February 23rd, 2007 by admin
Bugle
Ajuga reptans
Bugle
Carpenter’s-herb
Common Bugle
Middle Comfrey
Sicklewort
Bugle - a perennial herb growing up to 12 inches tall. Its creeping runners produce rosettes of leaves; the whole structure forms a carpet like mat. The lower leaves are spatula-shaped and often have wavy edges, while the upper leaves are toothed and elliptical or oval. Small blue to purple flowers (May-July), 1/2 inch across, are borne in dense terminal spikes.
Opinion varies as to the value of bugle. Compare the old saw that promises, “He that has bugle and sanicle thumbs his nose at the surgeon,” with the view of a modern French herbalist that bugle is the “most resolutely [medicinally] inactive of plants.” It is generally agreed, however, that bugle is more than just a pretty flower. As another of its names, carpenter’s-herb, suggests, bugle does have some ability to stop bleeding and to heal cuts, as do all plants that contain tannin. Bugle has also been given to stop lung and other internal hemorrhaging, and herbalists have recommended it for coughs, ulcers, rheumatism, and liver disorders, and to prevent hallucinations after excessive alcohol consumption. Some herbalists believe that bugle is mildly narcotic and sedative and may slow the heart rate in the way that digitalis does. Bugleweed’s properties other than wound healing have never been thoroughly researched, however.
Bugle’s species name, reptans, refers to the reptile like creeping of the plant’s runners.
PARTS USED
Aerial parts.
USES
Bugle is bitter, astringent, and aromatic, but opinion varies as to its value as a medicine. Bugle has mild analgesic properties, and it is still used occasionally as a wound healer. Bugle is also mildly laxative and traditionally has been thought to help cleanse the liver.
Bugle is a specific for over-active thyroid glands, especially where the symptoms include tightness of breathing, palpitation and shaking. Bugle may safely be used where palpitations occur that are of nervous origin. Bugle will aid the weak heart where there is associated build-up of water in the body. As a sedative cough reliever bugle will ease irritating coughs, especially when they are of nervous origin.
HABITAT AND CULTIVATION
Native to Europe, North Africa, and parts of Asia, bugle has become naturalized in North America. Bugle prefers damp woods and grassy and mountainous areas, and is usually gathered when-in flower in early summer.
CONSTITUENTS
Bugle contains iridoid glycosides including harpagide, which is also found in devil’s claw.
HOW MUCH TO TAKE
Infusion: pour a cup of boiling water onto 1 teaspoonful of the dried herb and let infuse for 10-15 minutes. This should be drunk three times a day.
Tincture: take 1-2ml of the tincture three times a day.
COLLECTION AND HARVESTING
Bugle should be collected just before the buds open.
COMBINATIONS
Bugle may be used with nervines such as skullcap or valerian
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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
Sassafras
Sassafras albidum
Ague Tree
Cinnamonwood
Saloip
Sassafras
Saxifrax
Smelling-stick
Sassafras is a plant whose virtues are almost uniformly praised by modern herbalists. A tea prepared from the root bark of this native American tree, Sassafras albidum (Nutt.) Nees of the family Lauraceae, is widely recommended as a spring tonic and “blood thinner.” The root bark was being used to treat fevers by the natives of Florida prior to 1512 and formed one of the earliest exports of the New World. It still enjoys a considerable reputation as a stimulant, antispasmodic, sudorific (sweat producer), depurative (”purifier”) and as treatment for rheumatism, skin diseases, syphilis, typhus, dropsy (fluid accumulation), and so on.
Much of the persistent reputation of sassafras may no doubt be attributed to its pleasant taste and aroma. Sassafras contains up to 9% of a volatile oil which, in turn, consists of about 80% safrole. For years it was a valued flavoring agent in root beer and similar beverages. But as a result of research conducted in the early 1960s, safrole was recognized as a carcinogenic agent in rats and mice. Sassafras bark, sassafras oil, and safrole are now prohibited by the FDA from use as flavors or food additives.
Unfortunately, sassafras continues to be collected, used, sold, and written about as an herbal remedy. No one really knows just how harmful it is to human beings, but it has been estimated that one cup of strong sassafras tea could contain as much as 200 mg of safrole, more than four times the minimal amount believed hazardous to man if consumed on a regular basis.
Some manufacturers, recognizing the attractive flavor and aroma of sassafras, have attempted to overcome its toxicity by preparing a safrole-free extract of the root bark. Such efforts were probably doomed to failure from the start since safrole is the major component responsible for the desirable odor and taste of the plant. However, an even more serious drawback has been revealed. Recent studies have shown that even safrole-free sassafras produced tumors in two-thirds of the animals treated with it. Apparently other constituents in addition to safrole are responsible for part of the root bark’s carcinogenic activity.
An overriding consideration in this entire matter of the safety and efficacy of sassafras is that the plant material has no really significant medical or therapeutic utility. Sassafras oil, in common with a large number of volatile oils, does possess some mild counterirritant properties on external application, but beyond these, none of the claims of its supporters has been documented in the modern medical literature. In spite of its pleasant flavor and its folkloric reputation as a useful tonic, prudent people will avoid this medication because of its potentially harmful qualities.
PARTS USED
Root bark.
USES
Sassafras is used primarily in skin problems such as eczema and psoriasis. As another aspect of its undoubted systemic activity, sassafras may be used with benefit in the treatment of rheumatism and gout. As a diaphoretic sassafras may be used in fevers and systemic infections. Sassafras has a disinfectant action and makes a valuable mouthwash and dentifrice. Sassafras acts as a specific to combat head lice and other body infestations.
Sassafras root bark was long considered a virtual cure-all, but only its effectiveness in relieving intestinal gas and as a diuretic have been substantiated. Because of the designation as “unsafe,” the bark is no longer sold or used commercially, nor should it be used by anyone.
When the Spanish arrived in Florida in the early 16th century, they mistook the fragrant sassafras for a cinnamon tree, an error still perpetuated in one of the tree’s common names. The local Indians used the bark of its roots to treat fevers and rheumatism, and as a general tonic and “blood purifier”-a medicine that by causing urination and sweating cleanses the blood of “impurities” once thought to cause a range of ailments from skin diseases to malaria. Word of sassafras’s amazing curative powers reached Europe, and for a time it became a major colonial export, second only to tobacco. The Europeans also discovered sassafras tea, and it soon became a fashionable beverage. A growing (but unjustified) reputation as a cure for syphilis cost sassafras its respectability, however, and as a result, its economic importance.
An oil extracted from the tree remained in use as an antiseptic for dentistry and as a flavoring for toothpastes, root beer, and chewing gum until the early 1960’s. At that time the U.S. Food and Drug Administration declared that the chemical compound safrole, found in the oil of the root bark, was a potential carcinogen.
HABITAT AND CULTIVATION
Sassafras is native of eastern North America; sassafras is found from Ontario south to Florida and Texas and as far west as Missouri.
CONSTITUENTS
Sassafras contains essential oil including safrole, sesamin, tannins, resin.
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 three times a day.
Oil: The oil of Sassafras should be used for the external treatment of lice and never taken internally.
Tincture: take 1 - 2 ml of the tincture three times a day.
COLLECTION AND HARVESTING
The root is unearthed to gather this herb, which grows over large areas of North America.
COMBINATIONS
For skin problems sassafras may be used with burdock, nettles and yellow dock.
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