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Aspen – Balm of Gilead?
January 31, 2012 | 
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Aspen
Aspen
SALICACEAE Populus tremula
Appearance
The alternating, almost circular leaves possess bluntly toothed or wavy borders and emphatically sideways-flattened petioles, which tremble in the least breeze: they adorn a small deciduous tree with flat bark – at the onset yellowish but then developing darkish grey highlights.
The female blooms have purple stigmas. The flowers unfold before the leaves emerge. The fruit is a capsule which releases seeds with a white pappus.
The slightly sticky buds are sturdily oval. Aspen is dioecious with separate male and female catkins, that have purple hairy bracts.
History
Aspen and the archaic version, Asp, are taken from the Anglo-Saxon name aespetoithe tree. The word ‘asp’ was sometimes utilized to indicate tremulous, after the shaking leaves. The particular epithet also identifies this distinctive attribute of the tree.
Usage
Other than on the Continent, Aspen is not widely used in herbal medicine. A better-known resinous product from poplar buds is balm of Gilead, which is produced by the tree referred to as Balm of Gilead (P. gileadensis or P. candicans), from Balsam Poplar (P. balsamifera) or American Aspen (P. tremuloides).
Balm of Gilead is likewise gathered from a North American fir (Abies balsamea). The true balm of Gilead is, however, the resin of tropical bushes or small trees of the genus Commiphora.
Externally compresses, bathtub formulations and treatment-creams are used for haemorrhoids and management of burns. Preparations from fresh leaves are employed in homeopathy.
The leaf buds, sometimes the young bark and the leaves of Aspen, are all employed medicinally. Like the buds of Black Poplar (P.nigra), Aspen buds include an essential oil, bitter compounds, salicin and populin.
Such ingredients provide Aspen powerful diuretic, anti-inflammatory and antiseptic properties and the buds are used in an infusion for gout and rheumatism as well as for problems of the urinary tract and enlarged prostate gland.
Growth Characteristics
Aspen grows all over Europe including the British Isles, in open woods, notably on poorer soils. It is also regularly placed in home gardens and avenues.
Flowering time: February to March. (Northern Hemisphere)
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Radish – as a Herbal Remedy
radish
CRUCIFERAE/BRASSlCACEAERaphanussativus
Garden Radish
Appearance
The leaves and stalk of the garden radish are stiffly fuzzy. The white or pinkish blossoms contain darkish veins and are structured in a longish terminal raceme. An annual or biennial herb with a round to spindle-shaped tuberous taproot of various colorations, branched stalk and pinnately lobed, toothed foliage. The fruit is a siliqua, which is extended into a narrow seedless beak; the seeds are brown colored.
History
The normal Garden Radish was grown as a herbal remedy and vegetable by the classical Egyptians as well as the Greeks and Romans were aware of a number of variations. Its actual origin is confused but it is thought to be a native of western Asia. Currently it is raised in various types, the black-rooted variation being the one used for medical-related purposes. The closely related Wild Radish (R. raphanis-trurri) is a common and troublesome weed all over Britain. This is injurious to farm animals should they consume it in large quantities. The familiar name, Radish, is a corruption of the Latin term radix, meaning root and also the Romans’ name for the plant.
Usage
- The dark roots feature antiseptic qualities, vitamin supplements C and B complex and mineral salts.
- They are often consumed uncooked and unpeeled and have antiseptic, tonic, choleretic, carminative and stomachic actions.
- One can use them sliced up or grated on bread and butter, or the pressed juice alone is ingested for hepatitis and gall bladder disorders, gallstones and digestive difficulties.
- Radish is likewise known as a herbal remedy in homeopathy.
- The well known red, red and white or white radishes (R. sativus var. radicula) are less potent but make great and nutritional salad vegetables. The leaves are usually edible.
Growth Characteristics
Garden Radish can be naturalised and seen growing wild from scattered garden seeds in the British Isles.
Can be grown in an indoor herb garden kit in a sunny windowsill.
Flowering time: June to August
Herbal Remedies – Lungwort Not Just For Lungs
Lungwort
Lungwort
BORAGINACEAE Pulmonaria officinalis
True to the doctrine of signatures, lungwort both resembles and heals lungs. But it does a lot more than that:
Appearance
A perennial herb with bell-shaped blossoms arranged in terminal monochasial cymes. They are pink at first, blue after fertilization. All portions of the plant have stiff hairs. Lungwort typically sports a creeping rhizome together with a clump of angled, unbranched, upright or ascending stems. The alternating leaves are oval or else cordate, generally white-spotted; the low ones are stalked, the higher ones sessile and clasping at the base. The fruit consists of four one-seeded nutlets.
History And Distribution
These particular lungworts should not be mixed-up with a lichen (Lobaria pulmonaria), which is the lungwort listed by herbalists nowadays and also used in chest complaints.
It is also often grown in gardens for its attractive spotted leaves, as is the related Bethlehem Sage (P. saccharata). The generic and well-known names of Lungwort denote the blotchy leaves, which are likened to diseased lung tissue in the past and the plant was previously used to improve assorted lung ailments. Narrow-leaved Lungwort (P. angustifolia) has also been employed medicinally. It is indigenous to the British Isles yet somehow crops up only in Hampshire, Dorset as well as the Isle of Wight.
Usage
Internal
The leaves and flowering stems are used medicinally. Their constituents incorporate tannins, mucilage, saponins, silicic acid solution and mineral salts. These substances grant Lungwort emollient, expectorant, anti-inflammatory, diuretic, diaphoretic and astringent attributes. It is found in herbal medicine in an infusion to calm bronchitis, cough and whooping cough, as well as to check diarrhoea.
External
On the outside it is included in compresses and bath water treatments for wounds and skin disorders.
Growth Characteristics
Lungwort grows throughout Europe in woodland, wood margins, scrub and hedgerows. It is probably not native to the British Isles but is regionally naturalized in various locations, especially in the south.
Flowering time: March to May (Northern Hemisphere)
Yarrow – First Among Natural Herbal Remedies?.. Part 2
Yarrow Border
External use
- Externally a decoction is used as a herbal remedy to deal with slow-healing cuts, skin rashes and eczema, chapped skin and in the form of a gargle and bath additive. Yarrow should be consumed in moderation and not for long periods because doing so might cause skin itching.
- It may be utilized as a sitz bath for sore, cramp-like ailments in the lower female pelvis (pelvic autonomic dysfunction).
- It is also employed for injuries, nosebleeds, ulcers, swollen eyes and hemorrhoidal inflamation.
- In folklore it is held as an outstanding cure for injuries and cuts.
- Yarrow oil is regularly utilised in hair shampoos.
- Aromatherapy and essential oil use.
- The fresh leaves — and the flowers — include numerous cosmetic uses.
- On the skin, it can be effective for slow healing injuries, together with open sores and it has an astringent function on the skin.
- Yarrow herbs are employed to stimulate hair growth and is indicated to attend to premature hair thinning.
Internal use
- A yarrow-based healing tea-like drink is an efficient therapy for difficult colds and flu, for tummy ulcers, amenorrhea, abdominal cramping, abscesses, injuries and bleeding, and to cut down on irritation.
- Ingredients of yarrow exhibit antibiotic action and could also act like anti-neoplastic medication.
- Internally, this is used for colds, flu and measles, as well as to gastric excess mucus and dyspepsia.
- The flowers are utilized for diminished appetite and minor, spastic complications of the digestive tract and to protect against strokes and cardiac attack.
- Yarrow essential oil is especially good for gynecological conditions, for example irregular menstruation, uncomfortable periods, together with menopausal issues.
- The digestion of food is stimulated, urine formation supported and fever as well as congestion is eased.
- Whenever you are feeling low, yarrow might be the herbal remedy reviver that you need. It can be advantageous for the blood circulation and helps with varicose veins, rheumatic pains and neuralgia.
Culinary
- The taste is somewhat bitter and peppery and fresh leaves, chopped up, bestow ‘bite’ to a muddled salad.
Growing Factors
These herbs are easily grown and will subsist in inferior soil. It favors a well-drained soil in a sun-filled site. A first-rate “companion plant”, it safeguards the well being of plants growing close at hand and increases their essential oil substance thus making them a lot more resistant to insect predations and enhancing soil fertility.
Other
We say again: Continuous application of high concentrations of this herbal remedy can result in allergic skin irritations in some individuals, making the skin hyper photosensitive.
Flowering period: June to August (Northern Hemispere)
Yarrow – First Among Natural Herbal Remedies?.. Part 1
One Of The Oldest Herbal Remedies
Tags: Marshmallow Herb – A Lot More Than Just Candy
Marshmallow Herb
Marshmallow – also althaea root, mallow root, mortification root, Schloss tea, sweet weed, Hock herb.
MALVACEAE Althaea officinalis
Description
A perennial botanical herb with a yellow, branched root, elevated, vertical, leafy stems and substantial alternating, lobed and irregularly toothed foliage.
The stems and foliage are velvety. The milky white or pinkish blooms of these herb garden plants, which are inviting to bees, are lined up in uneven racemes in the leaf axils. The disc-shaped schizocarpic fruit (a capsule) splits into one-seeded nutlets (mericarps). The fruits are usually referred to as ‘cheeses’ because of their rounded structure.
History
Homer’s Iliad - from 2,800 years ago, contains references to marshmallow root as a healing herb.
The familiar soft candy, marshmallow, was initially flavoured with Marshmallow root.
The familiar term ‘mallow’ is a corruption of the Latin term malva for this and similar plants in the Malvaceae family (see also PL 139). Both malva and Malvaceae almost certainly originate in the Greek word malakos (= soft), a reference to the softening and healing attributes of these herbs.
Among its various constituents are sugar, starch, an amino acid (asparagine) and pectin.
Usage
Marshmallow is a popular herbal remedy for diverse conditions and is cultivated commercially in certain countries.
The whole plant incorporates a healing action. But it has got to be without rust.
Marshmallow is regarded as the most vital mucilaginous medicinal herbs mainly because it contains a high proportion of mucilage (flowers around 20 per cent, roots near 30 per cent) and it is incorporated into branded medication and herbal preparations as an ointment, demulcent, antitussive and expectorant.
Marshmallow is employed internally for bronchitis and bronchial asthma and for indigestion and gastrointestinal difficulties.
It makes calming gargles and compresses and poultices for external application. It offers a number of cosmetic purposes too. The roots may be boiled and used like a vegetable.
Growth Characteristics
Marshmallow boasts a wide-ranging distribution from western Europe to Siberia. In the British Isles, where it is native, it is commonplace in salt marshes and on banks nearby the seashore. It is now naturalized to the eastern United States and used for ornamental purposes - foliage and purple flowers.
Flowering period – Northern hemisphere: August to September.
Developing Your Indoor Herb Garden Kits
Indoor Herb Pots
My previous post examined the features of pots and containers for creating your indoor herb garden kits as well as appropriate kinds of herb for inclusion therein. I would at this juncture like to concentrate on several other options you might want to consider if you want to gain optimum pleasure and functionality from a new indoor herb garden.
The incentive to cultivate herbs inside the garden or house is often a productive one: not merely will the plantings
guarantee a stable supply of fresh and all-natural flavouring for cooking but, in accordance with the variations you want to grow, they will provide possibilities for an array of uses in both the remedial and make up fields. Herbs are, more importantly, among the most convenient of plants to cultivate, and they need minimalroom for effective growth.
Contemplating your herb garden
You might desire to cultivate herbs for culinary requirements, for their fragrance, or for their medicinal elements. There are a great number of various herbs, hence your primary factor in planning the garden is its essential function or purposes. Some people grow them as an ornamental feature; others incorporate the plants to fulfill diverse requirements. The options are practically infinite, the eventual preference according to your preferences, on the needs you have and, to some degree, on your inventive ability.
Even though usually informal, your indoor herb garden should be planned in accordance with the height and width of container, the functionality desired and growth features as well as the plants’ needs. Aesthetic considerations are pretty much as important as practical ones, and herbs of comparable height and spread grown in sizable pots should be arranged, with the taller-growing plants (rosemary, lemon verbena) in the back of the container, and the shorter, denser bush-growth in front. Spreading and fast-growing herbs (mint, lemon bairn) should be provided individual pots to refrain from choking of other plants.
Herbs wanted frequently (parsley, sage, thyme, chives) ought to be quite easy to access and not covered up by other foliage, and annuals should be planted independently from perennials. Endeavor to create visual interest by mixing up textures and shades of foliage – paler hues of green and grey, for example, can be used to contrast with bolder greens; set feathery foliage against heavier-leafed plants.
Other options
Being such versatile plants, herbs provide convenient options – creeping thyme may be potted in or close by a busy room where it will emit an enjoyable fragrance when brushed against. Attractive flowering herbs such as tansy, lavender, yarrow, rosemary and calendula provide lively sections of colour to a kitchen area or any other room. Lavender, thyme and scented geranium, could be located close to the front entrance, featuring a sweet-smelling welcome for friends.
Selecting The Varieties
- For flavouring and garnishes, the following baker’s dozen comprise a good choice: basil, bay leaf, caraway, chives, coriander, fennel, garlic, lemon balm, marjoram, mint, parsley, sage and thyme.
- A fragrant herb garden provides you with the constituents for fragrant sachets and potpourri. Beneficial here might be: angelica, basil, bay, bergamot, chamomile, fennel, hyssop, lavender, lemon balm, lemon thyme, lemon verbena, mint, rosemary and roses.
- The flowers and leaves of these varieties provide substances for teas and herbal drinks: bergamot, borage, chamomile, catmint, hyssop, lemon balm, lemon verbena, lovage, peppermint, rosemary and thyme.
- A medicinal herb garden might include: angelica, basil, bay, bergamot, borage, chives, comfrey, fennel, garlic, lemon balm, parsley, rosemary, sage and thyme.
Pots, Containers And Indoor Herb Gardens
Indoor Herb Garden
Container and indoor growth
Herbs are probably the most suitable and attractive container plants and virtually every species may be potted with great success, whether initially propogated by seed or nursey seedlings. My first herb garden was indoors – cooking with herbs was just so convenient with a source close at hand. Since the first attempt – almost 30 years ago – I have dished out dozens of mini gardens to friends as gifts. Many of them got over the mystique surrounding herbs in days of yore and became keen herbies.
Herbs ideally suited for planting indoors include popular choices such as basil, chives, coriander(silantro), lemon balm, thyme, marjoram, parsley, stevia, sage and winter savory. However, small pots of many other varieties should certainly survive very well if indoor growing circumstances are favourable. (See below.)
Terracotta strawberry containers are particularly suited for herb growing, allowing taller and bushier herbs (hyssop, for example) to be grown in the top, and for trailing herbs (oregano, thyme) to grow down gracefully from the side openings. When selecting a pot or tub, be sure to check its has adequate water drainage openings and that it is thoroughly clean. Containers must permit good drainage to prevent waterlogging and consequent root impairment.
Besides satisfying these requirements, ensure that the dimensions and colour of the pot match the plant you are planning to grow: un-glazed clay-based pots are widely used and combine nicely with green foliage; timber containers also play a role in attractive presentation and can be utilized as window boxes or on a veranda.
Container plantings offer an array of possibilities to the herb garden enthusiast: a pot including a single species can be arranged with other containers for variety; or you can place several herbs together in a single large container, provided that the grouped herbs need the equivalent growing requirements.
A space-saving and appealing technique for growing is the hanging basket. This allows creeping foliage to cascade over the sides, while central positions can be filled by parsley or chives.
Herbs with invasive root systems (mint, lemon balm) are best planted separately as they tend to overcrowd the other species in a mixed planting. Check first with your nurseryman.
Indoor Herb Garden
Herbs indoors
Potted indoor herbs need a well-lit, bright position but do not like the severe direct heat of the sun. A kitchen window-sill which receives several hours of sun each day is ideal. Even decent reflected light will suit such plants as chervil, chives, lemon balm, mint and parsley – none of which benefit from too much heat.
Indoor herbs ought to be examined on a daily basis for moisture and watered on a regular basis to avoid the soil from drying out.
Container-grown herbs do not need to be limited to window boxes or patio positions. In reality, some of the more delicate herbs are better cultivated indoors; certainly in places where winters are severe.
Indoor herbs flourish in a normal, and stable, room temperature of around 17 °C, but will endure cooler night temperatures as long as these do not fall too low. Dry heat is exceedingly detrimental, and relatively high levels of humidity ought to be maintained; this can be contrived by standing the pots on a layer of moist gravel in their drip trays. They will also reap the benefits of an occasional misting of their foliage, and they require decent air circulation. They should not, however, be permitted to stand in a draught.
Alder – With An Alter Ego
Alder - Alnus glutinosa
BETULACEAE Alnus glutinosa
Appearance
There are 3 well-known alder plants with a few differing characteristics:
Alder (Alnus glutinosa) A deciduous shrub or medium-sized tree with darkish-brown, fissured bark and glabrous twigs with yellowish lenticels (wart-like components) on the bark. Alder is monoecious; the flowers are borne on the old wood and emerge before the leaves, organized in catkins. The leaves are broadly spherical or sometimes notched at the tip, often doubly serrate, bright-green on both sides and very sticky (viscid) in the springtime. The long, hanging male catkins possess purplish scales and yellow-colored blossoms; the shorter female catkins- are nearly globular, reddish-purple in early spring but they transform into brownish and woody after the seeds are released developing cones or ‘berries’. The fruit is a winged achene.
Grey Alder [A. incana) is similar to Alder however it has sleek greyish bark, its leaves are pointed and are greyish green above and pale below.
Green Alder (A. viridis) is more of a shrub than a tree. Its leaves have a sharp point, cordate base and are green on either side. It grows in mountainous areas in Europe.
History
Alder is indigenous to Europe, Asia and Africa, it is familiar all across the British Isles. The wood is light and easily worked once seasoned. The common designation, Alder, apparently originates from the Anglo-Saxon word alor or aler, and this may derive from an old time German term elo or elawer (reddish yellow), considered a reference to the colour of the fresh-cut timber.
Usage
All species of alder possess similar medicinal properties and are established rustic medications, employing the sticky young leaves and the bark, from felled timber. The constituents include tannins and anthraquinones which provide Alder an astringent effect and a bitter taste.
- The fresh crushed leaves soothe chapped skin.
- A decoction of Alder is utilized externally in the form of a gargle for tonsillitis and as a mouth wash.
- Used to deal with enteritis, severe diarrhoea, fever, colds and rheumatic soreness.
Growth Characteristics
Alder will grow in wet woods and by wetlands and streams.
Alder can flourish in places where the anaerobic or near-anaerobic soil factors – generally due to waterlogging – could swiftly damage and destroy most other tree varieties. It manages this by a symbiotic relationship with a nitrogen-fixing bacterium which occupies root nodules. The bacteria provide the nitrates the tree needs while the tree appears to supply physical and chemical protection to the bacteria.
Flowering period: March to April. (Northern hemisphere)
