Herbs: Burdock

Written by Loring A. Windblad


Common Name: Burdock

Botanical Name: Arctium lappa (LINN.)

Family: N. O. Compositae

Genus: Arctium, derived fromrepparttar Greek arktos

Other common names: Lappa, Fox's Clote, Thorny Burr, Beggar's Buttons, Cockle Buttons, Love Leaves, Philanthropium, Personata, Happy Major, Clot_Bur.

Parts Used: Root, herb and seeds (fruits).

Habitat: It grows freely throughout England (though rarely in Scotland) and throughout North America’s temperate zone on waste ground and about old buildings, by roadsides and in fairly damp places.

The Burdock,repparttar 145027 only British member of its genus, belongs torepparttar 145028 Thistle group ofrepparttar 145029 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,repparttar 145030 scales being also often interwoven with a white, cottony substance.

The whole plant is a dull, pale green,repparttar 145031 stem about 3 to 4 feet and branched, rising from a biennial root. The lower leaves are very large, on long, solid footstalks, furrowed above, frequently more than a foot long heart shaped and of a grey colour on their under surfaces fromrepparttar 145032 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 withrepparttar 145033 grey down.

The plant varies considerably in appearance, and by some botanists various subspecies, or even separate species, have been described,repparttar 145034 variations being according torepparttar 145035 size ofrepparttar 145036 flower heads and ofrepparttar 145037 whole plant,repparttar 145038 abundance ofrepparttar 145039 whitish cotton-like substance that is sometimes found onrepparttar 145040 involucres, orrepparttar 145041 absence of it,repparttar 145042 length ofrepparttar 145043 flower stalks, etc.

The flower heads are found expanded duringrepparttar 145044 latter part ofrepparttar 145045 summer and well intorepparttar 145046 autumn: allrepparttar 145047 florets are tubular,repparttar 145048 stamens dark purple andrepparttar 145049 styles whitish. The plant owes its dissemination greatly torepparttar 145050 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 great 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 Furrow-weeds, 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 inrepparttar 145051 trodden paths, our very petticoats will catch them.”

The name ofrepparttar 145052 genus, Arctium, is derived fromrepparttar 145053 Greek arktos, a bear, in allusion torepparttar 145054 roughness ofrepparttar 145055 burs, lappa,repparttar 145056 specific name, being derived from a word meaning 'to seize.'

Another source derivesrepparttar 145057 word lappa fromrepparttar 145058 Celtic llap, a hand, on account of its prehensile properties.

The plant gets its name of 'Dock' from its large leaves;repparttar 145059 'Bur' is supposed to be a contraction ofrepparttar 145060 French bourre, fromrepparttar 145061 Latin burra, a lock of wool, such is often found entangled with it when sheep have passed byrepparttar 145062 growing plants.

An old English name forrepparttar 145063 Burdock was 'Herrif,' 'Aireve,' or 'Airup,' fromrepparttar 145064 Anglo Saxon hoeg, a hedge, and reafe, a robber - or fromrepparttar 145065 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 exceptrepparttar 145066 ass will browse on this plant,repparttar 145067 stalks, cut beforerepparttar 145068 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: Asrepparttar 145069 Burdock grows freely in waste places and hedgerows, it can be collected inrepparttar 145070 wild state, and is seldom worth cultivating.

It will grow in almost any soil, butrepparttar 145071 roots are formed best in a light well drained soil. The seeds germinate readily and may be sown directly inrepparttar 145072 field, either in autumn or early spring, in drills 18 inches to 3 feet apart, sowing 1 inch deep in autumn, but less in spring. The young plants when well up are thinned out to 6 inches apart inrepparttar 145073 row.

Yields atrepparttar 145074 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 ofrepparttar 145075 first year's growth formsrepparttar 145076 official drug, butrepparttar 145077 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 ofrepparttar 145078 diameter ofrepparttar 145079 root, and soft wood tissues, with a radiate structure.

Burdock root has a sweetish and mucilaginous taste.

Burdock leaves, which are less used thanrepparttar 145080 root, are collected in July. For drying, followrepparttar 145081 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 ofrepparttar 145082 head and dried by spreading them out on paper inrepparttar 145083 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, andrepparttar 145084 ashes ofrepparttar 145085 plant, burnt when green, yield carbonate of potash abundantly, and also some nitre.

Medicinal Action and Uses: Alterative, diuretic and diaphoretic. One ofrepparttar 145086 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.

Herbs: Turkey Rhubarb

Written by Loring A. Windblad


Common Name: Turkish Rhubarb

Scientific Names: Rheum palmatum L.

Family: Polygonaceae

Forms for use: Aqueous extract of coarsely cut or powdered dried root

Traditional Usage:

! Anti-diarrheal ! Anti-inflammatory ! Antioxidant ! Cellular Regeneration ! Cleansing ! Detoxifying ! Dysentry ! Diuretic ! Laxative ! Scurvy

Overview: The root of Turkish rhubarb has been used traditionally to improve both digestion and loss of appetite. The bitter tea is rich in tannins that increaserepparttar flow of saliva and gastric secretions and can be used as an astringent or stomachic at a low dosage to stop diarrhea (0.1-0.2g).

Formerly,repparttar 145026 root was an important drug in many army camps, said to stoprepparttar 145027 deadly scourge of dysentry in its tracks. At a higher dosage (1.0-2.0g)repparttar 145028 anthraquinones that it contains function as a safe and effective laxative. This is an example of a plant that can be used for opposite purposes depending uponrepparttar 145029 dosage.

The German Pharmacopoeia recommendsrepparttar 145030 root against constipation and for all disorders in which defecation with a soft stool is desired, e.g. anal fissures, hemorrhoids and after rectal operations. It also recommends a small dose for stomach and bowel catarrh.

Todayrepparttar 145031 drug is mostly used as a laxative and is a component of many choleretic drugs (a choleretic increasesrepparttar 145032 flow of bile intorepparttar 145033 intestines and is recommended in cases of liver and biliary disorders that often cause constipation). The active glycosides are hydrolyzed inrepparttar 145034 gut into their aglycones at least in part byrepparttar 145035 action of bacterial enzymes. By influencingrepparttar 145036 water and electrolyte transport inrepparttar 145037 colon, these aglycones are responsible forrepparttar 145038 laxative action.

In China, Rheum officinale (considered interchangeable with Rheum palmatum by most authors) is also used against toothaches, and is said to improve bleeding ulcers up to 90% within a few days, based on a study with 312 people.

Active Ingredients: Turkish rhubarb root contains 3-12% anthraquinones including 60-80% chrysophanol, emodin, aloe_emodin, rhein, physcionin, citreorosein, chrysophanol 1, emodin1, aloe-emodin 8_glucoside; 10-25% dianthraquinones: sennosides A, B, C, D, E & F; naphtalins, 1% stilbenes; 5-10% tannins; and 2-3% flavonoids including rutin and several polyphenols.

Emodin at different concentrations has many therapeutic benefits including: anti-inflammatory at 15mg/kg; antiseptic; antispasmodic; antiulcer, cathartic; vasorelaxant and viricidal. Anthraquinones are also cytotoxic and stimulate cellular regeneration, detoxification and cleansing.

Suggested Amount.

Unless otherwise prescribed: The finely chopped or powdered root or powdered dry extract is used for making an infusion or decoction. Hot water (approximately 150ml) is poured over approximately one half to one flat teaspoonful of finely chopped Turkish rhubarb root and after 10 to 15 minutes passed through a strainer.

For constipation, a cup ofrepparttar 145039 freshly prepared infusion is drunk inrepparttar 145040 morning and/or at night before going to bed.

For stomach and bowel catarrh, a tablespoonful ofrepparttar 145041 infusion is taken several times. The average daily dosage as a laxative contains 30-120mg hydroxyanthracene derivatives corresponding to 1.2-4.8g of drug (powdered root). The average daily dosage as a bitter tea used as an astringent, stomachic and against ulcers contains 3-9mg of hydroxyanthracene derivatives corresponding to 0.12-0.36g of powdered root. For soothing a toothache, Chinese herbalists fryrepparttar 145042 root then steep it in alcohol to create a tincture and then apply this onrepparttar 145043 affected tooth with a cotton ball for five minutes. (Rhubarb root contains at least five different pain relieving compounds, however, there are better remedies than this for toothache that should be used first if available).

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