Herb Lore

This article will be published in monthly chunks covering one atte per month. This is mainly due to the amount of information. This information was initially posted by me on the Stav Web Egroup. Both the herbal associations are posted as well as the associations for the various trees. The table below show the relationship between the runes, deities, herbs and trees. I will also point out before you start reading that the information that has been gathered is from many different sources and is not from the same source for each.

There are some other traditional associations between the trees and the classes. These follow:

Ash : Könge; Anyone
Yew : Jarl
Oak : Herse
Birch : Women
Apple : Karl's (Vanir)
Hazel : Karl's (Vanir)
Rowan : Herse ; Karl/Trel (if devoted to Thor)

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Barley

Barley grass is one of the green grasses - the only vegetation on the earth that can supply sole nutritional support from birth to old age. Barley has served as a food staple in most cultures. The use of barley for food and medicinal purposes dates to antiquity. Agronomists place this ancient cereal grass as being cultivated as early as 7000 BC. Roman gladiators ate barley for strength and stamina. In the West, it was first known for the barley grain it produces.

Astounding amounts of vitamins and minerals are found in green barley leaves. The leaves have an ability to absorb nutrients from the soil. When barley leaves are 12-14 inches high, they contain many vitamins, minerals, and proteins necessary for the human diet, plus chlorophyll. These are easily assimilated throughout the digestive tract, giving our bodies instant access to vital nutrients. These include potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, copper, phosphorus, manganese, zinc, beta carotene, B1, B2, B6, C, folic acid, and pantothenic acid. Indeed, green barley juice contains 11 times the calcium in cows' milk, nearly 5 times the iron in spinach, 7 times the vitamin C in oranges, and 80 mg of vitamin B12 per hundred grams.

Barley also contains a -glucan, a fiber also found in oat bran and reported to reduce cholesterol levels. The root contains the alkaloid hordenine which stimulates peripheral blood circulation and has been used as a bronchodilator for bronchitis. Barley bran, like wheat bran may be effective in protecting against the risk of cancer.

Part Used: Grain, left when barley hull is removed.

Common Use: Barley is widely cultivated grain used as a food and in the brewing process. It is an additive for human and animal cereal foods. It also makes a flavorful flour for use in baking breads and muffins.

Care: It is a very hardy plant and can be grown under a greater variety of climatic conditions than any other grain, and a polar variety is grown within the Arctic Circle in Europe.

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Hazel

Common Names: Hazel, Coll

Latin Name: Corylus spp.

Parts Used: Nuts and twigs

Cultivation: Hazel trees are hardy to zone 5. They grow best in deep, alkaline soil.

Culinary Uses: The nuts are edible, and used frequently in desserts and as a flavouring.

Magical Uses: Hazel nuts bring luck, and can be eaten to increase wisdom. Twigs of hazel placed in the window frames will guard your house from lightening. Hazel wood makes excellent magic wands, and the forked twigs are often used by dowsers.

The associations with Frey come partly from the Nuts of the Hazel tree, a food source that could be stored and if managed would help get people through the winter. There is also an association with the use of magic he is the ruler of Alfheim (elf home) and they are strongly associated with the use of natural magic.

Hazel - Coll
Corylus
"I went out to the hazelwood,
Because a fire was in my head,"
W. B. Yeats
Mara Freeman June 1996

The hazel might be said to be the quintessential Celtic tree because of its legendary position at the heart of the Otherworld. Here, nine magic hazel-trees hang over the well of Wisdom and drop their purple nuts into the water. In some accounts, the hazel-nuts cause bubbles of "mystic inspiration" to form on the surface of the streams that flow down from the well; in others, the Salmon of Knowledge and Inspiration eat the nuts and send the husks floating downstream. Those that eat the nuts (or the salmon) gain poetic and mantic powers. Many early Irish tales describe poets and seers as "gaining nuts of Wisdom", which is most likely a metaphor for such heightened states of consciousness, although the more literally-minded have argued that this expression could refer to a potent brew made from hazels that hod psychotropic effects. As to this theory, there are numerous references to drinking "hazelmead" in early Irish literature. and many references to Scottish druids eating hazel-nuts to gain prophetic powers . T le hazel's association with wisdom extends to other cultures of the ancient world in Norse mythology it was known as the Tree of Knowledge and was sacred to Thor, and the Romans held it sacred to Mercury, who, especially in his Greek form, Hermes, was the personification of intelligence. Hermes' magic rod may have been made from hazel. The English word derives from the AngloSaxon haesl which originally signified a baton of authority

Haze woods frequently figure in the sacred landscape. In Ireland, hazel is coll, and the early triad of gods of the Tuatha Dé Danaan, MacCuill, (son of Hazel), MacCecht (Son of the Plough) and MacGréine (Son of the Sun) supposedly divided the island into three so that the country was said to be under the plough, the Sun or the hazel, for "these were the things they put above all other". Tara, the chief seat of the kingship in Ireland was built near a hazel wood, and the great monastery of Clonord was established in what must once have been a sacred pagan place known as The Wood of the White Hazel: Ross-FinnchuilI . In Scotland, a hazel grove was calltuin, (modern Scots Gaelic calltainn) and various places called Calton are associated with entrances to the Otherworld, one being the famous Calton Hill between Leith and Edinburgh, which Was probably still being used for magical gatherings in the 17th century. There is even A legend that St. Joseph of Arimathea built the original abbey of Glastonbury from hurdles of hazel branches.

The hazel's connection with the Well of Wisdom is visibly recalled by the tree's frequent presence at holy wells throughout Britain and Ireland, where pilgrims still continue to festoon its branches with votive offerings in the form of pieces of cloth. Moreover archaeologists have found early Celtic shaft-well in Norfolk, England which contains offerings of alms, placed in layers and embedded in hazel leaves and nuts.

In legend and folklore, the hazel, along with the apple and hawthorn, is a tree often found at the border between the worlds where magical things may happen. In the Scots ballad, Hind Etin, the title is the name of a spirit who guards the hazels of a sacred tree. The May Margret goes to the wood for nuts, and unwisely gathers his nuts:

She had na p'ud a nut, a nut, A nut but barely ane,
Till up started the Hynde Etin, Says Lady, let thae alone

In the north of England, the hazel-tree guardian was called "Melsh Dick" and in Yorkshire "Chum-milk Peg". Ancient protectors of the unripe nuts.

As might be expected from their legendary reputation for bestowing prophetic powers, hazels have been used for divination throughout the centuries. Druidic wands were made from the wood, and it has a always been the preferred wood 6r water divining and dowsing.

Until quite recently young lovers roasted hazel-nuts over fires at Hallowe'en, which was also known as "Nut-crack Night." The way they burnt steadily together or flying apart - foretold course of their relationship in the coming year. This custom is an example of the connection between hazeIs and love, which is very ancient. An old Fenian story tells how Maer, the wife of one Bersa of Berramain, fell in love with Finn and tried to seduce him with hazel-nuts from the Well of Segais bound with love charms. Finn refused to eat them, pronounced them "nuts of ignorance" rather than nuts of knowledge and buried them a foot deep in the earth. Country folklore has always linked the nuts with fertility. An old saw proclaims that a girl who goes nutting on Sunday will meet the Devil and have a baby before she can wed. This recalls the ballad of Hind Etin, in which May Margret goes on to become the tree-guardian's wife and eventually has seven children by him. In 19th century Devon, an old woman traditionally greeted a new bride with a gift of hazels for fertility in the same wary that rice or confetti is used today. In English villages country-dwellers associate a prolific show of hazel catkins with the advent of lots of babies, and late as the 1950s, the saying, "Plenty of catkins, plenty of prams" was heard taken quite seriously.

Hazel was also used widely throughout the centuries for protection against evil. Finn bore a hazelwood shield that made him invincible in battle. No harm could penetrate a hurdle fence of hazel around a house or a breastband of the wood on a horse. A shipmaster wearing a cap into which hazel had been woven was guaranteed to weather any storm. Cattle driven through Beltaine and Midsummer bonfires had their backs singed with hazel rods for protection against disease and the evil eye , and the scorched rods were used to drive them the rest of the year. In the East of England, cottagers gathered hazel boughs On Palm Sunday, and placed them in pots of water around their windows as protection against thunder and lightening - possibly a sign of Norse influence in that area, the hazels being used homoeopathically against the bolts of the Thunder-god. A famous legend tells hot the seventh century Saint Mungo was unable to light monastery lamps on a day when it was his duty to do so at cockcrow, because some malevolent boys had put out the fire. He walked out of the monastery in despair, but thought to pluck a hazel switch and when he returned to the church with it, praying for heavenly aid, a fire sprang forth from the branch

When evil became synonymous with witchcraft in the public mind, hazel was widely used for protection against Witches. The Discoverie of Witchcraft (1584) recommends a hazel wand cut "upon the Sabbath daie before rising" to use as a charm against witches and thieves. The 17th century writer Thomas Pennant in his "Tours of Wales" described how in Merionethshire, corpses were buried with hazel-rods to avert the power of witchcraft. Hazel protected against disease and was a potent magical remedy besides. In Ireland, a hazel-nut in a pocket worded off rheumatism or lumbago which was thought to be caused by "elfshot," and a double-nut prevented toothache. In the legend of the early Celtic St. Melor, an abbot gathers hazel-nuts and offers them to the saint. On receiving them, his artificial hand becomes flesh and blood.

An old charm for curing an adder bite requires a piece of hazelwood in the shape of a cross to be placed upon the wound, and the following lines repeated:

"Underneath this hazelin mote,
There's a braggoty worm with a speckled throat,
Nine double is he,
Now from eight double to seven double
And from seven double to six double
and so on until:
And from one double to no double,
No double hath he"

The magical power of the hazel still lives today whenever a water-diviner uses hazel-rods to dowse for water. As the rod bends to reveal the water within the earth, it may be that it is also straining to reconnect with ancestors, the nine sacred trees at the Well of Wisdom deep with in the memory of the land.

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Plantain

Magical Uses

Bind the plantain with red wool to the head to cure headaches, and place beneath the feet to remove weariness. Plaintain is also hung in the car to guard against the intrusion of evil spirits. A piece of the root in the pocket protects "its bearer from snakebites

General Herbal Uses

PLANTAIN, COMMON
Plantago major (LINN.)
N.O. Plantaginaceae
Synonyms
Broad-leaved Plantain. Ripple Grass. Waybread. Slan-lus. Waybroad. Snakeweed. Cuckoo's Bread. Englishman's Foot. White Man's Foot
(Anglo-Saxon) Weybroed
Part Used
Root, leaves, flower-spikes
The Common Broad-leaved Plantain is a very familiar perennial 'weed,' and may be found anywhere by roadsides and in meadow-land.

Description
It grows from a very short rhizome, which bears below a great number of long, straight, yellowish roots, and above, a large, radial rosette of leaves and a few long, slender, densely-flowered spikes. The leaves are ovate, blunt, abruptly contracted at the base into a long, broad, chan-nelled footstalk (petiole). The blade is 4 to 10 inches long and about two-thirds as broad, usually smooth, thickish, five to eleven ribbed, the ribs having a strongly fibrous structure, the margin entire, or coarsely and unevenly toothed. The flower-spikes, erect, on long stalks, are as long as the leaves, 1/4 to 1/3 inch thick and usually blunt. The flowers are somewhat purplish-green, the calyx four-parted, the small corolla bell-shaped and four-lobed, the stamens four, with purple anthers. The fruit is a two-celled capsule, not enclosed in the perianth, and containing four to sixteen seeds.

The Plantain belongs to the natural order Plantaginaceae, which contains more than 200 species, twenty-five or thirty of which have been reported as in domestic use.

The drug is without odour: the leaves are saline, bitterish and acrid to the taste; the root is saline and sweetish.

The glucoside Aucubin, first isolated in Aucuba japonica, has been reported as occurring in many species.

Medicinal Action and Properties
Refrigerant, diuretic, deobstruent and somewhat astringent. Has been used in inflammation of the skin, malignant ulcers, intermittent fever, etc., and as a vulnerary, and externally as a stimulant application to sores. Applied to a bleeding surface, the leaves are of some value in arresting haemorrhage, but they are useless in internal haemorrhage, although they were formerly used for bleeding of the lungs and stomach, consumption and dysentery. The fresh leaves are applied whole or bruised in the form of a poultice. Rubbed on parts of the body stung by insects, nettles, etc., or as an application to burns and scalds, the leaves will afford relief and will stay the bleeding of minor wounds.

Fluid extract: dose, 1/2 to 1 drachm.

In the Highlands the Plantain is still called 'Slan-lus,' or plant of healing, from a firm belief in its healing virtues. Pliny goes so far as to state, 'on high authority,' that if 'it be put into a pot where many pieces of flesh are boiling, it will sodden them together.' He also says that it will cure the madness of dogs. Erasmus, in his Colloquia, tells a story of a toad, who, being bitten by a spider, was straightway freed from any poisonous effects he may have dreaded by the prompt eating of a Plantain leaf.

Another old Herbal says: 'If a wood hound (mad dog) rend a man, take this wort, rub it fine and lay it on; then will the spot soon be whole.' And in the United States the plant is called 'Snake Weed,' from a belief in its efficacy in cases of bites from venomous creatures; it is related that a dog was one day stung by a rattlesnake and a preparation of the juice of the Plantain and salt was applied as promptly as possible to the wound. The animal was in great agony, but quickly recovered and shook off all trace of its misadventure. Dr. Robinson (New Family Herbal) tells us that an Indian received a great reward from the Assembly of South Carolina for his discovery that the Plantain was 'the chief remedy for the cure of the rattlesnake.'

The Broad-leaved Plantain seems to have followed the migrations of our colonists to every part of the world, and in both America and New Zealand it has been called by the aborigines the 'Englishman's Foot' (or the White Man's Foot), for wherever the English have taken possession of the soil the Plantain springs up. Longfellow refers to this in 'Hiawatha.'

Our Saxon ancestors esteemed it highly, and in the old Lacnunga the Weybroed is mentioned as one of nine sacred herbs. In this most ancient source of Anglo-Saxon medicine, we find this 'salve for flying venom':

'Take a handful of hammer wort and a handful of maythe (chamomile) and a handful of waybroad and roots of water dock, seek those which will float, and one eggshell full of clean honey, then take clean butter, let him who will help to work up the salve, melt itthrice: let one sing a mass over the worts, before they are put together and the salve is wrought up.'

Some of the recipes for ointments in which Plantain is an ingredient have lingered to the present day. Lady Northcote, in The Book of Herbs (1903), mentions an ointment made by an old woman in Exeter that up to her death about twenty years ago was in much request. It was made from Southernwood, Plantain leaves, Black Currant leaves, Elder buds, Angelica and Parsley, chopped, pounded and simmered with clarified butter and was considered most useful for burns or raw surfaces. A most excellent ointment can also be made from Pilewort (Celandine), Elder buds, Houseleek and the Broad Plantain leaf.

Decoctions of Plantain entered into almost every old remedy, and it was boiled with Docks, Comfrey and a variety of flowers.

A decoction of Plantain was considered good in disorders of the kidneys, and the root, powdered, in complaints of the bowels. The expressed juice was recommended for spitting of blood and piles. Boyle recommends an electuary made of fresh Comfrey roots, juice of Plantain and sugar as very efficacious in spitting of blood. Plantain juice mixed with lemon juice was judged an excellent diuretic. The powdered dried leaves, taken in drink, were thought to destroy worms.

To prepare a plain infusion, still recommended in herbal medicine for diarrhoea and piles, pour 1 pint of boiling water on 1 oz. of the herb, stand in a warm place for 20 minutes, afterwards strain and let cool. Take a wineglassful to half a teacupful three or four times a day.
The small mucilaginous seeds have been employed as a substitute for linseed. For 'thrush' they are recommended as most useful, 1 oz. of seeds to be boiled in 11/2 pint of water down to a pint, the liquid then made into a syrup with sugar and honey and given to the child in tablespoonful doses, three or four times daily.

The seeds are relished by most small birds and quantities of the ripe spikes are gathered near London for the supply of cage birds.
Abercrombie, writing in 1822 (Every Man his own Gardener), giving a list of forty-four Salad herbs, includes Plantain.
Dr. Withering (Arrangement of Plants) states that sheep, goats and swine eat it, but that cows and horses refuse it.
It is a great disfigurement to lawns, rapidly multiplying if allowed to spread, each plant quite destroying the grass that originally occupied the spot usurped by its dense rosette of leaves.

Salmon's Herbal ( 1710) gives the following manifold uses for Plantage major:
'The liquid juice clarified and drunk for several days helps distillation of rheum upon the throat, glands, lungs, etc. Doses, 3 to 8 spoonsful. An especial remedy against ulceration of the lungs and a vehement cough arising from same. It is said to be good against epilepsy, dropsy, jaundice and opens obstructions of the liver, spleen and reins. It cools inflammations of the eyes and takes away the pin and web (so called) in them. Dropt into the ears, it eases their pains and restores hearing much decayed. Doses, 3 to 6 spoonsful more or less, either alone or with some fit vehicle morning and night. The powdered root mixed with equal parts of powder of Pellitory of Spain and put into a hollow tooth is said to ease the pain thereof. Powdered seeds stop vomiting, epilepsy, lethargy, convulsions, dropsy, jaundice, strangury, obstruction of the liver, etc. The liniment made with the juice and oil of Roses eases headache caused by heat, and is good for lunatics. It gives great ease (being applyed) in all hot gouts, whether in hands or feet, especially in the beginning, to cool the heat and repress the humors. The distilled water with a little alum and honey dissolvedin it is of good use for washing, cleansing and healing a sore ulcerated mouth or throat.'

Salmon also tells us that a good cosmetic is made with essence of Plantain, houseleeks and lemon juice.

Culpepper tells us that the Plantain is 'in the command of Venus and cures the head by antipathy to Mars, neither is there hardly a martial disease but it cures.' He also states that 'the water is used for all manner of spreading scabs, tetters, ringworm, shingles, etc.'

From the days of Chaucer onwards we find reference in literature to the healing powers of Plantain. Gower (1390) says: 'And of Plantaine he hath his herb sovereine,' and Chaucer mentions it in the Prologue of the Chanounes Yeman. Shakespeare, both in Love's Labour's Lost, iii, i, and in Romeo and Juliet, I, ii, speaks of the 'plain Plantain' and 'Plantain leaf' as excellent for a broken shin, and again in Two Noble Kinsmen, I, ii: 'These poore slight sores neede not a Plantin.' His reference to it in Troilus and Cressida, III. ii: 'As true as steel, as Plantage to the moon,' is an allusion that is now no longer clear to us. Again, Shenstone in the Schoolmistress: 'And plantain rubb'd that heals the reaper's wound.'

PLANTAIN, BUCK'S HORN
Plantago Coronopus (LINN.)
N.O. Plantaginaceae
Synonyms
Cornu Cervinum. Herba Stella. Herb Ivy. Buckshorne. Hartshorne
Part Used
Whole plant, leaves
Habitat
It is an annual, found on sandy commons, waste places and chalky banks, especially near the sea, being fairly common and generally distributed in England.

The Buck's Horn Plantain is the only British species which has divided leaves more or less downy and usually prostrate. It is very variable in the size and in the lobing of the leaves, which are from 1 to 12 inches in length, one-ribbed, either deeply divided nearly to the base, or merely toothed and almost entire. The flower-spikes are slender, many-flow-ered, short or long, the bracts to the flowers have a long point and the sepals are strongly winged. The pale brown seeds are mucilaginous and adhere to the soil when they fall.

In Salmon's Herbal we find 'Our Common Buck's Horn Plantain' described thus:

'Root single, long and small, with several fibres. If sown or planted from seed, it rises up at first with small, long, narrow, hairy, dark-green leaves, almost like grass, without any division, but those that come after have deep divisions and are pointed at the end, resembling the snaggs of a Buck's Horn, from whence it took its name. When it is well grown, the leaves lie round about the root on the ground, resembling the form of a star and thereby called Herba Stella. There is also a prickly Buck's Horn Plantain, which is rougher, coarser and more prickly than the other. In Italy, they grow the first in their garden as a Sallet herb. The second grows on mountains and rocks. They both flower in May, June and July, their seeds ripening in the mean season and their leaves abide fresh and green in a manner all the winter. The qualities, specifications, preparation and virtues are the very same as those of Plantage major. The decoction in wine, if it is long drank, cureth the strangury and is profitable for such as are troubled with sand, gravel, stones, etc. The catasplasm of leaves and roots with bay salt applied to both wrists and bound on pretty hard (yet not too hard) cures agues admirably.'

Medicinal Action and Uses
As a remedy for ague, the whole plant, roots included, was even hung round the neck as an amulet.

Gerard says: 'The leaves boyled in drinke and given morning and evening for certain days together helpeth most wonderfully those that have sore eyes, watery or blasted, and most of the griefs that happen unto the eyes.'

PLANTAIN, HOARY
Plantago media (LINN.)
N.O. Plantaginaceae
Part Used
Seeds The Hoary Plantain is a common meadow species. The broadly-elliptical leaves, on short flat stalks, spread horizontally from the crown of the root and lie so close to the ground as to destroy all vegetation beneath and to leave the impression of their ribs on the ground. The flowers are in a close, cylindrical spike, shorter than in Plantago major, but growing on a longer stalk, which is downy. They are very fragrant, and are conspicuous by their light purple anthers, the filaments being long and pink or purplish.

Medicinal Action and Uses
This species is a reputed cure for blight on fruit-trees. A few green leaves from the plant, if rubbed on the part of the tree affected, it has been recently discovered, will effect an instantaneous cure, and the wounds on the stem afterwards heal with smooth, healthy coverings. The plant is often found growing underneath the trees in orchards.

The medicinal virtues of this species were considered to be much the same as the preceding ones, the seeds, boiled in milk, being laxative and demulcent.

PLANTAIN, ISPAGHUL
Plantago ovata (FORSK.)
N.O. Plantaginaceae
Synonyms
Ispaghula. Spogel Seed. Plantago Ispaghula. Plantago decumbens
Part Used
Dried seeds
Habitat
India, Persia, Spain, Canary Islands

Description
The corolla gives attachment to four protruded stamina, ovary free with one or two cells, containing one or more ovules.
The style capillar, terminated by a single subulate stigma. The fruit is a small pyxidium covered by the persistent corolla; seeds composed of a proper integument which covers a fleshy endosperm at the centre of which is a cylindrical axile and a homotype embryo, boat-shaped, acute at one end 1/12 to 1/8 inch long and 1/24 inch wide, pale-green brown with a darker elongated spot on the convex side; on concave side hilium is covered with the remains of a thin white membrane. It has no odour or taste, but the herbage is demulcent and bitter and somewhat astringent.

Constituents
Mucilage contained in seed coat (sometimes used to stiffen linen), fixed oil, proteins.

Medicinal Action and Uses
Useful in place of linseed or barley, also for diarrhoea and dysentery; the decoction is a good demulcent drink, or seeds mixed with sugar and taken dry invaluable in this form for reducing inflamed mucous membranes of the intestinal canal - a mild laxative. When roasted the seeds become astringent and are used for children's diarrhoea. In European medicine they are used chiefly for chronic diarrhea and for catarrhal conditions of the genito-urinary tract. Dose, 2 to 21/2 drachms of the seeds, mixed with sugar and taken dry. Decoction, 1/2 to 2 fluid ounces.

Other Species
The seeds of the Indian species, Plantago Amplexicaulis, are sold in the bazaars as Ispaghula. They are of a darker colour than the official seeds, and are used in India as a demulcent in dysentery and other intestinal complaints.

P. decumbens (Forsk.), of South Africa, is regarded by some as the wild plant of which the preceding is a cultivated variety.

The seeds of P. arenaria (Waldst.), the SAND PLANTAIN, somewhat smaller, black and less glossy, and those of P. Cynops (Linn.), somewhat larger and lighter brown, are used similarly.

P. arenaria is an annual, with an erect, leafy, branched stem, bearing opposite, linear leaves and flowers in a spike, on long stalks, greenish-white. It flowers from June to September and grows in sandy, waste places, but in Britain has only been found on sandhills in one spot in Somerset and is not regarded as an indigenous species.

PLANTAIN, PSYLLIUM
Plantago Psyllium (LINN.)
N.O. Plantaginaceae
Synonyms
Psyllium Seeds. Fleaseed. Psyllion. Psyllios (Barguthi) Barguthi

Part Used
Seeds, leaves
In Southern Europe, as well as in Northern Africa and Southern Asia, Plantago Psyllium (Linn.), Fleaseed is used similarly to P. major. The seeds are also used for their large yield of mucilage. Semen psyllii is the name given to the seeds of several species of European Plantago, but the best are those of P. Psyllium. They are dark brown on the convex side, shiny, inodorous and nearly tasteless, but mucilaginous when chewed. They are demulcent and emollient and may be used internally and externally in the same manner as flaxseed, which they closely resemble in medicinal properties.

P. Psyllium has once been found on ballast hills in Jersey, but has not permanently established itself.

PLANTAIN, RIBWORT
Plantago lanceolata N.O. Plantaginaceae
Synonyms
Snake Plantain. Black Plantain. Long Plantain. Ribble Grass. Ribwort. Black Jack. Jackstraw. Lamb's Tongue. Hen Plant. Wendles. Kemps. Cocks. Quinquenervia. Costa Canina

Part Used
Leaves, seeds: Several of the wild Plantains have been used indiscriminately for Plantago major. Of these, the most important is Plantago lanceolatus (Linn.), the Ribwort Plantain.

Description
This is a very dark green, slender perennial, growing much taller than P. major. Its leaf-blades rarely reach an inch in breadth, are three to five ribbed, gradually narrowed into the petioles, which are often more than a foot long. The flower-stalks are often more than 2 feet long, terminating in cylindrical blunt, dense spikes, 1/2 to 3 or 4 inches long and 1/3 to 1/2 inch thick. It has the same chemical constituents as P. major.

When this Plantain grows amongst the tall grasses of the meadow its leaves are longer, more erect and less harsh, than when we find it by the roadside, or on dry soil. The leaves are often slightly hairy and have at times a silvery appearance from this cause, especially in the roadside specimens. The flower-stalks are longer than the leaves, furrowed and angular and thrown boldly up. The flower-head varies a good deal in size and form, sometimes being much smaller and more globular than others. The sepals are brown and paper-like in texture and give the head its peculiar rusty look. The corolla is very small and inconspicuous, tubed and having four spreading lobes. The stamens, four in number, are the most noticeable feature, their slender white filaments and pale yellow anthers forming a conspicuous ring around the flower-head.

In some old books we find this species called Costa canina, in allusion to the prominent veinings on the leaves that earned it the name of Ribwort, and it is this feature that caused it to receive also the mediaeval name of Quinquenervia. Another old popular name was 'Kemps,' a word that at first sight seems without meaning, but when fully understood has a peculiar interest. The stalks of this plant are particularly tough and wiry, and it is an old game with country children to strike the heads one against the other until the stalk breaks. The Anglo-Saxon word for a soldier was cempa, and we can thus see the allusion to 'kemps.'

This species of Plantain abounds in every meadow and was brought into notice at one time as a possible fodder plant. Curtis, in his Flora Londonensis, says:

'The farmers in general consider this species of plantain as a favourite food of sheep and hence it is frequently recommended in the laying down of meadow and pasture land, and the seed is for that purpose kept in the shops.'

But its cultivation was never seriously taken up, for though its mucilaginous leaves are relished by sheep and to a certain extent by cows and horses, it does not answer as a crop, except on very poor land, where nothing else will grow. Moreover, it is very bitter, and in pastures destroys the more delicate herbage around it by its coarse leaves.

The seeds are covered with a coat of mucilage, which separates readily when macerated in hot water. The gelatinous substance thus formed has been used at one time in France for stiffening some kinds of muslin and other woven fabrics.
The leaves contain a good fibre, which, it has been suggested, might be adapted to some manufacturing purpose.

PLANTAIN, SEA
Plantago maritimo N.O. Plantaginaceae
Synonyms
Sheep's Herb

Part Used
Herb The Sea Plantain has linear leaves grooved, fleshy and woolly at the base. It is common on the seashore and tops of mountains and is easily distinguished from the rest of the genus by its fleshy leaves.

It is so relished by sheep as food and considered so good for them, that in North Wales, where it has been cultivated, it is called Sheep's Herb, and the Welsh have two names for it, signifying 'the sheep's favourite morsel' and 'the suet producer.'

The RATTLESNAKE Or NET-LEAVED PLANTAINS Of the United States, Peramium ripens (Salisb.) (syn. Goodyera ripens, R. Br.), the

White Plantain or Squirrel-ear, and P. pubescens (Willd.), peculiar little woodland herbs, their ovate leaves beautifully reticu-lated with white lines, are not allies of ourcommon Plantains, but belong to the Orchid family.

The name WHITE PLANTAIN is also applied in the United States to Antennaria plantaginifolia (Linn.), the Ladies or Indian Tobacco, Spring

Cudweed, or Life-Everlasting, to give several of its names, exceedingly common throughout Eastern North America, and one of the earliest blooming of spring plants in dry meadows, where it grows in patches.

It is used as a soothing expectorant with more or less marked stomachic properties.

PLANTAIN, WATER
Alisma Plantago N.O. Alismaceae
Synonyms
Mad-Dog Weed

Part Used
Leaves The Water Plantain, though its name suggests a similarity, is in fact widely different to the Plantago species, and belongs to another natural order, Alismaceae. It is a water-plant, widely distributed in Europe, Northern Asia and North America and abundant in many parts of England, though only naturalized in Scotland. It grows freely around the margins of lakes or streams and in watery ditches, in company with the forget-me-not, brooklime, and other well-known waterside plants.
The name Alisma is said to be from the Celtic word for water, alis, in allusion to the aquatic habitat of the plant. The name Plantago was given by the early botanists because they were impressed with the similarity of form between the leaves of this plant and those of the plantain, and ignoring its dissimilarity in flower and fruit, etc., called it the 'Water Plantain.'

The roots of the Water Plantain are fibrous, but the base of the stem is swollen and fleshy, or tuberous and furnished with a tuft of numerous whitish hairs. The flower-stalk, which rises directly from it, is obtusely three-cornered, a form specially suitable to enable it to stem the current; it is from 1 to 3 feet in height. The flower-bearing branches that spring laterally from this at its upper extremity are thrown off in rings or whorls, and these branches are themselves branched in like fashion, the whole forming a loose pyramidal panicle. The large leaves, broad below, but tapering to a point, all spring directly from the root also and are borne on long, triangular stalks, growing in a nearly erect position. They are smooth in texture, their margins often more or less waved and are very strongly veined, the mid-rib and about three on each side being very conspicuous. The leaf-stems are deeply channelled, broadening out and sheathing at their bases. The flowers are attractive in form and colour. The calyx is composed of three ovate, concave, spreading sepals, while the corolla has three showy petals of a delicate, pale pink colour, somewhat round in form, slightly jagged at their edges. The stamens are six in number, their anthers being of a greenish tint. The fruit is composed of some twenty or more three-cornered, clustering carpels, each containing one seed.

Medicinal Action and Uses
The Water Plantain has been considerably used medicinally, and is a drug of commerce. It contains a pungent, volatile oil and an acrid resin, to which all its virtues must be ascribed

The drug has diuretic and diaphoretic properties, and has been recommended by herbalists in renal calculus, gravel, cystiris, dysentery and epilepsy.

The powdered rhizome and leaves are employed by herbalists, also an infusion and a tincture prepared from the swollen rhizome, in its fresh state, is a homoeopathic drug.

The powdered seeds were recommended by older herbalists as an astringent in cases of bleeding.

The bruised leaves are rubefacient and will inflame and sometimes even blister the skin, being injurious to cattle. They have been applied locally to bruises and swellings.

The roots formerly enjoyed some repute as a cure for hydrophobia (hence one of its names, formerly, Mad-Dog Weed), and have been regarded in Russia as a specific, but repeated experiments made with them in this country and a searching inquiry, have not confirmed their use as a remedy for this disease. Their acridity is lost in drying.

In America it has earned a reputation against the bite of the rattlesnake. The roots are also used medicinally in Japan, under the name of Saji Omodaka.

This group of plants, the Alismaceae, in general contains acrid juices, on account of which a number of species, besides the Water Plantain, have been used as diuretics and antiscorbutic.
Several species of Sagittaria, natives of Brazil, are astringent, and their expressed juice has been used in making ink.

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Pine

Various Species
N.O. Pinaceae

Pines are among the most important commercial trees. Most of them have straight, unbranched, cylindrical trunks, which furnish large amounts of excellent saw timber. On account of the straight grain, strength, and other qualities of pine timber, it is used for nearly every sort of constructional work and the trade in it is enormous.

All the Pines yield resin in greater or smaller quantities, which is obtained by tapping the trees. The crude resin is almost entirely used for the distillation of Oil of Turpentine and Rosin, only small quantities being employed medicinally - for ointments, plasters, etc. When the Oil of Turpentine is entirely distilled off, the residuum is Rosin or Colophony, but when only part of the oil is extracted, the viscous mass remaining is known commercially as common Crude Turpentine.

Oil of Turpentine is a good solvent for many resins, wax, fats, caoutchouc, sulphur, and phosphorus, and is largely employed in making varnish, in oil-painting, etc. Medicinally, it is much employed in both general and veterinary practice as a rubefacient and vesicant, and is valuable as an antiseptic. It is used for horses and cattle internally as a vermifuge, and externally as a stimulant for rheumatic swellings, and for sprains and bruises, and to kill parasites.

Rosin is used not only by violinists, for rubbing their bows, but also in making sealing wax, varnish, and resinous soaps for sizing paper and papier mache and dressing hemp cordage, but one of its special uses is for making brewer's pitch for coating the insides of beer casks and for distilling resinous oils, when the pitch used by shoemakers is left as residuum. Pitch is also used in veterinary practice.
Tar is an impure turpentine, viscid and brown-black in colour, procured by destructive distillation from the roots of various coniferous trees, particularly from Pinus sylvestris. Tar is used medicinally, especially in veterinary practice, for its antiseptic, stimulant, diuretic and diaphoretic action. Tar-water is given to horses with chronic cough and used internally and externally as a cutaneous stimulant and antiseptic in eczema. Oil of Tar is used instead of Oil of Turpentine in the case of mange, etc.

A considerable industry has grown up in the United States in the distillation of Pine wood by means of steam under pressure. One of the products thus obtained, which has considerable commercial importance, is known as Pine Oil. It has a pleasant odour, resembling that of caraway or Juniper Oil, and has been largely used for making paints which dry without gloss and as a 'flatting' material. It flows well under the brush and is a powerful solvent, and is useful for emulsion paints such as are now employed for inside work.

Pine resins are largely employed by the soap-maker for the manufacture of brown soaps.

The trade in resins was for many years almost exclusively a French industry, and only in France were the Pine forests turned to account for the production of resin on a commercial scale. Now, however, Switzerland, Sweden, Russia and North America furnish quantities, though, from the point of view of quality, the Pines which flourish near Bordeaux furnish a resin still much in request, and the turpentine extracted therefrom is abundant and one of the best qualities produced.

Medicinal Action and Properties
Rubefacient, diuretic, irritant. A valuable remedy in bladder, kidney, and rheumatic affections and diseases of the mucous membrane and respiratory complaints; externally in the form of liniment plasters and in-halants.

Preparations and Dosages
Oil of Turpentine. Spirits of Turpentine, B.P., 2 to 10
drops. As a vermifuge, 2 to 4 drachms. Tar, B.P., Pin. Sylv. Tar, U.S.P., Pin.
Palust. Ointment Tar,B.P. SyrupTar, U.S.P., 1 drachm.

SPECIES OF PINES HAVING MEDICINAL PRODUCTS
Pinus balsamea. Abies canadensis. A. bal-samea. Balsam Fir. Balm of Gilead Fir. Perusse. Hemlock Spruce. Canada Turpentine. Pills for mucous discharge.
P. Canadensis. A. canadensis. Hemlock Spruce. Pitch and Oil.
P. Cedrus of Mount Lebanon. A false manna used in phthisis in Syria.
P. Cembra (Siberian Cedar or Tannenbaum). Europe and Asia. Edible seeds eaten by Russians as nuts. Coniferin from the cambium.
P. Cubensis. Cuban Pine. Turpentine.
P. Dantaris. Agathis Damara. Damara Turpentine that hardens into a hard rosin.
P. Densiflora. Japan. An exudation called akamatsu. Timber.
P. Echinata. Short-leaved Pine. Turpentine. Timber.
P. Gerardiana. Neosa Pine. N.W. India. Edible seeds called neosa or chilgoza seeds.
P. Halepensis. Mediterranean countries. Spirits of Turpentine.
P. Heterophylla. Eastern America. Spirits of Turpentine. Timber.
P. Khasya. Burma. Turpentine resembling French Oil.
P. Larix. Larix Europaea. A. larix. L. decidua. Latch. Briancon manna, containing no mannite. Venice Turpentine.
P. Maritima. P. pinaster. Cluster Pine. Mediterranean countries. Bordeaux Turpentine. Pitch. French Oil of Turpentine, 25 per cent.
P. Merkusii. Burma. Turpentine resembling French Oil.
P. Microcarpa. P. pendula. L. Americana. Black or American Latch. Hackmatack. Tamarac. A decoction of the bark used.
P. Mughus Hungarian terebinth.
P. Nigra. Pieca Mariana. Black or Bog Spruce. Decoction of young branches gives Essence of Spruce used for Spruce Beer.
P. Palustris. P. Australia. Long-leaved Pine. Yellow, Southern, Hard, Virginia. Spirits of Turpentine, 17 per cent. oil. Carpets woven from leaves.
P. Picea. A. pectinata. Picea vulgaris. P. abies. A. vulgaris. A. alba. Spruce Fir. Norway Spruce. Strassbourg Turpentine. Terebinthine au citron.
P. Pinea. Mediterranean countries. Edible seeds. 'Pignons' or 'Pinocchi.'
P. Ponderosa. Heavy Pine. California. Exudation is almost pure heptane; a chief constituent of Americanpetroleum. Timber.
P. Purnilio. P. montana. Volatile Oil from the leaves. Oil of Dwarf Pine Needles. Oil of Pine.
P. Rigida. Pitch Pine. Tar.
P. Roxburghii. Himalayas. Spirits of Turpentine.
P. Sabiniana. Nut or Digger Pine. Turpentine, the oil being called abietene. Edible seeds.
P. Scropica. Occasionally its Turpentine is used for American Rosin.
P. Strobus. P. alba. White Pine. Coniferin from the Cambium Bark. Compound Syrup with Morphine. Timber.
P. Succinifera. Extinct. Fossil resin or amber.
P. Sylvestris. Scotch Pine or Fir. Norway Pine. Spirits of Turpentine, 32 per cent. of oil. Russian Turpentine. Finnan Turpentine is the oleoresin. Timber.
P. Toeda. Loblolly Pine. Old Field Pine. United States. Occasionally its turpentine used for American rosin.
P. Teocoty. Mexican or Brea Turpentine.
P. Thunbergii. Japan. Exudation called Kuromatsu. Timber.

PINE, WHITE
Pinus strobus (LINN.)
N.O. Pinaceae
Synonyms
Weymouth Pine. Pin du Lord. Pinus Alba
Part Used
Dried inner bark
Habitat
Eastern North America. Cultivated in Europe

Description
The name of Weymouth Pine, common in Europe, refers to a Lord Weymouth who planted numbers of the trees shortly after their introduction in 1705. The French name is a similarly derived contraction.

In the United States it grows up to 200 feet in height, but rarely reaches half that stature in England. The wood is peculiarly adapted for the masts of ships, and in Queen Anne's reign legal measures were taken for the encouragement of its cultivation. The bark is very smooth, and the leaves grow in small bundles of five, the cylindrical cones being a little longer than these.

The bark is found in small, flattened pieces, the outer surface light, with a pinkish or yellowish tinge, sometimes patched with greyish-brown fragments, and the inner surface lighter or darker and finely striate. The tough, fibrous fracture shows yellowish and whitish layers. The odour is like terebinth, and the taste both bitter and sweet, astringent and mucilaginous.

Constituents
The powder shows starch and resin. The bark yields a maximum of 3 per cent. of ash. It is a source of the terebinth of America. Coniferin is found in the cambium.

Medicinal Action and Uses
Expectorant, demulcent, diuretic, a useful remedy in coughs and colds, having a beneficial effect on the bladder and kidneys.
The compound syrup contains sufficient morphine to assist in developing the morphine habit and should be used with caution.

Dosage
Of Compound Syrup, 1 fluid drachm. Of Compound Syrup, with Morphine, 30 minims. Fluid Extract, 1/2 to 1 drachm.

PINE (LARCH)
Pinus larix (D.C.)
N.O. Coniferae
Synonyms
Larix Europaea. Abies tarix. Larix decidua. Laricis Cortex. Meleze. European Larch. Venice Turpentine
Part Used
The bark, deprived of its outer layer
Habitat
Central Europe

Description
'Larix' was the name given to Pine resin in the time of Dioscorides, and the term has been kept for these lofty trees. The leaves, bright green in spring, grow in small, spreading tufts like brushes. The male catkins, 1/2 inch long, are sessile and ovoid, with a cup of persistent bracts and inner, resinous, fringed, brown scales. The female cones, 3/4 inch long, grow on short stalks, with hard, greyish-brown scales.
Larch is only indigenous to the hilly regions throughout Central Europe, where it forms large forests in the Alps, but it has for long been largely cultivated throughout Europe. It was first introduced into England in 1639.

It is one of the most valuable trees ever introduced into the country, both with respect to the rapidity of its growth (it grows six times quicker than Oak) and the value of its durable timber. Its wood is far tougher, stronger and more durable than that of any other conifer, excepting perhaps the Yew. Its durability makes it specially adapted for mining operations and there is also considerable demand for it for railway sleepers, because it lasts longer than any other kind of home-grown wood when under the wear and tear of traffic and the decomposing influence of damp, warmth, and fungi. It is also employed both in ship- and house-building, and in cabinet-work is capable of taking a very high polish. Gilding has a better effect on it than over almost any other, and it is a favourite for placing behind pictures, as it resists worm attacks. It is the one wood for which a ready sale can always be found in any part of the United Kingdom.

None of our forest trees is hardier than the Larch. The young trees establish themselves readily and soon grow rapidly. They are therefore, like the birch, used as 'nurses' for slow-growing and less hardy kinds of trees. The ground beneath a larch wood speedily improves in quantity and quality.

Large quantities of turpentine are collected from full-grown trees from May to October, holes being bored in the trunk and wooden tubes inserted. The exudation that flows is perfectly clear and needs no further preparation than straining through a coarse hair-cloth to free it from impurities. It was used in medicine and for making several kinds of varnish. In commerce it is known as 'Venice Turpentine,' being formerly exclusively exported from Venice. It is produced now mainly in the Tyrol, Switzerland, and Piedmont.

The frequently-found substitutes may be detected by their strong odour, and by drying into a hard varnish when painted on paper. The bark, which is not official in India or the United States, should be removed and stripped of its roughest outer portion in spring, and dried rapidly. In commerce it is found in flat pieces or quills of various sizes. The outer surface is rosy in colour, and the inner either yellowish or pinkish, easily separating into layers. It breaks with a close fracture, excepting the whitish fibres. The odour is a little like balsam and terebinth, and the taste astringent. The bark is sometimes used for tanning, but is inferior to oak, so that in Britain it is not always worth the cost of peeling and carriage.

Constituents
The bark contains tannic acid, larixinic acid and turpentine. The larixin, a crystalline principle, resembles pyrogallol.
Briancon Manna is exuded from the leaves in summer. It is white and sweet, occurring in oblong tears and almost odourless. Its peculiar sugar is termed Melezitose. Its use is obsolete.
If the trees are burnt, a gum exudes from the trunk called Gummi Orenbergense, soluble in water like Gum Arabic.

Medicinal Action and Uses
Stimulant, diuretic, astringent, balsamic and expectorant. As an external application it has been found useful in chronic eczema and psoriasis. Its chief official use is as a stimulant expectorant in chronic bronchitis, with much secretion. Its action is that of oil of turpentine.
It has also been given internally in haemorrhage and cystitis.
The turpentine is used in veterinary practice. It has been suggested for combating poisoning by cyanide or opium, and as a disinfectant in hospital gangrene.

Dosage
Of B.P. Tincture Laricis, 20 to 30 minims. Venice Turpentine.

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Burdock

Magical Uses

Cast around the home to ward off negativity. Add to protection incenses and use in such spells. Gather burdock roots in the waning Moon, dry and then cut them into small pieces. String these on red thread like beads and wear for protection against evil and negativity. The leaves of the burdock, when laid to the soles of the feet help to cure gout. .

General Information

BURDOCK
Arctium lappa (LINN.)
N.O. Compositae
Synonyms
Lappa. Fox's Clote. Thorny Burr. Beggar's Buttons. Cockle Buttons.
Love Leaves. Philanthropium. Personata. Happy Major. Clot-Bur
Part Used
Root, herb and seeds (fruits)
Habitat
It grows freely throughout England (though rarely in Scotland) on waste ground and about old buildings, by roadsides and in fairly damp places
The Burdock, the only British member of its genus, belongs to the Thistle group of the great order, Compositae.

Description
A stout handsome plant, with large, wavy leaves and round heads of purple flowers. It is enclosed in a globular involucre of long stiff scales with hooked tips, the scales being also often interwoven with a white, cottony substance.

The whole plant is a dull, pale green, the stem about 3 to 4 feet and branched, rising from a biennial root. The lower leaves are very large, on long, solid foot-stalks, furrowed above, frequently more than a foot long, heart-shaped and of a grey colour on their under surfaces from the mass of fine down with which they are covered. The upper leaves are much smaller, more egg-shaped in form and not so densely clothed beneath with the grey down.

The plant varies considerably in appearance, and by some botanists various sub-species, or even separate species, have been described, the variations being according to the size of the flower-heads and of the whole plant, the abundance of the whitish cotton-like substance that is sometimes found on the involucres, or the absence of it, the length of the flower-stalks, etc.

The flower-heads are found expanded during the latter part of the summer and well into the autumn: all the florets are tubular, the stamens dark purple and the styles whitish. The plant owes its dissemination greatly to the little hooked prickles of its involucre, which adhere to everything with which they come in contact, and by attaching themselves to coats of animals are often carried to a distance.

'They are Burs, I can tell you, they'll stick where they are thrown,'

Shakespeare makes Pandarus say in Troilus and Cressida, and in King Lear we have another direct reference to this plant:
'Crown'd with rank Fumiter and Furrowweeds, With Burdocks, Hemlocks, Nettles, Cuckoo flowers.'
Also in As You Like It:

ROSALIND. How full of briers is this working-day world!

CELIA. They are but burs, cousin, thrown upon thee in holiday foolery. If we walk not in the trodden paths, our very petticoats will catch them.

The name of the genus, Arctium, is derived from the Greek arklos, a bear, in allusion to the roughness of the burs, lappa, the specific name, being derived from a word meaning 'to seize.'

Another source derives the word lapps from the Celtic llap, a hand, on account of its prehensile properties.

The plant gets its name of 'Dock' from its large leaves; the 'Bur' is supposed to be a contraction of the French bourre, from the Latin burra, a lock of wool, such is often found entangled with it when sheep have passed by the growing plants.

An old English name for the Burdock was 'Herrif,' 'Aireve,' or 'Airup,' from the Anglo-Saxon hoeg, a hedge, and reafe, a robber - or from the Anglo-Saxon verb reafian, to seize. Culpepper gives as popular names in his time: Personata, Happy Major and Clot-Bur.

Though growing in its wild state hardly any animal except the ass will browse on this plant, the stalks, cut before the flower is open and stripped of their rind, form a delicate vegetable when boiled, similar in flavour to Asparagus, and also make a pleasant salad, eaten raw with oil and vinegar. Formerly they were sometimes candied with sugar, as Angelica is now. They are slightly laxative, but perfectly wholesome.
Cultivation

As the Burdock grows freely m waste places and hedgerows, it can be collected in the wild state, and is seldom worth cultivating.
It will grow in almost any soil, but the roots are formed best in a light, well-drained soil. The seeds germinate readily and may be sown directly in the field, either in autumn or early spring, in drills 18 inches to 3 feet .apart, .sowing 1 inch deep in autumn, but less m spring. The young plants when well up are thinned out to 6 inches apart in the row.

Yields at the rate of 1,500 to 2,000 lb. of dry roots per acre have been obtained from plantations of Burdock.

Parts Used Medicinally
The dried root from plants of the first year's growth forms the official drug, but the leaves and fruits (commonly, though erroneously, called seeds) are also used.

The roots are dug in July, and should be lifted with a beet-lifter or a deep-running plough. As a rule they are 12 inches or more in length and about 1 inch thick; sometimes, however, they extend 2 to 3 feet, making it necessary to dig by hand. They are fleshy, wrinkled, crowned with a tuft of whitish, soft, hairy leaf-stalks, grey-brown externally, whitish internally, with a somewhat thick bark, about a quarter of the diameter of the root, and soft wood tissues, with a radiate structure.

Burdock root has a sweetish and mucilaginous taste.

Burdock leaves, which are less used than the root, are collected in July. For drying, follow the drying of Coltsfoot leaves. They have a somewhat bitter taste.

The seeds (or fruits) are collected when ripe. They are brownish-grey, wrinkled, about 1/4 inch long and 1/16 inch in diameter. They are shaken out of the head and dried by spreading them out on paper in the sun.

Constituents
Inulin, mucilage, sugar, a bitter, crystalline glucoside - Lappin - a little resin, fixed and volatile oils, and some tannic acid. The roots contain starch, and the ashes of the plant, burnt when green, yield carbonate of potash abundantly, and also some nitre.

Medicinal Action and Uses
Alterative, diuretic and diaphoretic. One of the best blood purifiers. In all skin diseases, it is a certain remedy and has effected a cure in many cases of eczema, either taken alone or combined with other remedies, such as Yellow Dock and Sarsaparilla.

The root is principally employed, but the leaves and seeds are equally valuable. Both root and seeds may be taken as a decoction of 1 oz. to 11/2 pint of water, boiled down to a pint, in doses of a wineglassful, three or four times a day.

The anti-scorbutic properties of the root make the decoction very useful for boils, scurvy and rheumatic affections, and by many it is considered superior to Sarsaparilla, on account of its mucilaginous, demulcent nature; it has in addition been recommended for external use as a wash for ulcers and scaly skin disorders.

An infusion of the leaves is useful to impart strength and tone to the stomach, for some forms of long-standing indigestion.
When applied externally as a poultice, the leaves are highly resolvent for tumours and gouty swellings, and relieve bruises and inflamed surfaces generally. The bruised leaves have been applied by the peasantry in many countries as cataplasms to the feet and as a remedy for hysterical disorders.

From the seeds, both a medicinal tincture and a fluid extract are prepared, of benefit in chronic skin diseases. Americans use the seeds only, considering them more efficacious and prompt in their action than the other parts of the plant. They are relaxant and demulcent, with a limited amount of tonic property. Their influence upon the skin is due largely to their being of such an oily nature: they affect both the sebaceous and sudoriferous glands, and probably owing to their oily nature restore that smoothness to the skin which is a sign of normal healthy action.
The infusion or decoction of the seeds is employed in dropsical complaints, more especially in cases where there is co-existing derangement of the nervous system, and is considered by many to be a specific for all affections of the kidneys, for which it may with advantage be taken several times a day, before meals.

Preparations
Fluid extract, root, 1/2 to 2 drachms. Solid extract, 5 to 15 grains.
Fluid extract, seed, 10 to 3ø drops.
Culpepper gives the following uses for the Burdock:
'The Burdock leaves are cooling and moderately drying, whereby good for old ulcers and sores .... The leaves applied to the places troubled with the shrinking in the sinews or arteries give much ease: a juice of the leaves or rather the roots themselves given to drink with old wine, doth wonderfully help the biting of any serpents; the root beaten with a little salt and laid on the place suddenly easeth the pain thereof, and helpeth those that are bit by a mad dog: . . .

the seed being drunk in wine 40 days together doth wonderfully help the sciatica: the leaves bruised with the white of an egg and applied to any place burnt with fire, taketh out the fire, gives sudden ease and heals it up afterwards .... The root may be preserved with sugar for consumption, stone and the lax. The seed is much commended to break the stone, and is often used with other seeds and things for that purpose.'

It was regarded as a valuable remedy for stone in the Middle Ages, and called Bardona. As a rule, the recipes for stone contained some seeds or 'fruits' of a 'stony' character, as gromel seed, ivy berries, and nearly always saxifrage, i.e. 'stone-breaker.' Even date-stones had to be pounded and taken; the idea being that what is naturally 'stony' would cure it; that 'like cures like' (Henslow).

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Rowan

Sorbus aucuparia - Rowan, Mountain Ash, Gaelic Caorunn, Welsh Cerddin, Irish Caorthann

Family Rosaceae

Description
Small vigorous hardy deciduous tree producing
large number of red berries in autumn. Coppices
well. Height 15m but up to 18m. Age 100 years
or more

Habitat
Light and peaty soils not water logged up to 1000m.
Pioneer species not tolerant of shading except
in some Scots Pine woods.

Natural Distribution
Commonest West and North of Britain but native
throughout Britain and Ireland. Also Europe, North
Africa and Asia Minor.

The Tree Year

Propagation and Growth
Grown from seed. Treat as per Whitebeam. Approx
200,000 seeds per kg.

Timber
Dense hard pale brown wood.

Uses of Wood
Turnery and carving and good firewood. Used to
make bows in middleages. Formerly used for tool
handles, mallet heads, bowls and platters.

Food and Drink
Berries are edible and used to make rowan jelly
which is eaten with game. Enjoyed by birds who
disperse seed.

Rowans association with Thor comes directly from lore. Thor is crossing a river that starts to rise with a Giantess who starts a deluge with her menstrual blood. Thor is almost washed away but he manages to grab a rowan tree and pull himself out. This of course also gives Thor connections to blood as well. I am sure that we will have more on that later.

Rowan
Rosaceae Sorbus spp. with two Genus species:
americana - "American Rowan Tree" "American Mountain Ash";
aucuparia - "European Mountain Ash" or "Rowan Tree")

ROWAN

Folk Names:
Round wood, Delight of the Eye, Mountain Ash, Quickbane, Ran Tree, Roden-Quicken, Roden-Quicken-Royan, Royne tree, Sorb apple, Thor's helper, Whitty, Wicken-tree, Wiggin, Wiggy, Wiky, Wild Ash, Witchbane, Witchen, Witch wood.

Calendrical:
The Murray's place Rowan in the month of December. (Murray, P.110)

Description:
The name is linked with the Norse "Runall" meaning "a charm", and the Sanskrit "Runall" meaning "magician". Rowan is a small tree with a spreading crown of many stems (it can often be considered a shrub), showy white flowers, and bright red berries. It grows to about 30 feet maximum, has pinnately compound leaves that become hairless as they get older, yellow-green above, and paler beneath, turning yellow (American) and reddish (European) in Autumn. Light grey smooth/scaly bark (American) and Dark grey smooth aromatic bark with horizontal lines (European). Contrary to the folk or given names of the Rowan tree as being an "Ash", it does not belong to the Ash family, nor is an Ash tree. It was given this name in some parts due to the similarity of the leaves of the two trees. The Rowan tree is actually more related to the Rose and Hawthorn, than any other given tree. The American Rowan can be found in moist valleys, and/or coniferous forests, and ranges in occurence from Newfoundland to Western Ontario and from Illinois to Georgia. The European Ash was introduced to America during colonial times from Eurasia and Europe. This Ash can be found along roadsides and thickets ranging from Southeastern Alaska to Southern Canada, Newfoundland to Maine and Minnesota to California.

Lore and Divinatory Attributes:
Rowan is seen as masculine, attributed to the planet(s) Uranus or the sun, the element fire, and the Gods Thor and Rauni. It is associated with the colors of red and gray. It is also a plant/tree held dear by Druids and the Celtic Goddess Brigid. Mountain Ash possesses the power of the psychic, healing, power, success, and protection. (Cunningham, p.190) The berry carries a pentagram shape which is the symbol of protection and in many folk circles, serves as a aid against magic. The berry itself is known to be poisonous. The pentagram shape is one of the reason's why it has been called the Witch Tree.
Choosing this rune, card, or stave, helps one retain control of all their senses, so one can distinguish bad from good, harm from help, using spiritual strength to turn away anything that threatens ones serenity and purpose. (Murray, p.27)

Magical Uses:
If carried, Rowan wood will increase one's psychic powers. Branches of Mountain Ash often were used in dowsing rods and magical wands. Leaves and berries are added to divination incense for better scrying. Rowan berries and bark are often added to healing and health baths, sachets, and mixtures, but also in power, success, and luck sachets. Carrying the berries/bark aids in recuperation. If two twigs are tied together with red thread as a cross, one would possess a protection amulet. Spays and Crosses made from this wood were hung over cattle yards and pens, homes, and dwellings for protection.

Walking sticks or magician staves are made of this wood for safe night journeys. Rowan is carried on ships to prevent the ships' involvement in storms, and kept in houses to guard against lightning, and if planted on graves will keep the deceased from haunting. If grown near stone circles it can aid in magical potency. (Cunningham, p. 190-191) It is also used to protect one from witches or as wood to fuel the fires to burn witches. (Frazer, p.718) A rowan that grows out of another rowan (known as "flying rowan") is specially potent against witches and their magic, and as a counter-charm against sorcery. (Frazer, p. 813-814) Rowan protects against enchantment and is used to make rune staves (Murray, p.26), for metal divining, and to protect cattle from harm (attaching sprigs to their sheds).

Rowan is also used during rites of the 2nd moon - the moon of vision for rites of knowledge and divination (Glass-Koentop). ( This is based on the Celtic calendar of the 13 moons and represents the Moon of astral travel and vision, healing and empowerment.) If the branches are gathered at Beltane (May Day) they can be tied with red yarn hung above openings to protect your dwelling. The Scots would plant rowan near their houses to protect from lightning and evil. The berries and leaves are dried and burned to invoke/banish spirits, fairies, familiars, elements, and the Earth Mother. Rowan wood was burned by druids of opposing armies to summon spirits-to take part of battle. (Hopman, p. 84) The Silver Branch that is often carried in Druid rites and ceremonies, is usually made of Rowan, to celebrate and honor the Goddess.

Medicinal Uses:
The fresh berry juice can be used as a laxative, gargle for sore throats, inflamed tonsils, hoarseness, and to give vitamins A and C to the body. Rowan berry jam will remedy diarrhea and an infusion of the berries to benefit hemorrhoids and strangury. (Hopman, p. 82) The bark is also used as an astringent for loose bowels and vaginal irritations. Rowan is also used for eye irritations, spasmic pains in the uterus, heart/bladder problems, neuralgia, gout, and waist constrictions.

Other Uses:
Rowan is a great ornamental for most homes and is great for attracting birds (ie the name "bird catcher"). The wood is good for fence posts, ships, and walking sticks. Rowan bark will dye fabric grey. It can substitute coffee beans (berries), can flavor liqueurs/cordials, and can be used to make ale. (Hopman, p. 82)

Rowan - Luis
Sorbus
"I am a Wide Flood across a Plain"
Winter Cymreas July1995

Rowan is the second Moon of the Celtic Year of thirteen Moons and is associated with the colours of red and grey and the letter "L". It is the Moon of astral travel and vision, healing and empowerment. Its importance is significant and the power of this Tree is indicated by the fact that the Silver Branch, carried in Druid rites and ceremonies to represent and honor the Goddess, is Rowan.

Its name is linked to the Norse and the Sanksrit word "runa" which in Norse means 'a charm' and in Sanskrit, 'the magician'. Its Celtic name is "Luis", (pronounced 'loosh') and it is the second letter in the Beith-Luis-Fearn alphabet of the Celts.

Rowan, commonly known as the European Mountain Ash and the American Mountain Ash, is not an Ash tree at all but derived its alternate name due to the similarity of the leaves of the two Trees. Rowan is actually more related to the Rose and is cousin to the Hawthorn, the Apple and the Pear. This Tree has many nicknames - the Quicken Tree, the Quickbeam (meaning 'living wood') the Witch Tree - and has a long and colourful history.

The American Mountain Ash is native to northeastern North America, growing to thirty feet with a spreading crown. It is also found as a shrub with many stems, showy white flowers and bright red berries. (The berries of both the American and European varieties carry a pentagram at the base of the fruit, giving it its more 'recent' name of the witch Tree). Generally it has a trunk diameter of eight inches. The leaves grow on the stem pinnately and are compound (having leaflets along both sides of the stem) and are six to eight inches long. The leaves themselves are lanceolate, a botanical term meaning they are narrow, tapering towards each end. These leaves are generally four inches long, one inch wide and saw toothed. They are paIer underneath, turning yellow in the Autumn. The bark is a pale grey, smooth with scaly patches and its twigs are a reddish brown. The flowers are numerous, a quarter of an inch wide a with five petals, growing in abundant clusters. The fruit is small, maturing in the Autumn, and resembles clusters of bright red apples, although the fruit is much smaller in size, approximately one-half inch. The American Rowan favours moist valleys and is found in coniferous forests from Newfoundland to Western Ontario and from Illinois to Georgia, preferring altitudes of 6,000 feet in the South.

The European Mountain Ash (or European Rowan) was introduced to America in colonial times from Europe and Eurasia. Its leaves also grow in a pinnate and compound manner on stems four to eight inches long with nine to seventeen leaflets upon each stem. These leaves are also lanceolate and saw-toothed, two inches long and less than an inch wide. They are a dull green above with white hairs beneath, turning red in the Autumn. The bark is a very dark grey and smooth with horizontal lines and is very aromatic. The flowers grow in three to six inch clusters of seventy five to one hundred flowers; they are small with five white petals. The fruit, again, resembles tiny apples, but is a bright orange-red and matures in the Spring. The European Rowan favours roadsides and thickets from Southeastern Alaska to Southern Canada, Newfoundland to Maine and Minnesota to California.

That was your botany lesson - now some more interesting information!

The common saying about this Tree is "Woe to those with no Rowan Tree near". This comes from the common acceptance of its protective powers in both magical and traditionally historic uses.

A Rowan Tree planted near your home will protect it from lightning. This Tree was said to bring luck to families and was, therefore, planted next to or near new dwellings or after a move to honor the new home and to aid in starting a family.

Sprays of branches were tacked over the door of cattle sheds to protect them from harm, a practice carried to the home for the same purpose. Sprigs were also worn to protect the wearer from enchantment. In the Spring, goats were driven through hoops of Rowan, again, as a protective practice.
In Wales, the Rowan was planted in graveyards to watch over the dead and to prevent them from walking and was said to protect a cemetery from haunting.
Rowan was commonly used for waIking sticks so that the wanderer would be protected from harm, and was a prevention against getting lost, guiding the wayfarer home.

Boats made of this wood were said to be protected from storms and from going off course. It commonly represented 'one who steered', especially upon the waters but now, in contemporary times and in divination, can represent someone who is the head of a company or one in a management position.
The wattles of the Rowan Tree were said to hold hidden knowledge and were thus valued and the Tree considered oracular. Roman lictors and other officials carried rods made of Rowan as symbols of their authority.

Fairies were said to celebrate and dance around the Rowan and, in County Sligo, Ireland, it is believed the Sidhe brought the seeds to Eire from Fairyland itself.

In the legend of Fraoth, its berries were guarded by a dragon and these could give sustenance equal to nine meals.
The Druids burned Rowan prior to a battle, using the smoke to invite the Sidhe to attend and lend their aid.
The berries were commonly used to flavour ale in an old Welsh recipe and were used as a coffee substitute. This fruit can also be fed to wild birds, to flavour liqueurs and cordials and can be made
into jam.

Its uses in healing are wide and varied. Fresh juice from the berries can be used as a laxative and is an excellent gargle for a sore throat, hoarseness or inflamed tonsils. An infusion of the berries can relieve haemorrhoids and stangury (stoppage of urine). A decoction of the bark can be used as a douche for vaginal irritations and also to soothe sore and tired eyes. Often the berries and the bark are added to healing mixtures to ensure their success and the ingestion of the berries is said to add a year to your life.

Its magical uses are many and are strongly associated with its historical and traditional uses. Worn as a protection against enchantment, especially where the Fairies or the Sidhe are concerned and carrying it in an amulet can ensure against the control of others. (This amulet is a combination of Rowan leaves with Rue and Basil, tied into a golden or a white cloth and carried). Traditionally sewn into sachets, along with other powerful herbs, to bring health, power, and luck and success, especially in any undertaking involving travel far from home.

Forked branches were used as metal-diviners, much the same way Willow is used for water divining. Its power can be used to invoke the Elementals and to banish bothersome entities, hence its use in conjunction with homes and barns. The berries and leaves are dried and burned as incense to invoke spirits, familiars, spirit guides, the Elements and the Great Goddess.

In the Amber Isles of the Baltic Seas, great stands of Rowan were used as places of oracle and divination. In modern times, its use in a money spell is suggested by Z. Budapest in her book, "The Grandmother of Time". (p.26).

Lugh Lamfadha is the corresponding God. He is the tri-aspected God of the Celts who is a reflection of the Goddess Brigid. His triune aspects are that of skilled magician-king, chief warrior as the God of the Spear and His agricultural importance is significant in His responsibility for the success of the Harvest Among the Goddesses, Rowan is represented by the Leanan Sidhe, inspiring poets and musicians. The Rowan is also linked to Loegaire, the charioteer of CuChulainn.

In divination, Rowan is an indication to retain your senses and gather your wits about you to enable you to distinguish the bad from the good, harm from help and to use spiritual strength to avert that which would threaten your serenity and purpose. You are asked to use sense, coupled with intuition, to make correct judgements and thus be protected. Its keywords are insight and quickening and its uses foreknowledge as a protection against undesirable control by others and by other forces. You are to look within and seek the insight necessary to overcome problems. The appearance of Rowan in divination suggests that you garner inner vitality and use these resources to negate self-doubt and to prevent the over-extension of your power. Rowan is the power that guards, nourishes and strengthens, representing an inner and an outer cleansing to wash away the effects of the past in order to create positive results in the future. Rowan is the realization of greater potential which purifies and protects against the circumstances and conditions of life.

And thus, you can allow the thunder and Lightning to rage outside your doors, knowing Rowan stands, protecting all ventures, both within and without.

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Oats

OATS
Avena sativa (LINN.)
N.O. Graminaceae
Synonyms
Groats. Oatmeal
Part Used
Seeds
Habitat
It is unknown when Oats were first introduced into Britain

Description
There are about twenty-five varieties cultivated. The nutritive quality of Oats is less in a given weight than that of any other cereal grain. In the best Oats it does not exceed 75 per cent. Arena sativa, the Common Oat, has a smooth stem, growing up to 4 feet high, with linear lanceolate, veined rough leaves; loose striate sheaves; stipules lacerate; panicle equal, loose; spikelets pedunculate, pendulous, two-flowered, both perfect. lower one mostly awned; paleae cartilaginous, embracing the caryopsis; root fibrous, annual. The Naked or Pilcorn Oat differs slightly from the other: calyces three-flowered, receptacle exceeding the calyx; petals awned at the back; the third floscule awnless; and the chief difference lies in the grains, which when ripe quit the husk and fall naked. The grains as found in commerce are enclosed in their pales and these grains divested of their paleae are used for medicinal and dietary purposes; the grains when separated from their integuments are termed groats, and these when crushed are called Embden groats. Oatmeal is ground grain.

Constituents
Starch, gluten, albumen and other protein compounds, sugar, gum oil, and salts.

Medicinal Action and Uses
Nervine, stimulant, antispasmodic. Oats are made into gruel. This is prepared by boiling 1 oz. of oatmeal or groats in 3 pints of water till reduced to 1 quart, then straining it, sugar, lemons, wine, or raisins being added as flavouring. Gruel thus is a mild nutritious aliment, of easy digestion in inflammatory cases and fevers; it is very useful after parturition, and is sometimes employed in poisoning from acid substances. It is found useful also as a demulcent enema and boiled into a thick paste makes a good emollient poultice. Oatmeal is unsoluble in alcohol, ether, and the oils, but the two first move an oleoresinous matter from it. It is to be avoided in dyspepsia accompanied with acidity of the stomach. The pericarp of Oats con-tains an amorphous alkaloid which acts as a stimulant of the motor ganglia, increasing the excitability of the muscles, and in horses causes excitement. A tincture is made by permeating 4 oz. of ground oatmeal to 1 pint diluted alcohol, keeping the first 51/2 oz. (fluid), and evaporating the remainder down to 1/2 fluid ounce, and adding this to the first 51/2 fluid ounces. The extract and tincture are useful as a nerve and uterine tonic.

Dosage
Fluid extract, 10 to 30 drops in hot water.

This is from the Modern Herbal (1931 Modern?)

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Ash

Fraxinus excelsior - Ash. Irish Fuinnseog

Family - Oleaceae

Description
Magnificent large deciduous tree with distinctive black buds in spring. Can be coppiced. Height 45m. Age up to 200 years.

Habitat
Mostly calcerous soils although found on all except poorest and acid soils (above ph 5.5). Prefers moist but well drained fertile soils. Up to 450m in altitude. Grows well in mixed stands provided not shaded.

Natural Distribution
Throughout British Isles and Europe into Asia Minor and Caucuses. Rare north of Great Glen in Scotland.

The Tree Year

Propagation and Growth
Grow from seed - deeply dormant - treat as per Acer campestre. Long thin brown seeds approx 25cm long. Approx 8000 germinable seeds per kg. Seeds form in large sprays. If planted green seeds may germinate following spring or even straight away whereas brown seeds will germinate the second spring after planting. Grows quickly to 20 - 40 years old but growth stops at 60 years.

Timber
Pale creamy wood that is strong and elastic.

Uses of Wood
Hockey sticks, oars, paddles, rudders, billiard cues, cricket stumps, polo sticks and policemen's truncheons. Also used for veneer and furniture. Burns fragrantly when green or dried due to low water content even when green (30 - 35%) but seasoning (to 15% water) does improve efficiency.

Oghram:
N Nuin
Folk Names:
Nion, Unicorn's Friend
Calendrical:
The Murray's place Ash in the month of March. (Murray, p. 110)

Description:
The "World Tree" whose branches spread out like open arms to embrace the world. Known to many as the "umbrella" tree. Large tree with a straight trunk and a dense rounded crown of foliage. She reaches a maximum height of eighty feet (25 feet in Flowering Ash) and possesses opposite, pinnately compound leaves that turn purple or yellow in Autumn (White Ash only). She flowers small clusters of purple blossoms (or often greenish white in European Ash) and small numerous white flowers in Flowering Ash.

Lore and Divinatory Aspects:
The Great Mother, who portrays a cosmic world tree - the "ygdrasil" whose triple root goes to air, to water, and to "hel" - the fiery land beneath the earth. It is Ash that conjoins the Mother (Ash) and the Father (Oak). (Nichols, p.30) Ash is also often see as masculine, and is attributed to the sun, the element fire, and the Gods Uranus, Poseidon, Thor, Woden, Neptune, Mars, and Gwydion. Ash possesses the powers of protection, prosperity, sea rituals, and health. (Cummingham, p. 40) As a "sun" tree, s/he is honored at the Winter Solstice in the "sun" rituals. One of the sacred three trees - Oak, Ash, and Thorn celebrated in British songs. (Hopman, p. 38) Where the three grow together is a grand place to find fairies ("the little people") which may have been the Picts). To the Celts, Ash was the span of existence from past to present to future - Abred, Gwynedd, and Ceugant: Creation, balance, and destruction. (Hopman, p. 41) Represents "same-ness" or equality, and is the symbol of the saying "as above, so below". If one chooses this card, rune, or stave, it represents that all things are linked and that everything becomes connected, earthly and spiritual, from lowest to highest. It demonstrates that ones deeds form part of a far greater, even endless, chain of events, and that ones inner pathways have reactions to the outer world. (Murry, p. 33) Norse sacred Tree of Life. The Edda says that humans evolved from Ash trees -- Yggdrasil. An Ash-tree was also Gwydion's steed in the famous Celtic Battle of the Trees. If you give someone a branch or flowers from an ash tree, in the language of flowers it means: "with me you are safe." ( Submitted by Christopher Windsmile. Main Source: Jobes, Gertrude. "Dictionary of Mythology, Folklore and Symbols".)

Magical Usage
To protect oneself from drowning in the sea, one would carve a piece of Ash wood into a solar cross and carry with oneself. Since Ash is a "water" tree, s/he is often used in sea rituals, and the Teutons used Ash as their Ygdrasill (World Tree). Ash leaves were placed in pillows for prophetic dreams and hung over door posts to keep away evil influences/sorcery. Ash is used in protective sachets/amulets/spells. Ash is a base ingredient in healing wands and to prevent illness. A circle of ash twigs tied around a snake bitten victim will cure the bite by belief that snakes have an innate fear of the Ash tree and even their venom will withdraw when Ash is brought near. Burned at Yule, Ash will bring prosperity. Ash attracts lightning so one can harness the energy. Carrying the leaves will gain the love of the opposite sex. (Cummingham, p. 40) Sick children are often passed under Ash clefts in the British Isles. Pins thrust into ashes and then used to prick warts will cure them. One of the nine sacred woods burned in ritual fires, particularly during the Winter Solstice. A Druidic wand with spiral decorations carved on it was found in Anglesey, England (1st. c. AD). (Hopman, p. 41) Carrying these branches will allow one to see a unicorn or perhaps attract the magical critters. Representing the Third Moon, Ash is great for water magic, being the Moon of Floods. (Glass-Koentop) The ash was used to do "protective magic" for the banishment of some malign magic being sent to one of the group's members.

Medicinal Usage:
Ash (white/european) are used for diuretics/laxatives, Jaundice, gout, and rheumatic conditions (tender tops and leaves infused). Its bark can be used to clean out the liver and spleen, strengthen the immune system, to treat fevers (such as malaria, it is an alternative for quinine), and its fruits are used to allay gas pains. White Ash is used for uterine conditions, fibroids, uterine enlargement/tumors, and infantile eczema. European Ash treats gout and rheumatism. (Hopman, p. 39) To cure warts, rub the wart with a strip of bacon, cut a slit in an ash tree, and insert the bacon into the bark. The wart will disappear and reappear in the shape of rough excrescences/knobs on the tree. (Frazer, p. 632)

Other Uses:
A great wood for spears, bows, axes, wagons, carts, ladders, carriages, walking sticks, hoops, crates, and cars (being second to oak as a building material). Creates a hot flame when burned so is good for metalsmithery. Used in tanning nets, for making baskets, and to dye wool yellow (bark and leaves). (Hopman, p. 38)

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Coltsfoot

COLTSFOOT
Tussilago Farfara (LINN.)
N.O. Compositae
Synonyms
Coughwort. Hallfoot. Horsehoof. Ass's Foot. Foalswort. Fieldhove. Bullsfoot. Donnhove (French) Pas d'ane
Part Used
Leaves, flowers, root

Habitat
Coltsfoot grows abundantly throughout England, especially along the sides of railway banks and in waste places, on poor stiff soils, growing as well in wet ground as in dry situations. It has long-stalked, hoof-shaped leaves, about 4 inches across, with angular teeth on the margins. Both surfaces are covered, when young, with loose, white, felted woolly hairs, but those on the upper surface fall off as the leaf expands. This felty covering easily rubs off and before the introduction of matches, wrapped in a rag dipped in a solution of saltpetre and dried in the sun, used to be considered an excellent tinder

Description
The Specific name of the plant is derived from Farfarus, an ancient name of the White Poplar, the leaves of which present some resemblance in form and colour to those of this plant. There is a closer resemblance, however, to the leaves of the Butterbur, which must not be collected in error; they may be distinguished by their more rounded outline, larger size and less sinuate margin.

After the leaves have died down, the shoot rests and produces in the following February a flowering stem, consisting of a single peduncle with numerous reddish bracts and whitish hairs and a terminal, composite, yellow flower, whilst other shoots develop leaves, which appear only much later, after the flower stems in their turn have died down. These two parts of the plant, both of which are used medicinally, are, therefore, collected separately and usually sold separately.

The root is spreading, small and white, and has also been used medicinally. An old name for Coltsfoot was Filius ante patrem (the son before the father), because the star-like, golden flowers appear and wither before the broad, sea-green leaves are produced.
The seeds are crowned with a tuft of silky hairs, the pappus, which are often used by goldfinches to line their nests, and it has been stated were in former days frequently employed by the Highlanders for stuffing mattresses and pillows.
The underground stems preserve their vitality for a long period when buried deeply, so that in places where the plant has not been observed before, it will often spring up in profusion after the ground has been disturbed. In gardens and pastures it is a troublesome weed, very difficult to extirpate.

Part Used
The leaves, collected in June and early part of July, and, to a slighter extent, the flower-stalks collected in February.

Constituents
All parts of the plant abound in mucilage, and contain a little tannin and a trace of a bitter amorphous glucoside. The flowers contain also a phytosterol and a dihydride alcohol, Faradial.

Medicinal Action and Uses
Demulcent, expectorant and tonic. One of the most popular of cough remedies. It is generally given together with other herbs possessing pectoral qualities, such as Horehound, Marshmallow, Ground Ivy, etc.

The botanical name, Tussilago, signifies 'cough dispeller,' and Coltsfoot has justly been termed 'nature's best herb for the lungs and her most eminent thoracic.' The smoking of the leaves for a cough has the recommendation of Dioscorides, Galen, Pliny, Boyle, and other great authorities, both ancient and modern, Linnaeus stating that the Swedes of his time smoked it for that purpose. Pliny recommended the use of both roots and leaves. The leaves are the basis of the British Herb Tobacco, in which Coltsfoot predominates, the other ingredients being Buckbean, Eyebright, Betony, Rosemary, Thyme, Lavender, and Chamo-mile flowers. This relieves asthma and also the difficult breathing of old bronchitis. Those suffering from asthma, catarrh and other lung troubles derive much benefit from smoking this Herbal Tobacco, the use of which does not entail any of the injurious effects of ordinary tobacco.

A decoction is made of 1 oz. of leaves, in 1 quart of water boiled down to a pint, sweetened with honey or liquorice, and taken in teacupful doses frequently. This is good for both colds and asthma.

Coltsfoot tea is also made for the same purpose, and Coltsfoot Rock has long been a domestic remedy for coughs.

A decoction made so strong as to be sweet and glutinous has proved of great service in scrofulous cases, and, with Wormwood, has been found efficacious in calculus complaints.

The flower-stalks contain constituents similar to those of the leaves, and are directed by the British Pharmacopoeia to be employed in the preparation of Syrup of Coltsfoot, which is much recommended for use in chronic bronchitis.

In Paris, the Coltsfoot flowers used to be painted as a sign on the doorpost of an apothecarie's shop. Culpepper says:
'The fresh leaves, or juice, or syrup thereof, is good for a bad dry cough, or wheezing and shortness of breath. The dry leaves are best for those who have their rheums and distillations upon their lungs causing a cough: for which also the dried leaves taken as tobacco, or the root is very good. The distilled water hereof simply or with elder-flowers or nightshade is a singularly good remedy against all agues, to drink 2 oz. at a time and apply cloths wet therein to the head and stomach, which also does much good being applied to any hot swellings or inflammations. It helpeth St. Anthony's fire (erysy-pelas) and burnings, and is singular good to take away wheals.'

One of the local names for Coltsfoot, viz. Donnhove, seems to have been derived from Donn, an old word for horse, hence Donkey (a little horse). Donnhove became corrupted to Tun-hoof as did Hay-hove (a name for Ground Ivy) to ale-hoof.

The plant is so dissimilar in appearance at different periods that both Gerard and Parkinson give two illustrations: one entitled 'Tussilago florens, Coltsfoot in floure,' and the other, 'Tussilaginous folia, the leaves of Coltsfoot,' or 'Tussilago herba sine flore.'

'Coltsfoot hath many white and long creeping roots, from which rise up naked stalkes about a spanne long, bearing at the top yellow floures; when the stalke and seede is perished there appeare springing out of the earth many broad leaves, green above, and next the ground of a white, hoarie, or grayish colour. Seldom, or never, shall you find leaves and floures at once, but the floures are past before the leaves come out of the ground; as may appear by the first picture, which setteth forth the naked stalkes and floures; and by the second, which port-traiteth the leaves only.'

Pliny and many of the older botanists thought that the Coltsfoot was without leaves, an error that is scarcely excusable, for, notwithstanding the fact that the flowers appear in a general way before the leaves, small leaves often begin to make their appearance before the flowering season is over.

Pliny recommends the dried leaves and roots of Coltsfoot to be burnt, and the smoke drawn into the mouth through a reed and swallowed, as a remedy for an obstinate cough, the patient sipping a little wine between each inhalation. To derive the full benefit from it, it had to be burnt on cypress charcoal.

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Elder

Elder - Ruis
Sambucus
Mara Freeman May 1997

The eider is a small but bountiful tree, covered with edible fragrant blossoms in summer and juicy purple berries in autumn which country people have used for centuries in jams, jellies, medicinal syrups and wine. Its hollow branches have proved useful for all manner of pipes and bellows; in fact, its name probably originates with the Anglo-Saxon _eller, meaning a kindler of fire. In Ireland elder was a sacred tree, and it was forbidden to break even one twig.

Like the willow, it seems to have strong feminine associations. In Denmark, peasants would not cut down an elder for fear of Hyldemor, the Elder-mother, who dwelt in its trunk. This belief is also found in Eastern England. In Lincolnshire until quite recently, it was important to ask permission of the "Old Lady" or "Old Girl." The correct way to approach the tree was to say: "Old Woman, give me some of thy wood and I will give thee some of mine when I grow into a tree." If this Procedure was not adopted. ill-luck could befall. Earlier this century, a writer visited the mother of a sick baby. the mother explained: "It were all along of my maister’s thick ‘ead. It were in this ‘ow: t’rocker comed off t'cradle, and he hadn’t no more gumption than to mak’ a new ‘un out on illerwood (elder wood) without axing the Old Lady’s leave, and in course she didn’t like that, and she came and pinched the wean (baby) that outrageous he were a’most black in t’ face; but I bashed un off, and putten an eshen (ashen) on, and the wean is gallus (well?) as owt agin."

Unfortunately, the Elder-Mother, who had probably once been a powerful female figure venerated for the healing properties of her tree, became feared as a witch in Christian times. In Ireland, witches were thought to use elder boughs as magic horses, while in England the crooked-branched tree was thought to be the form of a bent old witch, who would bleed if she were cut.

A folk-tale about an elder-tree witch from Somerset is worth repeating here. It tells of a farmer who discovered his cows were being milked by a witch disguised as an elder-tree. The farmer loaded his gun with a silver bullet to shoot her, but missed, and the witch chased him back to his cottage. He hurtled in through the front door and his wife shot the iron bolt, but the farmer’s coat-tails were caught in the door and he struggled pathetically there while the witch prowled around outside! Luckily, the old granny saves the day. She takes "a girt shovel of burning coals and she say to the girl, ‘Open the back door wide!’ And she did and ran back to her mother, but the old Cranny she just stood there, and when the elder-tree came straight at her, and a-leaping and a-skreeking, she just up and throw all they red-hot coals at her, and come in and shut the back door. Then they all see blue flames flicker and hear tree crackling into cinders.

After a bit Granny she took the ashen cattle-goad and go out and there was a girt heap of ashes, cold already and they women all made a criss-cross on the ashes with the ashen-goad, and they ran and opened shutters and front door again and farmer were able to free his coat-tails and go out to his cows."

An elder-tree witch features in the legend of the famous Rollright Stones in Oxfordshire. A king and his army were marching across the land, when a witch approached him and called out a challenge:

"Seven long strides shalt thou take,
If Long Compton thou can see,
King of England thou shalt be. "

Now, the village of Long Compton is just hidden behind a low mound known as the archdruid’s barrow. After the king had taken seven strides, the witch called out:

"As Long Compton thou canst not see,
King of England thou shalt not be.
Rise up stick and rise up stone,
For King of England thou shalt be none.
Thou and thy men hoar stones shall be
And myself an eldern-tree. "

The king became the lone stone known as the King Stone, while his men huddle together as "The Whispering Knights", a group of five stones to the east. The stone circle itself is known as the Kings’ Men.

The elder's reputation went from bad to worse with a Christian legend that claimed that the crucifix was made from its wood and Judas Iscariot was said to have hanged himself on the eider. An old carol called, ‘The Twelve Apostles" tells the story, and in the last verse denounces the elder, which stands as an outcast from the other trees.(Any group of trees was known colloquially as the "Twelve Apostles".)

The twelve apostles they were standing by,
Their roots in the river, and their leaves in the sky,
The beasts all thrive wherever they be.
But Judas was a-hunged on an elder tree

And in Scotland, where the elder is known as the "bour-tree", an old rhyme points to the tree’s small stature and crooked branches as punishment for its part in Jesus’ death :

Bour-tree, bour-tree, crookit rung,
Never straight and never strong,
Eer bush, and never tree,
Since our Lord was nailed t'ye

Soon the much-maligned tree became synonymous with the Devil himself. Many feared to burn elder-logs for fear they would "bring the Devil into the house." Aubrey tells an amusing story about this, concerning a "good old gentleman’’ called Mr. Allen, who was reputed to be a sorcerer. This gentleman acquired a watch in the days when such instruments were rare. When a couple of maids; entered his room and heard the watch ticking in its case, they thought it must be his familiar or even the Devil himself. They took it by the chain and threw it out the window into the moat, hoping to drown him. But by chance, the chain caught on an elder tree that was growing out of the bank, which confirmed their opinion that it was indeed an instrument of the Devil! Fortunately, this meant Mr.. Allen got his watch back again.
In other parts of the British isles the elder was less feared, but still retained its magical associations. If the eyes are bathed in the green juice of the wood, you might see fairies and witches. If you stand under an elder-tree at Samhain in Scotland, you can see the faery host riding by. Elderberries plucked on Midsummer’s Eve confer magic powers. In the Isle of Man, elders are the main dwelling-place for elves.

Also in the Isle of Man, an elder tree outside the cottage door actually kept witches away, according to a Manx folk-tale called, "Old Nance and the Buggane." In other places too it was viewed favourably as a benevolent, protective tree. A 17th century manuscript gives a recipe for a protective ; amulet made from plucking an elder twig in October just before the full moon. The wood between the knots must be cut into nine pieces, which are bound in a piece of linen and hung around the neck so that they touch the heart. They hang there until the thread breaks, at which point the amulet has to be buried where it may not be found.

In some parts of Scotland it ranked only second to rowan in its ability to ward off evil spells and witchcraft. Crosses made of elder twigs hung over stables and barns to protect the livestock. Drivers of hearses carried whip-handles made of elder to ward off evil influences.

Elder has been prescribed throughout the ages for healing ailments from blindness to epilepsy. The leaves gathered on May Eve had the power to cure wounds, and warts could be removed by rubbing them on a green elder stick and burning it: as it rotted away, so did the warts. In Denmark a cure for toothache consisted of placing an elder twig in the mouth and then sticking it in a wall, saying: "Depart thou evil spirit!" The herbalist John Evelyn declared: "If the medicinal properties of the leaves, bark, berries, etc. were thoroughly known, I cannot tell what our countryman could ail for which he might not fetch a remedy from every (elder) hedge either for sickness or wound."

In Ireland, it was one of the magical trees carried in procession at Beltane. If you celebrate this merry month, let the EIder-Mother once more take her place in summer’s bouquet as this ancient Beltane song declares:

Holly and hazel
EIder and Rowen
and bright ash
from beside the ford

To The Top

Wormwood

Caution: Wormwood is an addictive, narcotic, convulsive poison which will affect your brain. Do not use it internally under any circumstances.

Magical Uses

Burn wormwood as an incense to aid in developing psychic powers, or with sandalwood to raise spirits. Carry it to protect yourself from evil spells and the bite of sea serpents. It is one of the bitter herbs of the Bible, and supposedly grew up along the trail left by the Serpent as it slithered out of the Garden of Eden.

WORMWOODS
N.O. Compositae
The Wormwoods are members of the great family of Compositae and belong to the genus Artemisia, a group consisting of 180 species, of which we have four growing wild in England, the Common Wormwood, Mugwort, Sea Wormwood and Field Wormwood. In addition, as garden plants, though not native, Tarragon (A. dracunculus) claims a place in every herb-garden, and Southernwood (A. abrotanum), an old-fashioned favourite, is found in many borders, whilst others, such as A. sericea, A. cana and A. alpina, form pretty rockwork shrubs.

The whole family is remarkable for the extreme bitterness of all parts of the plant: 'as bitter as Wormwood' is a very Ancient proverb.
In some of the Western states of North America there are large tracts almost entirely destitute of other vegetation than certain kinds of Artemisia, which cover vast plains. The plants are of no use as forage: and the few wild animals that feed on them are said to have, when eaten, a bitter taste. The Artemisias also abound in the arid soil of the Tar-tarean steppes and in other similar situations.

The genus is named Artemisia from Artemis, the Greek name for Diana. In an early translation of the Herbarium of Apuleius we find:
'Of these worts that we name Artemisia, it is said that Diana did find them and delivered their powers and leechdom to Chiron the Centaur, who first from these Worts set forth a leechdom, and he named these worts from the name of Diana, Artemis, that is Artemisias.'

WORMWOOD, COMMON
Artemisia Absinthium
N.O. Compositae
Synonyms
Green Ginger
Part Used
Whole Herb

Habitat
Europe, Siberia, and United States of America
The Common Wormwood held a high reputation in medicine among the Ancients. Tusser (1577), in July's Husbandry, says:
'While Wormwood hath seed get a handful or twaine To save against March, to make flea to refraine: Where chamber is sweeped and Wormwood is strowne, What saver is better (if physick be true) For places infected than Wormwood and Rue? It is a comfort for hart and the braine, And therefore to have it it is not in vaine.'

Besides being strewn in chambers as Tusser recommended, it used to be laid among stuffs and furs to keep away moths and insects.
According to the Ancients, Wormwood counteracted the effects of poisoning by hemlock, toadstools and the biting of the sea-dragon. The plant was of some importance among the Mexicans, who celebrated their great festival of the Goddess of Salt by a ceremonial dance of women, who wore on their heads garlands of Wormwood.

With the exception of Rue, Wormwood is the bitterest herb known, but it is very wholesome and used to be in much request by brewers for use instead of hops. The leaves resist putrefaction, and have been on that account a principal ingredient in antiseptic fomentations.

An Old Love Charm
'On St. Luke's Day, take marigold flowers, a sprig of marjoram, thyme, and a little Wormwood; dry them before a fire, rub them to powder; then sift it through a fine piece of lawn, and simmer it over a slow fire, adding a small quantity of virgin honey, and vinegar. Anoint yourself with this when you go to bed, saying the following lines three times, and you will dream of your partner "that is to be":
"St. Luke, St. Luke, be kind to me, In dreams let me my true-love see." '

Culpepper, writing of the three Worm-woods most in use, the Common Wormwood, Sea Wormwood and Roman Wormwood, tells us: 'Each kind has its particular virtues' . . . the Common Wormwood is 'the strongest,' the Sea Wormwood, 'the second in bitterness,' whereas the Roman Wormwood, 'to be found in botanic gardens'-the first two being wild- 'joins a great deal of aromatic flavour with but little bitterness.'
The Common Wormwood grows on roadsides and waste places, and is found over the greater part of Europe and Siberia, having been formerly much cultivated for its qualities. In Britain, it appears to be truly indigenous near the sea and locally in many other parts of England and Scotland, from Forfar southwards. In Ireland it is a doubtful native. It has become naturalized in the United States.

Description
The root is perennial, and from it arise branched, firm, leafy stems, sometimes almost woody at the base. The flowering stem is 2 to 21/2 feet high and whitish, being closely covered with fine silky hairs. The leaves, which are also whitish on both sides from the same reason, are about 3 inches long by 1 1/2 broad, cut into deeply and repeatedly (about three times pinnatifid), the segments being narrow (linear) and blunt. The leaf-stalks are slightly winged at the margin. The small, nearly globular flower-heads are arranged in an erect, leafy panicle, the leaves on the flower-stalks being reduced to three, or even one linear segment, and the little flowers themselves being pendulous and of a greenish-yellow tint. They bloom from July to October. The ripe fruits are not crowned by a tuft of hairs, or pappus, as in the majority of the Compositae family.

The leaves and flowers are very bitter, with a characteristic odour, resembling that of thujone. The root has a warm and aromatic taste.

Cultivation
Wormwood likes a shady situation, and is easily propagated by division of roots in the autumn, by cuttings, or by seeds sown in the autumn soon after they are ripe. No further care is needed than to keep free from weeds. Plant about 2 feet apart each way.

Part Used
The whole herb- leaves and tops - gathered in July and August, when the plant is in flower and dried.

Collect only on a dry day, after the sun has dried off the dew. Cut off the upper green portion and reject the lower parts of the stems, together with any discoloured or insect-eaten leaves. Tie loosely in bunches of uniform size and length, about six stalks to a bunch, and spread out in shape of a fan, so that the air can get to all parts. Hang over strings, in the open, on a fine, sunny, warm day, but in half-shade, otherwise the leaves will become tindery; the drying must not be done in full sunlight, or the aromatic properties will be partly lost. Aromatic herbs should be dried at a temperature of about 70ø. If no sun is available, the bunches may be hung over strings in a covered shed, or disused greenhouse, or in a sunny warm attic, provided there is ample ventilation, so that the moist heated air may escape. The room may also be heated with a coke or anthracite stove, care being taken that the window is kept open during the day. If after some days the leaves are crisp and the stalks still damp, hang the bunches over a stove, when the stalks will quickly finish drying. Uniformity in size in the bunches is important, as it facilitates packing. When the drying process is completed, pack away at once in airtight boxes, as otherwise the herbs will absorb about 12 per cent. moisture from the air. If sold to the wholesale druggists in powdered form, rub through a sieve as soon as thoroughly dry, before the bunches have had time to absorb any moisture, and pack in tins or bottles at once.

Constituents
The chief constituent is a volatile oil, of which the herb yields in distillation from 0.5 to 1.0 per cent. It is usually dark green, or sometimes blue in colour, and has a strong odour and bitter, acrid taste. The oil contains thujone (absinthol or ten-acetone), thujyl alcohol (both free and combined with acetic, isovalerianic, succine and malic acids), cadinene, phellandrene and pinene. The herb also contains the bitter glucoside absinthin, absinthic acid, together with tannin, resin, starch, nitrate of potash and other salts.

Medicinal Action and Uses
Tonic, stomachic, febrifuge, anthelmintic. A nervine tonic, particularly helpful against the falling sickness and for flatulence. It is a good remedy for enfeebled digestion and debility.

Preparations
Fluid extract, 1/2 to 1 drachm.
Wormwood Tea, made from 1 oz. of the herb, infused for 10 to 12 minutes in 1 pint of boiling water, and taken in wineglassful doses, will relieve melancholia and help to dispel the yellow hue of jaundice from the skin, as well as being a good stomachic, and with the addition of fixed alkaline salt, produced from the burnt plant, is a powerful diuretic in some dropsical cases. The ashes yield a purer alkaline salt than most other vegetables, except Beanstalks and Broom.

The juice of the larger leaves which grow from the root before the stalk appears has been used as a remedy for jaundice and dropsy, but it is intensely nauseous. A light infusion of the tops of the plant, used fresh, is excellent for all disorders of the stomach, creating an appetite, promoting digestion and preventing sickness after meals, but it is said to produce the contrary effect if made too strong.

The flowers, dried and powdered, are most effectual as a vermifuge, and used to be considered excellent in agues. The essential oil of the herb is used as a worm-expeller, the spirituous extract being preferable to that distilled in water. The leaves give out nearly the whole of their smell and taste both to spirit and water, but the cold water infusions are the least offensive.

The intensely bitter, tonic and stimulant qualities have caused Wormwood not only to be an ingredient in medicinal preparations, but also to be used in various liqueurs, of which absinthe is the chief, the basis of absinthe being absinthol, extracted from Wormwood. Wormwood, as employed in making this liqueur, bears also the name 'Wermuth' - preserver of the mind - from its medicinal virtues as a nervine and mental restorative. If not taken habitually, it soothes spinal irritability and gives tone to persons of a highly nervous temperament. Suitable allowances of the diluted liqueur will promote salutary perspiration and may be given as a vermifuge. Inferior absinthe is generally adulterated with copper, which produces the characteristic green colour.

The drug, absinthium, is rarely employed, but it might be of value in nervous diseases such as neurasthenia, as it stimulates the cerebral hemispheres, and is a direct stimulant of the cortex cerebri. When taken to excess it produces giddiness and attacks of epileptiform convulsions. Absinthium occurs in the British Pharmacopoeia in the form of extract, infusion and tincture, and is directed to be extracted also from A. maritima, the Sea Wormwood, which possesses the same virtues in a less degree, and is often more used as a stomachic than the Common Wormwood. Commercially this often goes under the name of Roman Wormwood, though that name really belongs to A. Pontica. All three species were used, as in Culpepper's time.

Dr. John Hill (1772) recommends Common Wormwood in many forms. He says:
'The Leaves have been commonly used, but the flowery tops are the right part. These, made into a light infusion, strengthen digestion, correct acidities, and supply the place of gall, where, as in many constitutions, that is deficient. One ounce of the Flowers and Buds should be put into an earthen vessel, and a pint and a half of boiling water poured on them, and thus to stand all night. In the morning the clear liquor with two spoonfuls of wine should be taken at three draughts, an hour and a half distance from one another. Whoever will do this regularly for a week, will have no sickness after meals, will feel none of that fulness so frequent from indigestion, and wind will be no more troublesome; if afterwards, he will take but a fourth part of this each day, the benefit will be lasting.'

He further tells us that if an ounce of these flowers be put into a pint of brandy and let to stand six weeks, the resultant tincture will in a great measure prevent the increase of gravel -and give great relief in gout. 'The celebrated Baron Hailer has found vast benefit by this; and myself have very happily followed his example.'

WORMWOOD, ROMAN
Artemesia Pontica N.O. Compositae
Part Used
Herb Roman Wormwood (Artemesia Pontica) is not indigenous to this country, being a native of Southern Europe. It grows about the same height as the Common Wormwood, but has smaller and more finely cut leaves, the segments being narrower, the upper leaves more resembling those of Southernwood; the leaves are white with fine hairs on both upper and under surfaces. The flowers, which blossom in July, are numerous, at the tops of the branches, and are darker and much smaller than those of Common Wormwood.

This is the most delicate though the least strong of the Wormwoods; the aromatic flavour with which its bitterness is mixed causes it to be employed in making the liqueur Vermuth.

Medicinally, the fresh tops are used, and also the whole herb, dried. Much of the A. Pontica in commerce is A. maritima.
Culpepper considered the Roman Wormwood 'excellent to strengthen the stomach.' Also that 'the juice of the fresh tops is good against obstructions of the liver and spleen. ... An infusion of the flowering tops strengthens digestion. A tincture