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Toxic Medicinal Herbs Parents Must Avoid
November 3, 2011 | 
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Foxglove Digitalis purpurea
Some herbal remedies ought not to be taken if there is a pre-existing kidney, liver or heart condition, or if an individual is diabetic. For example, Juniper should not be taken by those with inflamed kidneys and Rhubarb not by individuals with urinary conditions and kidney stones and uroliths.
Professional guidance should always be sought if there is any question about the toxicity of a plant or about the interactions of herbal remedies with other medicines that are currently being taken. Guidance should be sought if there is any doubt about the safety of a herbal treatment for a child. It is highly recommended that you seek the opinion of a medical assistant regarding the kind of medicinal herbs that can be safely ingested.
Compared to synthetic drugs very few herbal remedies have been clinically screened in a scientific way for both their beneficial and potentially harmful properties. It is hence inadvisable for expecting mothers to take any herbal reme’dy aside from very mild herbal teas (for example, Chamomile) and those prescribed by a qualified medical or herbal practitioner.
The collection and processing of medicinal plants are closely supervised and the resulting medications are prescribed meticulously by qualified professional medical personnel.
Some highly toxic plants provide such important medicines (alkaloids and glycosides primarily) that they are cultivated commercially for the pharmaceutical industry (such as, Ergot Fungus, Deadly Nightshade, Foxgloves and Opium Poppy). A selection of extremely toxic medicinal plants is listed below; keep in mind we have used what we consider the best known name, but for regional and language differences have also incorporated the scientific (Latin) name.
Bittersweet solanum-dulcamara
These herbs should NEVER be collected and prepared for use in the home:
- Biting Stonecrop Sedum acre
- Bittersweet Solanum dulcamara
- Black-berried Bryony Bryonia alba
- Box Buxus sempervirens
- Bulbous Corydalis Corydalis cava
- Castor-oil Plant Ricinus communis
- Christmas Rose Helleborus niger
- Cowbane Cicuta virosa
- Crown Vetch Coronilla varia
- Deadly Nightshade Atropa belladonna
- Erect Clematis Clematis recta
- Ergot Fungus Claviceps purpurea
- False Acacia Robinia pseudoacacia
- False Helleborine Veratrum album
- Forking Larkspur Delphinium consolida (= Consolida regalis)
- Foxglove Digitalis purpurea
- Hedge Hyssop Gratiola officinalis
- Hemlock Conium maculatum
- Hemp Cannabis saliva
- Henbane Hyoscyamus niger
- Iranian Poppy Papaver bracteatum
- Ivy Hedera helix
- Laburnum Laburnum anagyroides
- Large Yellow Foxglove Digitalis grandiflora
- Lily-of-the-Valley Convallaria majalis
- Lesser Periwinkle Vinca major
- Lords-and-Ladies Arum maculatum
- Male Fern Dryopteris filix-mas
- Meadow Saffron Colchicum autumnale
- Mezereon Daphne mezereum
- Monkshood Aconitum napellus
- Opium Poppy Papaver somnifertim
- Thornapple Datura stramonium
- Wild Lettuce Lactuca virosa
- Woolly Foxglove Digitalis lanata
- Yellow Pheasant’s Eye Adonis vernalis
- Yew Taxus baccata
Yellow Pheasant's Eye adonis vernalis
If plant poisoning is suspected, medical attention needs to be sought straight away.
For commercial cultivation, increased yields of the medicinally active substances are obtained by breeding varieties with a continuous, high concentration of the desired substances or by special preparation techniques.
Occasionally the poisons occur only in certain elements of the plant — the leaves, fruits or rootstock. For example, the flowers of Forking Larkspur are not poisonous, but the other parts of the plant, particularly the seeds, are very toxic.
A curious aspect of poisonous plants is that the concentration of toxic substances in them is not consistent; it varies according to such factors as the locality, the time of year, the time of day, the temperature and whether it is damp or dry, sunny or overcast.
Remember also that the everyday Potato (Solanum tuberosum) tuber is normally quite harmless, as long as it is not green (when green it is poisonous), but the flowers and young leaves are toxic.
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Meadowsweet – Herb for Sore Tummies
ROSACEAE Filipendula ulmaria (syn. Spiraea ulmaria)
Appearance
The small, creamy-white, fragrant flowers are arranged in a terminal corymb. The flowers have reflexed hairy sepals and numerous long stamens.
A perennial herb with a short, pink rhizome and a tough, erect, branched and leafy stem. The stem leaves are alternate, odd-pinnate, doubly serrate, dark green above and usually white-felted below; the stipules are broadly cordate and conspicuous.
The fruit, a one-seeded follicle, is spirally twisted. The scent of the leaves is quite different from that of the flowers.
History
Meadowsweet has been used as a medicinal plant since ancient times and it remains popular as a herbal remedy to this day. It was in the flowerheads that salicylic acid was first discovered in 1839. It was from this substance that aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) was later synthesized.
The common name, Meadowsweet, is said to be derived from the Anglo-Saxon word medu (= mead) because the plant was once used to flavour the drink made from fermented honey.
Usage
- The flowers, and sometimes the young leaves and rhizomes, are used medicinally. All parts contain the glycosides gaultherin and spiraein, traces of an alkaloid (helio-tropine), tannins, a yellow pigment, vanillin and free salicylic acid, produced by the splitting of gaultherin and citric acid. These substances give the plant antipyretic, weak antispasmodic, astringent and antirheumatic properties.
- The flowers are used in an infusion to treat influenza, and to alleviate headache and rheumatic and arthritic pain.
- Meadowsweet is gentler on the stomach than aspirin and it is one of the most effective herbal remedies for gastritis and peptic ulcers.
- Both the leaves and flowers are also strongly diuretic and are used to treat certain bladder and kidney disorders.
- The fresh root is used in homeopathic preparations.
Growth Characteristics
Meadowsweet is common in damp woods and meadows, in fens and by riversides throughout Europe, including the British Isles.
Flowering time: June to September
Lovage – Herbal Remedy with a Sting in the Tail
UMBELLIFERAE/APIACEAE Levisticum officinale
Appearance
All of the parts of the plant are strongly fragrant. A perennial herb with a strong, hollow, angled and branched stem and substantial, long-stalked, bi- or tri-pinnate leaves with shiny dark-green leaflets. The stem leaves are less divided. The smallish greenish-yellow flowers are structured in a compound umbel. The fruit is a yellow-brown, ovoid dual achene with winged ribs.
History
Lovage is probably a native of the Mediterranean zone but it is now naturalized all over Europe in meadows and other grassy places in many regions of Europe.
Lovage was available to the classical Greeks who chewed the fruit to assist digestion and to ease flatulence; the plant has remained a preferred herbal option.
It enjoyed a reputation in a number of European states as an aphrodisiac, thus possibly its popular name. Most likely though the name Lovage is derived from an old English word loveache, from the much earlier Latin name ligusticum, after Liguria in Italy where the herb grew in abundance.
It is regularly grown as a garden herb and is commercially grown on a small scale for medicinal uses in various countries
Usage
- The roots of two- or three-year plants or the flowering stems (collected before flowering) are employed medicinally. Their ingredients incorporate an essential oil with terpineol and butyl phthalidine as its most important components, furanocoumarins, sugars, esters of organic acids and resin. These elements impart Lovage stomachic, carminative, cholagogic, diuretic, mild expectorant, antidiaphoretic and anti-rheumatic properties.
- In herbalism an infusion is used mainly to relieve flatulence, as an appetizer, for dropsy and urinary disorders, rheumatism and nervous exhaustion.
- A hot infusion can be used as an inhalant and if added to bathtub water, it possesses a cleansing and deodorizing effect on the skin.
- If taken internally in excess Lovage may cause feelings of nausea and vertigo.
ABOVE ALL, LARGE DOSES SHOULD NEVER BE TAKEN BY WOMEN WHO ARE PREGNANT OR BY INDIVIDUALS WITH KIDNEY DISEASES.
Growth Characteristics
Flowering period is July to August in the Northern hemisphere.
Hops For Clear Beer
CANNABACEAE Humuluslupulus
Appearance
A perennial climbing herb with a branched rhizome, lengthy roots along with a extensive, leafy, angled stalk which twins in a clockwise direction. The leaves are opposite, palmately three- to f ive-lobed and coarsely serrate.
The green flowers are dioecious: the male flowers are in drooping, axillary panicles; the tiny female blossoms are clustered in stalked, ovoid, cone-like spikes or strobiles (hops) with continual, sizeable, overlapping bracts. The bracts become papery once the fruiting head is ripened. The fruit is an achene encased in the perianth.
All elements of the plant are somewhat hairy.
History
Hops were useful to clear, preserve and also flavour beer since the Middle Ages but it was not until the 16th century that the process was introduced into Britain by Flemish immigrants. Only the female plants are produced commercially; the cones must not be pollinated. The origin of the generic name, Humulus, is uncertain; it may originate from the Latin word humus (= ground), a reference possibly to the rich soil in which Hop thrives.
Usage
The plant is still probably among the most useful of herbal remedies.
- The cones or strobiles are used medicinally. Once dried out they have a spicy aroma along with a bitter taste. The constituents incorporate a resin with bitter compounds (primarily humulone and lupulone), oestrogenic substances and an essential oil with humulene. These substances give Hop mild sedative, hypnotic, stomachic, diuretic and weak antiseptic properties.
- An infusion is used in herbalism for digestive conditions, nervous irritability, to induce sleep and as an antiaphrodisiac (in men).
- The most effective way of using hops for insomnia is in pillows.
- A tincture of the fresh cones is commonly used in homeopathy.
- The distilled essential oil is contained in some perfumes. Young shoots and immature leaves can be added to salads.
Growth Patterns
Flowering time: July to September
Hops grow in hedges and thickets throughout Europe, often from cultivation. In the British Isles hops grow wild in a number of parts of England and Wales and have been imported into Scotland and Ireland
Daisy Has the Answers
COMPOSITAE/ASTERACEAE Bettisperennis
Appearance
The lone flowerheads contain white to pinkish, ligulate ray-florets as well as yellow, tubular disc-florets that shut in the evening. Bees find the flowers highly appealing. Ail parts of the plant are sparsely hairy. The fruit is an oval, downy achene without a pappus.
The common name, Daisy, is made up of the Anglo-Saxon name daeges eage (= day’s eye), a reference to the plant’s resemblance to a ‘small sun’ since it opens and folds mornings and evenings.
History
Daisy is very common in the wild and in home gardens around the world. The generic name, Bellis, is said to originate from the Latin word bella (= beautiful) or from a dryad called Belidis.
The plant was at one time a preferred treatment for wounds and chest ailments and is even now incorporated into various contemporary herbal handbooks.
Usage
- Young fresh leaves may be used raw in salads or perhaps put into soups.
- In herbal medicine it is usually utilised as an infusion.
- Daisy makes an appealing addition to tea mixtures.
- Externally it can be found in compresses and bathtub preparations to treat skin disorders, wounds and bruises.
- A decoction from the fresh leaves is employed for the samel purposes.
- The flowerheads are utilized medicinally. The primary ingredients are saponins, an essential oil, tannins, mucilage, flavones and a bitter compound, these all give Daisy astringent and expectorant qualities.
- It has a useful influence on gastritis, enteritis and diarrhoea, and infections of the upper respiratory system.
Growth Characteristics
The basal rosette of spathulate, bluntly serrate leaves stands up adequately to competition from other plants, such as grasses, and from spring onwards Daisy successively produces several generations of blossoms.
A perennial herb of grassland in addition to weeds in lawns.
Dandelion – Humble Multihealer
BORAGINACEAE Symphytum officinale
Appearance
In early spring hollow scapes are produced. These are terminated by solitary heads of multiple yellow ligulate florets encompassed by two rows of involucral bracts, the inner onces erect, the outer ones spreading.
A perennial herb with a protracted taproot and a basal rosette of oblong entire or toothed or even strongly pinnately divided leaves.
All parts of the plant incorporate lactiferous ducts; the latex is non-poisonous.
As soon as the flowers have faded the head turns into a ball of lengthy, ribbed, spiny achenes, with a pappus of white hairs at the end of a long stem or ‘beak’.
History
The common designation, Dandelion, is a corruption by means of the French dent de lion (lion’s tooth) of the medieval Latin name dens leonis, after the serrated edge of the leaves.
Usage
It is one of the most useful of medicinal herbs as all portions of the plant work well and safe to use; it is thought to be among the finest herbal remedies for kidney and liver complaints.
Although the root is the most active part, the roots, flowering stems, leaves (gathered before flowering) and flowerheads are all used medicinally. The elements include things like the terpenoid bitter substances taraxacin and taraxacerin, a glycoside, sterols, amino acids, tannins, inulin (up to 25 per cent), mineral substances, rubber (caoutchouc) and provitamin A, vitamins B and C (in leaves). These ingredients give Dandelion stomachic, cholagogic, nutritive and robust diuretic properties. It is used in an infusion to invigorate the desire for food, assist digestive function, for biliary and liver disorders, dropsy, rheumatism and arthritis.
- The pressed juice from the stalks or leaves is an efficient treatment for warts.
- The fresh young leaves can be eaten uncooked as a spring salad.
- The blossoms contain carotenoids and triterpenes. They are used, boiled with sugar, for coughs.
- They can be made into an outstanding wine.
- The roots, dried out, roasted and ground, produce a caffein-free coffee alternative.
Growth Characteristics
Flowering time is April to October in the Northern hemisphere and September to April in the Southern hemisphere.
Dandelion, a native of European countries, is a common weed of grassland, home gardens and waste places on nitrogen-rich soils.
Surprising Ways Gardening Can Make Your Life Better
Our friends over at lochnesswatergardens.com have sent us a great infographic on Surprising Ways Gardening Can Make Your Life Better.
We reproduce it hereunder but suggest that you go over to their site and have a look for yourself.
Source by Loch Ness Water Gardens
Rosebay Willowherb, Fireweed
Epilobium angustifolium
Appearance
The rosebay willowherb is a handsome plant with pink coloured blooms that blooms throughout the middle part of summer.
A perennial herb with a creeping rhizome along with a rather tall, upright, generally unbranched leafy stalk. The leaves are alternating and lanceolate with entire or slightly toothed and undulate margins. The fruit is an extended, four-valved capsule with many plumed seeds. The rose-pink flowers are positioned in a long terminal raceme. The flowers are attractive to bees.
The generic name, Epilobium, originates from a pair of Greek words, epi (~ upon) and lobos (= a pod), and refers to a situation where the flowers stand upon the apex of the lengthy, thin fruits, – which look rather similar to the flowerstems.
History
Rosebay Willowherb grows all through most of Europe in clumps in woodland clearings, on embankments and in waste places. It is an everyday weed in the British Isles.
It was one of the first plants to colonize London’s bomb sites during the Second World War. Mostly the popular name Willowherb describes the willow-like shape of the leaves.
Usage
The young rhizome, together with the fresh leaves and young shoots, may be enjoyed as a vegetable. Young shoots of rosebay willowherb can be served much the same as asparagus. The finely chopped young leaves add variety to salads and vegetable dishes.
The leaves have been employed as a tea substitute and are still used that way in the Soviet Union.
Mainly the leaves are employed medicinally. Their ingredients incorporate tannins (as high as 20 per cent), mucilage, sugars, pectin and vitamin C. These types of substances give Rosebay Willowherb demulcent, astringent and tranquillizing properties.
The rhizomes, which contain fewer tannins and no mucilage, are recommended in a decoction or chewed fresh for stomach complaints, including diarrhoea.
A decoction or infusion is employed to treat headache and migraine. Because it is abundant in vitamin C the tea is recommended in the role of a spring tonic.
Growth Pattern
It thrives on ground which has been cleared by fire, hence one of its substitute common names, Fireweed.
Flowering time: June to August
Yellow Water Lily – Beware the Poison
Yellow Waterlily , Brandy Bottle
Nyymphaeaceae nuphar lutea
Description
The substantial yellow blossoms , which have a scent of liquor and are pollinated by insects , grow on long stalks above the water’s surface . The petals are considerably smaller compared to the sepals . The fruit is a fleshy , flask-shaped capsule , which includes air bladders in its body tissues making sure that it will remain afloat for some time .
A perennial aquatic botanical herb with a strong creeping rhizome having long-stalked , widely ovate to cordate , robust , leathery leaves that drift on the water’s surface area .
History
The plant has actually received its unconventional designation , brandy bottle , due to the contour of the seed capsules as well as the vaguely alcoholic odour of its blooms. The generic name – nuphar – originates from the ancient latin word nenuphar for a waterlily , which in turn is a corruption of the arabic ninufar as well as Sanskrit nilot-pala with yet another water plant , the Indian blue lotus ( nelumbo nucifera ). And yes, it can be confusing!
Usage
The rhizomes are employed medicinally – they comprise tannins, glycosides, alkaloids ( nupharine , nupharidine ) together with other elements which are currently being researched for their physiological effects. In minimal doses these ingredients possess a cardiotonic effect so they are included in some medical preparations recommended by doctors on the continent .
They influence the core neurological system and in large amounts they can cause paralysis .
Yellow waterlily is not employed in herbal remedies however tinctures are employed is homeopathy .THIS MUST BE MADE USE OF EXCLUSIVELY UNDER MEDICAL SUPERVISION ; IT IS NEVER RECOMMENDED FOR SELF-MEDICATION .
It is usually farmed for the pharmaceutical industry on the Continent . Always remember that it is best to consult a professional pharmacy technician for more information about this poisonous yet medicinal herb.
Growth Pattern
Yellow Waterlily is protected in many countries , although not in the British Isles where it continues to be quite common , particularly in the southern and eastern regions. It grows across Europe and Asia in nutrient-rich , still or gently moving water .
Flowering season : June to September
Herbs in Pots and Herbal Teas
Once again we have to thank our new guest blogger, Camille Baxter for a different and interesting take on herbal know-how. Read all about it!
Herbs in Pots
In my part of the US, we experience blips of cold to warm before actual winter sets in. For instance, last night dipped into the 40’s, and next week we should be cruising into the 60’s (hello, southeast!) It is times like this in warmer climates, and especially in northern regions, when gardeners should consider bringing their herb plants indoors.
I will cover transplanting your garden to containers in my next installment, but those who practice container gardening have probably begun the indoor movement of their bounty. Many herbs adapt very well to container life, and in some cases, like basil and mint, do better potted than freely planted to take over your garden space. If you are bringing your plants indoors, the three key elements to keep an eye on are their:
- Light situation,
- Moisture
- Temperature
You will want to keep your plants in adequate sunlight, where southern exposure for about eight hours a day is feasible. If you do not have windows to provide sufficient sunlight, grow lights are always an option.
Maintaining moisture in dry indoor air is necessary, and misting your plants with a bit of water or placing planters in containers suspended on pebbles with water should do well in monitoring their water consumption.
If you are worried about indoor pests nibbling at your herbs, you can spray heavily diluted soap and water (no bubbles visible) on the leaves of your plants for pest control- just rinse your leaves well before consumption.
Herbal Teas
One great suggestion for the herbs that you care for over these winter months is to begin experimenting with fresh herbal teas to warm on chilly nights.
Many of the most common garden herbs have wonderful medicinal value to curb wintery illness.
But beware if you have transplanted your herb garden indoors: do not consume or brew teas from herbs that treated with pesticides.
Once you are ready to harvest your tea, gently peel off the flowers or leaves. To release the essential oils in your herbs, rub the clippings together in your palm, and then transfer to a tea ball or steeping cup in a mug. Pour hot (but not boiling) water over your loose tea leaves and allow time for steeping- around five minutes. If you have dried you herbs, about a teaspoon is adequate, while fresh herbs require about a tablespoon.
Some wonderfully flavored herbs for tea come from their flowers, such as chamomile or lavender- if you have some at home, try adding some loose violet flowers to your lavender tea for a dramatic, beautiful touch to enjoying your cuppa.
