitamin proliferant allantoin
and
B 12 and
in
pro-
the cell-
as a potential source
Attempts suitable
extract the protein in a form
to
human consumption and
for
to
develop the plant as a food source in underdeveloped countries have so far been unsuccessful.
on short, erect root-stock
Astringent: demulcent: cell-prolifer-
ant: vulnerary:
Root
used
weak
sedative.
internally
in
the
treatment
of
veins.
almost 35 per cent total protein, which is the same percentage as that of soya beans, and 10 per cent more than that of Cheddar Cheese.
is
fresh or dried root-stock, fresh or dried
leaves!
Now rarely used; the root-stock was formerly considered of benefit as an expectorant in
of protein. Certain strains of the herb contain
an old prefix from a traditional story in which the devil bit part of the root off. The herb is not very effective medicinally and Devil's-Bit
cell-pro-
tion. Considered of benefit in neuralgia and rheumatism, applied externally. Occasionally
flower?
have
L
The
to the allantoin content.
root are applied as a poultice, lotion or decoc-
rarely
Teasel
Honk, is the most extreme example of this, and the bracts were once used to tease or scratch up the nap on cloth. Dipsacus sativus
due
and
root-stock;
pathically.
formerly classified as Scabiosa succisa L. This may have been introduced through the theory of the Doctrine of Signatures, since
Uses
is
Expectorant: diuretic: antihelmintic: vulnerary; astringent: stomachic.
dried
Uses
juice
common name
it has been used in the treatment of scabies and similar skin conditions
liferant action
gastric
altitude.
Constituents
wound
refers to the fact that
sugars; essential oil; choline.
Saponins: a glucoside. scabioside: starch; tannins: mineral salts.
1800
to relieve itching of the skin
Moench. DIPSACACEAE Devil's-Bit Scabious
tannic acid: resin; traces of alkaloids compris-
ing consollidine and symphyto-cynoglossine:
and duodenal ulcers and diarrhoea: leaf used in pleurisy and bronchitis. For wounds, bruising, ulceration and dermatological complaints the leaves or macerated
marshes.
bronchitis.
Succisa pratensis
Wild.
Comfrey is, however, an important animal some parts of the world, and in Africa.
feed in for
example,
also It
is
increasing in importance. It is an organic compost and mulch. not certain that this species was the
grown
it is
as
used externally
in
the treatment of varicose
Dried leaf is a tea substitute. Fresh leaf used as a vegetable; in composting and mulching.
in
animal feeds:
SUC-TAN araceae
Symplocarpus foetidus (L) Nutt.
Skunk Cabbage
Weed
Polecat
This herb has an unusual appearance and, as common names suggest, an awful smell
its
when
bruised.
has been classified botanically in several Pothos, notably Ictodes, genera, different Arum, and Dracontium, but it is now included It
genus Symplocarpus.
as the only species of the
Skunk Cabbage root and seed were introduced to Europe in the early nineteenth century from American folk use, and although included in the United States Pharmacopoeia for a short time they did not attract much attention since superior antispasmodics were available. It is,
however, retained
medicine.
in folk
hardy perennial on large tuberous root-stock and long rootlets. Stemless. Leaves (produced after the flowers) ovatecordate, 45 cm long and 30 cm wide, smooth, Description Foetid,
entire, long-petioled (to 25
mentioned in the writings of Chinese and an early custom of the Han dynasty (266 B.C. to a.d. 220' was to retain a first
physicians,
cm). Inflorescence
a fleshy ovoid spathe to 15 cm long, purplebrown, mottled with yellow, covering a black
Clove in the mouth when addressing the emperor, presumably to counteract halitosis. Pliny mentioned a spice called caryophyllon, hence the specific name, and by the fourth century Cloves were widely used throughout Europe. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the spice caused serious trade rivalry between some European countries, and eventually the French began cultivation in Mauritius. It was first grown in Zanzibar in 1800. Description Attractive pyramidal evergreen tree 10-15 m ta "- Leaves ovate-oblong, 5-12.5 cm
is
oval spadix; appearing early to mid-spring.
North-eastern
Distribution
American swamps and
North
native; also in north-east Asia; in
boggy land.
long,
smooth and shiny, leathery, acute, and
tapering at the base. Flowers crimson or pale
mm
purple, 7 wide, in branched terminal cymes. Fresh buds pink, but reddish-brown after sun drying. Distribution Native to south-east Asian islands, especially the Moluccas. Introduced to West Indies, tropical East Africa, China.
Wild; cultivated commercially maritime countries.
Cultivation
tropical
Constituents Volatile oil
1
V
i
in
u.illotannic acid
caryophyllin action due to volatile oil. Uses (dried flower buds, oil) Aromatic stimu( 1
3°o
Cultivation
Wild.
ent
Resin fixed ;
oil
;
volatile oil
;
whooping
asthma,
bronchitis,
fever,
respiratory
hay
cough,
Root-stock formerly employed in the treatment of certain nervous disorders; also used to treat snake bites. Contra-indications Slightly narcotic;
only.
The
fresh plant
may
&
Perry
I
lie
dried
(loves,
unopened flower buds, known
are
derived
growing only on
tin
5
from a
tree
as
originally
small islands comprising
the \Ioluc( as propci. For
tliis
reason thev win-
tamine-like
Formerly only used externally Contra-indications
remedy externally ailed
nigra
ampelos
(black
melana vine)
his
to treat bruises.
Certainly by the Middle Ages <
prescribed
(black
and
this
plant was
ampelos),
finally
brioma
vitis
nigra
as a poultice to
Tanacetum vulgare
in
It
POISONOUS;
the
berries
fatal to children.
is
also
L compositae
found
classified as
now
Chrysanthemum
grown and longyellow flower-heads, many of which are Bernh.
herb gardens
used
who
his-
oxalate; un-
treat contusions.
scented articles. Ampelos {Ampelos
Mucilage; gums;
resolvent.
Black Bryony The Black Bryony
field
m altitude.
Uses (fresh or dried root-stock) Rubefacient;
lasting
thought to be the herb
100
1
compound; calcium
Tamus communis L dioscoreaceae is
soils, to
plant.
substances.
vulgare (L)
described as the wild or agria) of Dioscorides
Clove-tree
Wild
Constituents (root-stock)
Tansy
medical use
MYRTACEAE
Cultivation
should not have prolonged contact with the gums as this may cause serious irritation. oil
cause blistering.
Syzygium aromaticum (L) Merr.
drained, nutrient-rich
Contra-indicalions If applied for toothache, the
leaves can be used fresh as a vulnerary.
mm
diameter globose, red berry. Distribution Native to central and southern Europe. In hedgerows, woodland clearings, wood margins, scrubland; on moist, well-
Tansy
catarrh.
The
spring to late summer, and followed by 12
Culinary uses include bread sauce, curry, mulled spiced wine, liqueurs and stews. Acts as a preservative in pickles. Used in pomanders.
use in the treatment of various respiratory
including
Black Bryony is poisonous, and if the root is used internally it is violently purgative and emetic. It has, therefore, never been considered useful medicinally, but Clarke introduced a homeopathic preparation in 1902 to be used in sunstroke and rheumatism. Description Dioecious perennial, on very large tuber (to 60 cm diameter), producing annual, twining stems. Leaves entire, cordate, broadlyovate, glossy, to 10 cm long, with very long petioles. Flowers yellowish-green, male stalked, female sessile; both small. Appearing late
known
counter-irritant.
common
derived.
can be
expectorant; diuretic; emetic; mild sedative.
Of
is
Used in the treatment of flatulent colic, and as a remedy for toothache. Applied externally in embrocations to relieve neuralgic pain, and in rheumatism. A constituent of tooth-powders and toothpastes, as a flavouring agent and antiseptic.
sugars
gums; unknown acrid substances. Uses (dried root and rhizome) Antispasmodic;
complaints,
;
;
i
antispasmodic; carminative; rubefaci-
lant;
Constituents
)
(black brionia) - from which the
name
in
It is
for its
frequently
attractive
insect-repelling pot-pourris or other
has traditionally been used as an insecticide
and in the Middle Ages was one of the strewing herbs used on floors. Tansy was also rubbed over meat to keep flies away, and one of its old names arthemisia domestica emphasizes its use in the house. It was also called athanasia and tanacetum. or insect repellent,
269
TAR-THY the family Flacourtiaceae which yield seed containing a fatty oil. The oil, and the crushed seed, have long been used in south-east Asia to treat various skin diseases, and it has been
the most useful of European herbs and all parts of the plant can be employed. It is an extremely
shown
the best herbs
that
the active principles of the oil
(hydnocarpic and chaulmoogric acids,
are
effective medicinal plant, being possibly the safest
and most active plant
known
and one of
diuretic
to treat liver complaints.
Both the leaves and root have long been eaten
strongly antibacterial. For this reason Chaul-
as
moogra
cultivated forms with large leaves have been
employed
is
Hindu medicine
in
to
material,
developed
treat leprosy.
Tree
Description
salad
m
20
to
tall;
leaves glossy,
and oblong-lanceolate, to 20 cm long. Flowers few, in branched axillary cymes, or appearing singly. Followed by rugose, indehiscent, hard, globular fruit to 10 cm diameter; containing numerous seeds in entire, alternate, leathery
as
and
in
the last century
an autumn and spring vegetable;
these usually being blanched in the as
same way
Endive.
flowers last so long.
Dandelion roots provide when dried, chopped and roasted the best-known coffee substitute, and all parts have been employed in fermented and unfermented beers, wines and tonic drinks. Surprisingly the herb is rarely mentioned by the ancient Greeks and Romans, and it is generally considered that the Arabs promoted its use in the eleventh century. By the sixteenth century it was well established as an official drug of the apothecaries, who knew it as Herba Taraxacon or Herba Urinaria —
Tansy was used
the latter term emphasizing
a pulpy mass.
Native
Distribution
names of uncertain to
mean
Burma and Thailand
to
and now introduced
to
other regions of tropical
association but considered
deathless
-
because
possibly
the
until the mid-eighteenth century in certain types of pancakes called tansies. These were eaten at Lent, and the bitterness was meant to remind the eater of
It
Description
Aromatic,
60-120 cm
somewhat tall,
Leaves pinnate, alternate, divided
into
numerous
to 12
rhizome.
cm
long, sub-
leaflets
which
It is still
mid-autumn. to Europe and Asia;
to early or
Distribution
Native
A
variety (var. crispum
larger and more
are found in T.
is
with
some-
yellow, on hollow scapes, appearing late spring
Constituents Essential oil, (to
to
comprising thujone
70%), and borneol; vitamin C; tannins;
south-east Asia.
acid
(to
Uses
irritant.
Anti-
emmenagogue.
Small doses are effective in the treatment of round-worms. The herb also aids digestion. Maybe used in infusion as a gargle in gingivitis. The extracted oil was formerly used externally in the treatment of rheumatic pain.
Employed in a variety of and scented articles.
insect-repellent
sachets
Contra-indications
Large doses are irritant and if may induce abortion.
taken during pregnancy Taraktogenos kurzii
King flacourtiaceae
23°
gorlic
),
acid,
),
oil,
compris-
chaulmoogric
oleic
The
Antibacterial;
seed)
ioil.
oil is effective in
matous
acid
and
and
alterative;
the treatment of lepro-
still used in the East. Also useful in the treatment of intestinal worms. Seed used externally and internally in various
leprosy,
is
skin diseases. Usually applied as an ointment.
In India the seeds are considered to be an alterative tonic. Contra-indications
The
oil
is
irritant
and may
cause nausea and vomiting, as well as having a slight
depressant action on the cardiovascular
system.
Taraxacum
officinale
Chaulmoogra
Dandelion
This tree is also classified as Hydnocarpus kurzii King) Warb. It is one of several members of
ed
270
Chaulmoogra
palmitic acid.
resin; citric acid; butyric acid; oxalic acid;
Uses (fresh or dried flowering stems)
On
situation to 2000
m
Cultivation
Constituents (seed)
Weber compositae
Although the Dandelion is generally considerto be a ubiquitous weed, it is in fact one of
Native to Europe and Asia; intro-
duced elsewhere.
nitrogen-rich
soils in
any
altitude.
Wild. Propagated from seed sown in
use as an autumn salad herb. Blanch by earthing up or placing an inverted flower pot over the plant. Grow as an annual to prevent bitterness developing in the plant. Constituents Taraxacin, a bitter principle; taraxerin, an acrid resin; taraxerol; taraxas-
spring
lipids.
helmintic; insecticide;
mid-summer.
Distribution
ing hydnocarpic acid (to 36°
times preferred in herb gardens.
officinale.
Variable perennial on taproot, to 30 cm tall. Leaves spatulate, oblong or oblanceolate, entire to runcinate-pinnatifid. Flowers Description
intro-
DC
finely divided leaves
retained in the national pharmaco-
the roots. Small quantities of a similar latex
are
duced and naturalized elsewhere, especially in north-east North America. On wasteland, wood clearings and undisturbed, nitrogenrich, loamy soils to 1500 m altitude. Cultivation Wild. May be propagated by division of old clumps in spring or autumn, or from seed sown in spring or autumn. Tolerates most positions provided the soil is not constantly wet.
is
Union and Switzerland. The Russian Dandelion T. kok-saghyz Rodin.,; was extensively cultivated during the Second World War as a source of rubber, which was extracted from the latex of
deeply toothed. Several golden yellow flowers, consisting only of disc florets, in a dense flat or hemispherical corymb. Appearing late sum-
mer
lion's teeth),
and from which term the derived via the French dents
poeias of Hungary, Poland, the Soviet
straggling a
on
diuretic effect.
de lion.
apothecaries.
perennial,
its
also called Denta Leonis
common name
no doubt, also acted as a useful vermifuge since this has been the herb's main therapeutic use from the days of the
was
after the leaf shape,
Christ's sufferings; they,
first
|
for
TAR-THY terol; 3:4
inulin;
dioxycinnamic acid; flavoxanthin; acid; phenyloxyacetic acid;
citric
riboflavin; sitosterol; sitosterin; stigmasterol;
C and
coumestrol; vitamins B,
provitamin A.
Uses (fresh or dried roots, leaves
Diuretic:
cholagogue;
and
choleretic;
flowers)
laxative;
bitter tonic; stomachic.
An
excellent bitter tonic in atonic dyspepsia;
mild laxative in chronic constipation; a cholagogue and choleretic in liver disease (especially jaundice, cholecystitis and the primary stages of cirrhosis). Considered of benefit as an anti-rheumatic. As a bitter it promotes appetite and improves digestion. A a
very effective diuretic. Leaf and root used as a salad
cm
2
long. Flowers purple, rose or rarely white,
root
is
a coffee
lip,
in
either loose or dense terminal spikes: appear-
summer
ing early
mid-autumn.
to
Native to Europe and south-west Asia; introduced elsewhere. On dry chalky soils, in dry thickets, woodland, rocky screes, Distribution
and old
To 1500 m altitude. Wild. Cultivated as an edging plant.
walls.
Cultivation
Propagated from seed sown in spring: division autumn; or cuttings from spring to summer.
in
The dwarf cultivar
um
is
T. chamaedrys cv. Prostrat-
useful as a carpeting herb.
Tannins; an essential oil: bitter probably including picropulin:
Constituents
principles ;
but lacking upper
labiate
typically
sugars including stachyose and raffinose: un-
Dandelion wine, and leaves in Dandelion beer and tonic drinks. The plant is safe to use in large amounts.
known
L labiatae Wall Germander Germander The genus Teucrium consists of about 300 species, many of which are native to the
disorders.
mediterranean region. For this reason it has not been possible to identify definitely this
considered effective in the treatment of gout, although this is unsubstantiated. Used in the manufacture of liqueurs, ver-
substitute. Flowers used in
substances.
Uses (dried flowering plant
Choleretic: anti-
septic; antipyretic; tonic; aromatic; diuretic.
and digestive employed to promote the appetite, aid digestion, and dispel Principally of use in gall-bladder
Teucrium chamaedrys
particular
with
species
the
Khamaidrys
of
Dioscorides, and it is now considered most probably to be the same as his Teukrion. Both these Greek names have, however, been
combined
The
infusion can be
flatulence.
Once used
mouths and
May
shading or planted under higher Propagated from seed.
ficial
and formerly
in feverish conditions
tonic wines.
be used effectively as a horticultural
edging plant.
Constituents (seed) Fat called
Theobroma
oil;
after the
sixteenth century Yaldes reported their use as
central nervous system.
is
shape of the leaf. The common name derived from gamandrea the latinization of
a form of exchange instead of coins (in the
Cocoa
The herb was once predominantly
in
a popular medicine used
commuch employed in
digestive 01
feverish
plaints, but it was also lormal herb and knot gardens as an edging
There is very little modern information iv available on Germander, however, and plant.
ii
little
used
liqueurs
other
and
Description
than
as
an
of
ingredient
tonic wines.
Small, shrubby, practically
green perennial, 10
30
cm
tall.
ever-
Stem er©
1
or
decumbent, hairy, marked witli purple, bearing oblong to obovate-oblong, toothed leaves,
suc-
diuretic.
Theobroma cacao
Yucatan
khamaidrys.
);
and glucose (2.5° ); caffeine; mucilage. oleopalmitostearin. (fat) Comprises 55° Uses (Fat - Cocoa butter, seed products cocoa and chocolate) Emollient; nutritive; rose
Cacao Cocoa-Plant The Spanish were the first to describe the seeds of this now important economic plant. In the
i
Cocoa butter or
theobromine (i-3°
name, and for much of the Middle Ages the herb was known as Herba chamaedryos. Germander was also called Quercula maior or Quercula - names which like chamaedryos mean ground or little oak, to give the botanical
trees.
and
.
cultivated
in
L byttneriaceae
Any medicinal
have long been northern South America as a the
source of chocolate.
from the Mexican
trees
The name
chocolatl
comes
itself
while cacao
is
from
same language. Both the seed and chocolate itself were known in much of Europe by 1600, and Cacao butter was prepared in 1695 by Homberg in France. The medicinal applications of Cacao butter win promoted by the r'ien< h and it was soon cacauatl in the
popular It
is
in
still
pessaries,
forms
various retained
bougies,
cosmetic as
a
and
preparations.
base
for
medical
suppositories,
a vehicle for certain
cosmetics
its
and main
due
actions of the seed products are
theobromine and caffeine content, which act as a mild stimulant and diuretic. Theobromine has no stimulant effect on the to
their
and chocolate are now used pharmaceutically to mask unpleasant flavours.
The
fat is used in pessaries, ointments and as a massage lubricant. Very wide culinary and confectionery use of
the seed products.
The
fat
used in cosmetics.
is
Thymus x
citriodorus (Pers.)
Schreb. ex Scheigg.
& Korte LABIATAE Lemon Thyme Of
the many species and cultivars of Thyme which are available for use in a scented herb garden, one of the most popular is the true
Lemon Thyme.
value being that it does not go rancid quickly. Both Cocoa and chocolate consist of the fer-
Since
tin
mented and roasted plant seed; they differ in quantity of sugar and type of additional Savouring such as vanilla) added to the
other lemon-scented Thymes, notably some varieties of T. vulgaris.
product.
found
Description
Evergreen tree
simple, alternate, glossy
to 7
and
m
tall.
Leaves
leathery, oblong
to 30 cm long, red when young. Flowers small, yellowish-pink, long-stalked in clusters carried
directly
on branches or the trunk, followed by
30-cm long yellow to brown 20 40 3 cm-long seeds.
fruit
containing
T.
it
is
a cross between T. pulegioides
vulgaris
L
Lemon Thyme
there
is
often
is
variable in form.
Queen, which
itself
ranges
inflorescence; appearing
many tropical countries, especially Brazil and the west coast of Africa. Usually given arti-
in
degree and
Because of its mild flavour Lemon Thyme is a popular culinary herb. Description Aromatic lemon-scented bushy shrub to 25 cm tall. Leaves glabrous and revolute, varying in colour from dark to light,
tropics or wet soils. in
often
colour of variegation.
mm
Wild. Cultivated commercially
It is
as the silver-variegated cultivar, Silver
Distribution Native to Central and South America; introduced elsewhere. In lowland
Cultivation
L and
confusion with
01
silver-variegated, lanceolate to ovate, to 9 long. Flowers pale lilac, in small, oblong
Distribution Cultivated Cultivation
Found
mid
to late
summer.
world-wide.
horticulturally only; propa-
gate from cuttings spring to autumn, or by
271
THY-TRA aromatic carpeting herb serpyllum
Thyme
Creeping
and,
garden.
for the
also described as
is
T.
Mother of Thyme,
Lemon
confusingly,
Thyme. Extremely variable, prostrate, mat-
Description
bearing 8 mm-long linear to elliptic, almost sessile leaves and pink to purple small flowers
arranged
an ovoid, short, terminal inAppearing late summer to early-
in
floresence.
autumn. Distribution
Native
from from
in turn derives
names thymbra or thumon. It is howmost unlikely that this species was the main one used by the ancient Greeks, more probably they used Thymus capitatus Lk. It is also uncertain when Thyme was first cultivated in northern European countries;
Europe,
to
north-west
believe the Romans took it to Britain, while there is stronger evidence that it became popular north of the Alps between a.d. 850 and 1250. Certainly by the sixteenth century it was in general cultivation being grown as an
some
annual
in the far north.
The
On
isolated
well-drained sandy
or sandy loams in
m
woodland
altitude.
German the
apothecary
plant's
Neumann
essential
first
in
oil
1725,
and
this powerfully antiseptic substance is used in pharmacy and various commercial preparations. still
Wild. Propagated by layering in
Cultivation
summer
soils
roadsides, sunny slopes,
turf,
clearing; to 2600
or from cuttings taken from spring to
autumn.
Aromatic perennial sub-shrub on
Description
somewhat gnarled
comprising mainly thymol and carvacrol; tannins; saponConstituents Essential oil (to o.3°
soil
which
the Greek
Asia; introduced and naturalized elsewhere.
dry
common names come
generic and
the Latin thymum
ever,
forming, aromatic perennial 10-40 cm tall; woody at the base and sometimes a semishrub. Flowering stems erect to 10 cm tall
division in spring. Requires well-drained
The
)
oside; resins; flavones; bitter principles.
Com-
10-30 cm small,
or tortuous
linear
entire,
woody
stems,
leaves grey-green, opposite,
tall;
to
elliptic,
mm
petioled or
sessile,
tomentose, to
lilac to
white, small, in dense or loose
15
long.
Flowers
warm position. Winter protection under glass may be necessary for some cultivars in
position varies considerably.
Anti-
flowered terminal inflorescences, characteriz-
northern climates.
spasmodic; antiseptic; expectorant; carmin-
Constituents Essential oil.
ative; bitter aromatic.
ed by somewhat larger leaves than those on non-flowering stems. Appearing early summer
in a
Uses (fresh or dried leaves)
Not used medi-
Uses (dried flowering tops, rarely
Principally
employed
oil
in digestive complaints,
including flatulence and indigestion. Useful
cinally.
Widely used culturally
as a culinary herb.
as
Used
horti-
an aromatic ornamental and
coughs and respiratory
May
in
tract infection.
be used as a disinfectant mouth wash,
edging plant.
external poultice on wounds, for rheumatic
Thymus serpyllum L labiatae
The
pain,
Wild
Thyme
ancient names refer to the prostrate, snake-
growth habit of the plant. Wild
exists in
many
forms with variations
in colour,
many
different
growth habit and
leaf size;
varieties are, therefore,
but
all
Thyme
found
as
Wild Thyme,
are suitable as a quickly spreading
as a
douche.
is used commercially pharmaceutical and cosmetic pro-
(Oil of Serpoletj
in certain
As the common name suggests this herb is found wild. It is extensively distributed in Europe and Asia and is found as far north as Iceland. Wild Thyme has been used since the earliest times, and Dioscorides called it herpyllos; the Romans knew it as serpyllum. Both like
and
oil
ducts.
Dried leaves can be taken as a used for culinary purposes.
tea,
and are
vulgaris L labiatae Garden Thyme Common Thyme Thyme is one of the best known and most
Thymus
autumn.
to late
Native to the western mediterranean region and southern Italy; introduced elsewhere. To 2500 m in altitude. On dry soils, eitherrockyorwell-drained,in sunny positions. Cultivation Wild. Collected commercially from the wild in south-west mediterranean countries; cultivated commercially in Europe, especially Hungary and Germany. Widely grown as a horticultural or culinary plant. Propagated from seed sown in early summer, by division in spring, or by cuttings or layering from mid-spring to early summer. Grown as an annual in very cold climates. Distribution
Very variable
widely used of the culinary herbs, and to satisfy the demand it is not only collected from the wild in mediterranean areas, but is
thymol
and
neutral
also cultivated
eastern Europe.
commercially
in
central
many-
plant.
Constituents Essential oil (to 2.5°,,;, (to
40°
bornyl-acetate;
/-pinene,
linalol,
comprising
carvacrol, borneol, cymene,
),
saponins;
thiamine;
cafleic acid; tannins; bitter
and
acid
ursolic
acid;
compounds; other
active components.
The combined due
to the
action
is
antiseptic,
and mostly
thymol content.
Uses (dried flowering plant, oil) Antiseptic; carminative; vermifuge; rubefacient. Thyme can be used in a wide range of con-
where
ditions
oil
antiseptic
properties
beneficial
in
are
gastro-
and respiratory complaints.
intestinal
The
its
Particularly
required.
may
be used as an antihelmintic,
particularly to destroy
hookworm.
Wide
in
use of the
oil
commercial, phar-
maceutical, flavouring, and cosmetic preparations.
The
plant
is
of great importance as a flavouring
and kitchen herb. Tilia cordata Mill,
tiliaceae
Small-Leaved Lime The Lime, like the Oak and
certain other
European plants, was sacred to the IndoGermanic peoples, and the name Lime is
272
THY-TRA unknown Uses
leaves).
plant or simply by standing close to
active substances.
and
(dried flowers
bark, fresh
bracts,
Antispasmodic; sedative; diaphoretic;
diuretic; expectorant; choleretic.
Flowers principally used in combination with Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna Jacq.) and Mistletoe Viscum album L) in the treatment of (
hypertension.
They
are also of much benefit in feverish chills,
respiratory catarrh, indigestion, anxiety states
and migraine, and
in combination with other remedies in urinary infections. Small doses assist digestion. An infusion can be made for
external use on skin rashes, as a gargle, or as a soothing bath. The bark decoction is of benefit
in liver disease.
Flowers used as a tisane -
German
base
A
lind.
tea
Native
may be eaten. used for carving and is also used in charcoal manufacture. The tree is used (often clipped to shape) as a
Cultivation
Wood
Constituents
roadside ornamental.
Once used Salisb
Gillis
made
Wild
fruit.
to eastern
in
plant.
Tannins,
codendric acid;
North America
as rhoitannic acid; toxi-
unknown
substances.
Uses (leaves, juice) Narcotic; irritant. in the
treatment of chronic skin
problems, rheumatism and paralysis. No longer employed, except in homeopathy. The juice was formerly used as an indelible ink, and in shoe-creams. Contra-indications May cause severe contact dermatitis.
Not
to be used internally.
L compositae
Tragopogon porrifolius
Salsify Vegetable Oyster/Oyster Plant
called
is still
brown globose
Fresh leaves
Linden Tea. In America the so-called American Linden / from the flowers
pale
Distribution
thickets.
Toxicodendron toxicaria
derived from the
.
homeopathically. Description Perennial shrub to 2 m containing milky juice. Leaves compound, comprising three thin, acute, rounded and dentate or crenate leaflets, downy beneath. Flowers small, several, greenish, in open axillary, racemose panicles; appearing mid-summer, followed by
Linden Tea.
ANACARDIACEAE Poison Ivy Poison Oak Hiedra The genus Rhus contains more than 150 species, some of which are grown as orna-
it.
medicinal use was discovered in 1794 by Anderson and Horsfield in America, and it was introduced to Europe by Du Fresnoy in 1 798. The leaves and a tincture have been included in various pharmacopoeias and materia mediNow only used cas until as late as 1941 Its
Basswood Tea (which should, however, only
The Greek name for Salsify was tragopogon which means goat's beard; this gives both the generic name for this species and the family, as
be taken sparingly since it can cause nausea). The Latin name for this and related species
ent herb, Tragopogon pratensis L.
amencana L
provides a similar drink
the
well as the English
Tilia, hence the generic name and the modern French, Italian, and Spanish names Tilleul, Tiglio and Tilia. The tree has long been planted around houses and in towns as a decorative or shade-plant. It is the lightest European wood in weight as well as being one of the easiest to work in carving. The inner bark fibre was also once
name
was
used
pres,
especially
warm
position;
native,
in
in
mixed or sandy or
to
1600
m
altitude.
Wild. Introduced tree.
May
Constituents Volatile oil
several
age;
in
saponins;
salts;
towns
as
an
reach 1000 years old. (to 0.02%) comprising
compounds including
manganese
farnesol; mucil-
flavonoid glycosides;
polyphenols;
to
for Salsify
were
oculus porci
from the Italian sassefrica (meaning the plant which accompanies stones - after its
tannins;
Othci
predisposition for rocky land).
The
Italians
were the
first
to cultivate Salsify as
a vegetable, doing so in the early sixteenth century. By the seventeenth century
it
had not
been introduced as a vegetable in northern Europe, but also as a flower. Salsify was largely ignored by nineteenthcentury gardeners in favour of the Spanish Scorzonera (Scorzonera hispanica L), although both are now used commercially. The herb has never been of medicinal interest. Description Attractive hardy biennial to 10 cm, on 25 cm-long edible taproot. Leaves clasped, tapering, pointed and grass-like. Flowers purple, attractive, solitary, opening in the morning, ligulate to 8 cm wide. Appearing only
known
European deciduous woodland
Cultivation
adding
also used), thus
the confusion that surrounds
herba salsifica
fruit.
ornamental
is
colour and appearance of the broken root) and
globose
in
Salsifis des
or pig's eye (which might be a reference to the
mentals. Recently six species (each
soils
however,
international names.
15-40 m tall. Trunk straight, smooth when young. Leaves to 6.5 cm, orbicular, petiolate, serrate. Flowers aromatic, yellowish, in eithei erect or pendulous cymes of 5 10 flowers. appearing mid to late summer, followed by
stony
is,
for a differ-
The French
Salsify (although barbe de bouc
The medieval names
its
l)i\lrtbutwn
T. pratensis
Meadow
and emphasizing
blossom in a pleasant herbal tisane, Lime has an important place in folk medicine and eastern European medicine as a remedy for high blood pressure. For this purpose the flowers of T. platyphyllos Scop. (Large-leaved Lime) and T. x europaea L (a hybrid between T. platyphyllos and T. cordata are also collected for medicinal application Description Deciduous tree or, rarely, shrub Besides the use of
for
or goat's beard
rope manufacture.
in
or
common name
1
as Poison Ivy or Poison
transferred
to
genus
tin
commonly
Oak) have been and
Toxicodendron,
Toxicodendron toxicaria was formerly classified as Rhus toxicodendron L. It is frequently confuted with the closely related R. radicans L now T. radicans (Lj O. Kuntze) which is considered by
some authorities to be- a variety of T. toxicaria. and having the same properties. Poison Ivy is best known as an agent causing a violent allergic
response
in
susceptible
individuals.
This allergy occ urs either on contact with the
early to late
summer.
Native to southern Europe; introduced elsewhere. Naturalized as a weed in North America. On stony but moist soils with some loam, in meadowland to 2000 m altitude. Cultivation Wild. Propagate from seed sown in spring, thinning to 10 cm apart. Requires wellDistribution
dug, rich and deep
soil
which
is
kept well-
2 73
TRI-TUS Lam.
Husnot
The herb was known
.
to the
ancients as triphyllon and trifolium, after leaves, but
it
its
3
was not widely used medicinally,
only occasionally being used as a vulnerary. After its introduction to America it soon be-
came naturalized and American Indians both ate
and used
it
it
medicinally
in
ointments for
external sores and internally in skin disease.
It
appears to have re-entered British herbal use from American folk medicine in the nineteenth century.
Distribution Cultivation
on large branched
cm
tall,
Stems short and hairy,
root.
being ovate to obovate,
50
leaflets to 5
cm
long, in
long, con-
Native to south Europe and Asia. Wild. Cultivated commercially in
Middle
the
cm
India.
East.
Morocco and
else-
where. Propagated from seed sown in spring. seed Mucilage 1030',, trigonel-
Constituents
choline;
line:
protein ive;
pigment;
flavone
20°
to
fixed
oil;
lecithin: phytosterols.
:
Aromatic: carminatSeed valuable in dyspepsia and
seed, fresh leaves
Uses
Description Short-lived perennial to
appearing mid-summer and
after flowering,
followed by beaked pod. 5—7.5 taining 10-20 seeds.
tonic.
diarrhoea.
Used as a
spice, or roasted as a coffee substitute.
long-petioled, trifoliate leaves. Flowers rose-
purple or white in ovoid, dense heads
appearing
long:
summer
early
cm
to 3
early
to
autumn. Distribution
European native: introduced and
naturalized elsewhere. Widely distributed in beside roadways, on deep, moderately moist soils.
rich,
fields,
watered. winter
Lift roots in
in the soil.
or leave during
Unknown.
Constituents
Uses
autumn
Readily self-sown.
tresh taproot) Nutritive; diuretic: bitter.
Although not used medicinally, the root acts as an appetite stimulant, and there is some evidence that it may have a beneficial effect on the liver.
Roots cooked and eaten as a vegetable. Leaves nun be used sparingly in salads.
Wild. Grown agriculturally as a fodder crop. Usually sown broadcast on pre-
Cultivation
trilolianol; a quercitin glucoside; essential oil:
phenolic glycoside, trifoliin: an hydroxvmethvloxvllavone. pratol: sugars, including rhamnose: a plant oestrogen, coumestrol.
a
It
is
often
arable
Ryegrass
dried flower-heads, fresh plant
»
L LEGUMINOSA1
:
land
under
\Lolium
in
pasture
multifiorum
short-term with ssp.
leas
Italian
multiflorum
:
;
ment of a short-lived perennial
incorporated
Alterat-
antispasmodic expectorant vulnerary. Flower-heads applied externally in the treat-
sometimes incorrectly described in seed lists as an annual or biennial which is of great importance as a forage and cover crop in agriculture. is
coumarii
Salicylic acid:
acid: isorhamnetin; a phytosterol glucoside;
(
Red Clover Red Clover
in spring.
pared, rolled fields flower
Constituents
ive
Trifolium pratense
dry or
burns,
ulcers,
sores
Used internally
plaints.
and
skin
to treat chronic
comskin
conditions such as psoriasis and eczema.
Once The
used in domestic wine-making.
fresh plant
is
used for cattle fodder and although it has
other agricultural purposes
been known titis in
cattle
to
cause a photosensitive derma-
known
as trifoliosis.
Trigonella foenum-graecum
An
L legi ionosae
Fenugreek Foenugreek Like Red Clover Trifolium pratense L this herb is a fodder crop and the specific name foenumgraecum
Latin for Greek hay emphasizing
is
agricultural use,
and the
fact that
it
its
has been
used for this purpose since the earliest times.
ingredient of commercial chutneys and the
Middle
Eastern
confectionery,
used
The may be
halva.
seeds are celery-flavoured. Fresh leaf
can be sprouted and
in curries, or seed
used as a salad herb. Seed provides a yellow dye.
Employed
as a fodder plant.
Benedictine monks introduced the plant to central
Europe and Charlemagne promoted it was grown in England
in the ninth century. It
The herb has long been a favourite of the Arabs and it was studied at the School of Salerno by Arabic physicians. Egyptians not only use the seeds for medicinal purposes, but roast them as a coffee and eat both the sprouting seed and the fresh leaves as a vegetable. Indians also use the leaves as a in the sixteenth century.
L liliaceae
Wake-Robin genus
The Bethroot
or
of about
species
30
of attractive
flowering liliaceous plants. refers to the fact that
three leaves
and a
Most
native
are
The
consists
spring-
generic
name
each species produces
tripartite flower.
to North America and Appalachian and other In-
vegetable and consider the seed not only a
traditionally the
spice for curries, but as a source of a yellow
dians used various species to treat a range of
cloth dye.
The name Fenugreek
is
simply an
abbreviation offoenum-graecum. It is
now
used more in veterinary than
human
to 60 cm. 2-2.5 cm l° n §toothed, oblanceolate-oblong. Flowers whitish, solitary or in pairs in axils, petals deciduous
Description
Leaves
Smooth, erect annual
trifoliate:
leaflets
female complaints root
medicine.
274
Trillium erectum
Bethroot Brown Beth Squawroot Stinking Benjamin
hence the name Squaw-
.
When
Rafinesque and others introduced Bethroot to medicine in 1830 it was considered that any species of Trillium could be employed, although the Indians considered the white flowering species the most effective.
Millspaugh proposed
in
1892 that only
T.
TRI-TUS the Yellow Alder,
T. ulmifolia L) indicating
the presence in the group of a tonic constituent
or constituents. Description
Aromatic, pubescent, shrubby percm tall. Leaves simple, petiolate,
ennial to 60
obovate, pale green, dentate, to 2.5 cm long. Flowers small, yellow, axillary, attractive, appearing early to late summer, followed by small, globular,
many-seeded capsule.
Native to subtropical North America, especially Mexico, California and Texas. On dry, sandy or rocky soils in full sun. Cultivation Wild plant. May be propagated Distribution
from seed sown
erectum
L be
used,
which
fusion
since
herb
collectors
some concontinued to
led
to
and generally pendulum - a name which Jn
collect several different species
called
now
them
all
T.
obsolete. Indians traditionally used the
herb as an aphrodisiac. in some folk medicine.
now
It is
cm
only retained
on short. thick root-stock; 3 leaves, sessile, rhomboid, to 21 cm long in terminal whorl, subtending a pedunculate solitary, somewhat nodding, atDescription Perennial to 50
flower
tractive
to
ranges from white
cm
5
tall,
wide.
The
colour
brownish purple. Appear-
to
ing late spring.
North American native, from North Carolina. In shaded wood-
Distribution
Quebec
to
land, on moist rich Cultivation
Volatile oil;
Constituent oil
soils.
Wild.
gum;
tannins; fixed
a saponin, trillarin.
;
dried
Uses
emmen-
Astringent;
haemorrhages, metrorrhagia, lcu< orrhoca. The poultice is
ted in uterine
menorrhoea,
countries.
Considered to be an astringent tonic and
oi
use
benefit in
ol
frosts.
South American native, especially Peru and Bolivia. Cultivation Wild. Cultivated widely as an ornamental, and rarely as a drug. Propagated from seed sown in late spring to early summer in rich soil in sunny situation. Dwarf and Distribution
double-flowered cultivars are found. Some double-flowered forms cannot be raised from seed. Harvest sceel before pods lose their green
line,
biotic i
essential
;
1
me. The herb was known from
a
vegetable and
its
introduction as
iihcIk
\/i\turcium
The
Cress.
eaten
but
01
is
It
still
is
is
anti-
fresh
Bowers, sccels, pickled Antibacterial; antimyc otic. leaves,
the genito-urinar)
and
employed
fsed as a
as a salad
herb or as a
garden ornamental.
Turnera diffusa Willd. vat. aphrodisiaca
Ward.
KNKKACKAE Damiana Mexican Damiana /Turnera Damiana is principally a tonic tea which has It
long been used by the Mexicans
who
call
was introduced to Europe from American folk medicine in the early twentieth century and recommended as a tonic and aphrodisiac It
Ionics
111
Iropieal
gum;
comprising
tannins (4%);
Tonic;
mild
laxative;
similar
America and Africa such
anxiety the-
neuroses.
infusion
and acts as a laxative. and hence stimulant,
It
initiates
In
atonic
peristalsis
has a specific irritant
on the mucosa ol and therefore possib-
effect
the genito-urinary tract,
acting as an aphrodisiac Small doses aid digestion.
ly
it
luerba de la pastora.
various disorders such as depression. Related members of the genus Turnera are also used as
collected commercially in some-
(to
oil;
Principally of benefit as a tonic in depression
constipation
studied extensively but appears to be useful in
rarely used medicinally,
i"„)
oil
;
and
best substitute-
are-
Volatile
damianin; also fixed starch two resins. dried leaves) Uses stimulant.
aper substitute.
I'll).
autumn, and from cuttings taken in summer and rooted in a peat and sand mix. Constituents
.
now
Mowers and leaves
spicy taste in salads,
now
an antibiotic
and the
indicum or Indian
the-
to yield
Principal action
formerly being incorporated with other supposed aphrodisiacs or agents considered ol benefit in sexual debility. It has not been
Nasturtium peruvianum;
flower buels provide
capers it
seed.
their
lor
pli kleel lor
indicum
became Nasturtium
it
oil.
Bower buds Used in infections of
I
Nasturtium is a well-known garden ornamenwhich is a perennial although it is grown as an annual. It was introduced to Spain from Peru in the sixteenth century and reached Gerard in London in the- 390s it was unknown in finlral Europe, however, until (>84 when as
glycoside, glucotropaeo-
which hydrolyzes
and an
<
tal
it
A
Constituents (seed)
Principally
L tropaeolaceae Garden Nasturtium Indian (a ess
hence
to orbicular
entire, glossy, alternate, long-
respirator) systems.
Tropaeolum majus
Beweming promoted
perennial,
petioled. Flowers spurred, to 5 cm wide, from orange to white, occasionally red or mahogany; appearing from early summer to first
/
post-partum; and an alterative chronic skin conditions.
1
succulent
reaching 40 cm. Leaves reniform
5-20 cm wide,
applied to ulcers and sores. (
Somewhat
Description
grown as an annual in cool climates. Climbing and twining to 3 m tall - dwarf forms only
colour.
root-stock
agogue; antispasmodic; emetic; expectorant. I
in spring, division in spring or
as
Tussilago farfara L compositae Coltsfoot Son-before-father
Named
after
the-
leal
shape, Coltsfoot
is
still
one of the most important herbal remedies for the treatment of coughs. The Greeks knew it as bec/iion and the Romans as tusilago, both names referring to the 'cough plant' and from which the modern medical terms bee hie and (and-) tussive are derived. Even in the days of Dioscorides Coltsfoot was smoked to relieve coughing, a tradition maintained in its modern
2 75
ULM-VAL
incorporation as the basic ingredients
of
herbal
flowers
both
;
belong
to
smoking mixtures. The leaves and flowers are now normally administered in the form of an
ferred by both the
infusion.
later
on creeping stolons reaching &-30 cm tall. Flowers yellow, to 4 cm wide, in solitary capitula, appearing early to late spring on purplish, woolly and scaly cape 12 cm long, later elongating and bearin„ numerous achenes covered with a pappus of white hairs. Leaves appear from late spring: basal, long-petioled, tomentose beneath, orbicularcordate, sinuate, 10-18 cm wide. Distribution Native to Europe, north and wesl Asia, North Africa; introduced and naturalized in North America and elsewhere. On moist, loamy soils in wasteland and uncultivated places, to 2400 m altitude. Cultivation Wild. Collected from the wild. Propagated by seed, by root cuttings or division. A moist soil is essential. The herb may become rampant, and care is needed to restrict its growth in gardens. Constituents Mucilage; tannins; inulin; a bitter glycoside; essential oil; potassium and calcium
used in certain rat poisons.
Description Perennial
salts;
saponins.
Uses
(dried leaves
leaves, fresh juice)
and
flowers,
rarely fresh
Expectorant; demulcent;
the heart
sores.
Fresh leaves eaten as a salad herb rarely. Fresh or dried flowers used in wine-making. Leaves formerly smoked to relieve coughing,
and now included
in
herbal tobaccos.
L'lmus rubra Miihlenb.
Slippery
ulmaceae
Elm Red Elm
its common name from moistened inner bark (the secondary phloem), which is the only part now used medicinally. North American Indians have long used the bark tea as both a laxative and treatment for diarrhoea, and the root tea to assist childbirth. Since the bark has been used as a mechanical abortive it is now only available commercially in the powdered, and hence harmless, form.
Slippery
Elm
the
of the
276
feel
receives
It is
now
the variety
retained in several national in
view of
its
action on
unsuitable for use by other than
Bulbous perennial
to
1
50
leaves fleshy, glaucous, basal, to 10
Slippery
Elm
drinks,
constituents, are
still
some including malted popular nutritive medi-
cm tall cm wide
and 40 cm
long. Flowers white or rose, in racemes terminating a leafless scape; appear-
cines following gastrointestinal illnesses.
ing autumn.
Formerly called U.fulva Michx. Description Small or medium-sized tree reaching 20 m tall: leaves dark green, simple, rough above and pubescent below, serrate, 12 cm long, obovate oblong. to Flowers inconspicuous in clusters, appearing spring followed by flat, conspicuous 1-seeded samara. Distribution North American native from Florida to southern Canada. In moist woodland and stream edges; also rarely in dry situations. Prefers poor soils. Cultivation Wild plant. Inner bark collected in
Native to mediterranean region from Spain to Syria; also Canary Islands and South Africa. On dry sandy soils specially near
spring. Constituents
(dried
3-
to
the sea,
in poultices, or as a
hoea or constipation. Employed commercially and domestically
full
Wild
Cultivation Constituents
red
mainly
sides
action
is
sun; but also to 900
m
Red
plant.
and white varieties) GlycoA and B to which the
scillarin
largely due; mucilage
carbohydrate,
sinistrin:
to
ii°
);
a
and other substances.
Squill, in addition, contains the rat poison
scilliroside.
dried bulb- Expectorant: emetic:
irri-
tant: cardio-active.
acute
in
the treatment of chronic
but not
bronchitis.
Employed decoction for diarr-
in
altitude.
Used
powdered inner bark Demulcent:
emollient.
Used
Distribution
i'ses
Mucilage, on hydrolysis yielding
i'ses
and
U.
the medical profession.
methyl-galactose.
ulcers
it is
Description
Used
treatment of irritating coughs and respiratory disorders such as bronchitis and laryngitis; applied externally as a poultice to
is
pharmacopoeias, but
anti-inflammatory. in the
Squill
species
is
French apothecaries.
White
the
more active and preearly Arab physicians and
maritima, but the red
as a constituent of rat poisons.
Contra-indications
Very
POISONOUS:
to
be
used only by medical personnel. in
nutritive, convalescent drinks.
L'rginea maritima (L) Baker liliaceae Squill Sea Onion White or Red Squill The Squill is a powerful medicinal plant which has been in almost continuous use from the time of the earliest Greeks to the present. To Dioscorides it was known as scilla, hence the common name. There is some evidence that the bulbs were used to beat to death scapegoats or ritual victims in very early Greece in order to placate the gods of fertility. Certainly the large, heavy bulbs have strong magical associations as well as having therapeutic uses. Two varieties were known, the white and red (the colour referring to the bulb scales, not the
L'rtica dioica L urticaceae Stinging Nettle Nettle/Common Nettle The Nettle is now a common and painful stinging weed which appears wherever land is disturbed by man and left derelict. In the past, however, it has variously been used in cloth manufacture, as a food, and medicinally. was once even cultivated in Scotland, It Denmark and Norway. The use of the plant in cloth manufacture onlv
stopped in the first quarter of the twentieth century but can be traced back to the Bronze Age - and is recorded in the common name, nettle, from an old word meaning to twist and hence make fibre). Greeks knew it as akalyphe and Romans as
ULM-VAL annual
L
U. pilulifera
rather more, since
Both
Europe.
same values
Roman
(or is
it
is
commercial source of chlorophyll. Used in paper and cloth manufacture.
Nettle)
southern Small also an annual, have native
Vaccinium myrtillus L Ericaceae Bilberry Whortleberry /Huckleberry
the
The genus
as U. dioua.
from 80-180 branched, cm tall, stems bearing opposite and decussate, acuminate, sparsely
deeply serrate, petiolate and ovate leaves to 14 cm long. Flowers minute, in pendulous axillary racemes, appearing mid-summer to
there
to
confusion in the genus (which
exchange of the same various species.
It is
i
because of the free
common name between
not possible, therefore, to
in ancient medicinal plant from the sixteenth century and known then as vaccinia and mora agrestis. The specific name refers to the Myrtle-shaped leaves. The fruits have long been a popular food, and are still collected for this purpose. Description Subshrub 30-60 cm tall, deciduous
identify
definitely
writings, but
2700 m altitude. Wild plant. Cultivated only rarely
Cultivation
medicinal purposes, and as a source of
for
much
is
contains about 150 species
mid-autumn. Distribution Widespread; Eurasian native. On wasteland, especially damp and nutrient-rich soils which have previously been disturbed by
man;
Principally
Vaccinium includes several species
which are grown as ornamentals as well as others which provide such edible berries as the Blueberry, Cranberry and Bilberry. V. myrtillus has many common names and
Description Dioecious perennial, bristly,
used in the treatment of diarrhoea. Leaves have a weak hypoglycaemic action, and have been used in combination with other remedies in the treatment of diabetes. Fruit
to
and
species
this
Nettle (U. urens), which the
A
- but the ancients probably used the
urtica
it
this
was an
species
official
and glabrous on thin creeping and rooting
employed as a nutritive, rather and syrups, or eaten raw.
tart fruit in conserves
Also distilled to flavour certain liqueurs. Valeriana officinalis
Valerian
L valerianaceae
Common
Heliotrope Several different
been used officinalis
L,
Valerian/Garden
species
of
Valeriana
have
European medicine of which V. celtica L, V. dioica L and V. phu
in
V.
L,
were the most important. The latter species was probably the herb known as Phu to the ancients while V. celtica was referred to as Xardus celticus. Valeriana officinalis was particularly promoted by the Arab physicians and the name Valeriana first appears in the tenth century. Tincture of Valerian was employed in the First World War to treat shellshock, and the rhizome and roots are still retained in several national pharmacopoeias. The root was once included in various recipes and was also used to scent linen.
Glabrous perennial 20-150 cm tall, on aromatic root-stock. Stems lightly grooved. Leaves pinnate to 20 cm long, leaflets either entire or toothed, lanceolate. Flowers white or Description
pinkish, small, in terminal inflorescence appearing mid-summer to early autumn. Distribution
Native
to
Europe and west Asia;
naturalized in North America. In grassland, ditches, damp meadowland, close to streams, on nutrient-rich soils to 2000 m altitude. Cultivation Wild. Propagated by division of root-stock in spring or autumn, or from seed sown in spring. Constituents
Essential
oil
(to
t%) comprising
various components (which include monoter-
pene valepotriates) and which
in
combination
are sedative and antispasmodic.
ommercial chlorophy 11. Propagated from seed, or by root division
I (dried root-stock) Sedative; stomachic fes antispasmodic; carminative. Of benefit in the treatment of a wide range of nervous disorders and intestinal colic. Used in combination with other remedies in the treatment of hypertension. Useful in insomnia and migraine, nervous exhaustion and anxiety
(
;
in
spring.
Histamine: acetylcholine; Formic acid; gallic acid; tannins; ylndiow-
Constituents (leaves)
tryptaminc; vitamins A and C; mineral sails including calcium, potassium, silicon, iron,
manganese and sulphur; stances;
othei
active
sul>-
unknown components.
stems.
fresh or dried leaves, root-stock rarely
Uses
Astringent; anti-haemorrhagi<
;
diuretic;
t^al-
actagoijiie. I
manv
he Nellie has
but
principally
is
internal
therapeutic apphe ations.
is
it
haemorrhages; as a diuretic; in haemorrhoids: laxative;
woodland,
in
all
used
in
.1
dermatological problems
in-
he
powdl led
has been
level
and
shown
also
2600
in
m
forests,
moorland and fcnland,
to
altitude.
Cultivation Wild.
leal
used as a
suiill
slops nose
bleeds. It
Asia;
fruit.
Native to Europe and northern humus-rich, acidic, damp soils in
Distribution
benefit
cluding eczema. I
followed by globose purple
ol
oi
urticaria, jaundice,
and
kinds
Leaves alternate, bright green, finely oval, to \ cm long. Flowers pale greenish-pink, small, solitary, appearing in leal axils from laic- spring to late summer, dentate,
lo
to
lower the blood-sugar
lower
the-
blood
pressure
Propagated as ground covei shady positions on damp and ac idic soils eithei peaty or sandy. Grown from rooted in
(
minims.
Constituents
fruit
Organil
acids;
pectin;
slightly.
sugars; mineral salts; tannins; vitamins
ed to promote haii growth rarely, and fresh Inane lies applied externally in rheumatism.
C; arbutin; anthocyanin pigments.
Young
antiseptic
1
shoots and leaves cooked like Spinach.
Uses
fresh ;
fruit,
leaves
rarely
A and
Astringent;
tonic
*77
VAN-VER The
states.
was once used,
root
small
in
Contra-indications
The drug should
in large doses for
an extended period of time.
Vanilla planifolia
Andrews orchidaceae
not be taken
Vanilla was introduced to Europe by the Spanish in the early sixteenth century following their observation of its use in Mexico by the Aztecs for flavouring chocolate. Early names included Araco aromatico, banillen and Vanilla
was employed
in the
seventeenth century,
chiefly in France, both for chocolate
manu-
and scenting tobacco, and eighteenth century it was included first time in several pharmacopoeias
in
the
for
the
facture
-
as
an
aromatic carminative. Vanilla pod- are now mainly employed in flavouring. West Indian Vanilla is from V. pompona. D- nription Epiphytic orchid with stout stems,
and oblong-lanceolate lcather\. petioled leaves to jo
and orange fruit to 18
to 5
cm
cm
cm
fleshy, short-
long. Flowers yellow
long, followed by aromatic
Green Hellebore Veratrum viride was formerly classified as I*. eschscholtzu A. Gray. The European White Hellebore is V. album L. Both these species and another European plant. V. nigrum L the Black Hellebore have long been used as arrow poisons as they are very toxic.
The Red Indians and
poison,
it
used
V. viride as
was introduced
medical practice
in the late
to
known
America;
intro-
duced and cultivated elsewhere. Cultivation Wild. Widely cultivated in Mexico. Madagascar and elsewhere: in high humidit) under shade, on poles or tree trunk-. Vanillin
to
2%
:
unbranched peren-
onlv to
Verbascum thapsus L scrophulariaceae Mullein Aaron's Rod The common name. Mullein, is derived from the Latin mollis meaning soft, after the large ear-like
eighteenth century
POISONOUS:
Very
be used by medical personnel.
an ordeal
veterinary practice. /) cription Rhizomatous,
Contra-indications
American
British supplies of V. album were cut off by the War of Independence. Green Hellebore was once an American domestic remedy for removing lice from the hair - combing it through in the form of a strong decoction. The herb contains alkaloids which drastically depress the action of the heart and reduce blood pressure. Its use is now strictly limited to
leaves - the
Donkeys
as
herb
is
also
variously
Ears. Bunny's Ears
and
Bull's Ears.
stem was been dried tallow. There is evidence was one of the supposed
Mullein's
tall,
once used
as a taper,
spire-like flowering
and then dipped that at one time
in it
having
first
magical herbs of the ancients. Various species of Verbascum have been employed medicinally, the most important, historically, being I'. thapsiforme Schrad. and V. phlomoides L. Mullein is now grown mostly a- a decorative plant.
Distribution
and woolly biennial, Leaves grey-green, forming a basal rosette in the first year, eventually reaching 30 cm tall. Flowers yellow, sessile, in clusters, on dense, erect 2.5 cm-wide spikes appearing
-oil- in
mid-summer
nial
to
m.
2
Flowers
on
ovate to
alternate,
cm
long.
Distribution Native to tropical
Constituents
is
when
vainillen. It
anti-parasitic and can be used by veterinarv personnel for animal use.
Veratrum viride Ait. liliaceae
American White Hellebore
quantities, as a culinary flavouring;.
thick
root-stock.
elliptic,
to
30
cm
terminal panicle-, greenish,
in
Leaves long. to
"
-
wide, appearing late spring to late summer.
North American native, on wet woodland, beside streams, or on low-
[) cription Erect, very soft
to 2
m
tall.
to early
autumn.
Eurasian native: naturalized in -orne temperate zones. On stony, shallow, wellDistribution
drained, nitrogen-rich
woodland
aromatic sub-
soils in
wasteland and
clearing-.
Cultivation Wild. Propagate from seed sown as soon as ripe or in the spring. Will not tolerate cold, wet conditions. Constituents Mucilage: essential oil: saponos-
stam
ides.
dried
or
fresh
leaves,
dried
flowers
Emollient: weak!) -edative: expectorant. Principally employed with other remedies in the treatment of respiratory disorders.
King meadowland. Cultivation Wild plant. Propagated by rootstock division in spring or autumn. inConstituents Several alkaloids to 1.5% cluding veratrine. jervine and veratrosine: Vanilla bean-
dried cured seed-pods
glycosides.
Aromatic carminative.
Uses
Rarely used for medicinal purpo-e- other than a- a pharmaceutical flavouring. and Principally employed as a culinan
emetic: purgative.
commercial flavouring and
;tH
in
cosmetics.
dried
rhizome
Hypotensive:
toxic:
any medicinal purpose. Once reduce blood pressure associated with toxaemia during pregnancy. A decoction Rarely used
employed
to
for
VAN-VER The
leaves have been included in herbal
ing mixtures,
smok-
and used
in
domestic cosmetic
provide
a
pale
The
An
un-
is
yellow
dye.
Fluellen
Used externally
to treat
officinalis
Veronica beccabunga L schrophulariaceae Brooklime Water Pimpernel
L verbenaceae
Vervain Like Betony. Vervain has a long and welldocumented history of association with the
magic and sorcery of the Celtic and Germanic It also seems to have been considered sacred by the Greeks and Romans however, being known as Herba sacra and Herba veneris. Not surprisingly for a herb with alleged magical properties, Vervain was used in numerous complaints and it became an official drug. By 1830, however. Geiger stated that in Germany it was seldom used. It still has a peoples of Europe.
L scrophulariaceae
Fluellen
is
common
wounds.
attractive horticultural ornamental.
Verbena
Veronica officinalis
Speedwell
probably the older of the two it is derived from the old Welsh llysiau Llywelyn - the herb of St Llywelyn. The name Speedwell is given to the entire
substantiated.
preparations. flowers
chronic skin complaints. Considered to have a specific benefit to the uterus, but this
Brooklime has a similar but more bitter taste to Watercress, and in former times was eaten as a salad herb. Its sharpness may have led to another common name Mouth Smart - or more probably this English name was a translation of the Flemish beckpunge and German
English names, and
family, as well as to this species. In
America
it
Low Speedwell and Gypsyweed - one of many herbs with the latter name.
is
known
also
As Herba
as
majoris this plant became Middle Ages and had a repu-
Veronica
official in the
tation as a healing herb - including the ability
place in folk medicine.
35-80 cm
Description Perennial
tall,
glabrous
or nearly so. on erect, ribbed, angular
branched and
loosely
only
sparsely
sum: leafy.
Leaves petiolate, ovate, some pinnatifid, to 6 cm long. Flowers small, lilac, at the tips of long stalks.
Appearing summer
Distribution
established
gion;
to late
autumn.
Native to the mediterranean elsewhere.
wasteland, on nutrient-rich
On
to
soils
re-
roadsides,
1500
m
altitude. Cultivation Wild.
Propagated from seed sown
spring. Requires Constituents
sential
oil;
verbenaline
lull
Mucilage; tannins; saponins; verbenaloside;
and
in
sun.
verbenine;
es-
glycosides,
the
unknown
sub-
stani
Uses
dried flowering plant
diuretic
:
diaphoretic
;
Tonic astringent ;
gala< tagogue;
emmen-
agogue; vulnerary; antispasmodic. Used in the treatment oi nervous complaints such
mean
Bachbungt which
To
the same.
Be<
1
and
abunga hcn<
as
Herba
modern spe< ifi< name Water Pimpernel
e the
Anagallis aquatiea or
from
similarities between Brooklime's and those of the Scarlet Pimpernel
the
(lowers
Anagallis arvensis
L
a vai iet) of skin complaints. used in a wide range oi syrups and
to treat
was known
the apothecaries h
although the) differ
in
and stomach problems; it became important l>v the mid-nineteenth century and 11 was ihen inostlv used as a lea substitute. The French give it the name the d' Europe less
European Tea Low-growing pubescent perennial,
Description
Description Semi-aquatii
often forming mats
10
to
obi out; to ovate, to 5 cm long, crenate-serrati Flowers small blue, in loose- short, axillary
appearing
racemes,
tummei
earl)
mid-
to
autumn. Native-
Europe,
to
North
Asia.
Africa; introduced elsewhere. In streams to _>f>oo in altitude
elite lies
Wild plant. Constituents Tannins;
.1
1
1
<
leaves
a
glucoside;
Kate liver
tinal
dried
or
flowering
stimulant: siomac hie
Diuretic;
pV telle lv
:
tall.
oblong,
to
be
e
hie
used
:
unknown
plant,
weakly
fresh
anti-
siiniinei
.
America;
Native
(
oppic
es,
loamy
to
Luiope,
Asia,
North
scrubland clearings, moorland, hedgerows, heaths; on acidic, sandy in
soils, to
moo
Constituents
.
Fonnerlv
used
in
problems, haemorrhoids, gastrointescomplaints, and applied externally to
mav be eaten
A
in altitude
glycoside,
principles;
.
sparingly,
aucuboside;
tannins;
unknown
resins;
sub-
stane es.
plant Expectorant; galactagogue diuretic. All the actions are weak and the plant is no longer ol medic mal interest. Uses
(dried
flowering
stomachic; vulnerary
.
mcclie inallv
ulcers. Fresh leaves
1
prostrate tooting stems.
ol
Leaves opposite, serrate, ovate cm long, with short petioles or
Flowers pale- blue, small, attractive. 111 dense, erect racemes. Appearing e.nlv to laic
bittCI
fresh
1
m
Cultivation Wild.
substances. w
c
sessile-.
or
.
Cultivation
/
01
jo
Distribution
Distribution
was also
elixirs, for
respirator)
colour.
succulent perennial, 60 cm tall, with hollow, creeping, easily rOOted stems. Leaves opposite-, shot l-pelioleel.
It
Principally
;
;
employed
as
a
tea
substitute
in
herbal tea mixtures.
79
YER-VIO Veronicastrum virginicum Farwell
principle; leptandrine, to
SCROPHULARIACEAE Culver's Root Black Root/Physic Root Formerly classified as both Veronica virginica L and Leptandra virginica Nutt., this tall American
largely due.
herb
is
closely related to the
Speedwell family
or Veronicas. Its
popularity as an Indian remedy
in
another
is
reflected
common name, Bowman's
the Seneca Indians once used
its
Root;
root as a tea to
(dried
Uses
which the action
rhizome and root]
Purgative;
emetic; cholagogue; tonic. as a
when used purgative and may
Contra-indications In large doses or
widely used. Its botanical
name
Veronicastrum
derived
is
was named after St from Veronica) and astrum or star - after the arrangement of the leaves. It was first introduced to Europe in 17 14. Description Perennial to 2.25 m on horizontal blackish rhizome. Stem erect, smooth and unbranched bearing 15-cm long lanceolate, or oblong-lanceolate, dentate, and shortly petiolate flowers in whorls of 3-5 or occasionally 9. (which
itself
acts as a drastic
it
cause vertigo and bloody
Native to Europe, North Africa, northern Asia; introduced elsewhere, often as an ornamental. In woodland clearings, on wet loamy soils to 1200 altitude. Cultivation Wild plant. Propagated from seed or Distribution
hardwood
cuttings; several cultivars are
grown
ornamentals.
Constituents (bark)
Viburnum opulus
L caprifoliaceae Guelder Rose Cramp Bark/
resin; viburnine.
Cranberry Tree This is an attractive plant and several cultivars are found as horticultural ornamentals. As the name Cranberry Tree suggests, the fruit have been used like Cranberries but they do not really compare in quality and they must be
Of benefit
Tannins; isovalerianic acid;
Uses (dried stem barki Sedative; spasmolytic. in functional uterine disorders, as a
uterine sedative;
menopausal metrorrhagia,
miscarriage, and dysmenorrhoea.
may
Fruit
be cooked and eaten, or used as a
dye. Contra-indications Fresh berries are
POISON-
OUS. Viburnum prunifolium L caprifoliaceae Black Haw Sweet Yiburnum/Stagbush American Sloe
mm
to
fruit.
as
stools.
long, numFlowers white, pink or blue, 7 erous, on short pedicels, arranged in dense terminal spike-like racemes. Appearing mid-
summer
cymes to 9 cm wide, appearing early to mid-summer; followed by scarlet, then purple,
m
emetic. fresh
m
Shrub to 4 tall, branches glabrous and erect; leaves 3-5 lobed, opposite, petiolate, dentate. Flowers white, in peduncuDescription
late
stomachic tonic, in diarrhoea, dyspepsia and atony of the gastro-intestinal system. Promotes the flow of bile from the gall bladder. Boiled in milk it acts as a laxative; larger doses are purgative or
Small doses are valuable
cause vomiting for ritualistic and medicinal purposes. Although it was formerly included in the United States Pharmacopoeia it is not now
veronica
is
V. prunifolium
mid-autumn.
ties
and
has similar constituents, proper-
uses to V. opulus L, but differs in that
the part used medicinally is usually the root bark rather than the stem bark. Its fruit are also sweeter than those of V. opulus - hence the name Sweet Viburnum. Black Haw continues to be used in folk medicine and is retained in several pharmacopoeias; other species are similarly used, besides V. opulus,
clude
V.
and
Haw
cooked before they are eaten - the raw
fruit
cause severe gastro-intestinal disorders. In
Norway and other Scandinavian
countries a
liquor has been distilled from the
V.
fruit.
numerous common names: Guelder Rose is from the Dutch Geldersche roos since the tree was introduced from Guelders, on the German border, to England in the sixteenth opulus has
American
native
from
Massachusetts to Florida and Texas, on a variety of soils from dry to rich and wet; but especially in moist meadows and river banks. Cultivation Wild. May be propagated by division
of rhizomes after flowering in late
autumn, or in mid-spring. also known. Constituents
terol;
saponoside;
280
Gum;
volatile
a
A
purple variety
is
resin; a phytosterol, veros-
oil;
citric
volatile
acid;
mannitol; a
alkaloid;
a
bitter
century. Strictly, Guelder Rose roseum sterile,
L
(or V. opulus
L
var.
is
sterile
V. opulus var.
DC
and
thus non-fruiting, ornamental
in horticultural
The herb was
lists
as the
i
is
a
found
Snowball Tree).
employed in north and west European medicine, but it was popular in the early nineteenth century in America - it is rarely
still
included, however, in the Polish,
ian
and Russian pharmacopoeias.
Ruman-
and they
in-
Possumhaw Viburnumj
rufidulum Raf. (the Southern Black - the latter being found in the Mexican
V. 1
Description
contains a substance, viburnine, which can
North
L. (the
Pharmacopoeia. Deciduous shrub branches spreading. Leaves
|lll?
Distribution
nudum
to
5
m
tall;
dull-coloured,
VER-VIO opposite,
ovate to
petiolate.
elliptic,
land in loamy calcareous
finely
toothed to 7.5 cm long. Flowers small, white, in sessile cymes to 10 cm wide, appearing late spring to early summer, and followed by purple oval
fruits.
Distribution
Native
Connecticut Cultivation
Tannins; alkaloids, including pubescine, vinine and vincamine; flavonoids: pectin: organic acids; several mineral salts: vitamin C; rubber; ursolic acid. The flower
Constituents
plant.
Constituents (root bark)
Tannins; isovalerianic
contains robinoside.
acid; resin; viburnine.
dried root bark
Uses
Of benefit hia,
Sedative: spasmolytic.
and threatened miscarriage. Once taken and considered to be of benefit in
Hypotensive: vasoplant hypoglycaemic; astringent: vulner-
(flowering
Uses
dysmenorr-
as a uterine sedative in
dilator;
ary; sedative.
as a tonic tea,
Generally used
asthma.
ally
Contra-indications
autumn.
cuttings taken in spring or
North America from
to
well-drained, to
soils,
altitude.
Cultivation Wild. Used as ground cover in shady positions; propagate by division or stem
to Florida.
Wild
m
1200
Uncooked
fruit
is
POISON-
and
to stop bleeding,
both extern-
internally, as in metrorrhagia
and
menorrhagia. Also used in nervous conditions such as anxiety states and subsequent hyper-
OUS.
tension. Yinca major
possesses many other uses. It reduces blood pressure and dilates both coronary and peripheral blood vessels. There is also a marked effect on smooth muscle. Can be used as a
The herb
L apocynaceae
Greater Periwinkle Periwinkle The Periwinkle family consists of about 12 species of trailing evergreen shrubs. The genus from the old Latin name Yinca from which the common name is derived formerly included the Madagascan
and
Employed
Yinca
tonic, bitter
peruinca
itionally in Africa to treat Diabetes mellitus.
Periwinkle,
Yinca rosea L,
Catharanthus roseus (L) G.
(now
Don
classified as
which
is
major
was generally preferred, and
it
is
still
used in folk medicine. Various cultivars of V. minor are grown as garden ornamentals. Description Trailing evergreen perennial 30-90 cm tall. Long prostrate stems bearing dark green, shiny, ovate, short-petioled, obtuse or acute leaves to 4 cm long. Flowers pale blue to 4 cm wide, solitary on hollow stalk appearing
mid
to late ipring.
Distribution
European
native, in
trad-
Note diabetes must only be treated by medical :
personnel.
an
important medicinal source of anti-leukaemic drugs. Both the Greater and the Lesser Periwinkle Y. minor L have long been considered as magical and medicinal plants, but Y.
in catarrh.
mixed wood-
hypotensive; expectorant; diuretic.
L violaceae
Viola odorata
Sweet Violet The name Sweet
Violet describes both the
and colour of the
smell
and the plant
flowers,
has been cultivated for over 2000 years as both a colouring agent for drinks a source of perfume.
It is still
and syrups, and as grown in southern
perfume industrv At the turn of Water and other Sweet Violet perfumes were one of the most popular of all m cuts in England although Violet-scent was also obtained from Iris germanica L France
for the
the centurv
.
Violet
.
names included viola purpurea, viola The aromatic glaucia and the Greek ion agrion. principle is known as ioninc or irone. The Early
name
genet k
is
taken directly from the old
Leaves and flowers are principally employed in the treatment of respiratory disorders, especially chronic naso-pharyneal catarrh and bronchitis. Used in cough mixtures, and once employed in the treatment of rheumatism. Used as a gargle in inflamed buccal mucosae. Flowers used to colour medications; candied in confectionery, and used widely in perfumery. Contra-indications
large
In
doses
Yiola tricolor
L
ssp. arvensis
This herb with three-coloured petals (white,
yellow and purple)
became
the Herba Trinitatis
of the Middle Ages, and was later given the similarly descriptive specific
name
Heartsease
in
on long stolons, to 15cm on short rhizome. Stemless Leaves teniform to cordate-ovate, petiolate. Flowers 1
up/ion Perennial
1
cm
attractive
scented,
violet, also
white or pink: appearing mid to
to
2
wide,
usually
late ipring.
Native to Asia, North Africa, Europe introduced elsewhere on damp calcareous soils in shad) woodland, scrubland, hedgerows, wood clearings to 000 m altitude. Distribution .
;
Wild. Propagated from offsets rewinter or earlv spring in a peat
Cultivation
planted
1
in late
and sand mix, under
glass; or divide in spring.
Requires shade, rich soil and moisture. Various cultivars may be found. Saponins; a glycoside, violarutin; methyl salicylate; mucilage; vitamin C; an
Constituents
alkaloid,
odoraline;
author yaniii
an aromatic substance c
v
he
Usei
dried
c^lyc
ioninc- 01
pigments; irone; sali-
leaves
European
and
root-dtock)
is
still
official
and
countries until
however remain important horticultural ornamentals as edging plants. The name Pansy is from the French word pensee, meaning thought or remembrance, and Wild Pansy is called Pensee sauvage in France. In the traditional language of flowers the purple form meant memories, the white loving thoughts
still
and was
a plant received in
the
heart-break of separation.
the-
yellow
Description
perennial,
souvenirs. Hence- Heartsease
happy memory annual
Variable,
somewhat
straggly
or
to ease
short-lived
and branched
to
m tall. Leaves opposite,
ovate to lanceolate. dentate, with lobed stipules, flowers purple, while-, yellow or a combination of these j",c
Most frequently yellowish in the wild Appearing mid-spring to late autumn. Distribution European native. Naturalized in North America. Introduced elsewhere. On
colours. plant.
in
fields,
flowers. Iresh Mowers.
mountain pastures; on
Emetic;
altitude
purgative-;
tricolor.
some eastern remained so in
1926; it is now no longer cultivated medicinally. Various cultivars do
Germany
wasteland,
osides.
clried
is
Murr. violaceae
Latin name.
tall,
root
Heartsease Wild Pansy/Field Pansy
Various parts of the plant are still used medicinally but their a< tions differ. The rootStO< k is now the part most commonlv employed
the
emetic and purgative.
hedgerows,
rarely
in
acidic soils.
To 2000
in
281
VIS-ZIX \ ilci-
This species
is
one parent of
Garden Pansy V. x mttrockiana which is found in several forms.
the cultivated
The herb
hybridizes readily with related Propagate from seed sown in spring or on as ripe. Requires rich, damp soil.
plants.
Constituents Salicylic acid
and
salicylates: sap-
onins; flavonic glycosides including violaquer-
blue chromoglucoside,
a
citin:
emetu
:
rutin
violanin:
which
violin
principle,
bittc.
and related
as
acts
a
an
traces of
rutins:
volatile oil.
dried flowering plant, fresh juice, dried
Bowers Diuretic: antipyretic: tonic: laxative: anti-inflammatory.
Used
agent especially in complaints and rheumatism. Stimulates the metabolism and induces persas a blood-purifying
chronic
skin
piration,
and therefore employed
conditions.
Of
benefit
in feverish
indigestion
in
urino-genital inflammatory condition^. as a gargle or lotion
ulcers
and
sores.
A
to
aid
wound
valuable
and Used
healing.
horticultural
plant.
Contra-mduations Large doses or prolonged
may
use-
cause allergic skin reactions. Vollm., and Loranthus europaeu* L
onstrated in some animals but not
The parasite.
Used
phyll
Mistletoe w bicb contains chloro-
tound on different deciduous trees and the Apple. It has been shown that
is
commonly
the constituents of the
mas
Mistletoe
belief that the
drug from the thought
Druids
itself
to
Oak
most
vsas
be magical by the
Mistletoe
b
currently
being
examined
for
contains sub-
It
1
m
Woody perennial evergreen; stems long and regularly branching. Leases green,
light
8
to
cm
short,
in
narrow
blunt,
long.
Rowers
sessile,
almost
sessile
axillarv
in-
is
mas album L
collected from the wild the resultant drug also contain other specit-x ->p.
abieti,
album L.
V.
notabh
V.
Abrom.. V. album ssp. Wiesb. album L ssp. austriacum Wiesb.
to
women
Native
several
to
regions
from
trees.
Wild.
Semi-cultivated
in
some
fruit.
Constituents
galactosyl alkaloids:
11
proteins: a lectin
specificity
many
:
a
toxin,
svith
a
D-
siscotoxin:
other supposedly active com-
gynaecological
Uses
dried branches and leaves
Hypotensive:
cm
basket
in
The
making
in
long.
South European native: introduced and often naturalized in svarm regions. On sandy or loamy. s\ ell-drained soils in full Distribution
sun.
Propagated from seed sown in by layering in spring to summer, or young woody cuttings under gj
Cultivation Wild.
spring,
Several
are grosvn for decorative including the svhite variety Alba
cultisars
L ^ed in combination svith other remedies to hypertension, and associated, nervous
Constituents Several
dem-
now included
formulations.
Aromatic shrub or small tree to 6 m Leaves opposite, palmately compound, disided into 5—7 lanceolate leaflets, each to 10 cm long. Flowers small, lasender or lilac, in dense cymes to 15 cm svide. in panicles to 30
purposes,
complaints. Considered anti-neoplastic
is
and are of hormonal
Description
cardio-active: diuretic: sedative. treat
in
certain
tall.
from
pounds.
with
problems. Chaste Tree
branches are used southern Europe.
ed ripe
in
s\a-
.
benefit
by the inoculation of tree bark in Apple orchards, for example svith the squash-
interest
It
that the seeds contain hormone-like substances
svhich reduce libido in the male
places
species of medicinal
.
from which the
used to put the leaves in their
sticks fruit.
Cultivation
album, although since the plant
the
derived.
is
seseral
deciduous
V.
meaning wild
agnus-castus
and
Europe to China, including Iran and parts of the mediterranean region: rarely tound on conifers, but common on some
is
-
piper agreste of the
uni-
north-svest
The
agreste
and
florescence,
Distribution
Europe
Middle Ages called iituis
Wild Pepper
name
beds, and later monks in Europe used the ground-up seed as pepper - in both cases the purpose was to ensure chastity hence Chaste Tree and Monk's Pepper It is nosv knosvn
appearing mid-spring to earls summer and followed bv i-cm diame-ter svhite.
world.
also called Indian Spice.
is
Hemp Tree and
macology of the plant is vers complicated. however, and no definitise results hase yet been demonstrated in humans.
sexual,
and almost 1500 species of mostly parasitic plants which are widely distributed around the
Vita agnus-castus
Sage Tree.
name
leathery,
family comprises jn genera
Vita agnus-castus L verbenaceae Chaste Tree Monks Pepper Agnus Castas
women
obovate,
Mistletoe
winter decorations.
botanical
mas combine with and phar-
DescriptUH
The Loranthaceae
in
Athenian
to
L loranthaceae
Employed
certain cancer cells: the chemistrs
statues called lectins which
n album
.
prepar-
ations.
latter reflecting the
.
possible anti-cancer effects.
humans
certain
in
var\
according to the host plant on which it is found. This mas explain the ancient druidic valuable
pharmaceutical^
Westn. dried fruit
hormonal substances. Anaphrodisiac
in
males
VIS-ZIN The drug was introduced following long use by Red
in 1849 by King Indians as a local
and general stimulant.
It was once included in remedies for alcoholism, but is now used only in folk medicine. Sometimes incorrectly found classified as
Xanthoxylum. Description
Aromatic shrub or small
Leaves
30
to
cm
tree to 3
long, subdivided into
m.
511
ovate leaflets. Flowers greenish-yellow appearing in late spring before the leaves arranged in :
axillary clusters. Distribution in the east.
North American native especially in rich woodland on moist
Usually
soils.
Wild.
Cultivation
Constituents
Resins:
alkaloid-like
substances;
a phenol, xanthoxylin. Uses (dried stem and root bark, rarely fruit Stimulant; counter-irritant; diaphoretic: car-
minative.
Used
in atonic
dyspepsia; in combination with
respiratory catarrh, and more frequently with other remedies of value in chronic skin disease and rheumatism.
other remedies in Principally ditions
May
employed
in
gynaecological con-
including depression in menopause.
be used sparingly as a condiment.
Decoction used externallv on ulcers. the
east
centuries
for
described
medicinal
before
Dioscorides
Far East it had also long been employed; in China it was, and still is, an important drug, and Green Ginger in syrup was a delicacy from the fifteenth century. Ginger is now grown commercially throughout the tropics from Australia to Jamaica - and many types and grades are available. The Spanish were importing Ginger from Jamaica before the mid-sixteenth century, and Jamaican Ginger its
uses. In the
considered the best for culinary use. Perennial, creeping plant, on thick tuberous rhizome, producing an erect annual stem ()o iao cm tall. Leaves 1-2 cm wide, still
is
I)i
scription
5 30 cm long, lanceolate to linear-lanceolate. Flowers greenish marked with purple, in 1
radical spikes (to 7
cm
long) on 30 cm-long
peduncles. Distribution
Native
and
duced
To
countries.
south-cast Asia; intro-
to
widespread 1500
several
in
Propagated from on rich, well-
Cultivation Cultivated plant.
rhi/ome
cuttings,
tropical
in altitude.
planted
drained loam. Constituents
camphene,
many
Volatile
oil
(to
phellandrene,
3%), comprising and
zingiberine,
other substances resin starch gingerol the latter two substances being ;
;
;
shogaol
pungent. fc?J fresh or dried rhi/ome Stimulant; carminative; aromatic; sialogogue; anti-emetic Very valuable in flatulent colic, dyspepsia and atonic dyspepsia. < )lteu used as an adjunct to other remedies lor general tonic or stimulant purposes, or to purgatives to prevent griping. 1
\< Zanthoxylum ameruanum Mill, ri \i Prickly Ash Toothache Tre< Several %anthoxyUm species have medicinal non. notably Prickly Ash and the Southern Prickly Ash ClavO'Herculii I. They are (ailed Prickly because of their stem and petiole spines; and the other common name relers lo the Red Indian use of the l>.nk foi i
1
;i
11
."'.
.
toothache In this respect the therapeutic use seems to he that ol a powerful counterirritant,
and
it
is
not a
c
im
Zingiber
officinale
Rose oe zingibi racj
\i
Ginger Before plant,
it
Roscoe reclassified this well-known had been called Amomi/m zingiber I..
name reflecting the old Arabic name Amomnrn Zerumbeth. The term amomum had
a
been used
to desc rihe
c
ei
tain aromatic spices
.
Rubefacient when applied externally
Very wide culinary
Round Cardamom, lor example, is still called Amomum compactum Soland. ex Ma ton. Ginger was long known as Zingiberis however,
ed In
and
plaint.
the
the Greeks
had imported
the-
rhi/ome from
in
the
fresh state.
<
ommen
ial
uses in
many domestic and
preparations.
Contra-indications
Large doses should be avoid-
patients suffering from any
skin
com-
283
ALIMENTARY TRACT The
Glossary
from the mouth
ALKALINE
i
;
through body membranes and
bodv compartment
tissues
from one
to another.
ACETYLCHOLINE
The substance which
transmits cholinergic nerve impulses. (bot.) A dry, indehiscent. one-seeded
ACHENE
pericarp or
fruit.
ACICULAR
Needle-shaped. substance which forms hydrogen ions in solution, and which contains replaceable hvdrogens. Opposite to alkali. ACTIVE SUBSTANCE A substance which, either in combination with other substances or in the isolated form, exerts a physiological or pharmacological effect on living tissue. (bot.) Describing the acute apex of a leaf, the sides of which are concave and taper to a protracted point. The point of such a leaf is called the acumen. A system of medicine, originated in China, in which needles are inserted into specific tissues and/or organs at predetermined points thereby relieving pain, inducing anaesthesia, or assisting in the healing
ACID
(bot.)
chem.)
A
ACUMINATE
ACUPUNCTURE
process.
ADAPTOGEN A
A
(chem.)
ANTIHELMINTIC A
destroys or expels intestinal worms.
ALKALOIDS A
group of naturally occurring
compounds which contain at least one nitrogen atom in a ring structure in the molecule. They are usually of plant origin, basic organic
substance which modifies the
ADRENALIN A
hormone
secreted by the
adrenal glands. One of the substances which transmits sympathetic nerve impulses. ADRENERGIC Describing either a substance which acts like (nor)adrenalin or the type of physiological action characteristic of (nor'ladrenalin.
ADVENTITIOUS ROOT appears casually or
on a plant, and
is
in
1
bot.
A
root that
an unusual place
not a part of the
main
root svstem.
Hydrocarbon
radical
derived particularly from those of the paraffin series.
ALUM
Potash alum or crystalline potassium aluminium sulphate, a chemical substance occurring naturally and used for a number of purposes, including as a mordant in dyeing. ALVEOLAR DUCTS The minute air passages in the lung which lead from branched bronchioles to alveolar sacs. terminal branches of alveolar ducts comprising alveoli. An air cell of the lung. Absence of menstruation. AMINO-ACIDS The basic constituents of proteins, consisting of organic compounds.
ALVEOLAR SACS The
part of a
AMMONIA
A
characteristically pungent-
smelling gas with the formula NH3. It is vcrv soluble in water, forming an alkaline solution of ammonium hydroxide. AMOEBIASIS Infection of the gut and liver by Entamoeba histolytica, a parasitic protozoan. A cyanogenic glycoside found
AMYGDALIN
in
peach stones,
for
example.
ANABOLISM
That aspect of metabolism which is concerned with the building up of complex substances from simpler material: the
ANAEMIA
The male organs
of a flower. Plants which have their seed
enclosed in a seed vessel. bot. A plant whose life-cycle from germination to maturity and death lasts only one growing season. A substance that relieves pain. A condition characteristically found in young women usually in
ANNUAL
ANODYNE ANOREXIA NERVOSA
which intense aversion
to excess weight leads to great restriction in food intake and subsequent emaciation and nutritional deficiencies: often
convinced she is fat. associated with emotional
The
condition
is
is
contains pollen.
albumin.
ANTHOCYANIN
intermediate between alcohois and acids. ALGAE (bot.) A group of largely aquatic plants which lack roots, stems and leaves and which do not flower. They range in size from large seaweeds to minute organisms, and are of great importance as the primary source of organic matter in the food chains of seas, rivers
284
and
lakes.
White
oral sore or ulcer
cause.
APICAL BUD
The bud
bot.
nearest to the
archaic term for those who prepared and sold drugs and who at one time administered to the sick. The modern apothecary is, strictly speaking, a general medical practitioner, but the term may also be applied to pharmaceutical chemists and druggists.
AQUEOUS SOLUTION A solution in water. ARABINOSE A sugar which found in plant is
material.
It is
also called pectin sugar
and
ARACHIDIC
Relating to the Peanut,
Arachis hypogaea.
ARACHNOID like a
Soft entangled hairs.
bot.
cobweb.
ARECA RED A
red dye obtained from the
of the Betel Palm. Areca catechu. ARIL bot. An outer wing on a seed or fruit
appendage
to a seed,
growing out from the
hilum or funiculus.
AROMATHERAPY The
use of essential oils treatment of medical and cosmetic problems; the oils are considered to act at a spiritual or emotional level. The subject was promoted by Rene-Maurice Gattefosse in the 1920s and is not accepted as a legitimate branch of herbal medicine.
AROMATIC
chem.
Organic compound
derived from benzene; also called aromatic
compound; spicy taste
having a fragrant and or
herb,
and
smell.
ARRHYTHMIA
med.
Irregularity or
absence of rhvthm of the heart
ARTERIOSCLEROSIS
Hardening of the
arteries.
ARTIFICIAL
chem.
Man-made
substance.
ARYL RADICAL
ALBUMEN
organic chemicals
unknown
in the
ANTHELMINTIC See antihelmintic. ANTHER bot. The part of the stamen
class of
of
pectinose.
The non-sugar part of a glycoside molecule. (See Glycoside. Egg white; comprised chiefly of
ALDEHYDES A
APHTHOUS ULCER
APOTHECARY An
AGLYCONE
heat.
ANTISCORBUTIC A substance which prevents or cures scurvy. ANTI-SUDORIFIC A substance which stops or reduces perspiration. ANTI-TLSSIVE An agent which reduces or relieves coughing. APERIENT Laxative. APHRODISIAC A substance which stimulates sexual excitement and sometimes ability.
AMENORRHOEA
conflict.
ALBUMIN
.
top of a shoot.
plant which exists above ground.
One of a group of protein substances; soluble in water and coagulable by
substance that inhibits
or destroys
ALVEOLUS
the emaciated patient
AERIAL VEGETATIVE PART Any
ANTI-NEOPLASTIC A or reduces fever.
as salts of organic acids.
ALKYL RADICAL
ANGIOSPERMS
effect of another.
inhibits
the division of cells.
and often found
ANDROECIUM
class of
ANTIMITOTIC A substance which
physiologically active, insoluble in water,
ADJUVANT A
new
substance which
tumours (neoplastic cells ANTIPYRETIC A substance which prevents
consciousness.
to describe a
substance which counteracts or
to acid.
herbalists' term, alterative.
Brekhman
ANTIDOTE A
the soluble hydroxides of metals. Opposite
drug (of which Ginseng is the prime example which is ineffective and harmless in the absence of stress, but which returns body processes to normal when faced with stress or damage. (Similar in meaning to the
Israel
substance that slows
neutralizes a poison.
referring to
conversion of nutritional compounds into those of which living matter is composed. A reduction in the normal level of the red blood cells and/or haemoglobin content of the blood. ANALGESIC A substance which produces insensibility to pain without loss of
term introduced by Professor
ANTI-COAGULANT A
or prevents the clotting of blood.
substance which forms
and usually
ions in solution,
ABORTIFACIENT A substance causing expulsion of the foetus; hence an agent which induces an abortion. ABORTIVE (bot.) Undeveloped; barren; immature; faulty; coming to a premature end; med. cutting short the course of a disease; ending without completing. ABSOLUTE Relating to alcohol ethanol or ethyl alcohol) that which does not contain less than 99% pure alcohol by weight. ABSORPTION The passage of substances
digestive tract,
to the anus.
which
Radicals derived from aromatic compounds. See Aromatic. ASCORBIC ACID Vitamin C. Difficulty in breathing, due to constriction or spasm of air passages and
ASTHMA One
of the flavonoid glycosides which comprise the soluble colouring matter of certain plant material, such as the
caused by increased responsiveness of the bronchi and trachea to various stimuli.
purple and red of autumnal leaves, and the and blue of flowers.
particularly allergy.
violet, red
ASTRINGENT A
ANTHRAQUINONE GLYCOSIDE A
contraction, shrinkage or firming of living
mucous membranes, and which in doing reduces or stops the function of those tissues thereby affecting haemorrhages. secretions, diarrhoea, etc. The term is often applied to cosmetic preparations which tighten
glycosidic derivative of anthraquinone. usually
tissues, often
possessing a cathartic action.
so
ANTHRAQUINONE NUCLEUS
Complex
aromatic compound. (See Aromatic. ANTICHOLINERGIC Acting as or relating to a cholinergic blocking agent, hence blocking the action of cholinergic nerves or acetylcholine.
substance that causes
the skin.
ATROPINE An
alkaloid obtained from
Atropa belladonna (Deadly Nightshade) and other members of the Solanaceae family. It is a
parasympatholytic agent which is used mainly its spasmolytic action on smooth muscle and for its action in reducing secretions. AURICULATE Ear-shaped, particularly referring to the shape of leaves. AXIL (bot.) The upper angle formed between a petiole or peduncle and the stem carrying it. AXILLARY BUD A bud formed in an axil, the angle of the leaf with its stem. AXIS bot.) The main stem or root of a plant. for
drugs with bitter constituents, which are used
CARPEL
promote the appetite. BLEPHARITIS Inflammation of the
the
to
BLOOD-BRAIN BARRIER A
BACTERIA An
enormous group of unicellular
or sparsely cellular micro-organisms which are neither animal nor plant, but which possess a
wide range of structural and biosynthetic ability. They range from free living soil and water organisms to human parasites which have never been cultivated. Some forms are able to photosynthesize in a manner similar to that of green plants but they do not produce oxygen.
BALLAST MATERIAL
Those substances,
naturally occurring in medicinal herbs, which modify the physiological activity of a
movement of substances from
substances to simpler ones, with the release of energy. CATALYST A substance which alters the rate at which a chemical reaction takes place, but itself remains unchanged at the end of
the blood to the
central nervous system, allowing
some
to pass
freely while inhibiting or completely preventing the movement of others. BRACT (bot.) A much reduced and often scale-like leaf that bears a flower or
the reaction.
CATHARTIC A purgative substance. CAUDATE (bot.) Having a tail-like appendage
its axil.
BRACTEOLE (bot.) A small bract. BRONCHIOLE A branch of a bronchus
which
mm in diameter. BRONCHODILATORS Substances which
is
less
than
1
increase the diameter of the
pulmonary
air
whose life-cycle maturity and death takes
from germination to two growing seasons. BIFURCATION Forking or branching. BILE A secretion of the liver which is stored in the gall-bladder. It is rich in fats, pigments
and various
salts
BILHARZIA One
which aid digestion.
Bilharziasis or Schistosomiasis.
of the most important debilitating
diseases of
man, contracted
in tropical
subtropical regions of the world.
worm permeates of
its
A
and
BRONCHUS
One
of the main branches of the trachea or that within the lung which contains cartilage in the wall structure pi. bronchi"). (bot.) A division of the non-
parasitic
Acute paroxysmal pain
caused by the movement of gallstones
down
the bile duct.
BILIARY OBSTRUCTION
Reduction
down
in the
the
bile-
duct due to physical obstruction.
BILIOUS Sometimes
CALCIFUGOUS
CALCIFUGE
and
(bot.)
(bot.)
salts,
often phosphate or
l
:
BIOCHEMICAL
chloroplast.
CHOLAGOGUE A substance which stimulates or aids the release of bile from the gall-bladder.
CHOLECYSTITIS
Inflammation of the
flower.
presence of stones in
the bile duct and/or gall-bladder.
CHOLERETIC A
substance which stimulates
CAMBIUM
CHOLINERGIC That part of the nervous system which uses acetylcholine as its transmitting substance; or the type of physiological action characteristic of
(bot.) A secondary mcristematic producing annual growth of vascular
tissues, or (
cork
in
woody
\OCICHOrC
plants.
India-rubber or
many
Gum
Elastic
plants.
smallest subdivision of conned the smallest
veins to the smallest subdivision
of
CAPILLARY ATTRACTION between the surfaces results in the
ol
That force narrow tubes which
movement of fluids along them.
CAPITULUM
(bot.)
A Bower-head;
often
acetylcholine.
CHROMATOGRAPHY
The
separation of a
mixture of substances by various methods, such as selective adsorption or partition between non-mixing solvents, for example. (biol.) Small bodies found in cell nuclei which carry the genes or inheritable characteristics of the organism concerned. Different organisms often have
CHROMOSOMES
numbers of chromosomes. Normal
referring specifically to those with sessile
different
flowers
vegetative cells have two sets; reproductive cells have only one.
1
pi.
capitula).
CARBOHYDRATES c
A class of organic ompounds containing carbon, hydrogen and
oxygen. Included
in this
group are the sugars.
starches and cellulose.
An
odourless and
CILIATE
Fringed with small hairs. small hair or whip-like structure attached to some animal and plant cells,
CI LI f
UM
(bot.)
A
pi. cilia).
wilh living matter.
and used
degeneration and regeneration of
BIOSYNTHESIS The
starting point for the synthesis of
c
;
production of chemical lubstam es by a living organism. BIRD-LIME A glutinous substance manufactured from various plant materials which was traditionally applied to sticks to capture birds.
BITERNATE
(bot.) Leaflets in a
compound
arranged in threes, in wlm h one group borne on a sec ond.irv but similarly arranged
leaf,
i
petiole.
BITTER A
substance characterized 1>\ Often applied to alcoholic drinks ontaining bitter substam es. 01 to botanii .1
bittei
(
in
photosynthesis by plants as the arbohvdrates.
CARDIO-ACTIVE (
ARDIOTONIC
c
Acting on the heart. bsi wci.s Agents of
heart
muscle-; applied loosely to substances
have some benefit (
ial
which
action on the heart. Relating to
tRDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM
the heart
and blood
CARMINATIVE and
into vitamin
vessels.
A substance which
relieves
Reddish-yellow pigments in be- converted by animal tissue
may A-.
disorder of the liver character-
ized by increase in fibrous connective tissue,
Caused
liver cells.
especially by alcohol.
COLIC Acute paroxysmal pain in the abdominal region. COLON That part of the large intestine which begins at the caecum and ends at the rectum.
TOMY The surgical
formation of an anus in the abdominal wall following lower bowel disease. COMBUSTION PROCESS Any chemical process which is accompanied by the release ol (
:(
)I,(
)S
artificial
colic.
CAROTENES plants which
al
si
which increase the contractility
flatulence
taste
gall-
bladder.
CIRRHOSIS A
biologic al
which
CHLOROPHYLL
colourless gas with the formula CO2. Formed in the pioc ess ol respiration by man and plants,
Relating to physiological or lirmistrv the chemicals ,isso< iated
fluid
surrounds the brain and spinal cord. Abbreviated as CSF. (bot.) The green pigment of plants, vital to the process of photosynthesis. CHLOROPLAST (bot.) A minute organ (organelle) within green plant cells, containing the green pigment, chlorophyll. The basic processes of food manufacture occur within the
the production of bile in the liver.
CARBON DIOXIDE
distinct species.
grey
cambium.
blood vessels which
BILIOUSNESS A disorder associated with poor digestion and characterized by gen era discomfort, headache, constipation and nausea It may or may not be related to bile se< k lion. and the term is medically inexact. BINOMIAL bii.l Describes the system of nomenclature of animals and plants in which two names are applied to a spec ih< organism the first genus groups the organisms into closel) related types, and the second apecifii
true plants.
CHOLELITHIASIS The
CALYX (bot.) The outer covering of a CAMBIAL CELLS (bot.) Cells of the
of arteries
ifies a
or containing
Descriptive of plants which will not tolerate soils containing chalk or limestone. CALCULI Stones in the kidney, gall-bladder or bladder. They are composed of mineral
subdivision
spe«
of,
Descriptive of plants which tolerate, or require soils containing chalk or limestone.
into the intestinal svstem.
epithet
Composed
CALCICOLOUS AND CALCICOLE
relating to bile itself or to disorders aused by excessive production and release ol bile <
The carbohydrate
structural constituent of the cell-walls of all
CEREBRO-SPINAL FLUID The
free lime or limestone.
CAPILLARY The
i
plants. (bot.)
CEREBRAL CORTEX The external
obtained from the juice of
called Bilous. Eitln
CELLULOSE
laver of the brain.
tissue,
flow of bile from thr gall-bladder
(biol.) The fluid within plant cells, including that in conducting vessels and the material which can be extracted on crushing
flowering plants which contains the Liverworts, Hornworts and Mosses.
oxalate.
life-cycle.
BILIARY COLIC
tail.
CELL SAP
BRYOPHYTA
substances and
the circulatory system, as part
or
and macerating
passages.
CALCAREOUS
soothes a cough.
Related to or containing
CATABOLISM That aspect of metabolism concerned with the breaking down of complex
plant or extract.
BECHIC A substance that BIENNIAL (bot.) A plant
CARTILAGINOUS cartilage.
barrier between the tissue of the brain and the brain capillaries which effectively controls the
inflorescence in
B
eyelids.
functional
(bot.) One of the units composing gynoecium or the female parts of a flower.
heat
COMPOUND LEAF
(bot.)
One made up of
285
DNA
several distinct leaflets.
compound
CONJUNCTIVITIS
CYANOGENIC GLYCOSIDE A glycoside
Inflammation of the
mucous membrane covering
conjunctiva, the the eye-ball.
which
to the cut surface.
hydrocyanic (or prussic) acid
liberates
when broken down.
CONTUSION A bruise. CONVERGENT EVOLUTION The separate and independent development of unrelated plants or animals leading to structural or functional similarities or close identity that
(See Glycoside.) A group of evergreen plants belonging to the Gymnosperms, and thus among the most primitive of living seed plants. The Cycads were especially dominant in the flora of the
CYC AD
Mesozoic period.
superficially suggests a close relationship
CYME
between them.
flower-cluster in
CORDATE (bot.) Heart-shaped. CORIACEOUS (biol.) Having a A
which the central flowers open
CYSTITIS Inflammation
leathery
CYTOPLASM (bot.)
broad, inverted cone-shaped
first.
texture.
CORM
A
(bot.)
swollen, rounded underground
excluding the
stem which lasts for one year only, that of the next year being produced on the top of its
COROLLA
(bot.) Collective
term
for the
its
leaves
autumn.
(herb.) Extract of a herb obtained by boiling a given weight of plant matter in a given volume of water for a given
the heart.
time.
blood
cell
or any other small
rounded body.
CORTEX organ
part of the small
from the stomach,
DYSENTERY
plant that loses
formation of a clot or thrombus in a coronary artery of
CORPUSCLE A
first
and containing the pancreatic and common
DECOCTION
CORONARY THROMBOSIS The
with a medicinal substance. DROPSY An old-fashioned term for heart failure, characterized by the abnormal accumulation of serous fluid in body tissues.
bile ducts.
in
petals of a flower.
DOUCHE
Normally referring to the direction of a flow of liquid into a body cavity; often the vagina for the purpose of washing
intestine following the outlet
D
DECIDUOUS A
parent.
DNA
DUODENUM The
of the bladder. material within cells, nucleus.
The
cell
(Deoxyribonucleic acid) Complex molecules containing a deoxyribose sugar and organic bases. is present in chromosomes of all plant and animal cells and carries coded genetic information.
DECOMPOSITION
The breaking down
of
Inflammation of the intestine, characterized by diarrhoea containing mucus and blood, pain and painful straining to evacuate the bowels.
DYSMENORRHOEA
Painful or difficult
menstruation.
DYSPEPSIA
Disorder of the digestive process.
DYSPNOEA
Difficulty in breathing.
complex substances into simpler ones.
The
(med.)
peripheral portion of an
as in the cortex of a kidney; (bot.) the
between the vascular cylinder and epidermis of the stem and root. tissue region
CORYMBOSE CLUSTER
(bot.)
A
and
short
DECUMBENT bending towards
(bot.)
Lying on the ground or
but with the apex pointing upwards (as for a plant stem or branch).
DECUSSATE
it,
(bot.)
Arranged
in opposite
each pair being at right angles
pairs,
to the
ECLAMPSIA A
disease occurring during the pregnancy characterized by a blood pressure, and sometimes
latter half of rise in
convulsions.
broad, practically flat-topped flower (luster.
next.
ECLECTIC MEDICINE A
CORYMBOSE TERMINAL PANICLE
DEFALCATION
that particularly attracted attention in
Corymbose
See
cluster.
COTYLEDON
The leaf or leaves of an embryo, usually differing from the shape of mature leaves, and found already developed within the seed. On germination they either remain in the seed-coat or rise above ground (bot.)
and become green.
COUMARIN
A compound
found
many
in
and responsible for the aroma ol 'newmown hay which some possess. Ingestion in large amounts can lead to haemorrhage in man and animals. plants
COUNTER-IRRITANT A
substance thai causes inflammation of the skin. It is applied for the temporary relief of a deep-seated painful irritation.
CRENATE
(bot.) Scalloped or shallowlv
round-toothed.
CRENULATE
The diminutive
of crenate.
CROSS-BREEDING and CROSSFERTILIZATION To fertilize with
The action of expelling waste matter from the body. DEHISCENT (bot.) Opens to shed seeds or
form of medicine North
America
painful surface.
in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, in which methods and materials were borrowed from different systems of medicine. An acute or chronic inflammatory disease of the skin of unknown cause. Characterized by a variety of lesions.
DENTATE
EFFLUENT
spores,
DLL
IOII)
Triangular.
hot.
DEMULCENT
A
substance that is smooth and soothing when applied to an inflamed or
ECZEMA
(bot.) Having sharp or coarse indentations or teeth that are perpendicular to the leaf margin.
antiseptic
DENTICULATE
resist
Very finely dentate DER MATITIS Inflammation of the skin DESICCATION The complete drying ol
EMBALM
Waste
fluid.'
The treatment
of a corpse with
and preservative substances
EMBROCATION A
liquid medication or
substance.
liniment applied to the body surface by rubbing.
DIABETES A
EMESIS
a
condition characterized by the habitual discharge of an excessive volume of urine and by an associated excessive thirst. Used loosely to describe diabetes mellitus DIABETES MELLITUS A disorder of the
Vomiting.
EMETIC A
substance that causes vomiting. A substance that stimulates the menstrual flow. EMOLLIENT A substance used internally to soothe inflamed membranes, or externally to
EMMENAGOGUE
from another plant of different variety, strain
carbohydrate metabolism characterized by disturbance to the insulin mechanism and resulting in hyperglycaemia or excess of sugar
or species.
in the blood.
especially referring to the lungs in
DIAPHORETIC A
there
pollen
CULTIGEN A
plant deserving species status known only in cultivation, not
but which is being found in the wild.
CULTIVAR
(hort.)
A
horticultural variety of a plant species
may have
which
originated either in the wild or in
cultivation.
CUNEATE
(bot.)
petals or leaves in
Triangular or wedge-shaped which the narrow end is
attached to the plant.
CUTICLE
(bot.)
layer of epidermal
The water-conserving
outer
cells.
CUTIN
A wax-like substance found on the surface of the external cellular layers of most plants,
which
assists in the
prevention of
excessive water-loss.
commonest methods of
plant propagation, consisting of the removal of stem, leaf or root portions from the parent plant, before rootlets are formed on them.
Portions arc rooted in sand, peat, vermiculite or a mixture of these and other materials, often alter application of a
286
hormone rooting
EMPHYSEMA
Distention of the tissues by air;
walls.
fevers.
ENCEPHALITIS flowering plant which has
two cotyledons.
is
which
destructive change to the alveolar
ENDOCARP
Inflammation of the brain. The innermost layer of the
(bot.)
fruit wall.
DILATION
(med.) The enlargement or stretching of an organ. DIOECIOUS Having the male and female
DISPENSATORY
(i)
The
pharmacopoeia.
A
book
ENDOCRINE
Relating to the endocrine
glands, which are those secreting hormonal substances directly into the bloodstream.
Examples include the pancreas,
flowers on different plants.
early
name
for a
testes
and
adrenals.
ENDOSPERM
substances are listed and their preparation and administration for various conditions are described. DISTILLATION The process of heating a
The nutrient tissue in the seed of a flowering plant, formed after fertilization of the ovule. The injection of fluid material into the rectum; usually for therapeutic purposes
it to vapour (often doing so under reduced pressure), condensing the vapour, and collecting the condensate or
but occasionally to help diagnosis. The study of insects. ENURESIS Incontinence, in the absence of
(2)
in
which medicinal
liquid to convert
CUTTING One of the
soften the skin.
substance that causes an increase in perspiration. Some are used to treat
DICOTYLEDON A
cultivated or
to
putrefaction.
distillate.
Components with
different boiling
ENEMA
ENTOMOLOGY
organic causes.
points can thus be separated.
ENZYME An organic
DIURETIC A
mainly of protein found
substance that increases the volume of urine, and hence the frequency of
and
urination.
reactions.
vital for the
catalyst
composed
in all living systems
functioning of biochemical
There are numerous
kinds.
EPIDERMIS
The outermost
(bot.)
cell-layer
of a
compound
associated with the vegetation of salt-marshes
flower.
FORMALIN SOLUTION A
of the primary tissues of a plant. Plant EPIGEAL germination when the cotyledons are raised
powerful disinfectant and fixing substance consisting of a 37 per cent aqueous solution of formaldehyde;
above the ground.
also called
EPILEPSY A
FRAGMENTATION
GERMINATION
brain disorder characterized by transient episodes or seizures during which convulsions and psvchic dvsfunction mav occur.
EPILEPTIFORM CONVULSION
Convul-
formaldehyde solution. (bot.) A term loosely
applied to a process of natural vegetative reproduction of plants in which portions are variously detached and propagated. A disinfectant substance in a vaporized or gaseous state. FUNGI Non-flowering plants ranging from
FUMIGANT
sion resembling that typical of epilepsy.
EPIPHYTE Plant which grows attached to another plant, but not as a parasite. EPITHELIUM (med.) Cellular tissue of a variety of types, one of which forms the
An alkaloid obtained from Ergot, Claviceps purpurea. It can be used
microscopic moulds to edible mushrooms. are incapable of photosynthesis and share some other features with the animal kingdom. They provide various antibiotics and are important in the breakdown of organic matter in the soil, but are also responsible for the loss of foodstuff through spoilage and
to treat migraine.
disease.
uppermost layer of the
skin.
EPITHELIZATION The damaged
over a raw and
growth of epithelium
surface.
ERGOTAMINE
ERYSIPELAS A
skin disease characterized
They
FUNICULUS
FUNICLE
or
by which an ovule
by inflammation of the skin, caused by the bacterium Streptococcus pyogenes ERYTHROCYTE Red blood corpuscle.
attached
is
(bot.)
The
to the
ovary wall
stalk
name
for the alkaloid
physostigmine, obtained from the Calabar Bean Physostigma venenosum, Balfour which is largely responsible for the powerful action of the I
,
plant.
ESSENTIAL OIL A by
a plant
aroma
volatile oil, obtained
and having
distillation
from
a similar
GALACTAGOGUE A substance
that can induce or increase the secretion of milk.
GALLIC ACID An
GAMETES
astringent substance.
Sexual reproductive
biol.)
bot.)
The outermost
wall (pericarp)
layer of the
also called the epicarp.
;
EXPECTORANT A
substance which promotes the expulsion of fluid or semi-fluid matter from the lungs and air passages, by coughing or
lor
lowing; or now, more commonly, allowing land to remain unrropped lor a year or more. FASCICLE (bot.) A bunched mil ot branches,
GENES
The
biol.i
i
FAT-SOLUBLE Soluble in lam substances. FATTY ACIDS Acids which with glycerine fats.
substance which prevents or
reduces lever
now known
FILAMEN
hot.)
I
characteristics;
GENITO-URINARY TRACT The
ol the
urinary organs and the genitalia. Inllammation of the mucous
membrane and
soli tissues
surrounding the
FIXATIVE substam
A substance which
perfumer)
retaining the
aroma
ol the
other
GLABROUS same
Lacking hairs; but not the
bot.
as 'smooth'
when used
in the
botanical
sense.
nonvolatile oil that cannot be distilled or evaporated without decomposition. (See Essential oil.
FLATULENCE A is
Hairs and
(bot.
GLOBOSE Almost spherical. GLUCOSIDE A glycoside- which
leaf.
yields glucose
(See Glycoside.) alkaloid
combined
HERBICIDE
A substance
(hort.)
referring to dried that
kills
plants.
HERPES An
inflammatory skin disease
characterized by the formation of small vesicles in clusters - such as coldsores.
HETEROSIDE A aglvcone
is
glycoside in which the not a sugar.
condition in which excess
present in the gaslro-inleslinal system.
chemical linkage between phosphorus and oxygen (usually in adenosine triphosphate) which releases a large amount of chemical energy on reaction. HILUM (bot.) The point of attachment of a seed, denoted by a scar.
GLYCOSIDE An
organic substance- which ma\ be broken into two parts, one- ol whie h is always sugar. (See AgljCOtU \ venereal diseasecharacterized l>\ mucopurulent (mucous and purulent disc hargc from and inflammation eil the- genital tract. Catise-el b\ the bae leiium, \
n
\
is
cut or
A system of medicine, introduced by Samuel Hahnemann, based on the supposition that minute quantities of a given substance, such as that of a medicinal plant, will cure a condition in which symptoms exist that would be identical to the symptoms produced in a healthy person were he given large quantities of the same substance. (med.) Chemical substance produced by tissues which is introduced into the general blood circulation, and acts as a regulatory agent on different tissues in different parts of the body, (bot.) Chemicals which are produced in small amounts by the plant and control its growth and behaviour. (hort.) The product of the decomposition of organic matter. HYBRID (biol.) An organism which results from cross-breeding. ACID (med.) The acidic substance secreted in the stomach to adjust the stomach contents to the correct degree of acidity for the action of certain digestive enzymes.
HUMUS
HAEMOGLOBIN
The
pigment
blood
in tfie reel
HAEMOLYSIS
red oxygen-carrying enpuse les. e
The release of haemoglobin
damage
HAEMOPTYSIS
HYDROGEN CYANIDE
Prussic acid;
hydrocyanic acid; an intensely poisonous substance, derivatives of which are found
Spitting of blood, or blood-
stained sputum.
HEMORRHAGE
Bleeding; the
esc
ape of
blood from the blood
vessels.
HAEMOSTATIC
substance that Stops
HYDROLYSIS The chemical fission of a substance by water into two or more parts, in which the water is also decomposed. An aquatic plant. HYPERTENSION Excessive tension such as may be- found in some nervous individuals often characterized by high blood pressure-. HYPERVITAMINOSIS A A condition caused by the- excessive intake- of vitamin A.
HYDROPHYTE
HYPOGEAL GERMINATION
The
germination of plants where the cotyledons remain below the ground.
FLAVONE A type of flavonoid a vellow dye. FLAVONE HETEROSIDE A glycoside with
bleeding.
HYPOGLYCAEMIC A
flavone or a derivative- as
HALLUCINOGEN A
the concentration of glucose in the blood.
aromatic substances
substance which can affect all or any of the senses, producing a wide range of perception and reaction.
FLORE1
HALOPHYTE
HYPOTHALAMUS
;
FLAVONOID bot
A broad |
the-
aglyeone.
lass ol coloured See Aromatu Small flower which forms part <
in
certain plants.
seria gonorrhoeae.
H
II
Protective substance present in of the body, being released into the
HYDROCHLORIC
with a sugar.
from red blood corpuscles following their
es.
FIXED OIL A
gas
now
HORMONES
teeth.
stamen
that supports the anther. assists in
urino-
genital (or urogenital) system comprising the
as antipyretic).
The part
plants in monasteries, plant specimens.
HOMEOPATHY
units of heredity
more inherited composed of DNA, and protein.
GONORRHOEA
roots or fibres.
FEBRIFUGE A
Relating to plants
burnt.
GLYCEROL Glycerine. GLYCOALKALOID An
form
(bot.) (i)
blood, when, for example, the skin
Colloidal solution which sets to a jelly
when broken down.
onstituents.
Ploughing read)
HERBACEOUS
which are not woody and which die down at the end of each year; (2) plant parts which are soft and green with the texture of leaves. HERBARIUM Formerly a live collection of
GEL
on cooling.
GLANDULAR PUBESCENT
lagric.)
Congestion or
HISTAMINE
glands mixed on a surface, such as a
product obtained by treating plant material with a solvent or mixture of solvents designed to extract the desired
ALLOWING
HEPATIC CONGESTION
inefficient functioning of the liver.
all tissues
EXTRACT A
I-
propagation.
alimentary system, from the mouth to the anus.
spitting.
<
cells.
GINGIVITIS
glands.
EXOCARP
Breaking a young shoot away from the parent stem, with a portion (heel) of the parent attached to it, for the purpose of
GASTRO-INTESTINAL TRACT The
controlling one or
to the plant itself.
EXCRETION The discharge from the bod\ of waste products; not limited to the evacuation of the bowels, and including, for example, the excretion of waste matter via the sweat fruit
saline habitats.
(hort.)
A
substance that provides a slough on the skin; acting as a caustic substance; corrosive. alternative
HEEL
HIGH ENERGY PHOSPHATE BOND
or placenta.
ESCHAROTIC A ESERINE An
and other
A
Salt-tolerant plant, generally
substance- that lowers
HYPOTENSIVE A substance
that lowers the
blood pressure. That part of the brain
28 7
which controls the integration of the functions of the endocrine system and the nervous system. (See Endocrine.)
LECITHIN A member
of the group of phospholipids; a very complex substance containing phosphorus, found in egg yolk, brain and blood. A white discharge from the vagina. LICHEN (bot.) A member of a group of slowgrowing plants that consist of a symbiotic relationship between an alga and a fungus. LINIMENT A substance, usually medicinal, applied to the skin. LIPID A fat or fat-like substance insoluble
LEUCORRHOEA
IMMUNOLOGY The study of the systems whereby
living organisms (especially
man)
respond to foreign matter of a biological nature which, when taken into the body, may cause damage to it; especially of those factors in the blood and lymph that produce resistance to disease.
INDEHISCENT
(bot.)
Not opening, or not
opening regularly.
in
water and soluble
many
of lipids includes
INFLORESCENCE A
flowering branch
group of flowers with a
common
(or, a
in fat solvents; the
group
different but related
materials.
LOAM
stalk).
INFUSION The
preparation of a dose of a herb by pouring a given quantity of boiling water over a given weight of herb, and infusing for a given time. INGESTION The act of taking in food or other
(hort.) A good soil containing at two of the main soil particle sizes: gravel, sand, silt or clay; designated by the dominant least
LYMPH
hence a 'sandy loam'. A straw-coloured fluid which
circulates
many
particle
iodide (or iodine-containing) salt
ION
Electrically charged
atom
or groups of
atoms.
IONIZED In the form of ions. ISOMERIC Having the same molecular
and cleanse them.
M MACERATION
The
process of extracting
MEDULLA
to distinguish
it
from the cortex. (med.) Severe depression,
MELANCHOLIA
often of a psychotic nature.
MENINGITIS
Inflammation of the meninges,
The
(bot.)
formula but different properties owing to a arrangement of atoms within the molecule. Hence one compound may be an isomer of another. , ISOPROPYL (Isopropanol) An alcohol with many applications as a substitute for ethyl alcohol (ethanol) some grades are used in the food industry.
ALCOHOL ;
of plants, distinguished from the permanent tissues by the power their cells possess to divide and form new cells. Primary (apical meristems are located near the tips of roots and in the buds of stems. Secondary meristems produce lateral growth subsequent to the primary extension growth produced by the primary or apical meristems. (bot.) The middle layer of a
JAUNDICE A
condition which is caused by excessive amounts of bilirubin in the blood and is characterized by yellowness of the skin and
body
secretions.
KERATIN A
protein material which
characteristically constitutes hair, feathers
and
nails.
KHELLIN A which
substance, isolated from
Ammi
used as a bronchial dilator. (hort.) A decorative formal garden popular in the sixteenth century and consisting normally of very low hedges in geometric patterns. visnaga,
is
KNOT GARDEN
MESOPHYTE
LACTATION The secretion of milk. LAMINA (bot.) The blade of a leaf or petal. LANCEOLATE (bot.) Spear-shaped (of leaves) with the widest part near the centre. LARYNGITIS Inflammation of the larynx. LEACH The extraction of soluble constituents from a mixture of soluble and insoluble material. LEAF FALL Loss of leaves.
LEAF 288
MOULD
Partially
decomposed
leaves.
MUCOSAL
MULCH
MYASTHENIA
(bot.)
A
term used
to
denote
the group of fungi as a separate division of the
plant kingdom.
MYCORRHIZAL
Referring to any soil fungus which establishes a close symbiotic relationship with the young roots of particular trees and
shrubs.
MYDRIATIC A
substance which dilates the
pupils.
N (bot.
|
A
NARCOTIC A
plant suited to a
moderately moist climate.
substance that in small doses produces sleep and relieves pain, but which in large doses may cause poisoning with coma
The reactions involved in the building up and decomposition of chemical substances in living organisms.
or convulsions.
METABOLISM, PRIMARY
back of the throat
Vital processes
concerned with the maintenance of life. METABOLISM, SECONDARY Reactions which result in the formation of complex materials which are not concerned with the maintenance of life. These are often the medicinally active
compounds
NASOPHARYNX NERVINE
Cavity extending from the
to the nose.
(herb.)
A
substance that calms
nervous excitement.
NEURALGIA
Brief but severe pain along the
course of a nerve.
NEUROLOGY The study of the nervous system.
in plant
extracts.
NEUROMUSCULAR
MINERAL A
and muscles.
elements.
NODULE A small
natural inorganic substance; often applied to metallic salts and certain
MIOTIC A substance that contracts the pupils. MITHRIDATE An antidote to poison. (From King Mithridates,
who
See Galactagogue.
fungus of web-like structure. product formed by the addition of gum to water; mucilages occur naturally in many plants and may be applied to irritated or inflamed surfaces to relieve them. SURFACE The surface of a
MUCILAGE A slimy
MESOCARP
the second-century b.c.
LACTAGOGUE
MOULD A small
fruit wall.
METABOLISM
JK
MORPHOLOGY
The study of the arrangement of organs and tissues, including their inner structure and outer form.
MYCOPHYTA
formative tissues
i
different
colour.
acetylcholine.
to lubricate
MERISTEMS
added.
when applied to the fabric to be dyed reacts chemically with the dye thereby fixing the
women.
MENORRHAGIA Excessive menstrual flow. MENSTRUATION The periodic, usually
which an has been
sugar.
MORDANT A substance used in dyeing which
monthly, elimination of blood and cellular material from the uterus of sexually mature
INVOLUCRE
salt to
plant.
MUCOUS MEMBRANE
the covering of the brain.
IODIZED SALT Common
same
MONOSACCHARIDE A simple
MUCOUS
body and serves
Compositae.
flower or flower-cluster.
flowers on the
COLITIS Inflammation of the colon resulting in a mucous discharge. Membrane, kept continually moist by a variety of glands, that lines canals and cavities of the body which are exposed to the air: mouth, anus, vagina. (hort.) Substances spread around a plant to protect it from weeds, water-loss, heat, cold and in some cases to provide nutrient material. Mulches comprise many materials from sawdust and pine-needles to black plastic, but leaves and old straw are the materials most commonly employed. Mulches should only be applied to moist soil. GRAVIS A condition of weakness and rapid tiredness in the muscles of the skeleton (voluntary muscles) which is caused by a malfunction in the release of
tissues of the
substances from a botanical drug by steeping in a solvent. The central part of an organ, used
Bracts or small leaves arranged whorl or whorls immediately beneath a
plant which has unisexual male and female
mucous membrane.
material through the mouth. INSULIN A hormone secreted in the pancreas which regulates carbohydrate and fat metabolism; deficiency causes diabetes mellitus. INTESTINE That part of the gastrointestinal tract from the distal end of the stomach (pylorus) to the anus. Consists of the duodenum, the jejunum, the ileum, the caecum, the colon, the rectum and the anal canal. INULIN A complex sugar found in several plants, especially in members of the family
in a
MONOECIOUS A
flowers, but with both
studied poisons and their antidotes.) A member of the Mollusca, animals without segments or limbs and usually
MOLLUSC
having a
Relating to both nerves
NEURONE, NEURON A
complete nerve
cell.
rounded organ.
NUCLEIC ACIDS (biol.) One of a group of substances characteristic of the nuclei and cytoplasm of cells, which yield purine and pyrimidine bases when broken down.
NUCLEUS of a
(biol.)
The
functional centre
cell.
shell.
MOLLUSCIDAL A substance
that
kills
OBLANCEOLATE
molluscs, such as snails.
MONOCARPIC
(bot.)
Bearing
fruit
once, and then dying.
MONOCOTYLEDON A flowering plant has only one cotyledon.
(bot.) Inversely lanceolate.
OBLIGATE PARASITE
only that
(biol.)
A
parasite
that cannot live without a host. (bot.) Inversely ovate.
OBOVATE OESOPHAGUS
The
gullet; passage
from the
pharynx
A
(bot.)
short lateral offshoot of a
stem or root of a plant that can be used for propagation. OLEIC ACID An unsaturated acid found in
many
fats
and
oils.
OLEO-GUM-RESIN A containing an
and
oil
resinous substance
gum, obtained from
a
POLYPHARMACY The
outer flower parts usually consisting of distinct
stomach.
to the
OFF-SET
certain plants.
ORBICULAR Disc-shaped or circular. OSMOSIS The flow of a solvent through
sepals
and
petals.
PERISTALSIS The
progressive, wave-like
contractions of the gastro-intestinal tract or parts of it, whereby matter is moved along PETIOLATE (bot.) Possessing a petiole. PETIOLE (bot.) The stalk of a leaf. The study of the absorption, distribution and elimination of
it.
POMADE
PHARMACOKINETICS
POULTICE (herb.) Warm or hot external application of crushed herbs or extracts of plant contained in cloth such as muslin.
drugs. a
semi-permeable membrane from a dilute solution into a more concentrated one. OVARY (med.i A glandular organ which produces female eggs, (bot.) The ovule bearing
PHARMACOPOEIA A
Applied locally
descriptions of
and inflammations.
book containing and recipes for the manufacture
place.
PHARMACY
the ovary which becomes the seed after fertilization.
pharynx.
OXYTOCIC An
PHARYNX
PALMATE
of the nose, oesophagus. Thick, elastic mucus secreted bv the cells lining the air passages. Originallv
pistil.
OVATE Egg-shaped. OVULE bot. The egg-containing
part of
agent that hastens evacuation of the uterus by stimulating contractions.
1
Shaped or divided
I
like a
PROTHROMBIN
secretes substances responsible for the digestion
one of the four humours or cardinal body fluids the other three being choleric, sanguine and melancholic in the ancient Greek system of
of carbohydrates, proteins and
medicine.
hand.
PANCREAS An
abdominal gland which fats;
also
it
PANICLE
i
A
(bot.)
flower-cluster in which the
branches are racemose.
PANICULATE
Arranged
in a panicle.
PARASITICIDE A
substance that destroys parasites, especially those which exist on the
PARASYMPATHETIC NKRYOl SYSTEM med.) That part of the autonomic nervous system which
s
The
bot.
principal tissue
PHOSPHOLIPIDS distributed in nature
Substances widely and comprising lipids.
phosphoric acid and
fatty acids.
generally dei reases must
PHYSIOMEDICALISM
glandular secretion and contracts the blood vessels.
PARASYMPATHOMIMETIC
Substances causing an action in the bod) similar to thai occurring when the parasympathetic nerves arc stimulated. PECTIN A natural arbohydrate substanc e used as a demulcent or thickening agent. <
PECTORAL
imcd. Relating to the best. substance used in the treatmenl <>l complaints.
i
h<
si
I
A
herb.
PEDICEL
The stem
hot.
ol
one flowei
PEDICULOSIS A i
.
(
skin
(
ondition
(
aused In
and skin lesions. The stem of a flower-
harai terized by itching
PEDUNCLE cluster,
a
bot.
i
The stem of a
flowei
when
ihat
flower is the- only one remaining in an inflorescence. (3) The stem ol a solitary flower. PEPSIN A digestive enzyme sec reted into and part of the- gastric jtiic e.
PEPTIC ULCER digestive system
Tissue loss
m
parts ol the
which are exposed
to the
acidic juices; charae inisin ally the- stomal h.
lower end of the oesophagus and the beginning
as the starting materials.
A
s
W em of herbal
PHY TODERMA THIS A
skin eruption win,
A substance
arranged either
PISTIL
bot.
style-
side
ol
trains ofa flowering plant which carry male- reproductive
more
PERIANTH
the-
bot.)
hot
A
skin.
plant which survives
years.
Collective term for the
its
pharmacologic alls inactivesubstance given as a drug either in the treatment <>l ps\e bological illness or in the course ol dru<4 (rials. PLASMA The- liquid part ol blood or lymph.
PERCUTANEOUS Thai PERENNIAL
The embryonic shoot which germinating seed. PNEUMONITIS Inflammation of the lungs. (bot.)
The <
POLYNEURITIS nei
\
ol certain of the
Compositac
iaIK Chrysanthemum cinerariifolium.
QUINSY
A small unit of energy. Abscesses surrounding a tonsil.
and stigma.
POLLEN
or applied through
e-spei
PLACEBO A
suitable solvents through a vessel containing the lubstance.
performed
PULMONARY
QUANTUM
'The ovary ol a flower, with
hot
is
ihose-
the axis in
a
uln
The external genitalia; usually of the female. Relating to the- lungs. PULQUE A Fermented Mexican drink obtained Irom the sap of Agave amencana. PURGATIVE A substance that causes evacuation of the bowel. PYELITIS Inflammation of the kidnev. An insecticide made from the family,
as a feather.
PLUMULE 1
PUDENDA
PYRETHRUM
Formed like a feather; compound leaf in which the
way
A botanical group and fern allies. Covered with short, soft
bot.
ferns
(bot.)
powdered flowers
hot.
the same-
or psvehe.
applied to
emerges Irom
duodenum.
PERCOLATION
lor three or
I,
The medicinal use of plants; herbalism 01 medical herbalism. a
mind
PUBESCENT
plants.
leaflets ate-
precursor ofa vitamin.
hairs.
which possesses specific antibody-like activity to animal cells. PHYTOSTEROL One ol a group ol sterols, very similar to cholesterol, which occurs in
applied to
The
chronic, inflammatorv skin
which contains the
in plant seeds
PINNATE
microscopic, unicellular
PTERIDOPHYTA
initiated In contact with plants.
PHYTOHAEMAGLUTININ
PSORIASIS A
the
medicine in which herbs are used to assisl the body's natural powers of healing. Thes\stem was developed in North America in the earlv nineteenth centurv.
found
or stage
PSYCHOSIS An aspect of serious mental impairment that leads to inability to manage normal affairs, and is characterized In delusions, hallucinations and mental confusion. PSYCHOTROPIC A substance which affects
the presence of light, using carbon dioxide
is
precursor
condition.
process whereby food substances are formed by green plants in
The extra* don ol onstituents Irom a powdered substance l>\ the passage ol
ol the
sensitive
PHYTOTHERAPY
in a cluster.
In
PROVITAMIN
Becoming
PHOTOSYNTHESIS The
and water
tone, depresses
PROTO ALKALOID A
PROTOZOAN A
following the intake of certain
to sunlight
concerned with maintaining muscle lone, inducing glandular secretion and dilation of the blood vessels. Hie sympathetic nervous system le
bleeding.
animal.
substances.
is
in
in
development ofi or substance that can be converted to an alkaloid. PROTO-BOTANY Early development of botanical studies; primary botany.
responsible for the internal transport of substances svnthesized bv plants.
PHOTOSENSH IZATION
skin.
development^ of thrombin which is formed the liver; thrombin acts as a clotting agent
in the
PHLOEM
secretes insulin.
The
microscopic plants of land and water which constitute the greatest part of the world's photosynthetic ability, that is, the lowest part of the food-chain. PROPHYLACTIC A substance that helps to prevent disease. (bot.) The sexual generation of the Pteridophytes which include ferns and clubmosses) which consists ofa minute, flat structure bearing the sexual organs. A precursor (or stage in the
PROTHALLUS
The muscular tube from the back mouth and larynx extending to the
PHLEGM
bot.
to contusions, bruises, sprains
PRIMARY PHOTOSYNTHESIZERS
of those therapeutic substances that are officially recognized by a given country or
The study of the preparation of therapeutic substances. (2) The place where prescriptions are made. PHARYNGITIS Inflammation of the
part of the
administration of
medication which consists of many different therapeutic substances, as, for example, in herbalism when several different herbs are included in one prescription. A perfumed ointment; often applied to those used on the head.
microspore
s
01 the-
ells
The inflammation
of
simultaneously.
POLYPEPTIDE A amino-ae
iels.
substance containing
several
R
RACEME
An elongated
the terminal flowers open
RADICAL Radii
hen
inflorescence in which last.
Relating to the rool
see also
1
RADICALS chem.) Groups of atoms in a chemical molecule which retain their identity during bemii al changes and affect the- rest of the same molec ulc. RADICLE bot.) The embryonic rool which emerges Irom a germinating seed REAGENT A substance involved in a chemical 1
reac tion.
RECEP1 \( I.I. bol he uppei pan ol the stem which bears the Mowers; it may be I
concave or convex. The lower part of the large
flattened,
RECTUM intestine.
plant material; usually applied to green
TISSUE REGENERATION The
(i)
RENAL ARTERY The artery of the RENIFORM Kidney-shaped.
RETARDANT slow
substances with the aid of introduced steam.
STEATORRHEA, STEATORRHOEA
down
kidney.
(chem.) Serving to delay or
Inflammation of the mucous
membranes
of the nasal passage. (bot.) A horizontal underground
and nodes. root and herb collector of
roots, scales
RHIZOTOMIST A ancient Greece.
fungus infection of the skin
tissue following
that causes
saturated or unsaturated alcohol
STOLON
normally produced above the
is
surface
and which
soil
gives rise to a separate
or nails producing ring-like lesions.
plant at
RUBEFACIENT A
STOLONIFEROUS Bearing stolons. STOMACHIC A substance that counteracts
reddening of the
RUNNER the tip of
substance that causes
skin.
An
(bot.)
aerial, trailing shoot,
which takes root when
it
touches the
ground.
its tip.
or relieves cramps.
STOMATA
(bot.) Minute openings on leaf rhizomes and some stems that allow exchange of gases between the plant and the atmosphere. STOMATITIS Inflammation of the soft tissues within the mouth. STYPTIC A substance that stops bleeding, usually by contracting the tissue.
surfaces,
SALICYLIC GLYCOSIDE
Glycoside containing as the aglycone salicylic acid, or a
derivative.
SALTPETRE
SAMARA
Potassium nitrate.
An
(bot.)
indehiscent winged
fruit.
SUBCUTANEOUS TISSUES
damage
TOMENTOSE
derived from perhydrocyclopentanophenanthrene, such as cholesterol. STIGMA (bot.) The part of a pistil which accepts the pollen. (bot.) A short, horizontal stem that
RINGWORM A
Increase in the
sneezing.
STEROL A
RHINITIS
stem bearing
stools. (2)
STERNUTATORY A substance
a chemical reaction.
RHIZOME
Fat in the
secretions of the sebaceous glands.
The
soft,
(bot.)
or
loss.
Having
a thick
mat of
white hairs.
TRACHEA The windpipe. TRACHEID (bot.) A vascular pitted,
end
leaf.
growth of
woody
(lignified) walls
plant
cell
with
and oblique
walls.
TRACHEITIS
Inflammation of the trachea.
TRANSMITTER
(med.) A substance that transmits or passes on; usually applied to substances involved with the transmission of nerve impulses.
TRIFOLIATE (bot.) Bearing three leaves. TRIFOLIOLATE (bot.j Bearing a leaf subdivided into three equal leaflets. TRISACCHARIDE A carbohydrate which yields three molecules of monosaccharide when it is broken down. TUBER (bot.) An underground, rounded storage organ, formed from the stem or root of a plant.
TUMOUR
An abnormal
swelling resulting
from the multiplication of cells.
UV
loose
connective tissues beneath the skin.
UMBEL
plants containing saponins have been used as a
SUCROSE Common sugar. SUDORIFIC A substance that
substitute for soap.
sweating.
umbrella-shaped inflorescence, in which the flower stalks arise from a common point. An ointment; formerly a perfumed or scented ointment.
SAPONIN A in
glycosidic substance that loams
water and has a detergent action. Some-
SAPROPHYTE obtains
its
(biol.)
An organism
that
nutrient material solely from dead
or decaying matter.
SCABIES An by a small
infectious skin condition caused
induces
SCABROUS (bot.) Rough. SCURVY A nutritional disorder
substance or substaiu es of therapeutic value introduced into the urethra, vagina or rectum in the form of a bod) solidified by means of a fatty agent and which
SYMBIOSIS caused by
A
mutually advantageous relationship between two different organisms. (biol.)
SYMPATHETIC NERVOUS SYSTEM
lack of vitamin C.
SECONDARY MERISTEMS
(See
SYNAPSE The between nerve
point of communication
cells.
SYNERGISM
Potentiating action between
two or more substances.
calyx.
SEPTICAEMIA
Bacterial infection in
SERRATE (bot.) A leaf margin which has forward-pointing, saw-like teeth. SESSILE Lacking a stalk. SIALAGOGUE A substance that initiates or increases salivation, the production of saliva. SILICULA, Silicle or Silicule (bot.) A short, specialized fruit or capsule found in certain Cruciferae, which is usually less than three times as long as it is wide. SILIQ.UA, fruit
Silique (bot.)
A
long, specialized
or capsule found in certain Cruciferae.
SIMPLE LEAF divided into
(bot.)
A
leaf that
is
not
TACHYCARDIA
Excessive speed of the heart
'TANNIN
Astringent substance related to
tannic acid.
TAPROOT
A
(bot.)
persistent
primary
root,
usually swollen with food.
TENDRIL
A
(bot.)
supporting
thin,
URCEOLATE Shaped like an URETHRA The duct through
URTICARIA Nettle rash; a skin condition characterized by red weals that itch. (biol.) A space within a cell. Substances in the rootstork of Valeriana species responsible for the plants' sedative action. VARIEGATION (bot.) Patches or markings of different colour on a leaf. (bot.
VASOCONSTRICTOR A substance
VERMIFUGE VERTIGO
which unable to reproduce outside a host. Viruses are responsible for a wide range of diseases
mevalonic acid.
in all
(bot.) Flat, primitive
THERIAC An
old term for poison antidote.
in several volatile oils.
protein shell
and
Normally referring
mosses which grow in very wet places. An organ which produces
THIAMINE A member
heal wounds.
spores. (PI. sporangia.)
circulation
SPORE
TILTH
SPUTUM
STAMEN
290
antiseptic
of the vitamin B complex. Deficiency affects the nervous system,
and alimentary
(hort.)
A
prepared
TINCTURE A solution active
VOLATILE OIL
See
surface.
of substances (both
and inactive therapeutically) extracted
from medicinal plants by the maceration or percolation of the plant with alcohol or alcohol-water solutions. Most herbal tinctures are made with 70 per cent alcohol solutions. TISANE A drink made by the addition of boiling water to fresh or dried unfermented
organs
WHORLS
essential oil.
used to treat or
WX
tract. soil
to the
within the abdominal cavity but strictly also those organs of the cranium, thorax or pelvis. VISCOUS Sticky or glutinous. VITRIOL Sulphuric acid.
VULNERARY A substance
An
is
other living organisms.
VISCERA
substance.
(herb.)
of a
a nucleic acid centre,
SPHAGNUM MOSS A group of related
reproductive cell. Materia! eliminated from the mouth by spitting, consisting of secretions from the mucous membranes of the buccal cavity which can include pus or blood. (bot.) The pollen-producing part of a flower, ((insisting of the anther and filament. STEAM DISTILLATION The distillation of
that
destroys intestinal worms. Sensation of giddiness.
THYMOLEPTIC
asexual, unicellular
tissues
causes the constriction of blood vessels. A substance that expels or
release of semen, in the absence of orgasm.
An
The
constituting the conducting regions of a stem,
TERNATE TERPENOID
whip-like, modified
THYMOL A bactericide and fungicide found
(bot.)
which urine
passes.
VESICANT A blistering agent. VIRUS Minute organism, composed
A
or relieves convulsions or spasmodic pains.
SPORANGIUM
urn.
touch, which supports the plant by coiling around a support. (bot.) In groups of three. Organic substance derived from
plant.
fronds, not distinguished as stem or leaf.
The involuntary
Consisting of a
leaf, sensitive to
appendage on a
SITOSTEROL A common plant sterol. SPASMOLYTIC A substance that counteracts
SPERMATORRHOEA
(biol.)
root or leaf.
action.
THALLUS FRONDS
leaflets.
UNICELLULAR single cell.
VASCULAR CYLINDER
which
the organisms invade or multiply in the blood.
indeterminate, flat-topped,
VACUOLE VALEPOTRIOTE
Parasympathetic nervous system.)
(bot.)
Meristematic tissue which produces lateral growth subsequent to the primary extension growth produced by the apical meristems. SEPALS (bot.) The separate parts of the
An
UNGUENT
SUPPOSITORY A
melts at body heat.
insect.
(bot.)
Three or more leaves, bracts or flowers arranged at one point in a circle around an axis. XEROPHYTE (bot.) A plant adapted to arid (bot.)
conditions.
XYLEM
(bot.)
The
tissue responsible for
conducting water upwards within plants; also imparts mechanical strength to the plant, and contains cells with food and waste reserves.
Oven temperatures
Conversion tables
The
only an approximate guide and the suggested temperatures and timings are those appropriate to the oven of an average-sized domestic cooker.
Conversions from imperial to metric are only approximate as exact conversions are unwieldy
tor
table
below
c
F
quick measurement.
is
Solid measurements ENGLISH 8 oz butter or
fat
AMERICAN cup (solidly packed
1
oz butter or
tat
2
1
lb castor
1
sugar
GAS NO G
OVEN HEAT
8 oz castor sugar
no C
4
very cool
2
oz castor sugar
130
2
very cool
1
lb plain Hour, sieved
275 300
140
I
cool
150
2
slow
4 oz plain flour, sieved
325 35o
170 180
3
moderately slow
2
4
375 400
190
5
moderate moderately hot
8 oz
200 220
6
hot
7
very hot
230
8
verv hot
425 45"
1
4 tablespoons
42 cups cake
cup plus 4 tablespoons 8 tablespoons 1
oz plain flour, sieved
12 oz dry, grated cheese rice,
imperial fluid ounces 40
140 1000 1
35 20
560 420 280
10
—
8
—
140
5
cups cups
scant ij
2
1
pints
\
cups
cups
5
cup cup plus cup cup
2
tablespoons
1
\
gill
",
pints
2-j
44 tups 2j
'5
230
1
IMPERIAL
9
225
8
4
85
3
teaspoons
50
2
teaspoon
2
tablespoon
\\ tablespoon-.
7
{
1
dessertspoon
j
5
i
i
5
1
5 H pis=
gal
1
=
(.',
h
ingredients in wine-making are usually b\ volume. Pack the herbs into
nol puss
.1
jug
down.
Medit al Prai titioners Asscm iation 170 Johnston Road. Hong Kmiu
The be following organizations offer membership,
Ihinese
In- (
I
Organizations I
I<
1
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landii
Laufasvegi
information and details of suppliers. hose marked * offer a regulai publication such as a magazine and set vk CS ol pal 111 ulai In in In in those with an interest in herbalism \ si. imped addressed envelope
National Herbalists Association of
what each one
I'
(
Bos
)
Nazionale
.I/nun
Produtti
Inn isih
l.i
lommen
(
Montville Road. Mapleton, Queensland,
iand
Australia
1
Parkside, S. Australia,
(ii.
offl is
I
Associazione Nazionale Erborisli e Piante Olli, mal, ANEPO * Siena, Via I. S Ph olomini 59, 53
j
he Queensland ;
lei
I
b S01 iety
In-
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Quei nsland
I
1
In
In
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dei Reformwaren-Herstellei
and Register of
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Last
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20
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1
1
1
1
1
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11
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Society
ol)i
\
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\\
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Foundation 1
',
Ban
t.
Washington
H<
foi
iopathy
Building, 910
DC.
171I1 Street,
2000b, U.S A
foi
Pharmacy and Science, Philadelphia, Pennsy K .una 19104,1 s \
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American Horticultural Society* 901 N. Washington Street, Alexandria, Virginia 2231 ", U.S.A
Medil males Ji
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SWi, England
de Diffusion
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Australia.
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Park, Brisbane,
Herbal Medicine Association oach House, South borough Road, Sin biton, Shi is England I
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University ok\ n. Japan.
*
Greenmounl Avenue, Holland
560
Academy
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Via Massena 20, 10128 Torino, Italy.
Society of South Australia Inc. 1
Queensland Chapter
Australia
1
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following organizations offer either in medical herbalism or include herbalism as pari of other courses: 11. lining
international reply coupon
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Bibliography
|
Introduction Altschul, S von Ries, Drugs and Foods from Little- Known Plants Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass. 1973
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1977
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Arber,
Scientific
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Altschul. S von Ries 'Exploring the
Herbarium'
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Hamlyn, London 1976 Karlson P Introduction to Modern Biochemistry Academic Press. New York (
Colour
History
London
Press, 1973 Encyclopedia of the Plant
Huxley,
Ebury London 1969
Greek Medicine, being extracts
illustrative of medical writers from Dent, Hippocrates to Galen J
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&
their
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Foulsham, Slough 1970 Gunther, E Ethnobotany of Western Washington L niversity of Washington Press. Seattle. Wash. 1973 Gunther, R T The Greek Herbal of Dioscorides Oxford University Press 1934: Hafner Press 1959 - distrib. CollierMacmillan. Riverside. NJ. Chinese Medicine Huard. P and Wong. McGraw-Hill. Maidenhead. Berks., and
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Chinese Herbs: their Botany.
Chemistry and Pharmacodynamics
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E Tuttle. Rutland. Yermont 1976 Kowaro. J O Medicinal Plants of East (East African Literature Bureau,
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and
CA
Guide
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Africa
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Medicinal Plants of the United States
Quadrangle 1975,
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distrib.
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Scanton, Penn.) and Elvin-Lewis, Lewis, Medical Botany Wiley-Interscience, Chichester, Sussex 1977; John Wiley 1
Sons,
&
New York
1976) The Extra Pharmacopoeia.
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Martindale. 26th edition - ed.
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The
\V Blacow
Pharmaceutical Press, London 1972; Rittenhouse Book Distributors,
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F American Medicinal Plants Dover Publications, New York 1974'
Millspaugh,
Nelson, A Medical Botany Churchill Livingstone, Edinburgh 1951 Palaiseul. J Grandmother's Secrets Penguin,
Harmondsworth, Middx. 1976; G P Putnam's Sons, New York 1974) Revolutionary Health Committee of Hunan Province, The A Barefoot Doctor's Manual Routledge & Kegan Paul, London 1978 Schauenberg, P and Paris, F Guide to Medicinal Plants Lutterworth Press, Guildford, Surrey 1977 Schendel, G Medicine in Mexico University of Texas Press, Austin, Texas 1968 Schneider. Lexicon zur Ar zneimittelgeschichte Govi-Verlag, Frankfurt 1974)
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Selection du Reader's Digest Secrets des Plantes Medicinales (Paris 1977
F and Jirasek,
Stary,
London
V
Herbs
|
et
Food
in
London
Jane's,
MPF
WH
D
Hartley,
New York
New York
and
1953)
Loewenfeld, C and Back, P Herbs for Health and Cookery (Pan Books, London 197 Universal Pub. and Distr. Corp., 1
A Handhuch der Pharmakognosie volumes 3 Tauchnitz, Leipzig '9°9-'927)
;
Happauge, NY. 1970 McKenzie, E Dining with Herbs The Herb Societv of America, Boston, Mass. 197
M
New York 1950 Rohde, E S Culinary and Salad Herbs (Dover Publications, New York 1972 Sass, L To the King's Taste John Murray, London 1976; Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1977
L To London
the Queen's
Sass,
Conn.
Taste
David
1970; International Pubns. Service.
Arlott.
f
Oklahoma Wallis,
Britain
in
T
M
l.dmburgh [962
Webb. L
Guide
J
Poisonous Plants of Queensland
232, Center lor Scientific
Bulletin
and Industrial
Research, Melbourne 1948 Wilson, A and Schild, Applied Pharmacology J & A Chun hill. London
HO
1968
Wren, R C
Potter's .Sen
Buchman, London I
b
1
I) I)
Munch
W
1973; Harper
& Row. New York
1972
Culinary uses Apicius: I he Roman Cooker Hook.vth. Flower, B and Rosenbaum, E (Harrap, London 1974; British Book Center, \
'(7",
and Recipes from Rome Allen Lane, London.
the Renaissance
to
Spires. Salt
and Aramalics
English Kitchen (Penguin,
in the
Harmondsworth.
Middx. [970]
H
I
he Complete
Book
0/ Gurries
'
Kaye &
Ward, London 1975 Grange,
C
The Complete Book
Preservation (Cassell,
Grieve,
Sante"
Opera
Ritchie,
1
A 3
Co..
Perfumes. Cosmetics and Soaps
Chapman &
Hall,
London
M
oj
Home hood
London 1949)
Culinary Herbs and Condiments
|
G
KN
&
Bell
Practical
Sons,
London
969) Hunter, B
T
Gardening without Poisons
(Hamish Hamilton, London 1965) Loewenfeld, C Herb Gardening (Faber & Faber, London 1964) Perring, F (ed.)/ The Flora of a Changing Britain (Botanical Society of the British Isles Conference Report No. 11, 1972)
K
Sanecki, N Discovering Herbs (Shire Publications, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire
973
A B
Herb Growing and
Profitable
(Country
Collecting
Life,
London
1916)
Periodicals
ACTA PHYTOTHERAPEUTICA,
ten
mersjed with the Quarterly Journal of Crude Drug Research. Back copies. Swets & Zeitlinger B V, Publishing Dept., 347 b Heereweg, Lisse, The Netherlands. BOTANY, quarterly; economic and medicinal plants, including food crops. Available from The Societv for Economic Botany, The New York Botanical Garden, he Bronx. NY 10458. U.S.A.
ECONOMIC
:
I
HIS LORY,
horticultural
quarterly; historical,
and etymological information;
Dr Christopher Thacker, French I
Studies, University, Reading, Berkshire,
lie
England.
PLANTS AND GARDENS,
quarterly; some
on domestic and
editions contain data
horticultural aspects of herbs. Available from: Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Brooklyn.
NY 1225, USA (QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF CRUDE DRUG RESEARCH, quarterly; scientific aspects of crude drugs, both animal and
and
plant,
their derivatives. Articles in
and German; published and subscriptions: Swets & Zeitlinger B V, Publishing Dept., 347 b Heereweg. Lisse, The Netherlands. RIVISTA DI ERBORLSTERIA, quarterly; English, French
since-
&
London 1867
C
Candle Making
Hodder &
StOUghton, Sevenoaks, Kent 1976) LJphof, J C T Dictionary of Economic Plants Wheldon & Wesley, Hik Inn, Hertfordshire 1970
Cultivation Aichele, I) Wild Flowers Octopus Hooks,
London 1975, L H Manual of Cultivated Plants (Macmillan, London 1949) Brownlow, M E Herbs and the Fragrant Garden (Darton, Longman & Todd. London 1^78 Bailey,
and Sanecki,
1
Redgrove, H S Scent and all about it lleinemann, London 1928 Rimmel. E Book of Perfumes Chapman Hall,
DG
Herb Growing
[961. Back copies
medical herbalism. Editor: Dr Angiolo Via E S Piccolomini 159, 53100
Severi,
Siena, Italv.
THE HERB GROWER,
quarterly; mainly
horticultural aspects. Available from:
Grower,
'974 David, E
Day,
M
M
Plummer, B Fragrance Robert Hale & London i()7*)
1936
Hewer
often of relevance to herbalism. Editor:
1974) on Herbier de S A. Paris i<)7")
Science Press,
1
Duckworth.
New York Mcssegue,
Pouc her,
Cyclopaedia of
(stoking
1973 Feed four Pace
(Lutterworth Press, Guildford,
Delights
(
1977)
GARDEN
Pol Pourris and Oilier Fragrant
J
volumes
R
Beautepar
i<)~3
iteau,
Health Holsworthy, North Devon
NYv\ York
et
New York
Gardens
Botanical Drugs and Preparations
Barber,
Sante
Surrey 1975 Huson, P Mastering Herbalism Abacus, Tunbridge Wells, Kent [977; Stein & Day,
Medicinal and
to the
Michael Joseph.
\
Longman,
1969 (. and Brcyer-Brandwijk, Watt, J Medicinal and Poisonous Plants 0) Southern and Eastern A/rita Churchill Livingstone,
M
Snuff Shop
London 197 Audy, J and Fondin, J Its
& A New York
1
M
editions per year 1954-1972. Scientific journal on botanical medicine. In 1973
PlanUi Ldita SA, Lausanne 1968 Brooklyn Botanic Garden Record Plants and
1970) E Textbook of Pharmacogv Churchill, London 1962;
J
I he
J
Twentieth Century
the
1977)
Domestic and cosmetic uses
Vogel, V J American Indian Medium University of Oklahoma Press. Norman,
191 7)
Gardening for
(John Murray, London 1923 The Dictionary of Hay, R and Synge, P Garden Plants (Ebury Press & Michael Joseph, London 1973) Herb Society, The Growing Herbs London
John Murray,
Tschirch,
1
C
Teetgen.
T Herbs. Spices and Flavourings. & Charles. Newton Abbot. Devon
Stobart,
London Eley,
New York Graphic
distrib.
Herbs, their Culture and Uses
(Macmillan, New York 1966) Day, A Vegeculture (Methuen & Co.,
1)
Medsger, O P Edible Wild Plants Macmillan, New York 1966 Miloradovich, The Art of Cooking with Herbs and Spices Doubleday & Co.,
New York 1972 Wilson, C A Food and Drink Constable. London 1973
1976)
&
1975)
Society. Greenwich,
R E
Clarkson.
1
Hayes, E Herbs, Flavours and Spices (Faber & Faber, London 1961) Hogner, D C Herbs from the Garden to the Table (Oxford University Press, London
Vertus
Hamlyn.
197
England (Macdonald
Falls Village,
Herb
Conn. 06031, U.S.A.
THE HERBAL REVIEW,
quarterly; all herbs and herbalism. Available from: The Herb Society, 34 Boscobcl Place,
at
pe<
tS ol
London SWi, England.
THE HERBARIST,
annually; non-medical of herbalism. Available from: The Herb Sex iety ol America, 300 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, Mass. 021 15. I'.S.A.
aspei
ts
2 93
General index
bronchodilators 61 bruises, herbs to treat 66
digitalis
Buchu brandy 145
dioecious plants 36 Dioscorides 18, 18, 21, 49
bulb 35
Burgundy Vole
numbers
Page
in
Italia
refer
bold type
illustrations. Entries in
to
distillation
pitch 238
burns, herbs to treat 66
refer to
calyx 36
recipes.
absorption, extraction of oils
i
cambium 41 Candied Angelica 88
12
candle-making 94
adaptogens 56 adrenergic drugs 63 Adrianople Red 254
Canon Medicinae
aerial roots 35
cardenolides 56 cardiotonic glycosides 56 cardiotonics 56
After-bath Cologne 105 Aioli French Garlic Mayonnaise 84 air fresheners
95
alcoholic beverages 82, 83, 89
Cardamom Cake
87
Alexandrian School of medicine algae 31. 32 alkaloids 42. 58. 59, 61,
108 Almond water 248 American medicine ji anabolism 53 anaemia, herbs to mat
<>
17.
cell,
48
j
powder 166 China, medicine
Ancient Rome-, medicine
Chin Nong
11.
18,
pi
e
hlorophyll 29,
angina pectoris 56 Anglo-Saxon herbals >i Angostura bitters tg animal medicine 103 animal repellents and traps
enflcurage
cholelithiasis
m/\ mes
choleretic
61
>
Christmas Day Pudding 86
|
m
c
hromatograph)
c
limine brimc lulls 6
i~,. 1
|
120. 132, 134, 136,
138
chutne
\ s.
herbs
in
c(ei.
11
Cinnamon Spinach Circa m\tan\
anther 36 anti-asthmatic agents 61 antibacterial agents 6a anti-bilious herbs 76 1
84
plan)
lass,
e
Clove oranges 97 Cocoa-butter neck smoother 109 Cold cream 108. 109 enlds. herbs to treat 67, 76
Arab world,
compound
medicine
hi.
pi
aromatherapists 104 Aromatic beads 98
56
aspirin 190
asthma 61 atropine 42, 59
Aubergines with Herbs Avicenna 19, 15. axillary buds 35
81
41)
infei
Barilla 257
Basswood Tea 273 104 Bath salts 104 bayberry tallow 226 beef, herbs to go with 82, 83 betel chewing mixture 156 beverages, herbs in 82. 83 biennials, herbs 39, 120, 132, 134. 136. 138 oils
crgotamine 63 ergotism 176 serine 63
Herball by
nuns
herbals, history of 21-24
1.2
extracts ol plants 43. 44.
herb, definition of 7
1
indoors 122
Inns herbes
Conservation of Wild Creatures and Wild Plants Act of 1975 129 Constantine the African 20. 20 constipation, herbs to treat 59, 67 container growing ol herbs 120, 122 convergent evolution 38 cooking with herbs 75 91. 123
Fish au Poivre Vert 79 fish, herbs to go with 79, 82, 83.
7
flatulence, herbs to treat 60, 68 r
,7
herbicides 128
Cruydboeck 2
Franco's Dip 84 Frangipani aroma 106
herb pillows 97
Cucumber
freezing herbs 74
Fruit sundae special fungi 32
cultivar 34 cultivation of herbs 132-9
dairy foods, herbs in 82. 83. 90. 91
garlic
Garlic Bread 88 powder 90 garlic salt 90 Garlic Soup 78
.
22
Botanic Beer 89
Dandelion Wine 89 De A rboribus coniferis 42 1
De Caum Planlarum
Gazpacho
-'/
77 Genera Plantarum 24 generic name 34. 141 Gerald of Cremona 20 Gerard, John 21, 22. 50
Simplicibw 19
I),
bouquet garni 7-,, 77 bouquet simple 75 British Herb Tobacco' 102
diabetes
bronchitis
digestive system 54,
2 94
garnishing, herbs for 90. 91 gastric hyper-acidity 59
7
decoction 44. 64. 65 De Materia Medica 18. 21. depressants 63
Botanologia 24
f>i
1
~)8
diarrhoea, herbs to treat 60, 67 digestion 44 ;/.
55,
7;.
germination 41 -,8
60,
58
Gill
Tea iq8
Herb Omelette Herb Rice
face
cytoplasm 40
bitter tonics
1
1
herb honeys 88
oil 108 Culpeper, Nicholas 22. sj
19
soil-conditions 120, 32 -9 stocking a garden 1 19 window -boxes 121. 122
fragrant herbs 76
counter-irritants 63 Critica Botanica 24
1
siting 115
Fragrant cleansing lotion 107 Fragrant herb pillow 97
bitters
\ature 2
1
selecting plants
Forcemeat 85
gall-bladder disorders 60 gargles, herbs in 68
of
knot gardens 123, 124, 125 paths 16 perennials 39, 120, 132 9 plans 118. 122. 123. 124. 126 plants for walls and pavings 120
propagation and cultivation 125. 132-9
Flour of Mustard 163 flowers, structure of 34, 56 fly papers 102 Foot powder 106
Cynar 89
Book
90. 91
95
biosynthesis 42
Body powders 195 bonne- femme soup 245
151 39
1
1
-1,
Conjunctivitis, herbs to treat 67
corolla 36 cosmetic herbs 76. 103-1 13 cotyledons 36 coughs, herbs to treat 61, 67. 76
84
herb gardens 1
103
fever-allaying herbs
flavonoids 42.
Herb Dredge
1
birdlime 102
bleeding, herbs to treat 66
2
annuals 20, 132-9 beds 16 biennials 120, 132-9 container growing 120, 122 edging plants 120 for blind people 122 hedge plants 20 herbs for cooking 75 91. 123
Gale Beer 226 Galen 8, 18, 19, 49
59 blackhead removers 107 101 Black ink
1
1
curry powder 82, 90 cuts, herbs to treat t>7
43
herbal tobaccos 102 herbaria 130, 131, iji
herb bouquets 75 Herb butter 84
fixatives
1
Herbal butter-milk cleanser 107 John Gerard 21
Europe, early medic ine '1 exocarp 36 expel torants 6l, 67 expression of essential oils 13
fertilizers
1
1
ferns 32
leaf 36 88, 90, 91
to
1
lattoush salad 245
mj
compost accelerators
to
1
facultative parasn
59
1
1
harvesting herbs 129. 132-9 headache, herbs to treat 68 head lice, herbs to repel
411
06 reams 108 face masks 107
corm 35
bacteria 31 baking, herbs used in 82. 83. 86, 90, 91
bath
nllc
1
heart diseases 56 58 hedge plants 20 herbal baths 04
face cleansers
collecting herbs from the wild 128
1
harmine 63 harmol 63
Eye baths 105
Coles, William 22 c
I
arrhythmia 57 arteriosclerosis
1
I
,
hair rinses
1
antispasmodics gg anti-tussive agents tu Anti-wrinkle lotion 109 apothecaries 22, 50 appetite, lack of, herbs to Ileal 66 earls
i,
1
halitosis,
1
lassilu alion 33.
hair 109, log hair and scalp conditioners
12
essential oils
211
71
61
plants
1
42, 102
hair dyes
1
cleaning agents 93 leansing lotions 107
anti-cough agents 67, 76 antidepressants 63 anti-emetics 59 antiseptic herbs 66, 76 ( >
1
cirrhosis 60 e
108
epiphytes 39
/
Guild of Grocers 71 Guild of Pepperers 23.
herbs to treat 68 hallucinogens 47. 63 halophytes 38
1
7
Hager-Handbuch 259 Hahnemann. Samuel 51
ephedrine 61, 63 ephemerals 39 epigeal germination 36
6c
s
in
23. 50.
guayacan 199
haemolysis 42 80. 82. 83. 90. gt
mask
48
15.
Company, The
edging plants 120 egg dishes, herbs in
endocarp 36
|.o
37,
Grocer's
gynoecium 36
emetics 59 je>.
Grand Herbier 1 6 Grappa con ruta 257 Greece, medicine 11,
gums
113
Elderflower Wine 89
11, 13
c
1
3c),
'17
.)<>
cholagogues 60 holcc \siitis 60
246
Egypt, medicine to. 14. 48 Ehrlich, Paul 54 Elderflower Fritters 86
sail ejn
hloroplasts
glycosides 42, 60. 62 glycyrrhizin 59
Ebers Papyrus 14, 71, 263 Eclectic Materia Medica 262
emphesyma
hive
1
Gooseberry Fool 86 Goulash 79
21,
Eggplants with Herbs 81 Egg white and cucumber
13
c
Ancient 'spice' perfume 113 androecium \i<
annuals, herbs antagonists 63
_fo
chili
til,
Dodoens, R.
Eau de Portugal
76
90
plant 30. 40.
chilblains, herbs 10 treat
anaesthetics 63 analgesics 63
glues 102
>
8.
81
12
1
diuretics 57, 76 division, classification of plants 34 Doctrine of Signatures 19. 22
'
Chicken Legs Hunter's Style 78 Chicken Paprika 79 Chicken with Rosemary 78
oil
Gingerbread 87 Ginger Jelly 86 Globe Artichokes
7
druids 49, 49 dr\ ins; herbs 43, 74» I2 9- 3°- '3°> '33- '35. '37- '39 dy es 93 99. lo ° : dyspepsia, herbs to treat 68
cardiovascular system 56 carpel 36 catabolism 53 celery salt
ale 90, 91
Almond
20
Capillaire 143
16
15, 16,
19,
gin 89, 209 1
drugs, administration of 54 drugs, effect of 54
Abulcasi* ig
Aesculapius
25
Diodes Carystius
mask
108
herbs
80
81
see also
herb gardens
collecting from the wild 128
cooking 75-91, 123 cosmetic use 76. 103 -13 cultivation
15-39 drying 43, 74. 129. 130. 130. 132-9 dyeing 93. 99. 100 fragrant herbs 76 1
freezing 74 harvesting 129, 132-9 pests and diseases 128
pot-pourris 95
Herb Sauce
85 herb sugars 88 herb teas 44. 75. 82. 83. 90. 91 Herb Vinegars 82. 83. 86. 90. 91
Herb wines
89. 90. 91
Herophilus 17 Hippocrates 16. 16. 48 Hippocratic Oath 16
Mint and Grapefruit
Historia .Vaturalis 18
by Ray 223 Plantarum, by Theophrastus
Hisloria
17
monoecious plants 36 mordants 99 morphine 25, 42, 51. 233
Huang-ti 13 112. 113
mosses 32 moth bags 99 moulds 32 Mrs Tritton's Dandelion Beer 89 mucilages 42
hypogeal germination 36
Mushrooms
hypotensives 57
Mustard
Ibn Baitar 49
Mycophyta 32 myrica wax 226
mushrooms 32 a la Grecque 84 Dressing 85
Mss. Appolonius 17
identification of plants 44 Ignis sancti Antonii 76 1
mhotep 14, 14 ndia. medicine 13 ndigestion, herbs to treat 59. 68 nflammauons. herbs
to treat
68
Jarmo
Oatmeal
10
jaundice 60 H'orlde 24
olivette
234
<>il
lamina
herbs
lar\ ngitis,
ureal
t<>
me
Big
48
..1
1
1
.1
parasites 30
Lemon Verbena
scented ink
pedii
lichens 42.
Linden n in
I
; j.
10
1
j
1
2 1.
liqueurs, berbi
31
4.
.'
el
Ii
pei fumes,
5I)
liverworts 32
pi 111
;li
London Pharmacopoeia 50
peristalsii
Lonitzer'l Kreuterbufh
Pesto 85
/',
.11 |i
and
pests 12
Magnus. Alberius
-"•
'
<
u-
petioli
1
it-
1
j6,
1
38
ation
"i
113
diseases ol herbs ihj, 128
aweeds (
sessile leal
mi rin 111.1I hei Ii medii inc men Menei rata 18
physii gardens 23,
")
ph\
-
)i|
1
in'
11
1
em
|ilnitns\ nthesis
6l {
pilin
6
1
microscopical examination of plants
I
-
«
,
1
r » »
1
.ilisin
ilii
.Hies
'.i" 7
1
•
i
Pi
|.|..
•
4
1
1
;'
(5
mile 40
vegetable dishes, herbs in 81, 82, 83, 90, 91 vegetative organs 53 veterinary medii ine 103 \ Hilai 63
»»
mm
|6
shellfish,
1
simple
1
vir.il inlci
.11
1
herbs to go with 9
leal
|)
/,
cell
plan)
1
plant
}o
1.
1
and
plan
I
i"
1 1
-,
1
lion
I12
niilii 11
press
lodium algjnati
ation
1
1
;
.n
1
69
von Liebig, Justus 3 \ on Megenberg, Koni
ai
Warburg's Fevei
ture
;
soil-conditions
on 3
1
planl siriK Hires 34
foi
1
window -boxes \\ in
1
ini
London
!
14
121.
1
estershire saui e
Worshipful
1
herbs 120. 13a
I
1
1
Society 23. 2
\,
22 1
90
ol
Apothecaries
ol
31
138
1
1'
1
ion
I111 lis
Whole Wheat Herb Bread 86
1
i"
ation
laasifii
i'l'
omiting,
j
leep-indui ing herbs 76 imoking mixtures 102 snulls 34. 02 Soap balls 105
11 1.
plan)
\
Simple scented powder 106
181
plant null of
(13.
.11
valepotriotes 63 Vanilla sugar 88
1
shampoos 109
30
pisti
ii
mildi
Ministry
1
Pimpernel water di<
m lati
mi tabolism
\
seeds, slim line nl
Pickled Mackerel 80
\
mid. 11
sedatives
4
I
(»8
ulcers 59 unorthodox medicine 48
\
1
41
methyl sain
-in -1111
Piccalilli
mcvii arp mesoph ytes 38 M> lopotamia mi inii.ilx.il
(7,
I
tussie-mussiea
I
1
1
jo,
;
3
phloem
let
-,
1
a
1
oikI.im meristem
mead, berbi in 89, 90 9 237 medies al medii inc 9, pi
65
I>2
opolamini
si
20
iropane alkaloids 59 tuber 33 iirkc\ Red 254 Turkish lamb 79 iirner, William 2
Sea-Bream with Fennel 80 ea s.ih (>8
sepal
1
rrie
.
histor) of 24
transpiration 35
savour) butters 75 si aids, herbs to treat 69 si ented notepapei 109
-
>»
sjiii is.
Trattato de Prestilentia
7
ti
Philosophiea Botanica 24
uana
toxic dose 57 trade of herbs and
()l
)2.
saproph)
teed dispi
i
toothache, herbs to treal 106
Tooth powder
g6
tranquillizers 63
phai in.ii opoeia \u pharmacopolist!
tii
waters I 13 tonics 56, 59, 69, 76 toilet
1
Marigold Wine 89
iikini
pharmai olog)
tincture 44 tisanes 44. 75
.1
1
phai
materia
1
238 Anthony's Fire 7*1 s.ilr of food .Hid Drugs Act 1873 Salmon. William 2 1. 32
si
j
31
thorn 35 Tinctura antiperiodica 191
herbs in 82. 8
\t
111.11
Thompson, Samuel
Tragus, Hieronymus 21
Mai-Bowl< Manilas 7 1
35
Sage and Onion Stuffing 85
1
petal
2
1
17, 31. 71
therapeutic dose 37 the rouge 231
238
mis in-
laasifii
1
pi n. mill
1
^>
11 11 1.1
11
The Englishman's Flora 258 The \ames of Herbes 260
'1
Al,
I
1.
j
36 thalamus 36
Theophrastus
Si
1
ii
(ration 44,
50
1
<•>
liver diseases 58
111.11
e
pen olation 44 H Is. berbi 2 perfumer)
1
Linnaeus. Carl
\
pepperi orn rent 71
ea 273
hi
'
1
13.
u
rii.i
testa
257
k
Sage
in
t;
pedum
simplui medinnn 20
I.iher dr
1
.
Pea Soup 77
101
ushlights
s.l,
Ii
lepra
1
i
P.lfsll
9
i
terminal bud 54
Rome
lent
Irdicinae 2
passiflorini
Leech Book oj Bald
tendril 35 /
Rosehip Soup 86 rosella hemp 201 Rosemary herb pillow 97
101
pancakes 270
herbs in 44. 75, 82. 83, 90, 91
teas,
1
Ant
s.n In Is 113,
I
tansies,
|g
4
1
tee
I'. 11 kitisnn. John 32 Parsley and Garlic Eggs 80 ,
37
talcum powder 105
I
Para< elsus 22
1
33.
tannins 43
root-gatherers 15 Rosa Angina 2
1
lavender bags 97 lavendei doiliei 97
nergism
tahini 263
root, structure of
paper-making
v.it
eda
I
Rome
(Ii
lateral root 34
l.i
s\
rhizotomists
I
Lavender Powder 106 Lavender-scented pomander beads 98 Lavender Water 113
quinine 25. 51
Rhazes 19. 4(1 rheumatic fever 56 rhizome 35
1
pain-killing herbs 63, 76 Pamphilos 18
bud 34
lateral
sweet dishes, herbs in 86. 90, 91 sweetmeats, herbs in 88. 90. 91
1
\<,
<>
of Hungars's water 234 quinidiiu 37
union
o\.ir\
34, 35
Queen
respiratory system 60 2,60
g
36
suppressants, herbs 67 sweat-inducing herbs 76
74
1
Onion Kuchen 87 sail
style 36,
reserpinc 37, 63 respiration 4
ovules 36
Lacnunga
strewing herbs 95 strychnine 51
137. 139
receptor theory 54 Regimen Samtatis Salerno 20 reproductive organs of plants
facial 108
orthodox media
2
89, 167
stomach soothing herbs 76 stomata 30 'Strassburg Turpentine' 142
radicle 36 receptacle 36
40
ell
1
(
Krtuterbueh
stolon 35
S\rupus de Mcconio Mesuae 233
Oregano Flan 80 Organs Tea 22
7
stipule 34, 35
stigma 36 stimulants 63. 76
77
Orange-flower water 113
khcllinbi knot gardens 123, 124. 125
poudre de chipre 106 poultice 64. 64, 65 primary meristem 41 primary metabolism 41 primary root 34 Primrose Tea 247 propagation 126, 133. 135.
stem, structure of 35 steroids 42
Sweet and Sour Tomato Salad 84
oil
juleps 88
stamen 36 steam distillation 44
Pun-tsao-kang-muh purgatives 59
obligate parasites jo of Serpolei 27 2
21
1
pomanders 95 Poppyseed Sauce 84 Porgy with Fennel 80 pot-pourris 95-6 Potted Shrimps 79 Poudre a la Mousseline 106
Pulque 14b
nucleus,
kummel
spice trade 24, 71. 72 spike lavender oil 21
13
1
Nettle Beer 89 by William Turner 21 nicotine 63 Night cream 109 Nikander 7 node 34 nomenclature 31, 141 nosegays 95
1
spice sugars 88
polypharmacy 49
1 ,
sublingual drug administration 34 suppositories 54
Jackson, Lewis 32 jams, herbs in 90, 91
kr. M ins
pollution 128
Plantarum 3
specific epithet 34, 141
psychotherap) 47
Norwegian Caraway Soup
internode 34
Meat Founde
Species
stuffings 85. 90, 91
1
nsect repellents 69, 1 03 nsomnia. herbs to treat 69
Joyfull .\ewes out of the
plumule 36 pneumatophores 38
81
34 34
prothallus 33 Pseudo-Apuleius herbal 48
.\'ew Herball
nfusion 44, 64, 65 nks 101 nsect bites, herbs to treat 69
John of Gaddcsden
species, classification
nausea, herbs to treat 69 Last, agriculture 10 nervous system 62. 62. 63, 63
Near
nfluenza, herbs to treat 68
Rosmarino
Spaghetti
Pliny 18. 71
pomade
hvbrids 34, 141 hydrophytes 38 hyoscine 42, 59 hyoscyarhine 63 hypertension 56 hypnotics 63
Malthaeus 20
Platearius.
1
homeopathy 51 Horehound candy 219 Horseradish Sauce 84
Hungary Water
Cflcktail 84
Mithridates 7. 48 modern medicine, history of 25 Modern washballs 105 Monardes, Nicholas 24
Historia plantarum.
,
/
1
1.M..
11
herb
Sorrel Soup 78 Soused Fish 80
to
ti
eai '",
Yeast face \\
l(
in
;
mask
57,
108
41
295
Index of plants Page illustrations.
numbers in Italia refer to Page numbers in bold tvpe
refer to the entry in the reference section.
Amadou
142 Abies alba cv. Columnar xlba c\ Compacta
Amaranthus hypochondriacus L. 151 Amaranthus retroflexw 15: 1
Amber
42
Abies balsamea Marshall 244
abrotonon 260 Absinthe 158 Acacia see Acacia Senegal Willd. 112. 142. 212
Acacia catechu
L.
Gum
142
Acacia
Acacia Senegal
Willd. 101, 102. 142
L.
Acanthus mollis L. 142
acchannum
Acet
•;/
Achillea millejolium L.
107.
104.
103,
132. 143
10.
1
102,
ackeley 154
Aconite 143
Acomlum I
napellus
L
143. 154
2(1
L
Acorus calamus
59, 95, 117. 08.
[02,
13a,
•43 Actaea racemis longtssimw
Adder's Tongue 230 Adiantum capilluAdonis annua 144
1
7
1,
143
I
<
Aethusa nnapium
AJramomum
144.
I..
2
{6
Agai
156
Armeria maritime
Willd. 156
Mill.
Centaurv
Artemisia 98. 120. 122 Artemisia abrotanum L. 95. 158 Artemisia absinthium L. 88. 103. 132. 158 Artemisia dracunculoides L. 132. 158
=,q
Cranesbill 196
Ginseng 233 Linden 273 Liverwort 152 Mandrake 242 Pennvroval 221, Sea Lavender 5b Sloe 280 L'pland Cotton
Artemisia dracunculus
Wormseed
Asaraban
Acanthus
Artist's
Arum
1
L
75. 132. 158.
agno ast< Agnus ( a^tu* 282 Agnmonia 60 Agrimoma eupaloria c
189 a 160
Beile Pepper
asaro;
Betonica
Asarum canaden- I. 159 Asarum europaeum L 160
Betony 52. 69. 89.
Maton 285
Asclepias tuber osa L.
Ash
160
52.
1
6b.
officinalis
Asparagus
officinalis
subsp.
Asparagus
officinalis
subsp. prostralw ibi
161
06
151
Beauv
L.
Ailanthus alli^ima
A)uga replc
.
188
146
Anemone acuttpetala Hon i-,i Anemone alpina I. 151 Anemone alpina subsp. sulphurta
Seingle 146
Mill.
I03.
akalyphe 276
161
see /satis
tmctoria
~ 1
2i>.
Anise
I20.
iq.
122.
/->/.
132.
22,
2
1
2
}.
anisoi
Birthwort 156 Bishops-weed 144 Bistort 66,
Biting Stonecrop 262
(
roi us
177
172
Cavara
L.
Hoffm.
75, 132. 153
rusticutn 144
Allium cepa L. 100. 103. 132. 148 Allium satnum L. 62. 75. 103. 132. 148 Allium schoenopr asum L. 74. 75. 103. 132. 149 Allium tuberosum 149 Allspice 77. 80. 82. 90. 95. 96. 102. 239 Almond 15. 107. 108. 109. Ill, 248
Alnus glutinosa Gaertn. 149. 192 Miller 60,
97. 101, 104. 105.
1
10.
L
5<-|.
162
13
Balsamodendron opobalsamum
BaKam Poplar Bamboo 93 Band Plant
see
Kunth 244
Populus candicans
Vine a major
set
banillen 278
Banjawi 267 barbe de bout 273 Barberrv 60. 162. 218 Barlev 10. 101 202 Barnacle Tree, fabled Barometre 167 .
Blackcurrant 82. 252 Black Cutch 142 Blackeye Root see Tamus communis Black Haw 280 Black Hellebore 53. 201. 278 Black Horehound 69. 162 Black Indian Hemp 154 Black Lovage 265 Black Mulberrv 225 Black Mustard 163. 264 Black Pepper yj. 82. 241 Black Peppermint 223 Black Radish 251 Black Root 280 Black Sampson 184 Black Snakeroot 173 Black Walnut 1. 208 Bladder Cherrv 237 1
tree 52
82. 84. 85. 8b. Basil 30. 38. 68. 69. 75. 7 9. 8 90.98. 104. 105. 119. 120. 122. 123. 127. 1
.
1
Bladderwrack 192 Blazing Star 214 Blessed Thistle 120. 176. 264
Aquilegia ;ulgaris cv. Alba Plena 154 Aquilegia lulgaris cv. Flore Pleno 154
aquilinae 154 Arabian Coffee 177
Bav Laurel 39 Bav Tree 71. 73.
Arachis hypogaea L. 108. 109. 154
90,95. 104. 106. 134. 211 Beans 10. 37. 82. 83 Bearberrv 155 Bears Breech 142
Bluebell 102. 129 Blueberry 277 Blue Bothem 168 Bluebottle 168 Blue Cohosh 168 Blue-Devil see Echium vulgare Blue Flag 207
Arbutus 185 Arbutus unedo L. 155
255
Black Brvonv bb. 269 Black Cohosh 134. 173
22
1
Alnus glutinosa
see
Blind Nettle 210 Bloodroot 67. 69. 138. 259 Bloodwort 201
araruta 219
Aloe lera L. 149
Balsam
Alder
Bla< kberrv 68. 75. 77. 89. 104.
229 basilikon phuton 229 Bavberrv 67. b9. 226
Araco aromatico 278
Aloe perryi Baker
(entaurea nanus
let
Balm of Gilead 67. 69, 244 Balm of Mecca 244 Balmonv bo. 171
Aphanes arsensis agg. 153
Aloe 60. 145. 149
Blai k
.
68. 69, J 76, 82. 88. H 120. 122. 123. 127. 136, 197, 222. 22^
Gaerm. 153 L.
Orange 175
Bittersweet 168. 265 Bitter Wood of Jamau a 248 Bitter Wood of Surinam 238
1
22C1 1
243
1
haris
Ballola
29.
166 Fennel 191 Bitter Milkwort
Balm
apiastrum 222 apium 236 Apium crispum Mill. 236 Apium graitolens L. 154 Apium petroselinum L. 236
apium
<
Ballota nigra
.
Apocynum cannabmum L. 154 Apple 67. 68.82. 83. 108 Apple Mint 123. 224 Apricot 15. 82. 83 Aquilegia vulgaris L. 154
triphylla Brill
90
239
anvsum 239
& Grande
bat
Almond 248 Ash 238
Bitter
ae lauri 21
bachbung.
Bitter Bitter
I
Bitterc res*
ballot'
Anthriscus cerejolium
•47 Allium ascalomcum L. 148
s
bak
Anogeissus latijolia 102
Alliaria officinalis Bieb. 148
bai
123,
I
Bitter
.,,,.
126,
Anise
Antennaria dioica
algae 31. 32 Alkanet 111,1 20. 147 Alkanna tmctoria Tausch. 147 Al Kenna 2 12 al-kharsuf 181 Bieb.
see
107, 161
162
Avens t>7 197 \\ncddo 108
anisum 230 anneson 239 Annual Marjoram 230
1
2i,U
12=,.
18. bo. b7. t>8. 69, 76, 82. 88.
Aniseed
147
Alehoof 34. 1Q7 Alexander* 95, 120. 265 Alexandrian Senna 167 Alfalfa 73. 220
jirr,x
123.
277
Autumn
Bachelor's Button
102. 106. 120. 20b.
Alder 37, 67. 149. [92, 2.1= zyj Alder Buckthorn 60. 67. 192
Alliaria petiolata
I
(17.
Birch 66. 93. 100, 162 Birch wort 156 Bird Pepp<
161
\
I
angiosperms 33 Angostura 194
1
Alchemilla recutita 104 Alchemilla vulgar. gjj
Alecost 82. o
Bilberrv
auril ula muris 2112
trill'
I
Alchemilla alpina L. 147 Alchemilla mollis 48
•49
.
<->• 153 127, Angelica archangelica L. 88. 103. 132. 153
2=,(i
Alchemilla
Aloe
11
I
rose' 150
Mace 172 tripartita L 163
Bigarade 175 see Citrus auranlium var. amara Bigarreau Cherries 248 Big Barlev 202
.
Alrupa belladonna
1
.146
i
161
258
atrix
bevondsea Bidens
officinalis
Asthma Weed 189
1
266
Bible-leaf
L
jrbata Ib2
7b. 80. 90, 146.
(17.
Agroprron reptns
akte
1
160
Asparagus 82. 83. 161 Asparagus
9V
266 102. 138.
Betula lenta 195 Betula pendula Roth. 162
R Dahlgr
Burm.hl.
Asperula odorala L. \sp-ol-)i rusalem
L.
officinalis
Betula 93. 100
192. 238
7. (17.
nthus linearis
Anemone hepalna 1. 152 Anemone Pulsatilla L. 152 Anemone Pulsatilla var. alba Anemone Pulsatilla var rubra 152 Anethum graveolens L 74. 75, 1,2. 152 Angelica 38. 66. 67. 6 82, 88.
L. 89, 146
Piper belle
see
Amnmum
nsnaga 61 cardamon L 185 •r,um compadum Soland ex Amomum Zerumbeih 28^ Amomum zingiber I. 285 Ampelos agria z6g
catechu
betODJca 266
Amm
.
Agnmonv
263
Bethlehem Sage 120
Anemone
145
Bergamot Mint 223 Betel 240 Betel Leaf 240 Betel Nut 112. 156 Betel Palm see Areca
Bethroot 274
Agaricus 191 Agathosma betultna 1.
244
I
Astragalus gummijer 98. 102. 110
AgOVt ameruana
75. 76. 82. 88. 90. 95. 96. 97. 102. 106, 113. 120. 122. 127. 136. 225
L. 159. 244
athanasia
145
Bergamot
Acanthus mollis
see
A ndropogon ,7
Bere 202
Betel Plant 156
Asa dulci* \-al< tida
197
Berberis vulgaris var. atropurpurea 162
159
Arum maculatum
171
Herb
Berbens vulgaris L. 60. 162
Artemisia redouskti 158 Artemisia lulgaris L. 52. 132. 159 Artie hokr bo. 66, 82. 83. 88. 181.
1
04
Benzui 267
219
10.
1
Benedict's
Atropa belladonna
set 1
tripartita
Benjamin 267 Benne 263 Benzoin 108. 109. 267
Arrowroot
Anchiiso officinalis 111. 147
Pillans
Scherb.
Bittersweet 168
Agar-Agar 195 Agaru 191 Berg
&
Arnica angusli/olia 157 Arnica montana L. 102. 157
Hypericum prforalum
.
Agave 145
Belladonna
Beilis perennis
Aloe 145
.
miliguita Rose. 145
Aristolochia serpentana L.
armoracia 157 Armor acta rusticana Gaertn. Mev •57 Arnica 66. 102. 115. 120. 15-
Amygdalus communis L. 248 Anacardium occidentale L. 151 Anagallis aquatu Anagalhs aritn^K I. 151 08 Ananas salnus 101
Aescutus hippocastanum L. 144
Beetroot 82. 83 Beggar's Buttons 155 Beggar Ticks see Bidens Belene 203
Anstolochia clematitis L. 156
ampelos melana 269 amugdalr 248
emails L. 144 Aegopodium podagraria L. 144 indium podagraria variegalum 144
Adonis
Argentaria 245 Argentina 245
151
see
American American American American American American American American American American American American American American American American
bechion 275 beckpunge 279 Bedstraw 67. 100. 194. 256 Bee Balm 225
Areca Nut 156. 240
191
Amaranth
ilba cv. Pendula
Arctium lappa L. 89. 107. 155 Arctostaphylos uva-ursi L. Spreng. 155 Areca catechu L. 156. 240
.
Aaron's Rod 278 Abata Cola see Cola acuminata :!ba Mill.
'
Alpine Anemone 151 Alpine Lady's Mantle 147 Alpine Plantain 67 Alpine Windflower see Anemone alpina Alpima officmarum Hanre 59. 150 Althaea officinalis L. 59. 60. 150 Althaea rosta L. Ca\ 150 Althea 150 Althea Rose we Althaea rosea
136. 169.
75. 78. 79. 80. 81. 82. 84. 1
13.
1
20.
1
21. 123.
27
Gum
Lungwort
Pulmonana
see
Cactus 226 Cajuput Tree 220 Calabar Bean 237 Calahualae 244 Calamint 120. 132. 164
Centranthus
Calamintha ascendens Jord. 164
Cephaelis ipecacuanha
Calamus
Ceratonia siliqua
officinalis
Rocket 143 Sailors see Cichorium intybus
Weed
Bog Rhubarb 235 Bokhara Clover 221
Calluna vulgaris Caltha palustris
Boletus laricis Jacq. 191
Borage 67. 68,
76. 82. 88. 90.
1
19. 120.
L. 88. 132. 163
officinalis
Bosuellia serrata 63
Bottlebrush 186
Buxus sempenirens
Bra'sica nigra
Capparis \pinosa 75. 165 Capsella bursa-pastons L
Koch
L.
75,
163
Capsicum 166 Capsicum annuum L
Braunella 247 Brauneria anguslijolia 184 Breakstone see Aphanes anensis
Agai
M\rrh 227
Cardamtne
.iidamom 68. Cardoon 181
^8. 93,
1
Cardttui sanctus
1
22.
196. 256.
103
Brunei! 11-' ii-
<
ommune
Bin
(
(
hinese
(
(
hinese Lantei n 237
at
\\
32.
1
Herb
-
\\
<
ai rot
(
.1
Sagrada
.1
Bean
01
astoi
Im
Bullet Gall 101
(
asuarina 37
Bull's Ears
(
an
Bunny
Calharanlhus roseus
278 Bars 278
Burdot k 'i'i -<>. Hi). 107. 155 Bui Mangold 163 Burnet
76, 8
11
;6
1
246
(
1
'
1
1
ai
ao
Ill
henhrnma COtOO
2
G Don
tao, 122. 127. 136, 1
'
' '
(
1
281
1
dai
../"/
95,
1
1,
<,H.
,
228
Mi< hx
|.
Celei
i'
)
tntaun
,1
77
27.
1
h Sii
166
pies
1
(
(
172. 195
146
154
103
I
I.
136
|6
168 169
8<|.
Basil
1
Ocimum
set
Bearberry
set
Bittersweet
m
basilicum
Arctostaphylos
«.•«-
Bonesel
lommon Bugle 146
Common ommon Common Common ommon Common
Calamint 164 (
lommi
lelandine 170
(
lentaury 169
(
Ihen
Laurel 248
s
Chicory
(
(
(.ilastms scandens
Eupatorium perfoliatum Buckthorn set lihamuus catharticus ><<
in
ommon Common
loflee
<
lomfi ey
177 1
Dandelion
(
Cichorium intybus
set
(
38 wi
/
aiaxtuum
n/ficinalt
Fig 190
('ommon Foxglove 183 lommon Hoik 205 ommon Hoik hoi k 150 Common Horehound set Marrubium
I.
21,2
Common 1
hi
10^.
a
st
n nu
Horse Chestnui
set
ruhjnn
lesculus hippo-
m
Common ommon Common (
Is |
200
s
unipei 209
Mallow 218
lommon Mas -apple 242 lommon Melilot 221 lommon Milkwort 243 ( lommon Mulbei 225 (
L
Nutt
(
134, 173
(
'
1
.
Cinnamomum c innamomum i|8.
68. 69. 73. 76. 8g. 104. 108.
29,
(
Cinnamon
1(18
Centaurium erylhraea Kaln
165
1
(
90
74 ( in, bona "Jin ninhs L. 174 Cinnamomum camphora Nees
168 '1".
hi
120,
275
20,
1
(
I
im
Endl. 177
lira
32. 149
Cichorium intybus var, Wittooj 173 11 ula 78
1
"ii.
Common Common Common
Cimicifuga racemosa
I.
84,
1
103,
|i
as ed Parsley
tana
168
78. 79, 82, 90,
3
sinndrns
7''.
hoisya term
1
Celastrus orbiculalus 168
Celery
(
138.
Common Com im >n
171
I.
78. 80, 82, 84, 90, 23.
el
38. 268 Commiphora molmol Engler tot, 106, 178 Common Alder 149 ( lommon Alkanet 147 ( ommon Anise see Pimpinella anisum Common Asparagus set Asparagus officinalis ( lommon Balm 222 Common Barberry set Berberis vulgaris
1
landine 170. 250 IU
1
Schotl
.
57
Columbine 154 Comfrey 66. 67,
olate 27
(at rls
Ht
1
22.
1
.
1
122,
173
Cichorium intybus L. 134, 173 Cichorium intybus sar Brunswick 173 Cichorium intybus sai Magdeburg 173
<|8. 1
1
.iiiliniim
Peppet 67, 72.
',
11
j
Ihoisya 93
Chun
'53
aiula equina
In
1
(
228
36,
(.rntaurrn munliiriii '/
I
I.
(.auliiphyllum Ihalutintiiis
(
Cabbs
60
142. 2
2.
I
34.
Chrysanthemum anemifolium 63 (.hnsanthemum halsamita I. 99, 172 inthemum cincrarii/ohum Vis 99, 103, 172 Chrysanthemum parthenium I. Bernh. 173 Beinh inthemum vulgart I. 69
nip 228
in
Broom 256
Butterbur 235 Butterfly Milk Weed 160 Butterfly \\>>d .. \sclepias tuberosa Butternut 208 Button Snakeroot 2 \ BUXUS srmperi irrns I. 164
'
>ai
'
Basil 22
Butt In
1
Catnep 104
1
Bush
Illl
.
Catmint 68.
Saxilra^c 240 Bui rage 163 Burr ( iar\ Bui
laatoi Oil
cassia
mi. 253
Plant
ill
(
(
1
Christophonana canadensis racemosa 173 Chry lanthemum 38
Rieinus communis
see
23,
hopnui let Physostigma enenosum Christmas Ros. 201
144, 168
Castanet lativa Mill
1
2-,o
75,
173
Colombo 208 Colombo Root
(
Vahl 167 In' Cinnamomum
Barl
I
06
Cole
Rhubarb 252 74,
34. 168.
Colchicum autumnale L. 177
niton ui8
til.
20.
1
anguilijolia
t
1
Ihinghai
jl>
'17
1
Ihinese
1
122,
pi
1
i
let Jattorhiza palmata Coltsfoot 21. 67. 68. 69, 76, 89. 102.
Chondrus crispus Stackh 1
,
a acutifolia
Ins es
Chionanthus virginicus
251
2 18.
m Nul 151 lassia / |g 60 95
1
(
2
120,
linnamon 174
Radish
( (
('Ins.-
in
.1
'
Meliliilus nlha
inn. 182
{.
167
(2.
1
60
.'
!
Bulbous Violet 193
-
H2. H
8
inum petriisthnum Benlh at sophs Hun .''hi
1
(
I.
1
17
\juga replant
.
<>8.
,-
'/1
-.1
146
see
1
at
2
eed 143
Bugle " rageen 172
lai |»
2~,2
ecd 146. 217
Bugloss 147. 184 Bukhara Clovei
1
(
1
20
1
1
(.mum inn
Bugbane 173 Bugle Bugle
mi
pentei
j.
2311
(
(
But kbean 39, m; 224 Bui kthorn \J. 251 Bu< kwheai 57, 75
(
'1
1
1
Ihinese
<
Bin barest K hubai ! Bin Iiii ,7 145
102
himalati 200 Ihinese Anise 206.
(
Ihinese
1
145
1
183
1
166
177
Cola Nut 68. 69. 177 Colchicum 177
Ink
(
1
Cohosh
20,
1
(
1
buboniou 19a
69, Hj,
ii)(.
s
arolina I'mk 266
1
Bryony 66, 103, 163. 269 Br sophs la 32
(
151
Cola acuminata Beaus
267
66, 68.
1
Coffee 177
(-'
-•
aroiella
2 \~
82. 83 o j. 163 (\
Pea
k
Chili Peppers
13.
02 Agrimonia eupaloria
cocum 237
7
1
coca
Coconut Palm 35. 95. 176 Cocoj nucifera L. 95. 176 Cocowort see Capsella bursa-pa
>" Saliconda europaea
(
(
dioica Ja<
Im
1
1
see
Coflea arabica L.
(
.'-,li
Brunch Sprouts
Gum
arob
Cocklebur
Cocoa-Plant 109. 271
76
1
(
Cochlospermum gossypium
Cockscomb
Chickweed
-
264 Cocaine-Plant see Erythroxxlum Coca Leaf 187 Cochlearia armoraaa 75, 157
96
Chicken-Claws
71.
1
I. 69, 167 Carlinc histle 167 ( arnation 95, 96, 97, 10a, 105,
260
274
Brown Muitard
185. 283
<|o.
'
Club Moss 216
Chervil 75, 78. 79, 82, 90, 126, 127. 132, 153 ( Ihestnui 144. 168
166
I.
-
Cnicus benedutus L. 176.
Chcrrs 61. 8.-. 83, 248 Cherrs Bas 248 Cherry Laurel 248
89
(arlinn maulis 120.
16.
Binussonelia papirijrra 101 n Belh
8k
-
Chelbenah 190
(
1
-
Chenopodium bonus-henricui
167
32.
1
81. 82. 87. 88.
Carduus benedutus
Cloves 49. 68. 69. 82. 85. 86. 88. 89. 90. I2 '3- a6 9 95- 9 6 97- 9 8 '°5- lo6 see also Sy-ygium aromaticum Clo\ e-Tree 269
1
'67
25,
pratensis
<
Bronze Fennel 191 Brooklime 279
27.
1
1
1
119.
«7"
79, 82.
76
25,
1
( laraway Seed can out 179
Brombn m
Brunelle
23.
1
Broad Beans 82. 83 Broad-leaved Do< k ..'-," Broad-leased Saye 2 r-,H
Broom
66. 68
ill.
Chenopodium 20 Chenopodium album L. 128. 54. 171 fodium ambrostoidis var. anthilmintium
166
13
1
Chelidonium majus L. 170 Chelone glabra L. 60. 171
166
I.
DC
Carawa\
110.
109.
1
Capsicum microcarpum (.apsuum minimum 166
Briar 253 brionia ni^ra 269 British
Medic. 166
166
urn fruteSCCni
Breakstone Paroles 153
British
Cheiranthus 95.
Caper Bush 165
Brassica juncea 163
107.
104.
Chaste Tree 52. 282 Chaulmoogra 270 Chaiica siriboa Miq. 240 Checkerberry 195 Cheese Rennet 194 Cheeses see Malta sylvestris
Cape Aloe 149 Cape Gum see Acacia Senegal Caper 72. 75. 82. 90. 165
brahmi 203 Brake Root 244 Bramble 255 Brank Ursine 142
103.
Charitx 243 Charlock 250. 264
Cannabis indica L. 165 Cannabis satiia L 165
10,
Clove Pink 76. 90. 134. 183 Clover 35. 103. 13. 221. 274 Cloveroot see Geum urbanum
68. 69. 75. 76. 89. 90.
120, 122, 127. 134. 170. 220
1
r
see
134.
chapeau du diable 235
1
1
Boxwood
102.
1
175
12.
Clivers 194
chamaimelon 220 Chamomile 18. 67.
Cananga odorata 96. 06 Candleberry see Myrica cenfera Cane Apples 155 Cannabina aqualica 88 Cannabis 165
Bouncing Bet 7. 138. 260 Bowles Mint 123. 224 Bowman's Root 280 Box 23. 124. 127. 164 Box Holly 256 Box Tree 20. 164
89.
170. 220
Canadian Fleabane 186 Canadian Hemp 154 Canadian Snakeroot 159
122. 123. 127. 132. 163
Borago
Ach. 59. 170 Ceylon Cinnamon 175 Chamaemelum nobilc L. All. 59.
Link 175
L.
Cise see Allium schoenoprasum Clary 122, 127. 138. 258 Oars Sage 258 Claiiceps purpurea Fried. Tulasne 63. 176 Cleavers 68. 194 Clef de St Pierre 247 Clematis 122 Climbing Bitterssseet 168
Cetraria islandica [L.)
1
amara
95. 96. 97. 107, 108.
Cilrus sinensis 95, 97,
A. Rich. 59. 169
Brot.
Cervi spina 192. 251
Camphor 49 Camphor Tree 174 Canada Balsam 244
Boneset 67. 188 Bookoo see Agathosma betulina
1
Cereus grandiflorus Mill. 170
00 Calumba 66. 208
Boldu 236
Burm.
Cilrus limon
02
1
106
c.17.
Citrus auranlium var.
Cereus 170
Hull 93. 165
L.
DC. 169
L.
83
am milium
Citrus
1
Century 169 Century Plant 145
California Fern see Conium maculalum California Poppy 35
Gay 236
Boldoa fragrans
Citrus 82,
Centranthus ruber var. albus 169
L. 104. 108. 109. Ill, 164
officinalis
1
108
Citrullus lanatus
66. 69. 169
5 Centranthus ruber
132. 143
Calendula
Boldo 236
Br
Centaury 59, Centella 203
Eucalyptus globulus
see
184 Bocksbohnen 224 Bog Bean 66. 224 Bog Myrtle 226
Brow
cacauatl 271 cacho 142
Ginseng 168
Blue Blue Blue Blue Blue Blue
1
cassia
Blumi
1
el
95,
Eberm 106, 174
teylanicum Nees 88, Bg 1
3.
Im
go 95 96
174
g
I
,
96
175 18, >if;
^5,81,82,84,87,^, 102,
1 1
3.
175
Common (
lommon lommon
M
(
)al
lommon
(
>x
Common
I
cum thapsus
227 Nettle 276 1
j
Common (
)
Mullein
Ii
tie
[01
p 247
lYons 232
;<)7
Common Common Common Common Common Common Common Common Common Common Common Common Common Common Common Common
Pigweed 171 Plantain
see
Plantago major
Polypody 244
Rue
see
Ruta graveolens
Sage see Salvia officinalis St John's Wort 204
Snowdrop
see
Tansy
101
t«
conferva 268 conifers 33
Conium maculatum L. 178 Consolidae maioris 268 Consolida Saracenia 266 ullaria ma/alis
L. 57, 95, 97.
113,
i
34,
178
Cool-Tankard see Borago Copal Tree 146
»79
123. '34-
sativum L. 88.
106, 134, 179
<»-,.
Cornflower 67. loj. 168. 169 Corn Poppy 233 Corn Salad 39. 120, 122, 123, 127. 158 corona regis 22 Costmar) 90,99, 120, i172 Cotton 101, 198 Cotton Lavender 99, 259 Cotton Root 198 Cotton Weed 53
dents
Dei
1
<1<
lion
1
83
Duns
-'.
malaccensii 103
Dianthus plumanus 95,
Parsnip 201 Cowslip 61. 66, 67.
Digitalis lanala 76. 82. 89.
120.
B26,
Digitalis lutea
Mate 20 Mandrake 163 1
Oak 250
m
Equisetum
103, 105,
97
113. 134. 183
183
(|t>.
57
Digitalis purpurea L. y>.
1^4. 183. jyi
1
1
'
Fagopyrum esculentum 57 Fall Crocus see Colchicum autumnale False Bittersweet 168 False Chamomile 220 False Hellebore 144 Fat Hen 28. 134. 171 Featherfew 173 February Daphne see Daphne mezereum Felon Herb 159 Female Regulator 262 Fennel 60. 67. 68. 69. 77. 74. 76. 79. 80. 82. 84. 88. 90.
104.
1
10.
120.
122. 123.
127. 134. 191
Fennel Wood 261 Fenugreek 66. 274 Fern-leaved Parsley 236 ferns 32. 115 Ferula foettda Re gel 189
Buhse 190
Ferula galbamflua Boiss. et
Slapl 185
Ferula rubricaulis Boiss. 190
Fevcrbush 205 Feverfew 115. 120. 122. 123. 173 Ficaria major 261
7,110, 186
1
Ficus Carica L. 190
Balm 197
Equisetum hyemale 93 Equisetum sylvaticum 100
Field Larkspur 183
Erba pagana 266
Field Pansy 281
Ergot 176 Ergot of Rye 176 erigeron 262
Field
Field
Poppy 233
Fig 67. 190
Figwort
Erigeron canadensis
57
Everma 00 Everma purpuracea Eionymus europaea 187 Eionymus europaeus 187 Eyebright 67. 102. 105. 189
1
Ephedra nebrodensis 185 Ephedra smica 185 Epigaea repens L. 185
103
Dianthus barbatus 96 Dianthus caryophyllus L.
Cow
English Holl\ 205 English Ivy iff Hedera helix English Laurel see Prunus laurocerasus
Ephedra equiselina 185 Wall.
Bn Scabious 268 Dewberr) ut Rubusjruh
Basil 169
Endymion nonscnptus 102 English Alder 149 English Hawthorn see Crataegus monogyna
Ephedra gerardiana
Devil's
67. 146
73
cnulc-campane 206 Ephedra 39. 61. 63. 185
103
is
1
English Primrose see Primula vulgaris English Rhubarb 252 English Violet set Viola odorala English Walnut jff Juglans regia
270
liplica
1
Cow
42. 161
Delphinium consolida L. 183 Delphinium Staphisagna L. 103. 183
1
Couch Grass
ajacis
276
67.
English English English
carota ssp. fativui 183
Everlasting 198 Everlasting Thorn 249
elifagus 258
English Lavender 211
carota ssp. carota 183
Evening Primrose 229 Evening Star 229 Evergreen Alkanet 147
1
Eleutherococcus senticosus 232
Elm
stramonium L. 39. 59. 182 carota L. 57, ion. 182
Delphinium
elelisphakon 258
Endive
Dense Button Snakeroot 214 Denla Leonis 270
Corn 109
1
270
Dead-Nettie 210 Deer's Tongue 214
84. 88. 90, 95, 106, 120.
120.258.259 206
10. 111.
62. 67. 120. 127. 134.
185 67. 68. 69
101
Deadk Nightshade
officinalis
Coreopsis 100
Coriander 68. 82.
Datura Daucus Daucus Daucus
90. 95. 100.
cardamomum 88 Elettana cardamomum var. mimscula Maton
Daphne 120 Daphne mezereum L. 182 Daphne mezereum var. alba West. 182 daphnoides 182 Date 67
Achillea millejolium
62. 184
#
Elettaria
82. 89. go. 100. 103. 104. 129.
Danube Weed iff
Euryale jerox Salisb. 228
Elettari 185
Danewort 258
Artemisia
absinthium
Cone Flower
Chrysanthemum
><»
cinerarifolium
Wild Cherry 248
Common Yarrow
Flower
Insert
1
European White Birch see Betula pendula European White Hellebore 278 European Wood Sorrel see Oxalis acetosella
Arctium lappa
see
104. 107. 108.
Elecampane
Daisv 104
Dalmatian P\rethrum 172 Dalmatian Sage 258 Damiana 275 Dandelion 35. 39. 57. 60. 66.
272 Tormentil 246 Valerian 277
Conundrum
Egyptian Onion 148 Egyptian Privet ;/;. 212 Elaterium Fruit 184
Dalmatian
see Tanacelum vulgare
Wormwood
182 Cypripedium pubescens Willd. 63. 181 Cytisus scopanus L. Link 260
Daikon 250
officinalis
Thvme
Wheat
Edible Burdock Eglantine 253
Elder 67. 69. 73. 76. 82. 86.
Galanlhus nivalis
Speedwell see Veronica Sunflower 200
Cypripedium calceolus L. 182 Cypripedium calceolus var. pubescens Correll
see
Scrophulana nodosa
ulmana L. 59. 89. 100. 104. 190 Finnocchio 191
186
I.
Ftlipendula
Cowslop 246
Digitalis purpurea var. alba 183
Eruca vesuaria L. 187 Eruca vesicaria ssp. saliva
Cramp Bark 280
Digitalis purpurea var. campanulata 183
Eruscus 256
Fir
Cranberry 277 Cranberry Bush set Viburnum opulus Cranberry Tree 280
Digitalis purpurea var. maculata 183
Ervatamia dichotoma 63 Eryngium maritimum L 187
Firelhorn 249 Flag 66, 67. 68. 95. 97. 98. 102. 132. 143
Eryngo 187
see also
Cranesbill 35. 66. 68. 196 Crataegus monogyna J acq. 57. 179. 273 Creeping Bugle 146
Dill
129. 246.
249
",7.
Dill 18. 60. 68. 6q. 73. 74. 75, 76. 79, 82, 86. 90. tig, 120. 121. 123. 127. 132. 152
Seed 152
Thvme
Honk 268
I.
272 Cress 122. 166. 79. 275 Crithmum maritimum L. 179. 257 Crocus 134. 177. 179 crocus indicus 180
Dipteryx odorala 102. iot>
Erylhrnxylum coca
Di\inr Flower
Km
Crocus sativus L. ill. 134. 179
Dog Poison sec Aethusa Dog Rose 69, 86, 253
Creeping
1
set
Dianthus caryophyllus
Dock 67. 89. 256 Dogbane 54 Dog Briar 253 cynaputm
Crowfoot 154
Drosera rotundifolia 61
Cubeb 241 Cubeb Pepper
Dryobalanops aromatica
74 Dryopteris filix-mas L. Schott 33. 184 Dryopteris spinulosa O. Kuntze 184 Dulcis amara 265
Cuckoo-flower 166 Cuckoopint 66. 159
Cucumber
66. 68. 82. 83.
103.
105.
107.
108. 109
Cucumis satuus 103. 105. 107. 108 Cucurbita Pepo var. ovijera 107
Cudweed
153 see also Gnaphalium uligmosum Culver's Physic see Veronicastrum iirgimcum Culver's Root 280
Cumin
15, 68. 71. 76. 82. 89. 90.
134. 180
Cuminum cyminum L. Curacao Aloe 149
89. 134. 180
120. 123.
Dver's
\<
ads 33
Weed 208 Woad see lsatis
Eau de Cologne Mint
123. 136.
Ecballium elaterium A. Rich
(.inara scohmus L. 6p, 88, 181
Echinacea 66
rvperus
298
i8r>
L. 181
Echinacea angusltjolia
Echium vulgare L. 184
europaeus cv. Burtonn 188
Eupatonum cannabinum L. 188
DC.
Hayne
223
184
62. 184
see
Sambucus nigra see
Solidago viragaurea
Holly see Ilex aquijolium Horse Chestnut see
Fluellen 279 Foemculum vulgare Mill.
74.
88.
103.
127. 134. 183. 259. 261
105. 189
Centaury 66. 69 Crowfoot 154 Elder
Ins germanica var. florentma
110.
Foenugreek 274 Fomes Jomentanus L. Fries. 191 Fomes officinalis Vittadini Bresadola 191 Fool's Parsley 144. 236 Forking Larkspur 183 Fountain tree of water, fabled tree 52 Foxglove 25. 26. 42. 52. 56. 57. 119. 120.
Eupatorium perfohalum L. 188 Eupatonum purpureum L. 188
Goldenrod
see
'34- >9«
Eurasian Chestnut 168 European Angelica 153 European Barberrv 162 European Birthwort see Anstolochia clematitis European Blackcurrant see Ribes nigrum
ebulus 258
officinale
L 187
euphrosinum 163
East Indian Rhubarb 252 East India Root 150
Plantago psyllium
Florence Fennel 120. 191 Florentine Iris 207 Flores stoechado- . Flowering Ash 192
europaeus cv. Aldenhamensis 188
European European European European European European
226
see
Fleur-de-Lis
104. 187
46 europaeus
Wood
Fleawort
europaea 187
Euphrasia rostkoviana
tinctoria
(.tnara cardunculus 181
Cjmoglossum
Euonymus Euonymus Euonymus Euonymus Euonymus
Club Moss 216
Flea
Euphorbia lathyrus 103 Euphorbia resimjera Berg. 182. 189 Euphrasia officinalis 102. 189
Dyer's Bugloss 147 Dyer's Greenweed 100. 196 Dver's Madder 120. 254
Curcuma longa L. Ill, 180 Curcuma Zedoana Roscoe 181 Curled Dock 256 Currants 82. 83 ( usparia Bark 194
63. 187
Nut 237
Euphorbia 189 Euphorbia heplagona L. i8q Euphorbia hirta L. 61. 189
Dwarf Elder 258 Dwarf Lavender 120. 123 Dwarf Mountain Pine 240 Dwarf Thistle 167 Dver's Broom 196
Dyer's
i
1
Durmast Oak 250 Dutch Parsley 236 Dutch Rhubarb 252 Dutch Rush 93 Dwale 161
curcuma 180
Lam.
Fir 33. 142
Ins versicolor 207 Flag Lily 207 Flanders Poppy 233 Flannel Plant jff Verbascum thapsus Flax tot. 120. 215 Fleabane 186 Flea Seed 242
Eugenia pimento D<
Double Chamomile 170
Cubebs 241
ir
Eucalyptus globulus Labill
Donke\'s Ears 278
Piper cubeba
186
Eucalyptus 67. 104. 187
Croton tiglium L. 180
see
II
esob 204 Esparto 101
1
Croton 180 Croton Seed 180
Tin
rr\simon 264 Erysimum officinale 264 Erwhrodanon 254
Dioscora tnllosa yi
Dipsacus tativus
Mill.
Aesculus
hippocaslanum
European Polypody see Polypodium vulgare European Spindle Tree 187 European Vervain see Verbena officinalis
Fox's Brush 169
Fragana vesca L. 107. 108. 191 Frangipani 106 Frangula alnus Mill. 192
Frankincense 267 Fraxinus excelsior
7
Fraxinus ornus L. 192
French Beans 82, 83 French Lavender 211. 259 French Lilac 193 French Rhubarb 252 French Sorrel 123. 231. 256 French Tarragon 86. 122. 132. 158 Fringed Lavender 211 Fringe Tree 171 Fucus vesiculosus L. 103. Fuller'^ Teasel 268
1
10.
192
Fumaria
Golden Ragwort 262 Golden Rod 66, 67. 69. 266 Golden Seal 66. 67. 68. 69. 202 Good King Henrv 171 Goora Nut 177
L. 193
officinalis
Fumitory
67. 193
fungi 30. 32
Galanga 150
Gooseberry 82. 83 Goosefoot 128. 171 Goosegrass 194 Goose Grass see Potentilla
Galangal 69. 150 Galanthus Elwesii Hook. 193 Calanlhui nivalin L. 193
Galbanum
190
Gale 226 Galega
L. 193 Galega officinalis var. albiflora Boiss. 193 Galega officinalis var. Harllandu Hon. 194 officinalis
galion 194 Galipea cuspana St Hilaire 194
1
Chervil 153 Heliotrope see Valeriana
officinalis
Garden Lettuce 210 Garden Marigold 164 Garden Mint 224 Garden Nasturtium 275 Garden Pans\ 282 Garden Purslane 245 Garden Sorrel 256 Garden Thyme 75. 272 Garde robe 158 Garlic 62. 66, 67. 68. 69. 74. 75, 77. yS. 79.
Gourds 10 Goutweed 144 Gractlaria confenoides 195
herba benedicta 197
Grains of Paradise 145 grana paradi--i 43
Herba chamaedryos Herba erysini 264 Herba fullonis 260
Ground
Gelidium 195 Gelidium amansn Kutz. 195 Gelidium carlilagmeum Gaill
Ground-nui 154
Mustard 147 Gaullhena procumbens L. 63. 195 Garlic
Km/
Bi uni
Sond 195
mn An
Gelsemium semper,
Gemeini
Ground Pine tee I.ycopodium Ground Raspberr\ 202
195
195
Genista 260
Genliana lului
y,
I.
96
76, 90, 95,
97, 103, n>»>. 181,
Geranium maculatum
102.
<|t>.
I.
robertianum
I.
196
.1
1
in. in
mini urbanum Ghatti (linn I
(,ill
Ovei
\1\ 1
'i".
<
//
1
Haruthorn
283
1
Parsley
I.
127.
i.
11
'
,
Healing Herb -• Symphytum Heal ( In 2)8 Hearteate 281 Heath< 93, 165 Hedeoma pulegioides I. Pen
ulirpnrn
ii
.in
llr al
hoke 60, illhin
I.
66, Ba, 83, B8, 181 -,<).
I98
1112
lull/lull/, I
Gnaphalium ditricum Gnaphalium mutticeps Wall
III
]i,V.
Hedge
Garlic
Hi dgi
II
'.niiiiii 1
Soldi
11
Marjoram
1
10
I'm ilane 245
raa,
2 <,
124
105,
tuckli
216
1
ill -.hi
hmi
I
op
hi
<
1
leel
12,
,
ut,
II nliarii
(
u< 67 68 6g
lo\
Hik kleben
I.
108, 110, 134,
200
h 202
\
n
22
1
Hi bin
11
I
I.
I
Join! In
1
202
I
Helleborui nigti sar
llellebnrus uneiiliilis 201
Hayne
201
Juglans " gia
I.
Warb. 270
,
iilrnr,
myi
I
I,
202 203 ;(, y
1
208
209
03,
ea Mustard 163 Junius conglomerate 9
Julian
king
208
I. 1 1,
ii<
Junipi
//,
,201 Altifotius
1
) li
'1
II
officinalis
Ephedra gerardiana
sii
Juglans nigra
//,
Hydrocotyli asialica
soi
Java liankmc ense 267 Jei a 90 never 209 Jerusalem Artichoke 82, 83 Jerusalem C lowslip 249 Jerusalem Sage tei Pulmonaria
20, 181
Hypericum mniulalum 100 Hypericum perforatum I. 100, 204 Hy poglosson 1 ;6 '• Hyssop 57 66 6" 69 Ba, Bg
1
11
Jasminum officinal* 104, 105 Jateorluza palmala Miers 208
120
277
i.in
104,
Jasmini Rool 195 Jasminum 95, 96, 97. 102, 112, 113
Hya< null 95 Hydniu injur
102,
96, 97, 122. 123
so,
1
Jessamine 195 Jesuits' Tea 305 Jew \ Myrtle 256 Jimsonweed 182 Ji ii-c hen 232 Joe-pye Weed 188
Helltborus foetidus
In)
In.
11 3,
1
hussopos 204
199 264
69,
is,
Juglans cintrea
I tumulus lupultti
,7,
1
j<
Hydrastis canadensis
III 1
68
mm ao ope 277 Hellebore J3, 103, 144. 201. 278 Id
'
66, 67,
1
1
hrute 257
147
Hedge Mustard
Hilu
Gnaphalium uhginmum I. 198 K in 193 roal n-Carpel h Sedum at n
1
1
Housi
21MP
1
Helianthus armuus
153
I
Hound's
1.
1
heleio telinon 236
98
Japanese Isinglass 195
Japanese Rose 254 Japanese Star Anise 206 Jasmine 76. 82. 91. 95,
50
1
["histli
Sorrel r« Hibiscus sabdanffa
Jamaica Tea 201 Jambul 68
150
k
'
1
1.1
Ann
1
10
1
Jamaica Sarsaparilla 265
.
officinal*
Lonicera caprifolium
see
200
Jamaica
J.
66, (17. tic, 8<,. 127. 162, 219 Horse ( Ihestnui 144 Horseheal 103 Hoi Pai ley tt Smyrnium olusalrum Horseradish '17. 7-,. 82 B4 8 90, 157 Hoi tail 7. 93, 100, 10, 186
247
I
1
Globe
all
208
.
103, 205,
-I
1
eng i'i8. 2-j2. 233 Gipsy Flown 181 (.i|iv\ woi 217 Gladdon 206 Gla vmjii 257 homo hedi racea I. 134, 197 1
1
Hoik
Hoiehound
179. 373
1
201
Hordeum ipontaneum Km Hordeum ulgan I. 202
Hazclworl 160
1
Woodbine 35. 123,
Jaborandi
(17
1
236
\grimonia eupatorie
ft,
L.
Hoyw ceil Hoh
hole
Hi" ileum sativum 101
201
207
L.
L. 207
ixus 259
1
Lici
Lamk. 207 207
).u
199
2 r,i
spuria
k-ln-lhe-hedge 147 Jacob's Ladder 243 Jamaican Quassia 238 Jamaica Pepper 90, 239
I /milium
1
pallida
[vy
95 96 97, 33, Bine 202 Hops yi 68, 69, 76, 83, 89, 90, 97, 103, 123.
1
Iris Iris
Iris virginica
201
Dvkcs 207
Moss 66, 67. 68, 172 Shamrock 231
Iris versicolor
Hordeum ischnalherum Schulz. 202
Hambuig
Haw kweed Haw llioi
Irish
Hop
23
Iround 197
B7, 88,
Irish
202
183
.
1
nermanica v ar. florenlina
Iris
18(1
Honey 279
nica officinalis
206
L.
germanica L. L. 95. 96. 97. 98, 102. 105. 106. 10, 207, 281
Italian
Holy link
b
L. 207
var. albicans 207
Heidra 273
Holyoke
io
1
maloxylum tamptchianum
II
59,
02.
1
Hamamelis virginiana
18. 67, 68, 69, 71. 1
li
195
Gingelli 263
89, 90,
1
1
Iris florenlina
Iris
Holm Oak 205
178 agai anth 11
1
61, 169
Iris florenlina
Iris foet.dissima
HolK Oak 205 Holmi
142
anthinum
.ic
llamamihs
112
Ik
I
at ac iae
208 Ipecacuanha 59, Iris 127. 206
Hibiscus sabdanffa L. 201
pilosella L.
206
caulis 52
Ispaghula 242 Italian Ryegrass 274
Holly hot
>
is
[satis Imcloria
habrotanun
197
I. 1
llala
iti
Gill) flowei
Ginger
»'
Gummi Gummi
Io\
1
Hera biennis
Kliul1.11 b
Gigartina
Gum Gum
mi, 103, 142 Benjamin 267 Benzoin 95, 98, 106, 107
I
German Rampioi <
187
ennel 191
I
mclegueta
1
lovis glans
hipposelinon 265
memum
G\ mnospei n G\ ps\ 'j Rllllllal d\ ps\ weed 217
197
German ( lhamomilt 220 Germander 121, 13H. 271 in. in
280
1
1
Hibiscus 69. 75. 76
hiltil
Gum
(mm Gum
122. 127. 196
mi
Rom
111, 112
Inula helenium L. 62. 103. 134,
la pastora 275 High-dried Rhubarb 252 Hitili Mallow cm Malta Tftoestris
2I11
Tobacco 215 Water Navel Wort 203
Hervea 205
Hteracium
\i .ilin
una punctata y, Genliana purpurea y.
(
199
196
169,
Genliana macrnphi'
urn
199.
H mid
urn
hi. 11. 11
Pink 266 Spice 282
ion agrion 281
herbe a I'oiseau 267 Herb Gerard 144 Herb of Grace 256 Herb Robert 66. 68. 197 Herb) grass 256 HercuU"- Woundwort 247 hcrpvlh^ 27
199
Guinea Gi
100, 196
I.
Mi. 68, 190, 169, 196
Geranium
Guaiacum Resin Gueldei
Genista linilonn
Gentian
I.
Pennywort 203
campana 206
inula
Herba Trinitatis 281 Herba Urinaria 270 Herba Valerianae graecae 243 Herba veneris 279 Herba Veronica major i^ 2~u Herb Bennet 197
claialum
Paint 259
lndigojera tincloria
hierba de
Groundsel 262 Guaiacum officinale (
lli
271
Herba sacra 279 herba salsifica 273 herba Sancti Ioannis 204 herba sanctii ruperti 197 Herba Taraxacon 270
Iv\ 67. 197
Dreamer 165
Indian Indian Indian Indian Indian Indian Indian Indigo
herba pedicularia 183 Herba Philippi 260
Geldcrsrhe roCM 280
123, 132. 148
1
Herba Acetosa 255 Herba Beccabunga 279 Herba bella donna 161
Ginger 158
206
Siebold 206 tllicium reium Hook.f. 206. 239 Indian Corn 01 Indian Cress 275 lllicium religiosum
Heracleum sphondylium L. 201
Gean 248
103. 120.
205
Grav 205
L.
tllicium anisatum L.
Gossypium hirsulum L. lot. 198 Gossypium peruvianum 98
Buckwheat 75
en sis St. Hil. 77.
1
lien verticillata
Henna 110. II 1. 212 Hennebane 203 Hennibone 203
Hellebore 201, 278 Purslane 245 Grwdelia camporum 6 Groats 161 Ground Elder 144
80. 81. 82. 84, 85, 86. 88. 90,
Hex paraguar
203
39. 63,
aquifolium L. 102, 205
Ili\
Henbell 203
Grandilla 235 Grass 67. 101, 146. 274 Gratia 199 Gratia Dei 199
204 204
L. 74, 103. 134.
officinalis
Iceland Moss 59, 66, 68, 69, 170
188
Gossypium arboreum L. 198 Gossypium barbadense L. 198 Gossypium hnhaceum L. 198
Green Green Green Green
Hyssopus
144, 178
Henbane anserina
Gravel Plant 185 Gravel Root 188 Great Burdock 155 Great Burnet 246 Greater Celandine 170 Greater Periwinkle 281 Greater Plantain 168. 241 Greater Prickk Lettuce 61. 210 Greek Myrtle 'a Myrtus com munis Greek Valerian 243
1
Gardenia jasminoides 113
IO3, 120, 122, I27, I34. I99,
Aconilum napellus
sec
Hemp 154. 165 Hemp Agrimony 66. Hemp Dogbane 154 Hemp Tree 282
Gratiola officinalis L. 57. 199
Hollyhock 150 Gardenia 13
Gelidium elegant
Hemlock
1
Asparagus 161 Burnet 246
Gelidium po/ycladium
Helmet Flower
:
Galium aparine L. 194 Galium mollugo 00 Galium tecum L. 7. 100. 194 Garden Angelica 153
Garden Garden Garden Garden Garden
Helleborus viridis L. 201
effuSUS 1 ,
,
.
120, 134,
|
65 66,
Juniperus communis
I.
7
82. 89, 91
1,
.
95,
1
1
1
209 I.
r
,7.
89, 95,
111,
134,
209
I.
I,
|
1
r.
2O3
Juniperus communis ssp
hibernica
Gard.
2011
ommunis ssp nana Syme 209 Juniperus communis vai brostrata Beissen 209 Juniperus snlnna I. 209 Juniperus tabina \.u tamariscifolia Aii 209 Juniperus
90
299
Jumperus sabina var. vanegata Laws. 209
Beard jusquiamus 203 Jupiter'^
kalumb 208 1
Lycopus europaeus L. 217 Lycopus urginicus L. 217
Lemon Grass 106 Lemon Mint 223 Lemon .Nut 208 Lemon Thyme 91. 120. 138.271 Lemon Verbena 97. 10 104. 105.
Lythrum
68. 69. 73, 75, 76. 82. 88. 89. 90. 119. 120. 122. 123. 127. 1 36. 222
kababe 241
Kami
Lemon Balm
Centranlhiti ruber
see
42
1
Kapparis 165
Mace
.
217
salicaria L.
10. 120.
1
.
Madder
100. 120.
Magnolia
Maguey
254
Karas a Gum 102 karkade 20! Kastanea 168
Leonurus deminutus 213
Mahonia aqutfolium
Leonurus glaucescens 213
Ma-Huang
Leonurus heterophyllus 213 Leonurus sibiruus 213
Maidenhair Fern 143 Maidenhair Tree 33 maiorana 230 Maize 10. 101 Male Fern 184 Mallow 67. 69. 102. 218 malum punicum 249
Gum
Katira
Leptandra virginica Nutt. 280
102
Kelp
kerasos J48
Hemlock 144
Lesser
kestron 266
Heaven Khamaidrys 27 Ke\^
.'47
ill
koamu
lie I
Km/
iimii
.11
;
198
also I
Set
.':
22
213
54.
1
lilium
<
I.il\
Lactuca sativa L. 210 Lactuca seariola irosa
2
I.
6
1
1
1
22.
t>8.
Lad's Love 158 Lady's Bedstravt 7. 194 Lads'- Mantle 48. tit). (17. 75, 77. 104, 107, 132, 147 Lad\ 's Slipper 63, 69, 181 Lady's Smock 166 Lamb's-Quarters set henopodium album
1
i
I.inum usitatissimum
Lapathum acutum 256 Lapalhum crispum 256 Lappa 155
Lippia citriodora
Liquidambei
Lapsana communis L. 210
Liquorice 59.
Larch
Liver-leal
i
Large-leaved Golden Purslane 245 Large-leaved Lime 273 Large Yellow Lady's Slipper set Cypripedium
Li\ er
decidua Mill. 191
DC
Larix europata tibirica
4
1
Lolium
102.
l»(.
1
Ma\
198
20.
Latherwon 93
11
I.
.
215
1
mulliflorum
Lam.
multifiorum
^-.p.
174
Laurus nobilis L. 75, 21
Loosestrife
see
104,
106, 113, 134.
Lorucera marilandua L.
216 266
1
-,<<
220
Podophyllum peltatum
sit
20.
1
22.
gale
59. 67. 68.
104.
61
103,
1
12,
Loranthus europaew L. 282
M
Lords and Ladies 159
Melnsa
1
104. 105. 106.
Laiandula
1
13. 21
sloechas L.
Laiandula iera
DC.
Lovage
1
123. I2
212
134. 21
1
Lavender
39. 68. 69. 73. 74. 91. 95, 96, <,;. 101, 102, 104. [05, 106. 113. !2().
98. 12
1.
122.
I23.
125.
68.
I20.
I27.
128.
I34.
211. 212. 259
7-
76. 80. 83. 91.
'34. 2I 3- 2I 4
lucerna 220
Lucerne 103, Lungwort 67.
Leek 69.
I.crrion 97.
75
3OO
/
/.
212 213
lupus
1117.
1118.
10.
112. 113.
68.
220
120. 122. 123.
202
-.alictarius
107
216
Lycopodium felage L. 216 /
officinalis
L.
Pall. 95. 96. 105.
Kopsis art ensis
1
84
127. 136.
221
222
L. 75. 88. 89. 135.
melissophyllon 222 Melist see Melilotus officinalis Melon 108 menastrum 222 Mauspermum palmatum 208
15.
1
159
225
Mullein 7. 61, 67. 69. 120. 138. 278 Mu-catel Sage 258 Mu^covitic Rhubarb 252 -
32. 91
63. 71, 75, 83. 87. 91. 163.
Myrica
cordijolia L.
Mynca
gale L.
264
226
226
Msriophyllon 245 Myristicajragrans Houtt. 89. 95. 96. 98. 106. 1
13.
226
Myroxylon 13 Mvrrh Myrrhis odorata 1
15. 49. 66. 68. 69.
101. 106. 178. 227
Msrrha 178
Mentha 74. 88. 89. 102. 104. 105. 13 Mentha aquatica L. 136. 222. 22 Mentha citrata 3b Mentha odorata 223 Mtiitha palustns 223 Mentha x piperita L. 59. 106. 107. 108. 136. 223 Mentha x piperita var. citrata Ehr. Brig. 223 Mentha x piperita forma pallescens 223 Mentha x piperita forma rubescens 223 Mentha pulegium L. 7. 95. 36. 223 1
rsicon esculenlum
1
lilotus officinalis
221
\
112. 212.
•dium clavatum L. 97.
26 5
'<
Coe
1
249
134.
1
9(1.
120.
Low Cudweed 198 Low Speedwell 279 Luban Jawi 267
Lavender Cotton 138.259 /
119.
Love-lies-bleeding 151 Love Parslev 213
I.asender Mint 223 l.au Mima inermis I.. 110,
Ledum groentandicum Oed. Ledum latifoliutn J acq. 213 Ledum palustn 1.. 2 13
104.
52. 66. 67. 68. 76. 120. 132.
Mscophyta 32 Mynca cerifera L. 226
Melilotus alba var. annua
Lavandula officinalis Chaix. 21 Lavandula spica L. 95, 96, 97. 98. 101. 102.
12
Melegueta Pepper 145
Loosestrife 68. 217
1
57
2711
Mustard
Lavandula
1
dioica
muggia wort 159
mushrooms
220
Melilot, 66, 67, 95. q6. 105. 120, 221 Melilotus alba Medic. 221
!
Motherwort 78. 213 moulds 32 Mountain Balm 164 Mountain Box 155 Mountain Everlasting set Antennana Mountain Grape 218 Mountain Mini 164 Mountain Pine 240 Mountain Savory 261 Mountain Tea 195 Mountain Tobacco 157 Mouse Bloodwort 201 Mou^e-ear Hawkweed 201
Melaleuca leucadendron L. 220
Lonicera penclymenum var. Belgica
latijolia Yill. 2
1
muscus catharticumuscus clavatus 216
Arclostaphylos uia-ursi
saliva L.
143. 154
morarius 225 Morello 248 moron 227 morsus gallinae Iba L. 227 Minus nigra L. 225 Moss 216 Mm- Beauty 187 mosses 32 Mother Die 178 Mother
Mucor Passtflora mcarnata
see
190 set
L.
Monk's Pepper 282 Monk's Rhubarb 256 mora agre-.ii- 277
Mugwort
1
225 227
13. 136.
Moutarde des allemand^
Lonicera penclymenum L. 95, no. Lonicera penclymenum var. Aurea
216 216
1
Mouth Smart
Lavandula 74. 104 Lavandula angustijnlia Mill. 211, 212 Lavandula denlala L. 211
216
164. 222.
Mulberrv
Medicago 117.
120. 121.
136.
Meadow F.yebright 189 Meadow Fern see Mynca Meadow Saffron 177
Mealberry
Lonicera caprifolium L.
119.
128.
mazariyun 182
Lylbrum
salicaria
113.
6g, 150
hamumilln 22"
Meadowsweet
Husnot 274
Camphor
<>H.
.
Mas Flower 185 Ma\ Lily 178 Maypop 234 Maypop Mas Apple
2711
Long Purple Spiked
95
219
89.
I.
179
May-apple
{2
1
230
Matl/n
207
1
(
110. III.
•
95
98.
(17.
llysiau Lis wel\
Logwood
Led. 191
Lathyrus odoratus
Laurel
1
\nemone hepatica
Lobelia inflata
Larkspur 183
h
Matricaria recutita L. 102, 103, IO4, 107, 109.
HBK
Lobelia nicotianaefotia 61
191
Moeni
205
76.
Matricaria
Lobelia 215
pubescens
77. 76, 79. 80. 81.
Benth 230
Main Herbarum 215
ioi, n>8.
I.
orientalis
set
liverworts
127.
1>8
1
Marrow 1117 Mamibium tntlgart
Male
ool 147
I.il\
104.
Mastic h 25
1
I
123.
I
anis 18
lingua
Lion's
maronev
t
limun 177 Linden Ling 93, 165 lingua
122.
i20,
18. 1)7. 73,
Marsh ( lelei j 236 Marsh < ludweed 198 Marshmallow 7< 117. Mai^hmarigold 100 Marsh Samphire 257 Marsh ea 213 Marsh Treibil 224
",t>
1
La pat liu in 256
Lam
76, 91,
77
humana 278 Linseed 66, 67, t>8. 108. 215 Linum biennt Mill. 2 5
Lau\
77.
69,
Laminaria digitala ;# Lamium album L. 210
'
120.
272
in.
1
Limonium vulgan Mill
hum
113,
178 \
69. 83. 89. 91.
tig,
iima hull, wis
97.
7/5.
127.
106.
1
57. 66, 67,
34,
1
219
20. i2i, 83, 84, 85, 86, 91, 97. 107. lib. 122. 123. 124. 127. 136. 230. 231
95,
210
.
H.
•una onites
Lime Tree
1
111.
tog,
Marjoram
42,
113.
125.
Mint Geranium see Chrysanthemum balsamita Mirasol see Heliantbu; annuus Mistletoe 31. 35. 49. 57. 69. 102. 273. 282 Mole Plant 103 \l'.arda didyma L. 77. 88. 97. qb. 97. 102.
occidental 10.
1
105.
123.
Monkshood
95
Lily-of-the-Valley
1
I..
104.
122.
223. 224. 232
i>rnus
Amuardium
set
102.
marchalan Marian Thistle 263 Marigold 66. 67. 68.
78
1
242
163. 164
,
on\ allium
218
Monarda Jistulosa
officinalt
Ligusticum tcoticum L. 214 I. ilium
163.
Marania Starch 219
108.
104
officinalt
Fraxtnus
see
Maranle: urundinacea
[10
>'.
{2,
Ligusticum
17(1
Labradoi Tea
Laburnum
1
hen-.
262 lignum floridum 26 Lignum \itae see Guaiacum
and Pav. 246
74
Lactuca
Maple ;; Maranmi
>i
kustumburu Kutch 142 1
I
Achillea millejolium
Milk Weed 160 Milkwort see Polygala vulgaris Mint 60. 69. 74! 76. 83. 84. 86. 88. 89. 91.
55
1
see
122. 136
Milk-thistle 263
10. 12. 15, 63. 163. 218.
Manna 192 Manna .Vh
Life K\ erlasting 153
kunoglosson 181
kwei
mani
4 Willd. 214 Liatris spuata Willd. 214 Liatris spuata var. alba 214
7 j
1
Krameria triandra
Milfoil
108
Mandrake
Lialris odoratissima
Kola 177 Korean Ginseng; 232
Mignonette 120. 121. Mignonette Tree 212 mildews 32
Malm
Liatris iliamparui 2
.
Microtaena cymosa Prain 243
Malta syloestris L. 102. 218 Mandragora officinarum L. 63.
1
Mezereum germamcum 182
Nutt. 218
Pursh.
185
Lettuce 61 210 Lettuce Opium 2 Levant Cotton jet Gossypium herbat cum officinal) Koch 134. 213 Lialris uillilepis 214 .
1
see
Lesser Periwinkle 281
Kidney wort 152 kinnah [go Kite hen-garden Purslane see Portulaca mhi \ ai •air, a Knitbone 268 Knotted Figwort 261 Knotted Marjoram 120, 230
kostos
185
Lesser Centaurv 169
192
10,
1
Cardamom
Lesser
Lesser Celandine 250
Mexican Tea 171 Mezereon 182
Agave americana
Leonurus cardiaca L. 58. 213
kaukali> 240 ka\ u-puti 220
281
101
karavviya 167
Kat 142
226
106.
77. 78. 79. 83. 8g. 91. 98.
Madagascan Periwinkle
27- '49
Mentha pulegium var. decumben _ _ Mentha rotundifolia L. Huds. 224 Mentha spicata L. 222. 223. 224 Mentha viridis L. 224 menthe Pouliot 223 Menyanthes tri/oliata L. 59. 102. 224 Mexican Damiana 275
L. Scop. 75. 136. 227 Myrtle 52. 136. 226. 227. 256 Mvrtle Flag see Acorus calamus mvrtos 227 Myrtus communis L. Herm. 52. 136. 227
Myrrhis odorata
Myrtus dioica L. 239 Myrtus pimenta L. 239
Nard 160 Nardus celticus 277 Narrow -leaved Sage
123.
278
Papyrus 10. ;;. 101 Paraguay Tea 205
Aasturcium indicum 275 .\asluraum peruvianumi'jj
Nasturtium
120.
73. 76. 83. 91.
122. 128.
Panetaria
275
Navel Wort 203 Neapolitan Parsley 236 \elumbium nucijera Gaertn. 228 Nenuphar 228 .Xepeta cataria L. 04. 36. 228 1
Neroli
Parsley Piert 153
Parsnip 39, 235
Pasque Flower 152 Passiflora caerulea L.
1
235 Sims 235
Passiflora edulis
Nerve Root 181
Passiflora incamala L. 63.
Nettle 66. 73. 76. 89. 91. ioi. 103. 104, 109. 10. 123. 210. 276 1
New
236
126, I27, 128. 136. 153.
105. 106
0,7.
Pimento
234
83. 84. 85, 91, 95. 103. I20. 121, 122. I23.
R. Br. 75. 136. 228
officinale
L.
officinalis
Pimento dwica
234
Parsley 39. 68. 69. 74. 75. 76. 77. 78. 79. 80.
.\asturtium indicum 275
Xasturtium
& Koch
Mert.
Parietaria diffusa
Zealand Flax 100
234 Passiflora ligulans Juss. 235 Passion Flower 63, 69. 234 Paslinaca saliva L. 235
.\icotiana tabacum 63. 102. 103. 113
Paslinaca sativa var. saliva hortensis 235
Night Flowering Cereus 170 Nightshade 42. 161. 265 Nipplewort 210 Norwa\ Spruce 238 Nuces graecae 248
Patchouli 97. 106. 242 pavame 261 Peach 82. 83. 108
Nutmeg
79. 83. 85. 89. 91. 95. 96. 98. 113.
226 Ximphaea alba
Oak 43. 66. 67. Oak Moss 106. Oak Nut 101
68. 101, 103. 1
1
205. 250
1.
1
1
229
L.
22
I.
Oenothera biennis L. 229
Oil-Nut 208
Pistaaa
Olea europaea L. 60. 108. 229
Olive
60
rec
I
»",
omnimorbia 2 in m 66, 68,
;
1
1
229
Peppermn
Popp)
)|iiiiin
Oi.iiil
8a, 83, 87. 91
/
25,
",
83
6,
28.
1
100, 103,
.
230
I.
6
;.•
1
97,
15,
223 Perfoliate Honeysui klc 216 Periwinkle 120, 127. 138.281 /'. rsea americana 08 Pei sian \\ alnui 209 36,
.
Pei a\
175
13.
ange Mini 223 )range Rom 202 Irdeal Bean 237
1.
in Bat k
(
Pel u\
Oregano Bo, 83. Oregon Grap<
91
123. 130, 231
.
S, In
Mahonia aquifolium
•
I
<
.
rat
Ma)
rtn
11
(
230, 231
(8,
.
1
Polemnmum
39 179
03,
I
\\ man
Mill
1
7",
radicosum Baile) 236
10,
1
i-iin
I
Mtmarda didyma
i.i
118.225
linum horten
hnum
Owlei 149 0\ah<
acelosella
Peh
231
I.
\elinum
lloilm
\o
Klip
2
\ativum
Polygonum tuberosum
vai
17
273 I. 232 forma Alba plena 21,2 forma Rosea plena 233 forma Rubra plena 2 \i
inalii
offii
1
/
officinalis
Paeonia
officinalis
1
officinalis
l.i
v
Peumui boldus Molina 236 Pew lei WOTi Peyote ' !a< tut 22t> Phea tani 1 \ e 144 Philadelphui 95 philanthropon 194
•mum
.'
1
Phyllostachj
I'lnm
Pin
van
"
insert
I
,
Me)
\
'
idoginseng \\
Panax quinauejolium I'lnm
"
Pans) Papal
.
Papax
»
rhoeai
1
li
232
Rom
1
Phytolacca americana Phytolacca Picea
'li"'
dei I.
andra
bistorta
km/
um alaguala 1
Purple Loosestrife 68. 217 I'm pie Sage 30, 23. 38. 258
243
60,
I.
1
1
109 233
Mulbet
1
I.
101
•>
papillari
;
,
63
88,
233
Picrasma
237
69,
1
1
238
r i
B
'•'•
;
\
9
1
11111I11
11ns
10.
1
1
Populu
it'll 11
Populus
tin
n
1
Plant lion 238 Bei
ilai
1
1
1
-
1
l'\
1 1
1
Pyrus
•
mm
11I,
Quassia
63.7". 83,84,
Gra)
.' 1
amain
Ojiassia
1
Pigweed tt Chenopodium album Pilewon 250
Portulaca quadrifida I'm ill, I' ,1 ,ih
L.
^
xcelsa
Mill
III.
I
III.!
r
.'||
,,
I
,
I
I
.111/
238
,
a
I;
2
{6,
I
,
lilnlil
1I1111,
Qui
1,
us
robm
I
in,
11
11
robm
\ .11
<
245
lalioa
145
lot,
iliflora I.
IOI
Matt
'>
1
2J\
I
I
Micha 244
Portulaca oleracea vai
238
1 1,
IO3
I
i7i
Qjll
1
1
238
Queen's Delight 267 Queen's Root 267 I
1
Soland
03, 172
08
1
no,
03,
1
Roem. 249 I
11,1
Qjiassia
I"
I.
136,
1
tandicans
Rouleau 244
Portulaca oleracea
127.
123,
Queen-Annt -Lact • Daunts carota Queen ol the Meadow 188. 190 Queen ol the Night ,, ertus grandiflorus
123.233
I.
11
M
omniums
,
101
1
122,
120,
inea J I'loU II 99,
(till lllll
I'vius
120.
Pigeonberr) 237 k iniii.il 1. -,-, Pig
I
39, 83.
111-
Pusle) 'a Portulaca oh racea
a
Portutaca lutea
1
Pyracantha
1
Populus Iremuloides port
-1.
245
An 244
iimnhiiii
Populus trtmula
1
Papoose Root 168 Papi ika
1
SW
Papaoet \omniferum 1
I.
Populus
1
1
I'm
1
244
I.
Populus fileadensis
1
K.iim
1
Pap*
1
j
I
I
in
249
in-
I
Purple Boneset >" Eupatorium purpureum I'm pie ( onellowei 184
1
Populus balsamifera vai
Physostigma venenosum Balfoui 237
r
68. 82. 83
11
243
I. • >
Populus balsamifera
280
233
I.
Viola tricolm
dubium
1
allii
Phyaii
Nees 233
ichinseng
1
233
237
I.
=^
I'm pie Basil 30 I'm pie Bergamot 22")
Populus alba 101
,
alkekengi
satis
1
220 Pui ging Ag.u 191
\
frutu
'
249
136,
Schrank.
Puniia granatum L. 249 Punica granatum var. nana Pers
Punk
1
1
Popp) 15,25,35 87.88.91. 109,
237
|llllls,llls
1
Pumpkin
243
I.
H eatherglass 151 Pool \l Poplai IOI, 244 Poplai Budi 244
mi
officinalis L.
Pulsatilla alpina
Pomegranate 249 Pond I. il\ 68. 228
Phu 277
5
Palm. ( 'hriiti Palmetto 69, 263
1
I
lnna\ ion
223
ass
'i
<
iae
.11
Pulmonaria
Polypod) 244 Pol) pod) Rom 244
I
Phragmile\ communis
Paiglc 246 I
Bernh
95
1
-'vi
242 puliol ro) ale 223 Pulmonaria 22
;
amara
DC. Buckheim 248 Buckheim 248
DC:.
dulcis
nilia hit ula
Puccoon Pudding
;
Polypodium vulgari
Pl.ini
ticolot
Polygala vulgaris L. 243
/
um Hollm
sain
Ox-eye 144 Oystei
ala
107. 108.
Psyllium 60, (17. 242 Pteridophyta ;s
Pol) gala /'
Schubl. and
Pseudocyphellaria thouarsii 100
.
Polygala tenega
L.
Prunus virginiana 61
caeruleum var. himalayanum B.ikei
1
Schubl. and
terotina 61
I'liiiius
Pulii
Polianthes tuberosa
polugalon
236
Oswego
Pale
7
236
36,
1
L.
248
Prunus dulcis var.
343 / emonium caeruleum vai lacteum Benth
Pelroselinum crispum vai
hi;. 105, 106,
1
Ludu.
Prunus laurocerasus L. 248 Pumas persica 108
•nuni caeruleum
,m
230
1
Focke
C.
F.
Webb
D. A.
Mill.
dulcis
oil.
Prunus dulcis war. amara
Oak 273
polemonion
b 235
36, 230. 231
1
207
(
&
oulgart
,"
I
Pi
1 (li
hybridm
1
1
Poke R0..1 69, 237 Poke w I'd 237 Polll .11 \\ IC<\ 269
p. troselinoi
I
•
in Rli.il.un
Its
oreoselinum Organ) « Origanum um majorana I. Origanum 01 Orris 68, •
1.
DC.
Martens 248
273
v \
1
sativa
Primus avium var. Juliana
Clarke 243 160
j2,
1
1
Martens 248
I. 242 Blanco Benth. 242 Pogostetnon comosus Miq. .'4.' Pogoslemon hcyeanui Benth 242 I'lignstcmon patchouli Pellet 1)7. 106, 242
Poison
1
247
Prunus avium L. 248 Prunus avium var. duiacina
Plantain 66, 67. 68. 69, 105, 168. 241
Poison
-
205
Prune 67
Prunus cerasus L. 248
I
174
Pei u\ ian Pol) pod)
verticillata
\
Prunus
Poison lag let Ins mi Poison lb inli k k 178
1
233
(. 1
91, 241
var. hleynii
veils
Plantago psyllium L. 242
Rom
246
L. 61. 89.
Hon. 247 Primula vulgaris Huds. 247 Prince's Feather see Amaranlhus hypochonPrimula
Focke 248
lemon cablin
8<>.
mis
Hill 247
Hance 247
Primus amygdalus var.
1
Plumeria rubPodophyllum 60. 242 Podophyllum pel latum
1
L.
elatior
Primula obcomca
Primula
.
Plantago major var. asiatica Decne. 241 Plantago ovata Forskal 242
Pleuris)
106, 1
Primula
lent isc us L. 27,1
Plectranthus patchouli
232
( )i
(
122,123,
71. 72. 82. 83.
107. 108.
Ophit>glo*\um vulgatum (
111.
'<'> • 1
Peon) 10, Pepper 18.
148
2.
234 Pellitorv of the Wall 234 Pemcillium 32 Pennyroyal 7, 69, 76, 9; 27, 36, 223 Pennywort Pensee 281 Pensee Sain age 281
230
18
1
1
120.
Penlaglollis sempi
Olea europaea var. oleastm IX Oli urn Wittncbianum 221
1
248
Plantago mdica L. 242 Plantago lanceolata I. 105, 241. 242 Plantago major L. 168. 241
.
rirginieus
Prickh Lettuce 6 2 10 Primrose 76. 129. 247 Primula 42
Prunus amygdalus Batsch. 248 Primus amygdalus var. amara
Plantago 60
15.
Prickly Ash 283
PiunJIa vulgaris var. leucantha Schur. 247 Prunella vulgaris var. rubrifolia Beckhaus. 247 Primus 123
1
Piper ribesioides 24
1
Okra 68 Old \I.iu tee Artemisia abrottaum Old Man's Beard >" Chiotumthui
Haenke Zenari 240
Piper mollissimum 241
Pelargonium graveolens L'Herit. 96. 97. 106.
23
i
230
120. 123, 136.
Pi urns verticillatus
1
Piper nigrum L. 241
1
Marjoram
Pot
Prunella vulgaris L.
Piper muncalum 24
Pelargonium radens 235
Oamum minimum Oamum fOJlCtum
24
crassipc.s
Rausch. 246
L.
Poterium sanguisorba L. 89. 36. 246 Pot Marigold see Calendula officinalis
driacus
240
12. 156.
1
Pelargonium capilalum 235 Pelargonium crispum 95
Pellitory
ansenna L. 245
Prinos r« //
Piper cubeba L. 241
Oamum
10",
60
Potcntilla
1
Pimienta de Chapa 239 Pimienta de Tabasco 239 Pimpernel 151, 279 Pimpmella anisum L. 88. 95, 102. 106. 239 Pimpinella sacifraga L. 240 pinang 156 Pine 33. 83. 97. 101. 104. 240 Pineapple 101. 108 Piney see Paeonia officinalis Pink 76. 90. 95. 96. 115, 116. 120. 123. 128. 134, 183. 266 Pink Root 266
Piper
250
101.
235
104.
Potentilla
Potentilla erecta
piper agreste 282
Pelargonium odoralissimum 235 Pelargonium quercijolium 95
basilicum L. 75. 98.
239
239
90.
Piper belle
Oats 68. 69. tot. 107. 108. 161 Obedience Plant set Maranta arundinacea 229
96. 102.
Lindl. 239
Pinus 97. 101. 104 Pinus mugo var. pumilio
peganon 257 Pelargonium 235
\ymphaea alba var. rubra Lonnr. 228 Xymphaea odorala Aix 228
0.5.
1
Peas 37. 82. 83
Oak
Merr.
L.
officinalis
Pimento
10
1
pin-lang 56 pinones de Maluco 180
Pea Mint 224 Peanut 108. 109. 154 Pear 82. 83. 108 Pedunculate
228
L.
Possumhaw Viburnum 280
Pilocarpus jaborandi 63
Pilocarpus microphallus
DC
245
,
(juilll
I
Quinine
L e blei n 1, 250 i
1 1
fastigiata
1
o
1
150
I
101
aponaria 109
Mil ,
,
1
m, bona
o/fii itialis
3<
»
Quinine Tree 174
120. 121, 122, 123. 126, 127.
Rosmarinus
radicula 25
102.
101,
1
Radish 250
L
officinalis
104.
109.
Ragwort 262
Rampion
Round-leaved Mint 224
1
129
ficaria L. 250 Raphanus raphamstrum L. 250 Raphanus rusticanus 157 Raphanus satioul L. 250
Ranunculus
Raspberry 66. 68. 69. 255 Rats and Mice 181
75. 76. 89. 127. 128.
Rat-tail Plantain 241 Rauiolfia serpentina 57. 63 Rauiolfia tomitoria 63
Bergamot 225 Bryony 163 Bush Tea 160
Cockscomb Cole
set
Cow
Ba-.il
1
F.lm 276
Korean Ginseng 232 Red-lea\ed Sage 258 Red Pepper 84 Red Pimpernel set Anagallii
Scabwort 103. 206 Scarlet Pimpernel 151 Scarlet-seeded
256
Tea 150 Schlusselblumen 247 •-cilia 276 Scorzonera 273
g
'// 95, 101,
;.
H ilk
en
I
variegata 277
j
Lavender
Si
,1
I.d\ ay.
Si
.1
(
Sabal 263
Sea Squill 52 seaweeds j 32
Rheum rhabtnbtiium
89,
I.
|>i.
60, 67, 82, 8
11-
(8.
l>t>.
28. I
rixus 230
S.iKifis dev pre-. 27
Rocket-salad 186 Rock Parsley ol Alexandria 265
>
4
1
Rosa tglanteria L. 253 Rosa tglanteria v Duplex 254 ftcta tallica 95, 107 /?»ia gallica officinalis 120 .
Borrer ex Sm. 25 rubiginosa agg. 253
/?oja micrantha
2
)
53
Thunb.
95,
254
8.,. 91, 95, '96, 97. 98. 102, in-,. 107. 108. 109. 112. 113. 120. 122. 123.253.254 (
Rose-bay willow hei b 7", Rom- Geranium 76. 96,
1
102,
7.
106,
235
V' 2
104,
81).
109.
73,
89, 91, 95, 96, '17. 10. in, 113. 116.
1
76,
74,
101, 1
19.
Oak
104. to6, 107.
Seville
Orange 175 111. 21,
1
258
259 L. 258
1
10,
Starchwon
shunis
Statue Armeria L. 156
2 14
Sanicle 66. 68. 69 Santalum album 95, 98. 102. 104. 106. 113 Santolina 95. 120. 123. 124. 126, 127 Santolma chamaecypanssus L. 95, 99, 38. 259
Silybum
Sapaharia 260 L.
officinalis
7.
61.
113.
138.
109,
L.
.1
Wimmer
ex
Koch
260
scoparius var. Andreanus
273
Nutt.
Stillingia syluatica
;;
260
Stinking
Horehound 162
Sinapis atvensil L. 264
Stinking
Iris
Singer's Plant 264
Stipa tinacissima 101
Gaertn. 263
L.
Simsim 263 264
Sisymbrium
officinale
L.
Slippery Sloe 280
Elm
67. 68,
!
206
Miliaria media
Stock o^ sioechas arabica 2 2 Stonecrop 262 Storax 95 Strawberry 35, 75, 76. 107. 108. 127. 191 Strawberry Tree 155 Struthion 260 1
Smallage 154. 236 Small-Leaved European
Small-Leaved Lime 272 Small Nettle 77 .
Hellebo;
Stitchwort
Scop. 264
276
cor data
Nees 260
Gard. 267
Benjamin 274 Gladdon 206
Sinapis alba L.
138.
Nettie 276
Stinging Stinking Stinking Stinking
mananum
^2. 8i|.
Stavesacre 103. 183 Stellana media L. Vill. 128. 267 Stemless Thistle =,u Sm klewort 146
Six-rowed Barlev 202 Skunk Cabbage 269
Sarmentum indicum 263 scoparius
L Trevisan 266 Stall Vine set t elasln _inish 280 Horn Moss 216 Star Anise 206
1
Maple
184
Slachys officinalis
23, 148
Shepherd'- Purse 166 Short Buchu 145 Shovelweed 166
Silver
243. 260
Cucumber
•
Siberian Ginseng Sicklewort 247 Silver Birch 162
102. 104. 106. 113
2 76
-,2-
Squirting
Shave Grass 186
257 138.
Shamrock
Squill
101, 250
Silverweed 245
Sassefrii
Squaw root 274 Squaw Weed 262
2h<\
Sessile
Shallot 85.
Sassafras albidum
|
263 88. 263
1
I
1
15, 83. 88. 91,
tm mdicum L.
Sarsaparilla 68. 261, 264 Sassafras 260. 261
102,
Serpentaria 24 \ Serpentaria rubra 24 Serpentar\ 156
Sesame
Roselle 201 68,
Small 263 Michx. Hook 203
Bartr.
Sanguisorba minoi 246 Sanguisorba officinalis L. 246
58. 93, 196,
tea
167
a serrulata
257
23.
inlei lona 251 ulmana Spotted Cranesbill set (uranium maculatum Spring Adonis 144 Spring Onion q Spruie 33, 238 Spurge Olive 182 Squash 10
Spinus
.
Serenoa repens
;
Sarothamnm
I
42.
Silver Fir 142
Saponaria
262 262
I.
Sangumaria canadensis L. 61. 138. 259 Sanguinaria canadensis cv. multiplex 2311
Sarothamnm <
lis
Serpvllum 272
rove hips 73, 86, 9
78. 81, 83,
Senna
1
Rosa wichuraiana Crep. 234 Rose 67, 69, 75, 7 83, 86, 88.
Spinai h 66, 67, 78. 82. 83 Spindli Iih /- 187
I
a
in, 258. 259 Samphire 179. 257 Sandalwood 05. 08.
13
20
.
Hurt
Sambucus ebului Sambucus nigra L. 89. 95. too. 104. 107.
linearis
Rosa 75, 88. 89, 08. 102, 105, Rosa canina L. 253 Rosa damascena 95
1
1
tectorum 52
Sesamun
a sclarea L.
Rooibosch 160 Rooitea see Aspalathus
UWIH
Semperinum
&
I
IO, III, 138.
Sambucus
Nettle 277
39,
27.
257
.S«/;;« officinalis L. 74. 88. 95,
Fennel 191
Rosemary
1
Saltwort 257 Salvia 258 I
a marilandica L. 266 Spiked Loosestrife 217 Spike Lavender q6. q8. 105 Spina cervatis 25 Spina Ccrvina 251
Heal 121, 247
273
.
Salsola soda L.
Rock Samphire 179 Roman Chamomile 134. 220 Roman Common Chamomile 170
/c&sa rugosa
1
Salsola Kali
I.
1.
265
Parill.i
Salsify 2
|6
143. 186
/foia rubtginosa
Salsa
I.
Sperat;
262
Semsem 263
uto turopaea agg.
Sahx 10!
/cVmo
2
1
Salicornia herbacea
(
1
204 Si Mary's rhistle set Silybum mariattum ih. 246 Salad Burnet 7b. 83. go, 120,
j
76
15, 121
1
Semsemi
nigrum L. 252 communis L. 60, 104, 253 River Tea Tree r« Melaleuca leucadendron
Roman Roman
122,
257
Ricinti)
2
-•/.
ee 282
/ctoej
Rocket
;
1
M-lba 258
John's Herb 159 Wort Hypericum perforatum
toxicodendron L. 275
Rock Celer\
20.
1
1
.
acre L.
1
s
cereale L. tot.
S.dum Srdum
177. 179
34. 179
iit>.
38. 2411.
1
1
1,
117. t)8. t>(,. 73, 74, 75, -U. 86, 88, 91. 95. 104. lot). 107.
8-,.
III,
10,
1
1
100,
.
255. 252
I",.",.
Rhus radicans L. 27
Mm
101
1
St John's
18. 42.
Ill, 120,
(
JO,
1
71, 76, 83. 91,
5,
79, 83.
St
Rhododendron 100
Rhubarb
1
S.itlion
Sage -'",.'
1
Sa-fa-lang 180
'ticum
)nion 276
-
66. 95, 120. 122. 158
Sowberry 162 Sow at Strawberry see Fragaria Spanish Buglo" 147 Spanish ( Ihestnui 168 Spanish Lavender 212 Spanish Psv Ilium set Plantago psyllium Spanish Si orzonera Sparrow ( rrass 161 Spearmint 69, 23. 224 dwell 279 I
KM
'•
/ igk
..
Sea Parsley 214 Sea Pmk 156
Sai red Bark 251
Southernwood
j6
1
Ryegrass 274
Sabatia angularu
Southern Pricklv A-h 283
Sea Island Cotton 198
R, seda lulea
101,
Saffron
261
I.
Inngium marilimum
Holm
R\e
Maxim
266 266
Sour Cherrv 248 Sour Dock set Rumex acetosa Sour Orange i« Citrus aurantium var. amara Southern Black Haw 280 hern Maidenhair set Adiantum capillus
93
hulana nodosa
Sea
diiaruiilti
Ru-.li
vulgaris
l.iguslicum scoticum
see
Scullcap 68. 69 Si \ thian Lambc \2 Sc \ thian Root 198 Sea Fennel 179 Sea Hollv 187
\2
1
Lovage
Scouring
Lycopodium elaiatum
set
Rutu
I.
DC
Solidago nrgaurea L.
Siottish
256 256 obtusifolius I. 256 scutatus L 231. 255, 256
Kim
var. tangulicum
Solidago microglossa
crispui L. 89,
Sc.i
-'.V-'
Solalrum mortale 161
alpinus L.
Red Valerian 169
Rhtum palmatum
Soft
Son-before-lather 275
Ruta graieolens var.
1
Socotrine Aloe 149 Hemp see Cannabis satna Solanum dulcamara L. 265 Solanum sommferum 161
Iris set Iria Joetidissima
Sorrel 38. 76. 78. 83. 91, Q3. 120. 122. 123. 127, 231. 255. 256
Red-spurred Valerian 169 Red Squill 276
Rhamnui cathartictu I. 192, 251 Rhamnus frangula 60 Rhamnus puishiana DC. 60, i<»2, 251 Rhamnus solutions 25] rheon Rhtum 60 Rheum officinale Bail). 93, m, 252 Rheum palmatum I. 93, 252 Rheum patmalum var palmalum I. Maxim
120. 138.
Scotch Broom 260 Scotch Heather see Calluna
I.
Russian Dandelion 270 Russian Tarragon 132. 158 Rula graieolens L. 136. 256
ea 201
in).
Scorzonera hispanica L. 273
255
0,3.
I.
acelosella
Ruscus aeulealus L. 256
Rush
1
260
Schloss
256
Running Pine fli
Snowdrop.Tree 171 Snow flake see Lamium album Soapbark 109 Soapwort 7. 61. 67. 93.
268
Scabious 268
2^=,
bistorta
Snowdrop 193
69. 263 Pimpinella saxijraga
see
Scabiosa succisa L.
39. 66. 67. 6q. 120. 122. 123. 126. 127.
Red Puccoon 259 Red Robin 197 Red Sage 68. 258
I
Saxifrage
Snake's Rhubarb 155 Snakeweed see Polygonum
Snowball Tree 280
Saw Palmetto
Rue
acetosa
.
120. 122. 123. 127. 138. 261
19.
ruchetta 186
Rumex Rumex Rumex Rumex Rumex Rumex
169
68. 69. 76. 83. 85. 86. 88. 91, io 5
Scented-leaved Geranium* Schin-seng 232
Rumex
Armoracia rusticana
Smyrnion 265 Smyrmum olusatrum L. 95. 265 Smyrmum perjoliatum L. 265 Snake Root 61. 156. 159. 173. 214. 243
Satureja montana L. 105. 138. 261
Savon
Ruizia fragrans Pa von 236
151
Smilax ornata Hook.f. 261. 264
Satureja hortensis L. 261
258 Savin 209 Savin Tops 209
Rubia peregrina L. 254 Rubia tmctorum L. 100. 254 Rubus 104 Rubus jructicosus agg. 255 Rubus idaeus L. 60. 89. 255 Rubus occidentals L. 255 Rubus ulmijolius Schott 255 Rubus ursinus Cham and Schlechtend
138.
Clover 274
Satureia hortensis 88. 261
saulje
254 Rosmarinus prostratus Hort. 254 Round Buchu 145 Round Cardamom 283
radix 25 radix dulcis 198
Red Red Red Red Red Red Red Red Red
136.254
74. 89, 9^. 96. 97. 1 to. in, 113. 136.
Lime
set
Tilia
Sirxehnon 161 Slrychni's niis-romica 51
Thymus Thymus Thymus
Strsgium 161
Tiglio 273
Vegetable Oyster 273 Vegetable Sulphur 216 Venus Hair 143 Veratrum 20 Veralrum album L. 103, 278
Sudanese Tea 201
Tilia 63, 273
Veratrum eschscholtzii A.
Summer Savon
Tilia
amencana L. 273 Tilia cordata Mill. 272 Tilia x europaea L. 57. 104. 106. 107. 110.
Veralrum nigrum L. 278 Veratrum uride Ait. 278
Dryander
benzoin
Stjrrax
106.
95. 96. 98.
267
107, 108, 109.
Moench. 268
Succisa pratensis
69. iuj, 119. 120. 123. 127.
261
Sundew 67 Sunflower 83. 108. 110. 120. 134. 200 Surinam Quassia 238 Swamp Cypress 38, /jo Swedish Myrtle see Myrtus communis Sweet Almond see Prunus dulcis Sweet Basil 229 Sweet Bav 211 Sweet Briar 253 Sweet Cherrv 248 Sweet Chestnut 144. 168 Sweet Cicely 76. 83. 90. 120. 122. 123. 127. 36. 227 Sweet Clover 221 Sweet False Chamomile see Matricaria
Verbena Verbena
Tobacco
vermicularis 262
102, 103. 113. 215
108
230
1
Roman
Sweet-scented
Geranium
Toxicodendron toxicaria
Salisb.
38. 281
\\mphaea alba
let
Hemp
1
08.
Symphytum 268
89. 95, 96, 97-
112. 113,
88.
269
nnacelum vulgart
lum l.lll-s
I tnnera
IOO,
I
lulgan sar
crilpum
taragonii
76
J'.
95
'1!
{
.1
Taraxacum 1
oo,
m
"Hi. 122. 127.
•/'/
King 270
Willd.
I
7
y
122.
191,
270
Webei
15
I
60, 89.
,7
aphrndisiaca
var.
/
B
Bo,
123.
'<'•,
;
86 91, 19, $2. 158 159 1
127.
1
atmanian Blm Gum 187 ilium Hutu hum 38 /
I
I / I
.'/.
89.
1112.
138.
1
276
H.iki
I.
1
,2.
6|,
276
89.
101,
H'l-
In).
109. IMP.
1
I r lira I.
1
is
s
>H
1
Pi
1
271
I I
Hi
I
cacae
I.
1
09, 271
hi
I
hoi
I
horoughwon 188
I
hrifi
1(17
Appli
11
.
1
1
'/I
176.
263
182
(2.
156
193
272 tnlira 272 -hi 16 66 n
iti\ 1
I
78.
8...
i"| 1
2
(.
73, 7
'
127
1
melaea 182
ih\
mum ui
Si
1
1. j
1
1,0.
19,
|3f,
272
k
mum
cilriodom A-
Korn
I.
Pei
-
Schreb
277
I
illillnna irltu
I
ah liana
iln,n a I.
277 277
Valeriana
officinali
I.
122.
11
I.
I.
63,
\.i\
1
1
w W W
1
169.277
[8,
203 • Hydi
hi* asialica
279
I
Andrews 95,
\\
I
I
Melaleuca leucaJenaron
Vanilla 278
nili. hi
heal in. lnii
n
mi,
Bisons
io8.
1
09,
1
inn
f
1
>,.
278
102. 106, 113.
\\
Inn
\\
hiu Inn
\\
\\
-Man
s-iooi
.
278
Ycss 33
Ylang-Ylang
Planlago majot
Si|iiill
White Swe<
•
223 68 228
276 (
m./,
96, 106
,~aiitliu\\lum
americanum Mill. 283 lliiilills
I.
283
65
Zarza-Parrilla 26
141 in in
I. .Is
103.
officinalis
An zapai ills
1
102.
20. 132. 143. 2 V)
127.219
Mustard 264 '
lnii
\et
1
.~anlli
hiu Pi |i|h Inn Peppei
1
lloss Alder 275 Yellow Bedstravi set Galium verum Yellow Dot k 67, 256 Yellow Flag 190 Yellow Foxglove 57 Yellow Gentian 196 Yellow Ginseng 168 Yellow Jasmine Root 195 Yellow Jessamine 195 Yellow Lady's Slipper 181 Yellow Portulai a 245
Meliloi 221
White Pond
U
10,
Yellow Purslane 245 Yellow Stonei rop 262 Yellow Sweel ('loser 221 Yei da Matt 77. 205
roosefooi 171
,
1
1
in
103, 163
1
\\
I
1
li"
',8
White Hellebore 03, 20 \\ lnii Hon hound 66 6 \\ Inn Mallow '( Althaea
277
214 anil a pnmpima 278 \ ariegated Sage 258 Varnish ree 146
'
247
Vaw-rool 267
251
1
143.
Y(
Myrtle 226 ad 241 as broad 19 l"ea
158
-,9
107,
222
Won
1
66. 68. 69. 83. 88. 91, 103, 120,
20.
108
Pirn pei in
1
.
228
36,
1
32.
Yarross 67. 68, 76. 83. 91,
White Dead-Nettle 210 103
Viih minella laeusta 138 Vanilla 83. 88. 91, 95, 10a, 106,
I
138. 271
1
Wermul
277
138. 169. 181. 243.
278 272
\\ .hi
\\ as llinl n
m)rlilliis
\ anilla Pl.nn
tapilalus l.k
Mini
\\
Vanilla planifolia
272
heigg
277 155
Valeriana ruhn 169 Valmana 11 allaihn 63
86 88,91, 95.97 16,
138, 271.
ili\
-1.
;;-, ",
I
\\ .in
76. 83. 91
75
\\ a\ lni
urens
ursi
Valeriana i>hu
83 K,
I"',
277
Valerian i\ 63 68 69, 103, 120. 128. 129.
.",
I
.111
Weeping
rakrion 27
nm
I.
271
1-11,1 111 111
208.
112.
\\ .i\
I'rtica piluli/na
etterwon 259 nm hnmatili 'in ehamaedn
\\
I
Xanthoxylum americanum 283
73
Wata Pennywort L
III.
188
I.iK 38,
Chenopodium ambrimmdis s.n
Wrai k 103 Wurstkraul 230
Vain
Hemp \lrliill
19
tee
Woundwort
228
(i).
mi
42
dunta
66 68
11
Wati Watei 1
11I1
IO3,
192,
1
1
276
I
.1
11
69. 73. 76. 91. 96. 161
anthelminticum
Wormwood
in 66 '17. 1112. 209 an AgiiniiiMN 163
Lonicera periclymenum
Sorrel 231
Wormseed
1
\\
11
1
Woodbine see Woodruff 68.
W oods
Alba W'csin. 282
allwnri MS Sambucus rhulus 1
Tree 253 Avens 197 Betony 38
Strawberrs 191 Nightshade 265 Woolls Foxglove .57 W 01 in ( .r.iss 266
282
52,
1.
\\
U
officinalis
mantimn
rgiiua
Ireine
1
-Rnhlli 27
\\ ,iki
275
11
mhiluaiia
agnus-caslus
Wallflowei g
lmu\ iampcstrn 60 Imus fuli M11 ti
Trtliei
268 I
ilex
Wood Wood Wood Wood
Wall Germander 121. 138. 271 Wall-peppei 262
nip Rooted Parale) 236 1111I1 -head 171
'ngulwa
Wiesb.
Wonder
Waldmeisler Tea 161
.'7",
M11I1I1
>
Vogelmien
ui
llmus rubra
Witch Grass see Agropyron repent Witch Hazel 66. 199 Woad mi. 120. 126. 127.208 Wolfsbane 143
album L. 7/. 35. 57. 102. 273. 282 album L. ssp. abnti Wiesb. Abrom.
lilix agnus-castiis \,ir.
127, 138, 261
22.
Vollm 282
82. 83
7 ussilagn /ar/ara I. I win h Crass 146 /
Rodm
270
).
ragon 66
I20,
I
sr urn
\\ .in
officinali
03,
1
I
.'7"
)(
napellus
59
1
Taraktogenoi kurgit
:n
269
(8.
1
282
Urb 275 I.
282
Viscum album ssp. album L. 282 1'iwium album L. ssp. austriaeum
(usilago 27',
Taraxacum kok-sagkyt
I
1
I
IV 269
(8. 2
I
Turnip
269
I.
1
consolida
Winter Cherry see Physalis alkekengi Wintergreen 63, 66. 195 Winter Savor) 68. 85. 105. 120. 122. 123.
Murr. 281
Viper's Bugloss 184 Virginia Bugle Weed 217 Virginia Snakeroot 156
I
Whitethorn 179 White Walnut 208 White Water Lily 228 Whortleberrv 277 Wild Artichoke 263 Wild Bergamot 225 Wild Carrot 57, 182 Wild Celery 154. 265 Wild Chamomile 220 Wild Charlock 250. 264 Wild Cherry 61. 248 Wild Clematis 35 Wild Delphinium see Delphinium Wild Fennel 191 Wild Geranium 196 Wild Ginger 159 Wild Iris see Iris versicolor Wild Laburnum 221 Wild Lettuce 61. 210 Wild Madder 254 Wild Marjoram 91. 120. 231 Wild Nard 160 Wild Pansy 281 Wild Parsnip 235 Wild Pepper 282 Wild Purslane 245 Wild Radish 250 Wild Strawberrs 76, 191 Wild Succory 173 Wild Tanss 245 Wild Thyme 138. 272 Wild Yarn 59 Willow 67. 101 Windflosser 152 Winterberrv 205
281
123. 128. 129. 138. 193. 281
-,.
diffusa
Ward
7(
o
1'iirum
I urnera ulmi/olia
/
I
12
1
(,i
amu mmmunis
I
turmcrackc 180 Turmrrii 83. 91. 111. 180 Turmem hizome 180 Turmerii Rum 180 Turnera 67 68. (19. 275
officinalis
•
I
09.
1
1
|\
Tailed Pepper 241 ralewon Baraga
1
I
Merr & Perry
I.
int).
<|8.
61.269
Null
I.
280 280
purpurea 281
viola
Quercus robur
see
Tunhool k, 7 TurkcMan Rum 254 Turkey Rhubarb 252 Turk \11n1tum
Simplorarpus fncttdus
DC
sterile
Viola x uittrockiana ssp. tricolor
Tuberose
lyriacan 251 urn arumatiium
opulus var.
Viola odorata L. 61, 95, 102. 138.
t« (.annabis satna
Oak
Truffle
}8.
opulus var. roseum L.
Violet 67. 76. 83, 91. 95. 102. 115, 121.
Syi a
1
262
flore flavo
prumfolium L 280 rufidulum Raf. 280 Vmca major L. 138. 281 Vmca minor L. 281 Vinca peruinca 281 viola blaucia 281
Tropaeolum ma)us L. 275
89. 101. 108. mi,.
279
triphyllon 274 Trilicum ulgare 101.
True
officinale L.
o.
Viola tricolor L. ssp. arvensii
Weed
Woodruff 93, 161 more 102 Ssmphoniaca 203
1
Trillium erectum L. 274 Trillium pendulum 2 7 5
;
150 William 96
1
Vervain 68. 69. 76. 91. 279 Vetch 35 vettonica 266 Viburnum 280 Viburnum nudum L. 280 Viburnum opulus L. 280 Viburnum Viburnum Viburnum Viburnum
I
143
Water Lih
Tangles
273
Tnjolium pratense L. 103, 13. 274 Tngonella Joenum-graecum L. 274
Viburnum 280
Tamarind
Gillis
Trailing Arbutus 185 Trce-of-Heaven 146
graieolens
04.
Veromcastrum virginicum Farwell 280
Tormentil Potentilla erecta 67. 68. 246 Tormentilla 246 Touch and Heal 247 Toute-venue 262 Toxicodendron radicans L O. Kuntze 273
Pelargonium
see
1
279 Veronica officinalis L. 279 Veronica virginica L. 280
Tree Onion 132. 148 Trefoil 224 Tricolor Sage 258
166 Fennel 191
73,
L. 95. 96.
Veronica beccabunga L.
Tragacanth 98
120. 127. 136.
91. 95. 96. 104. 110. 120. 127. 149
officinalis
Vermicularis
Tonquin Bean 106 Toothache Tree 283 Top Onion 132
66. 67. 68. 95.
Gray 278
Verbascum 119, 127 Verbascum phlomoides L. 278 Verbascum thapsiforme Schrad. 278 Verbascum thapsus L. 7, 61. 138. 278
Tinnevelly Senna 167
Laurel 21
1
273
Tragopogon porrijolius L. 264. 273 Tragopogon pratensis L. 273
Marjoram 105. Orange 75
Violei
1
Tilia x vulgaris 95. 104. 106. 107. 110 Tilleul 273
Gale 226
Sweet Sweel Sweet Sweel Sweel Sweel
102.
272
Tomato 82. 83. 107. Tonka Bean 102
97. 98. 102. 132. 143
Sued Sedge
vulgaris L. 74. 75. 88. 95. 97.
Tilia platyphyllos Scop.
recutita
Pea 95 Pepper
272
38.
1
273
1
Sweet Sweet Sweet Sweet Sweet Sweel Sweel
serpyllum L.
104, 105, 271,
Succory 173
Sweet Fennel 191 Sweet Flag Acorus calamus
pulegioides L. 271
Ins ei
221
£ea mays 101 105, lod. 107. 109 Zedoary 181 Zingibei ii 283 ^ingibei officinali Roscoe 88, 89, 283 .
:}<>a
Library; 151
Acknowledgments
APPaterson;
(left)
right
151
AP
Paterson; 152 centre A P Paterson; 152 right Pat Brindley; 153 left Pat Brindley: 154 left Pat Brindley: 154 (right A P Paterson: 155 left P2/IGDA; 155 (centre A P Paterson: 155 right A P Paterson; 156 (left) P2/IGDA; 156 centre A P Paterson; 157 centre A P Paterson; 157 Bavestrelli; 158 left A P Paterson; right (
We
Mark
are grateful to
Day
Constantine, Ivan
1
and Ian Tribe for their kind assistance, and to Michael Stringer and Roberto Campagna for the
M
drawings on pages 142-283.
1
M
We
are grateful to the following for the pictures
on the following pages: 6-7
Iris
11 A-Z Collection 13 Wellcome Snark International: 15 Mansell Collection; 16 (topi Mary Evans Picture Library; 16 below left) Mary Evans Picture Library; 16 (below right) Mary Evans Picture Library; 17 Ronald Sheridan; 18 top Bodleian Library; 18 (below) Mary Evans Picture Library; 19 Snark International; 20 (top Mansell Collection; 20 'bottom) Prague
International:
:
1
_>
Institute; 14
National Library Dagli Orti; 21 IGDA; 22 Bodleian Library; 23 (below left Radio Times Hulton; 23 (right Mary Evans Picture Librarv: 24 Ann Ronan Picture Library 24 25 Iris Hardwick Library 26 IGDA; 27 Ronald Sheridan; 28 Bruce Coleman Stephen Dalton; 30 (top left) C Bevilacqua; 30 top right) C Bevilacqua ; 30 [Harry Smith Collection; 37 A Z Collection; 38 Heather Angel: 39 Heather Angel; 41 Dr S F Buczacki; 42 Gene Cox; 43 Paul Brierley Orbis; 44 Paul Brierley /Orbis; 45 (top left Paul Brierlev Orbis; 45 (top right Paul Brierlev :
;
:
46-47 Michael Holford; 48 (top Pal Brindley 48 (below Snark International; (<) Mary Evans Man Picture Library 50 Ronald Sheridan: Evans Picture Library; 52 Iris Hardwick Librarv: 53 (top) RJ Corbin; 53 below Pat Brindley; 54 Gene Cox: 55 IGDA; 57 IGD \ i); A P Paterson; (14 Mike Leale/Orbis; 66 Iris :
-,
;
1
71 Mike Leale/Orbis; Mansell Collection; 72 right Mansell Collection; 73 Leslie Johns; 71 Zefa; 75 Syndication International; 77 Ann Ronan Picture Librarv; 78 IGDA; 7c) IGDA ; 80 Orbis 81 IGDA; 85 left IGDA; 85 right A P Paterson; 86 Bernard Allien: 87 IGDA; 88 right Mansell (left) Mansell Collection; 88 Collection; 89 Brian Eurner; 92 93 Orbis; 9 left A P Paterson 94 oilier 4 National Museum of Wales; 96 Angelo Hornak; 97 Leslie Johns and Associates 98 3 Leslie Johns and Associates; 99 top) Mansell Collection 99 bottom; Ann and Bury Peerless; tot Michael
Hardwick Library 70 ;
72
Bavestrelli; 159 left A P 158 centre Paterson; 159 (centre A P Paterson; 159 right Ba\estrelli: 160 left topi A P Paterson; 160 A P Paterson; 160 centre A P left bottom Paterson; 161 left APPaterson; 161 centre A P Paterson; 161 right A P Paterson; 162
M
Hardwick
Library; 8 topi IGDA; 8 bottom! Bodleian Library; 9 IGDA; 10 Snark
left
:
top A P Paterson; 162 (left bottom A P Paterson; 162 centre C Bevilacqua; 162 right P2/IGDA; 163 left A P Paterson; 163 centre left
A P A P
G E
Hyde: 164
left top Pat Brindley: 1(34 right APPaterson: 165 centre Paterson; 165 right A P Paterson; 166 left A P Paterson; 166 centre A P Paterson: 167 Bavestrelli; 167 centre A P Paterson: left
Paterson; 163 Paterson; 164
right left
bottom
AP
M
168
A P
left
Paterson: 169
:
AP
top P Paterson;
left
ltnj Paterson; 169 (left bottom A centre A P Paterson; 70 G E Hyde: 171 left A P Paterson; 171 centre A P Paterson: 171 right A P Paterson: 172 Pat Brindley; 173 left APPaterson; 173 centre APPaterson: 174 1
P.>
IGDA;
left
[75
M
right
Bavestrelli; 175
:
A P Paterson; 7b left A P Paterson: ;t> centre A P Paterson: 176 right IGDA; 1 77 left IGDA; 177 right A P Paterson; 178 centre A P Paterson; 78 right APPaterson: 17c) left A P Paterson; 17c) centre \ P Paterson; 179 right A P Paterson; 181 centre Harry Smith Collection; 181 (right A P Paterson; 182 (centre A P Paterson: 182 right top P2 IGDA: 182 right bottom A P Paterson; 183 left and right A P Paterson; 18) left A P Paterson; i8j centre A P Paterson; 185 left P2 IGDA; 185 right top A P Paterson; 185 right bottom A P Paterson: 186 left APPaterson; 186 centre APPaterson: 187 left APPaterson; 187 centre IGDA; 187 right G I. Hyde; 188 A P Paterson: l8e, A P Paterson; C)o A P Paterson ten centre Pat Brindley; 191 right Dr Derek Reid; ic|2 left H Veillcr: 192 right Iris Hardwick Library; 1
1
1
1
193
;
Giorgio Negri
centre-
Johns and Associates; i
centre
ie)6
right
right
193
;
Leslie
APPaterson; 96 (left APPaterson:
left
APPaterson; Hardwick Library; 1
|
Iris
197
right top
;
P Paterson; 197 right bottom A P Paterson; 198 left A P Paterson; 198 centre APPaterson:
A
;
;
Holford: 102 IGDA; 104 A P Paterson: 10;, A P Paterson; 106 P2 IGDA; 107 centre Syndication International: 107
right
IGDA;
108
1
H
1
1
Roger- Yiollet; 114-5 Leslie Johns and
20-1 21 Brian Furner; 121 A— Collection; 125 Ronald Sheridan; 127 both Orbis; 128 left NRVS; 128 centre ICI Ltd: 129 Iris Hardwick Library; 130 Brian Furner: 131
1
left
Snark Edouard Rousseau:
131
right
Kew 142 A P
Brian Matthew/Royal Botanic Garden.
:
140 141 Leslie Johns and Associates: Paterson; 143 left P2/IGDA: 143 centre P2/IGDA; 143 right Brian Furner; 144. centre Brian Furner: 44 right Iris Hardwick Librarv: [45 Harry Smith Collection: 146 left A P 1
Paterson: 146 centre Weed Research Organisation: 147 left A P Paterson; 147 centre A P Paterson; 148 left A P Paterson: 1(8 right APPaterson; 14c) left Harry Smith Collection; 149 centre G I. Hyde; 149 right A P Paterson; 150 hit A P Paterson: [50 centre A P Paterson 150 right Iris Hardwick ;
3O4
19c)
right
P2IGDA:
:
M
1
Associates; 116 Mansell Collection: 119 Paul
Miles;
APPaterson:
left
200 centre Pal Brindlev 200 right Pat Brindley; 201 IGDA; 202 centre APPaterson; 202 right A P Paterson: 204 left APPaterson: 204 centre A P Paterson: 205 left top Pat Brindley: 205 left bottom A P Paterson; 206 Bavestrelli; 207 centre A P Paterson; 207 right A P Paterson; 208 Pat Brindley; 209 left \ P Paterson; 209 right G E Hvde: 210 A P right centre) A P Paterson: 21 Paterson; 21 A P Paterson; 212 A P Paterson: 213 top A P Paterson; 213 bottom: A P Paterson; 214 centre Pat Brindley 2 14 right Harry Smith Collection; 217 centre A P Paterson; 217 right H Yeiller: 218 left A P Paterson; 218 centre A P Paterson; 218 right A P Paterson: 219 A P Paterson; 220 Pat Brindley: 222 left Pat Brindlev; 222 right A P Paterson: 223 lett 1
Syndication International; 10 left Ann and Bur\ Peerless; 110 right IGDA; Mansell Collection; 112 Snark Edouard Rousseau; 113 1
[99
1
1
;
A P
Paterson: 223
A-Z
centre-
Collection: 224
Pat Brindley; 224 right Pat Brindley: 225 centre! Pat Brindlev: 225 right A P Paterson; 226 centre A P Paterson: 226 right Brian Furner; 227 centre A P Paterson: 227 right R J Corbin; 228 centre A P Paterson; 228 right A P Paterson; 229 left A P Paterson; centre
229 right Brian Furner; 230 deft AP Paterson; 230 centre A P Paterson: 231 A P Paterson: 232 Pat Brindlev 233 A P Paterson 234 top A P Paterson 1
;
;
234 bottom Pat Brindley: 235 G E Hyde: 236 top Paterson: 236 bottom Pat Brindley: 238 A P Paterson; 240 A P Paterson: 241 Brian Furner: 242 left top A P Paterson; 242 left bottom A P Paterson: 242 right A P Paterson: 244 A P Paterson: 245 left A P Paterson: 245 right A P Paterson; 246 top A P Paterson; 246 bottom A P Paterson: 247 left A P Paterson; 247 centre Pat Brindley: 247 right A P Paterson; 248 left A P Paterson: 248 right A P Paterson; 249 left A P Paterson; 249 right G E Hyde; 250 centre Iris Hardwick Library: 250 right A P Paterson; 251 centre A P Paterson: 251 right A P Paterson 252 left Brian Furner; 252 right P2 IGDA: 253 top A P Paterson; 253 bottom A P Paterson: 254 left Pat Brindley; 254 centre A P Paterson: 254 right A P Paterson: 255 left A P Paterson; 255 centre A P Paterson: 255 right Pat Brindley; 256 left A P Paterson: 256 centre A P Paterson: 256 right A P Paterson: 257 Pat Brindlev: 258 left A P Paterson: 258 right A P Paterson: 259 left Iris Hardwick Librarv 259 right Pat Brindley: 260 centre A P Paterson: 260 right A P Paterson; 261 centre A P Paterson; 261 right A P Paterson: 262 left A P Paterson: 262 centre A P Paterson: 264 A P Paterstm: 265 centre A P Paterson: 265 right A P Paterson: 266 A P Paterson: 267 left IGDA; 267 centre A P Paterson 268 A P Paterson: 26c) left A P Paterson 269 right Brian Furner; 270 left A P Paterson 270 right A P Paterson: 271 Bernard Alfieri: 272 left top Pat Brindlev 272 left bottom C Bevilacqua: 273 centre A P Paterson: 274 A P Paterson: 275 left A P Paterson: 275 centre Brian Furner: 276 left A P Paterson: 276 right APPaterson: 277 left A P Paterson; 277 right APPaterson: 278 Giorgio Negri 279 A P Paterson; 281 left
A P
:
:
:
:
;
A
P Paterson; 281 right Harrv Smith Collection: 282 top A P Paterson: 282 bottom APPaterson: 283 lett A P Paterson; 283 righl A P Paterson.
"*r
Malcolm Stuart is Director of the Herb and was formerly Assistant to the
Society
director of Research at the National Institute
Medical Herbalists. Dr Stuart contributes and television programs, is the author of numerous articles on medical and regularly to radio
horticultural subjjects
and is the
editor of
Herbal Review.
was formerly Head of the ment of Nutrition and Home Economics at tnc Advisory Bureau in London. Translate* !:tor and author, Mrs Ellison's iJrey Ellison
ivcj
'
•
publications include The Great Scandinavian
Lookbook
Dr
and Growing/or the Kitchen.
Peter Hylands
pharmacognosy and teaching the chemistry of natural compounds. He has also taught in East Africa and has numerous research publications to his credit. is
lecturer in
at the University of London, studying
Allen Paterson trained in horticulture at Cambridge University Botanic Garden and the
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. He is Curator of Chelsea Physic Garden, and has written on horticultural and botanical subjects for a range ofjournals and books.
Kay Sanecki worked
trained as a horticulturist
for the
and has
Royal Horticultural Society and
in horticultural publishing for 25 years.
Her
books include Wild and Garden Herbs, Discovering Herbs, The Complete Book of Herbs and Discovering English Gardens. She has also contributed to numerous journals and encyclopedias.
GROSSET&DUNLAP \
HI
MWAYS COMPANY New York
Publishers
•
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A
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V*"*• :.
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