HERBS THROUGH THE AGES...

[Bertie Horak]

I know there's quite a few of our members interested in medicinal plants and alternative medicine.  I decided to post a new herb under this topic every 2-3 weeks (depending on time available) for those interested.  Probably not everyone's cup of tea (no pun intended), so if you are interested, read forth, if not, please move on...
Here we go, the first herb I'll throw in here, is "Yarrow".

Yarrow   (Achillea millefolium)

Common names:
Yarrow, Milfoil, Woundwort, Nosebleed, Thousandleaf, Carpenter's '

Interesting facts about YARROW:

1.  The name Achillea may stem from the battle of Troy, when Achilles healed many of his warriors injured with iron weapons, after being instructed in yarrow's ability to staunch blood flow.

2.  Long considered sacred, yarrow stems were used by the Druids to divine seasonal weather in Europe, while in China yarrow stems were used to foretell the future with the assistance of the "I Ching" (Book of Changes).

3.  The woodcarver retained a close relationship with "herbe aux charpentier" – carpenter's wort, which healed many a carpenter's wounds.

4.  The link between humans and the conscious use of herbs and flowers can be traced back to Neanderthal man, following the analysis of pollen clusters by scientists which shows that a funeral bouquet containing yarrow flowers was placed in the grave of a male buried 60 000 years ago at Shanidar Cave in Iraq.

5.  Yarrow's root secretions will activate disease resistance of nearby plants:
"Milfoil should on no account be weeded out.  Like sympathetic people in human society, who have a favorable influence by their mere presence and not by anything they say, so milfoil, in a district where it is plentiful, works beneficially by its mere presence"
          - Dr Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925)

6.  "Mylfoile of some Yarrow or Nosebleede, is a small and short set or shrub.  It hath his leaf like to the Birdes feathers.  They are devided by cuttes and are sharpe also like the Cummin.  Dioscorides saith, it is profitable to stay eruption of bloud"
            - John Maplet,  A greene Forest,  1567.

Description:   
Perennial, up to 60cm high.  Foliage fernlike, feathery, aromatic and hairy.  Masses of large, flattened terminal corymbs of tiny daisy-like flowers, ranging from white to pink.  Spread by means of rhizomes.

Habitat:
Europe and temperate Asia.  Do best in sunny, well-drained sites.  Often seen in pasture and meadow lands of Europe and the USA.

Parts used:
Flowering tops and leaves.

Constituents:   
Amino acids, Fatty acids, Achillein (alkaloid), Flavonoids, Tannins, Volatile oils, Sugars.

Medicinal/Folk uses:   
Fever, common cold, cystitis, essential hypertension, amenorrhea, dysentery, diarrhea, thrombotic conditions.  The Pak-Ute Indians used it for "weak and disordered" stomachs.
         
Actions:
Diaphoretic (induces perspiration), diuretic, urinary antiseptic, hypotensive (lowers blood pressure), anti-thrombotic (prevents blood clots), mild vasodilator, anti-inflammatory, astringent.

[Michele Alexander (Voden)]

Thanks Bertie - makes for interesting reading, I look forward to your next installment!

[Cherry (Alcock)]

Bertie you are a star!  I grow lots of herbs, make soap, infusions, etc, etc so this is great.  I'm saving these to pdf under "Bertie's Herbs" - please keep posting!

[SandyB]

Interesting stuff  Bertie ... natures  dispensary ..  our  forbears  survived with  traditional medicine ...

[Bertie Horak]

True, Sandy.  It baffles my mind how the people knew - through trial and error, by watching animals, being in touch with their surroundings, and by listening and learning from their ancestors - which medicines/plants were good for what conditions.  (Without books, internet, telephones, etc)
Nowadays we have the means to experiment with and analyze these plants in hi-tech laboratories with fancy equipment what the constituents of plants are, and how they work.

For instance this comparison:
Ages ago: The American Indians knew if you put the sap of the Purple coneflower (Echinacea) on a spider/snake bite wound immediately after being bitten/stung, their chances of survival were much better.  They attributed it to a magical force (spirit) inside the plant.
Today: We know the plant has an alkalide in its sap which inhibits the hialuronidaze enzyme in human tissue which is necessary for the poison to spread, thereby preventing this spread and by localizing it, the body's immune response through specific antibodies and white blood cell intermediates, manages to break down the poison easier.

Magic!!!!  My outlook - even if we know what the special chemical is, the plant should still be seen as a magical, spiritual part of the healing process.  Only then will you appreciate the natural world around us and the magic hidden all around.  We have to look, to see.

[SandyB]

Magic .. a good  word ..  believeing  does  help  healing ... as it  sets the  stage where the body is  better   equipped to help itself  with the assistance of  the  herb  or  yes  the  modern  mass produced  tablet ... some  people  you can treat with  the best medication  and it will not be as effective if  they have a negative attitude ,, saying .. well yes  we alll know the  words hey ??..  compared to the  soul who  is  grateful to mans   intuittion for  natural  remedies  or  technology  being  there  to manufacture  medications to  help one ..

[Bertie Horak]

Thanx all for the response and PM's.  This next one is for you, Cherry...

Comfrey    (Symphytum officinalis)

Common names:   
Comfrey,  Boneset,  Knitbone.

Interesting facts about COMFREY:

1.  Comfrey has been used since the Middle Ages for setting broken bones.

2.  The herbalist Culpeper was delighted with comfrey in 1653.  He wrote in "The English Physitian Enlarged" that it is:  "... special good for ruptures and broken bones; yea it is said to be so powerful to consolidate and knit together, that if they be boiled with dissevered pieces of flesh in a pot, it will join them together again."

Herbal specialists today are a little more modest, although the properties
of comfrey are still praised.

3.  "For the dry couge.  Take horehound and comfrey and ete wit hony three morowes and iij eves."
-  MS.136  Medical Society of London,  1444.

4.  Comfrey leaves can be fried in a batter for a delicious high-protein vegetarian meal.

5.  Many plants that contain Pyrrolizidene alkaloids (PA's) like Comfrey, is feasted on by insects which use these chemicals to make them unpalatable to other predators.  Similarly, these PA's are used by tropical danaid butterflies to make important pheromones.

Description:
Leafy perennial herb with erect flowering stems up to 1 m arising each year from a fleshy rhizome.  Large hairy leaves borne along the stems and tubular blue-pink flowers in one-sided clusters at the tips.

Habitat:
Eastern and Western Asia.   Used as companion plant – keeps the surrounding soil rich and moist.

Parts used:
Leaves (internal and external),  Roots (externally only)

Constituents:
Allantoin (stimulates re-generation of skin tissue, reducing the formation of scar tissue), Pyrrolizidene alkaloids (possible liver toxicity), Tannins, Triterpenes, Phytosterols, Rosmarinic and silicillic acid, Vit B12, Proteins (Same percentage as soya beans!)

Actions:
Comfrey is a vulnerary (promotes wound healing) and demulcent (soothes and protects mucus membranes), with unparalleled wound, ulcer and fracture healing actions.  It is anti-inflammatory, soothing on a dry or inflamed Gastro-intestinal tract, and an age-old remedy for dry irritable coughs (expectorant).

Safety:
The Pyrrolizidene alkaloids may cause liver toxicity.  The highest concentrations of these alkaloids are in the roots and very young leaves, and almost nothing is present in the dried herb.  The leaves seem to be quite safe.  For safety's sake, it is advised to avoid taking Comfrey while pregnant, or if you have an existing liver condition.

Medicinal/Folk uses:
Superficial wounds, Skin inflammations, Ulcers, Sprains, Fractures.  The leaves are very nutritious.

[Cherry (Alcock)]

Thanks Bertie - keep 'em coming!

[Diana Rudd (Boehme)]

Don't forget to contact me when you have my little concoction ready...... cowgirl

[Bertie Horak]

Diana - 

[georg ruf jr.]

This is grand Bertie.  Just having a bit of a tough time with the English. But I'll do my best...

[Bertie Horak]

Ok, time for number 3:  I decided on BORAGE.  Hope you find it interesting!

Borage       (Borago  officinalis)

Common names:   

Borage, Star flower, Bee plant, Beebread, Boretsch.

Interesting facts about BORAGE:

1.  Borago has long been regarded for its ability to lift the spirits.  Even Pliny called the plant euphrosinum because it made men joyful and merry.

2.  Borage was one of the plants most relied upon "to comfort the heart".  "It is a herb", said Gerard around 1635, "of force and virtue to drive away sorrow."

3.  Culinary uses include candied flowers for cake decorations, and leaves and flowers in salads.

4.  The Celtic name borrach meant courage, and the Welsh name Llawenlys translates as herb of gladness.

5.  According to Dioscorides and Pliny, borage was the famed nepenthe of Homer, a herb wine that brought absolute forgetfulness.

6.  Flowers are a beautiful pure blue, often chosen by Old Masters to paint the Madonna's robe.

7.  Borage flowers were also embroidered on fine medieval tapestries and on scarves for tournament jousters.

8.  For courage, the flowers were floated in the stirrup-cups given to Crusaders at their departure.

9.  "Ego Borago gaudia simper ago." – (I borage bring always courage)
      - Pliny

Description:   
Robust annual up to 50 cm with hairy leaves and attractive purplish-blue star-shaped flowers.

Habitat:
Southern Europe and Mediterranean.

Parts used:
Flowers,  Flowering tops and seed oil.

Constituents:
Mucilage, Traces of unsaturated pyrrolizidine alkaloids, γ-linolenic acid (GLA), fatty acids, Tannins, Saponins.

Medicinal/Folk uses:   
Traditionally used as a diuretic, fevers (diaphoretic), bronchitis (expectorant), anti-inflammatory, emulcent, mild sedative, antidepressant.  Also a tonic, galactogogue (lactation) and adrenal tonic (for stress).

[Cherry (Alcock)]

Keep 'em coming Bertie.  Is the practice open?  If so, how's it going?

[Bertie Horak]

@ Cherry- I'm opening on Wednesday (21st) and I'm glad to say the first day is fully booked!  Will be playing dentist on Mon,Tues,Thurs and Fri,  and phytotherapist on Wednesdays.  If it gets more popular, I'll start phasing the dentistry out, that's my long-term goal.

[Cherry (Alcock)]

That is fantastic; I wish you everything of the best.  It's great when people fulfil their dreams!