February 23rd, 2007 by admin
Alder
Alnus glutinosa
Alder
Black Alder
Common Alder
English Alder
European Alder
Fever Bush
Owler
Winter Berry
Alder - a deciduous tree; the European alder can reach 100 feet. The branches spread to a rounded crown. Broad, sharply toothed leaves, up to 4 inches long, are dark glossy green on top, pale and sticky below. Greenish-yellow male and reddish female flowers (March) are borne in separate cone like clusters (catkins). The fruits grow in roundish cones, green in summer and brown and woody in fall. The red alder resembles the European tree but has elliptical, bluntly toothed leaves.
So indestructible is the wood of the European alder that it was used to make the piles on which the city of Amsterdam and Venice’s famed Rialto section were raised. The tree’s remarkable resistance to wet rot made it a prime choice for posts and pilings in the construction of bridges and sluice gates, for water conduits, and for wooden shoes.
Herbalists through the centuries have used brews made from the bark and leaves of the alder as an astringent and a quinine substitute, and to fight inflammations and fevers. The leaves and branches also have a reputation as natural pesticides. The inner bark, boiled in vinegar and rubbed on the body, reportedly kills lice and scabies mites and dries up scabs.
The red, or Oregon, alder looks like its European cousin, which now grows wild in parts of eastern North America, and has similar properties. Alders are also valued for the nitrogen-fixing bacteria that colonize their roots and thereby enrich the soil.
PARTS USED
Bark, leaves.
USES
The astringent alder is employed most often as a mouthwash and gargle for tooth, gum, and throat problems. The drying action of a decoction of the bark helps to contract the mucous membranes and reduce inflammation. A decoction may also be used to staunch internal or external bleeding and to heal wounds. Alder is also used as a wash for scabies. In Spain, alder leaves are smoothed and placed on the soles of the feet to relieve aching. Leaves are used to help reduce breast engorgement in nursing mothers.
Both species supply natural materials for dyers and tanners and wood for smoking meats and fish and for making pilings used in wet locations. The red alder is used for furniture. Medicinally, the trees have fallen into general disuse.
HABITAT AND CULTIVATION
Alder is native to Europe, Asia, and North Africa. Alder thrives in damp places and along riverbanks. The bark and leaves are gathered in spring.
CONSTITUENTS
Alder contains lignans, tannin (10 to 20%), emodin (an anthraquinone), and glycosides.
Source: Herbs2000
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February 23rd, 2007 by admin
Boneset
Eupatorium perfoliatum
Agueweed
Boneset
Crosswort
Eupatorium
Feverwort
Indian Sage
Sweating Plant
Thoroughwort
Tse-Ian
Vegetable Antimony
Wood Boneset
Names of plants often reveal much information about them. They can also be misleading. There is little difficulty with the scientific name of boneset, Eupatorium perfoliatum L. The genus name of this member of the daisy family (Asteraceae) derives from Mithridates Eupator, ancient king of Pontus, who first used a closely related plant for medicinal purposes. The species designation, perfoliatum, refers to the manner in which the erect hairy stem of the hardy perennial herb, which attains a height of about five feet and is crowned with heads of white tubular florets, appears to perforate the center of the pairs of oppositely joined leaves. Boneset, the common name, is more likely to lead one astray since the plant was classically employed in the treatment of fevers, not to mend broken bones. However, when it is recognized that the old name for dengue was break bone fever, the derivation becomes clear.
American Indians introduced the use of boneset leaves and flowering tops to the early settlers for the treatment of colds, catarrh, influenza, rheumatism, and all kinds of fevers, including break bone (dengue), intermittent (malaria), and lake (typhoid). To break up colds and flu, the medication is taken in the form of a hot tea to induce sweating and relieve the associated aches and pains. For loss of appetite, indigestion, and as a general bitter tonic, cold boneset infusion is recommended thirty minutes before meals. In either case, the remedy is a bitter, astringent one with a nauseous taste. The hot version is much more likely to cause vomiting than the cold.
Chemical studies have identified some of the constituents of boneset, which include various flavonoid pigments, sterols, and triterpenes. Compounds with pronounced therapeutic virtues are generally absent. However, it has been reported that xyloglucurans from the polysaccharide fractions of aqueous extracts of boneset increased phagocytosis by a factor of 1 to 2.5 in the carbon clearance and granulocyte test, suggesting immunostimulating activity. Eclectic physicians reported using boneset as an effective preventative and treatment for the “Spanish influenza″ epidemic of 1918, as well as flu epidemics of the nineteenth century.
The plant held official medication status in the United States from 1820 to 1950, even though boneset was rarely prescribed by physicians, at least during the latter part of that period. Nevertheless, there is presently a revival of interest in the use of boneset among adherents to herbal medicine who employ it primarily to relieve fevers. Although safer and more effective treatments, such as common aspirin, certainly exist, it is comforting to know that the medical literature is essentially devoid of reports of adverse incidents attributed to boneset. Given the presence of potential immunostimulating polysaccharides, coupled with historical reports of efficacy in the prevention and treatment of influenza in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, this herb, relegated to historical obscurity, is deserving of closer scientific scrutiny.
Legendary among North American Indians and early settlers for its capacity to cause profuse perspiration and to loosen the bowels, boneset was used to treat fevers associated with a number of illnesses, including colds and influenza as well as malaria and similar recurrent illnesses. Boneset was usually taken as a hot tea made from the leaves and flowers.
A related species, E. purpureum, more commonly known as joe-pye weed, generally shares the medicinal properties attributed to boneset. Identifiable by its purple flowers, joe-pye weed was named in honor of an Indian medicine man who was famous throughout New England for using it to cure typhus. Most herbal authorities, however, consider the species inferior to boneset in treating fever.
PARTS USED
Aerial parts.
USES
A hot infusion of bone set will bring relief to symptoms of the common cold. Boneset stimulates resistance to viral and bacterial infections, and reduces fever by encouraging sweating. Boneset also loosens phlegm and promotes its removal through coughing, and it has a tonic and laxative effect. Boneset has been taken for rheumatic illness, skin conditions, and worms.
HOMEOPATHY
Boneset was traditionally used for fevers and is said to be a principal Native American remedy for malaria. It became known to the European settlers and was used in New York in 1830 to treat malaria. It is also said to have been recommended in ancient times by Dioscorides for ulcers, dysentery, reptile bites, chronic fevers, and liver disease. The plant is used in herbal medicine for flu with aches and pains.
Eupator is used mainly to treat flu and other feverish illnesses where characteristically there is tremendous bone pain and fever with scanty perspiration and restlessness because of the pain. The bones often feel as if they have been broken. The head, eyeballs, and chest are sore and there is a desire for ice-cold water and cold food. There may be a cough that exacerbates symptoms and can be relieved by going on all fours.
HABITAT AND CULTIVATION
Native to eastern North America, boneset is found in meadows and marshland. Boneset is gathered when in flower in summer.
CONSTITUENTS
Boneset contains sesquiterpene lactones (including eupafolin), polysaccharides, flavonoids, diterpenes, sterols, and volatile oil. The sesquiterpene lactones and polysaccharides are significantly immunostimulant.
HOW MUCH TO TAKE
Infusion: pour a cup of boiling water onto 1 - 2 teaspoonfuls of the dried herb and leave to infuse for 10 - 15 minutes. This should be drunk as hot as possible. During fevers or the ‘flu it should be drunk every half hour.
Tincture: take 2 - 4ml of the tincture three times a day.
Source: Herbs2000
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February 23rd, 2007 by admin
Acorus calamus
Also known as :
Bacc
Calamus
Flagroot
Sweet Cane
Sweet Flag
Sweet Grass
Sweet Root
Sweet Rush
Known since biblical times, the aromatic rhizome (underground stem) of Acorus calamus L. is commonly referred to as calamus or sweet flag. Calamus has been taken over the centuries as a remedy for various sorts of digestive upsets and colic, especially in children. Calamus is a perennial herb of the family Araceae, commonly found in moist habitats such as the banks of ponds or streams and in swamps throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. In appearance, it resembles the iris.
Modern writers on herbs recommend an infusion of the rhizome for fevers and dyspepsia; chewing the rhizome to ease digestion and to clear the voice and using the powdered material as a substitute for various spices in cooking. Some persons greatly enjoy its flavor. As Brer Rabbit put it, “I done got so now dat I can’t eat no chicken ‘ceppin she′s seasoned up wid calamus root.” Calamus was once used in this country as a flavoring agent in a variety of commercial products ranging from tooth powders and tonics to beer and bitters. The volatile oil responsible for the medication’s characteristic odor and taste occurs in amounts ranging from 1.5 to more than 3.5%. Unfortunately, feeding studies conducted about 25 years ago established that beta-asarone (cis-isoasarone), a major constituent in certain calamus oils, produced malignant tumors in the duodenal region of rats. Since then, use of calamus as a food or food additive has been banned, at least in the United States.
Subsequent investigations have now shown that there are actually four different medication types of calamus, each originating from a different variety of Acorus calamus growing in different geographical areas of the world. Drug type I is found in North America and its oil is isoasarone free. Drug type II is produced in western Europe from plants originating in eastern Europe. Its volatile oil usually contains less than 10% isoasarone. Drug types III and IV are varieties whose volatile oils may contain as much as 96% cis-isoasarone.
Pharmacological tests have now shown that the isoasarone-free oil of medication type I has an even more effective spasmolytic (antispasmodic) activity than the isoasarone-rich oil of medication type IV or the isoasarone-poor oil of medication type II. Such results suggest that North American (type I) calamus is an effective herbal remedy for dyspepsia and similar conditions where its antispasmodic effect may produce some relief. The identity of the constituent(s) in the volatile oil that are responsible for this effect remains to be established. Although the absolute safety of type I calamus has yet to be proven by extensive clinical tests, it is at least free of the carcinogenic isoasarone which renders the other medication types unsuitable for medicinal use.
Once people smoked or chewed the powdered rhizome of calamus because it was supposed to destroy the taste for tobacco and thus help break the smoking habit. In 1968 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration reported that an Asian variety of the species produced cancerous tumors in experiments with rats. It therefore declared the species “unsafe.” American Indians had so many medicinal uses for the rhizomes and roots that calamus became a valuable commodity, and some tribes used it as a medium of exchange. Most medicinal uses pertained to stomach disorders, but Indian healers also used the root for toothache, fever, and menstrual problems.
PARTS USED
Dried rhizome.
USES
Early uses - Calamus has been regarded as an aphrodisiac in India and Egypt for at least 2,500 years. In Europe, calamus was valued as a stimulant, bitter herb for the appetite (if not for the appetites), and as an aid to the digestion. In North America, the decoction was used for fevers, stomach cramps, and colic; the rhizome was chewed for toothache, and powdered rhizome was inhaled for congestion.
Ayurvedic medicine - Calamus is an important herb in Ayurvedic medicine, and is valued as a “rejuvenator” for the brain and nervous system, and as a remedy for digestive disorders.
Western herbalism - In Western herbal medicine the herb is chiefly employed for digestive problems such as gas, bloating, colic, and poor digestive function. Calamus, particularly A. calamus var. americanus, which is the most effective antispasmodic, relieves spasm of the intestines. Calamus helps distended and uncomfortable stomachs, and headaches associated with weak digestion. Small amounts are thought to reduce stomach acidity, while larger doses increase deficient acid production -a good example of how different doses of the same herb can produce different results.
Other medical uses - Addictions.
HABITAT AND CULTIVATION
Calamus, believed to originate from India, now grows in many parts of the world. Calamus prefers wet soil and is found in ditches, beside lakes and rivers, and in marshy places. Propagation is carried out in autumn or early spring by dividing the clumps of rhizomes and replanting them in shallow water. The rhizomes are harvested as needed.
RESEARCH
Asarone - Research attention has focused on the constituent asarone in the volatile oil, which has a carcinogenic action when isolated. Calamus grown in the US, known as A. calamus var. americanus, however, does not contain asarone, and only preparations made from this variety should be used.
Whole herb - In India, calamus powder has been taken for thousands of years with no reports of cancer arising from its use. This suggests that use of the whole herb may be safe, but more research is needed.
CONSTITUENTS
Calamus contains mucilage, up to 3% volatile oil, bitter principles, glycoside, tannin.
HOW MUCH TO TAKE
Infusion: pour a cup of boiling water onto 2 teaspoonfuls of the dried herb and leave to infuse for 10 -15 minutes. Drink a cup half an hour before meals.
Tincture: take 2 - 4 ml of the tincture three times a day.
COLLECTION AND HARVESTING
The rhizome should be harvested between September and October. A hook may be needed to extract calamus from muddy soil. Free the rhizome from leaves and root and clean it thoroughly. Halve it along its length and dry it in the shade.
COMBINATIONS
In flatulent colic calamus combines well with ginger and wild yam. In gastric conditions calamus is best combined with meadowsweet and marshmallow.
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