Busy Week Ahead!

Last Wednesday was eagerly awaited. I rushed home from barn chores, and then dragged my feet to leave for the waitressing job, listening for the UPS truck. I was waiting ever so patiently- haha, ok, I was jumping up and down on the doorstep like a flying monkey, which got a repeat performance when I came home that afternoon and found that the package had finally arrived.    

Yes, I'm a total dork, and I get very excited when I have new herbal supplies. . .

This time, all the excitement was over:

Orange Peel Powder (for Herbal Kitchen Recipes)

Calamus Root (I was curious after reading Jim McDonald's article)

Elderberries (for Recipes and Extracts)

Easy Day Tea (I haven't had much time to mix up my own teas lately, and this one looked delicious!)

Honeybush Tea (really tasty- just be careful not to steep more than two or three minutes, otherwise it looses all the flavor and just tastes astringent)

Twenty-Four 4 oz bottles, with screw top lids (I decided to try these instead of droppers this time. Droppers and I get along less than famously)

Other than the teas, I had to wait until this weekend to dig into the order, so it's been tidily arranged on the counter waiting for me.

Yesterday I was able to press out those extracts that have been lurking beneath my counter since October of last year, and also the Liriodendron extract. 

Other than that, I haven't been up to much this past week- at least not herbally speaking. There haven't been any new and interesting weeds begging to be written about, and I haven't done any heavy reading.

I have been very busy on the personal and work front, and it looks like that will continue, but I hope to have good news on that soon!

Have a great week!
Agatha

Wild Carrot (Daucas Carota)

Wild Carrot, Daucus Carota, is a very common weed in my part of the world. It's also known as Queen Anne's Lace. Surprise, surprise, it's not native, and comes from Europe originally. Actually, I was surprised, although I'm not really sure why. I knew that quite a few of  the other "southern" weeds come from elsewhere. Maybe it's because this one seems so un-exotic compared to mimosa and honeysuckle.

Another surprise was that only one of my herbal books had anything to say about Queen Anne's Lace. Matthew Wood's book, The Book of Herbal Wisdom, has a brief chapter on this plant. It's much more common in older literature, and I found useful references in King's American Dispensatory, Scudder's American Eclectic Materia Medica and Cook's The Physiomedical Dispensatory. Grieve's A Modern Herbal echoes most of what is found in the other older sources, although she was writing in the 1930's rather than the late 1800s, so her language is much more direct and uncomplicated.

Modern herbalists seem to prefer the immature seeds and the flowering tops before they have gone to seed, and occasionally use the roots. I found only one instance of the leaves being used, which was in A Modern Herbal, and mentioned that the leaves could be combined with honey and applied to weeping sores. The seeds are by far the most common portion of the plant used, both historically and presently.

The seeds have three main classifications of use: as a carminative, as a diuretic, and as a rather complex women's herb. Infusions and extracts seem to be the preferred methods of preparation. Preparation and common use ranges from a teaspoon to a cup of water just brought off the boil, to an ounce of seed per pint of water consumed over the course of the day. Chewing the seeds or adding ground seeds to honey or nut butter is also an option.

Scudder comments on the seeds:

 "The seeds are diuretic, stimulant, aromatic and carminative, and are used in nephritic diseases, gravel, irritution and inflammation of the bladder and urethra, suppression of urine, dysuria from blisters and other causes, gonorrhoea, dropsy, etc."

Matthew Wood confirms modern herbalists' experience with Wild Carrot as a carminative, diuretic, and an aid in removing sediments in the bladder and kidneys. Because of this influence it can be useful to restore the body's balance in cases of  kidney stones, gout and rheumatism.

He also relates that women have used the seeds to regulate the menstrual cycle. The main influences appear to be an ability to regulate heavy flow, curb the excessive growth of the uterine membrane, and aid against clotting. And yet, here is where the full complexity of this plant as a women's herb comes to light. Although it has a toning influence on the uterine lining overall, some women have successfully used the herb in natural family planning.

In fact, herbalist Robin Rose Bennett organized a small herbal study on Wild Carrot, which can be found here. She includes information on the most common ways to take Wild Carrot for natural family planning and outlines how it was used by the women in the study. There is also an analysis of pregnancies that occurred during the study and whether or not Wild Carrot was being used as suggested in those instances. Although the study was small, with only thirty participants, it is very interesting to read. 

That sums up the seeds, but what about the roots? Cook has the most to say about the roots:  

"The boiled roots also act on the kidneys; and form an excellent emollient and gently stimulating poultice in irritable ulcers of all grades. But the fresh and unboiled roots, finely grated, make a peculiar stimulating application of great value. They are excellent in all low forms of sores; such as carbuncles, degenerate abscesses, and buboes; and all fetid ulcers of the malignant, cachectic, and scrofulous grades."

So, according to him, boiled roots are a diuretic and they also are a softening (emollient) poultice on skin ulcerations when applied topically. Scudder mentions that the boiled roots make a good poultice for burns and "inflamed surfaces".  But the fresh, grated roots seem to make a better topical application as far as Cook is concerned:

" They correct the fetor, relieve the aching, and quickly promote sound granulation. It is said that they will even abate the suffering of phagedaena and of cancer. They certainly deserve far more attention than they have received from the profession; and sores in which it seems impossible to arouse a healing process by ordinary means, will usually improve at once under this application. The raw carrots are not to be continued after full vital action in the part has been established."

As usual, some translation is useful when dealing with older herbal texts. "Phageadaena" is a type of rapidly spreading ulcer. By "fetor" Cook means a foul odor emanating from a wound or sore, and "granulation" is the step in healing when the body begins the process of filling in the sore with new tissue.

Not bad for another USDA "noxious weed". If you choose to harvest your own Wild Carrot, be sure to use a reliable field guide to help you identify. Considering that Wild Carrot could be easily confused with Poison Hemlock, accurate identification is not something to take lightly. Some points to check for are the red flower in the center, the correct leaf shape and the hairy stems.

Wild Carrot loves to grow along roadsides, and this is not an ideal place to harvest from no matter how healthy the plants may look- they can easily pick up all kinds of noxious wastes and heavy metals that have leaked into the soil from storm run off.

If you choose to plant this lovely little weed in your garden, beware that it hybridizes with domestic carrot varieties. This might influence the properties of the Wild Carrot seed, and will definitely put a crimp in your heirloom carrot seed-saving plans unless you grow one or the other in isolation. 

The Herbalist Has Been Up To. . .#1

No Good, As Usual! :)

Seeing: Queen Anne's Lace and Trumpet Vines
Smelling: Mimosa and Honeysuckle
Touching: Tree Frogs!
Tasting:  Creamy Venison with Herbs de Provence, served over noodles
Hearing: Crows and Foxes
Reading: The Practice of Traditional Western Herbalism by Matthew Wood

Albizia Pictures

The Albizia trees were almost finished blooming by the time I arrived to take pictures, but here is a close up of one of the blossoms:

This is a close up of one of the main branches. The bark has a very distinctive texture.

And here is a pic with the flowers, bark and leaves:

Mimosa (Albizia Julibrissin)

The mimosa trees are in full bloom this week! I've never had a chance to work with these trees even though they are quite common in our area, so it has been great fun to see them up close at the barn where I work. The ponies also seem to like them. The other morning it looked rather like we had a paddock full of giraffes, because they have eaten all the easy to reach bits of leaf and flowers but just won't give up on the hopes of another nibble!


As far as appearances go, Albizia julibrissin trees are easy to miss unless they are blooming.  They are small, skinny trees with fern-like leaves that fold up at night or when it rains. They lose their leaves in the fall and usually look a bit skeletal without them. But when an Albizia tree is blooming, it's another matter: they have big, puffball blossoms that usually come in bright, cheery pink and white, and they smell heavenly! The blossoms remind me a little of gardenias, but mostly like peach soda.

This tree originally came from Asia, and was introduced into other parts of the world as an ornamental. In our part of the world (Southeastern US) it has naturalized in many areas, much like that other escaped ornamental, honeysuckle. So pretty, so invasive, so incredibly useful!

Herbally speaking, the blossoms and the bark are considered to be the useful parts of the plant. Traditionally, it was viewed as a sedative with special affinity for emotional disturbances such as anxiety and testiness from bottling up the emotions.The flowers were seen as having a more uplifting action on the emotions, and the bark as having a more grounding effect. Other uses included insomnia, poor memory, and amnesia. Additionally, the bark had another use more related to the physical body: it was considered to be extremely valuable for many types of injuries, including wounds and bone fractures.

I'm hoping I will have some pics of this lovely plant by next week- I keep forgetting to take my camera with me to work. (I know, I know, Bad Plantparazzi!)  In the meantime, here's a link to a really great article on Albizia over at the East West School of Herbology's website:

Albizia: The Tree of Happiness by Michael Tierra L.Ac, O.M.D.