486 results filtered with: Herbal remedies
- Digital Images
- Online
Sempervivum tectorum L. Crassulaceae Houseleek, Senegreene Distribution: Europe. Sempervivum means 'live forever', tectorum means 'roof', and was apparently grown on house roofs to protect against lightning. Lyte (1578 distinguishes Stonecrops (Sedum) from Sengreene (Sempervivum) for he advises the Sempervivum, alone or mixed with barley meal, applied topically to burns, scalds, St Anthony's fire [erysipelas], ulcers and sores, will cure them and sore eyes. Apropos of stonecrops (Sedum), he describes the redness and blistering that the sap has on bare skin, and how it is good for poisons for if taken with vinegar by mouth it causes vomiting, but only safe to do so in strong people. He seems fairly confused as to which is which. Not approved by the European Medicines Agency for Traditional Herbal Medicinal use. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
Dr Henry Oakeley
- Digital Images
- Online
Aeonium undulatum cultivar
Dr Henry Oakeley
- Digital Images
- Online
Veronicastrum virginicum 'Pink Glow'
Dr Henry Oakeley
- Digital Images
- Online
Acacia karoo
Dr Henry Oakeley
- Digital Images
- Online
Chelidonium majus (Greater celandine)
Rowan McOnegal
- Digital Images
- Online
Viola tricolor 'Black Magic'
Dr Henry Oakeley
- Digital Images
- Online
Chicorium intybus (Chicory or Wild Succory)
Rowan McOnegal
- Digital Images
- Online
Punica granatum L. Lythraceae Pomegranate, granatum malum, balustines. Distribution: E. Mediterranean to Himalayas. The Pomegranate is in the centre of the Arms of the Royal College of Physicians, perhaps for its use in cooling, and therefore for fevers. However it was the sour pomegranate that would have been used as Dioscorides says the sweet ones are unfit for use in agues. Culpeper (1650) makes no mention of the fruit, but says of the flowers ‘... they stop fluxes and the Terms in women.’ In the Complete Herbal and English Physician (1826) says the fruit ‘... has the same general qualities as other acid fruits.’ Of the flowers he says (among other properties) that ‘A strong infusion of these cures ulcers in the mouth and throat, and fastens loose teeth.’ Gerard (1633) says that the cravings of pregnant women can be abolished with the juice, and perhaps it was scurvy which was being treated effectively when he reports that the juice was very effective against splitting of blood and for loose teeth. The dwarf form of this species, Punica granatum var. nana with fruits no more than 3cm across, grows in the border beds. Pomegranate bark can only be sold by registered pharmacies in the UK and used to be used as a vermifuge, with the secondary use that the tincture made from it doubled as a permanent ink. In South Africa the fruit rind is used for diarrhoea and stomach ache, and the bark as a vermifuge, but undesirable side effects make this dangerous. It is reported to be effective against fevers, as a diuretic, to lower blood sugar and to be both antibacterial and antiviral (van Wyk, 2000). Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
Dr Henry Oakeley
- Digital Images
- Online
Euonymus americanus L. Celastraceae North America. Millspaugh (1974 ) reports that E. atropurpureus or Wahoo used by Native Americans as a laxative, for stomach upsets and secondary syphilis, coughs, colds and asthma
Dr Henry Oakeley
- Digital Images
- Online
Solanum laciniatum Aiton Solanaceae. Kangaroo Apple. Evergreen shrub. Distribution: New Zealand and the east coast of Australia. It contains steroidal saponins that can be converted into steroids, including progesterone, oestrogens, cortisone, prednisolone etc. In 1943, Professor Russell Marker discovered a method of obtaining an unsaturated steroidal saponine, diosogenin, from Mexican yam (Dioscorea mexicana), which can easily and cheaply be converted into steroids, such as prednisone and progesterone, reducing the price of steroid production to a fraction (0.5%) of its former cost. For 20 years drug companies showed little interest, and it was only as a result of Professor Marker forming his own company, and the concerted efforts of several gynaecologists, physiologists and birth-control advocates, that the contraceptive pill was ‘born’ in 1960. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
Dr Henry Oakeley
- Digital Images
- Online
Adonis vernalis L. Ranunculaceae. Pheasant's eye, the golden flowered spring (or vernal) Adonis, is named in memory of Adonis, the Greek god of plants, who disappeared into the earth in the winter and reappeared in the spring. The flowers were said to have sprung from his blood when he was gored to death by a wild boar, but this plant must have been the blood red Adonis aestivalis, the summer Adonis. Distribution: Eurasia to Spain and Sweden. Gerard (1633) recommends it for renal stone and intestinal colic. Lewis & Elvin Lewis (2003) note it is poisonous, containing cardiac glycosides (adonitoxin, cymarin, K-strophanthin) and flavonoids. The UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)) bans its use for ingestion 'no dose permitted' but allow it to be prescribed by a herbal practitioner on a one-to-one consultation. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
Dr Henry Oakeley
- Digital Images
- Online
Tiger Lily
- Digital Images
- Online
Brillantaisia ulugurica Lindau, Acanthaceae. Giant salvia. Tropical herbaceous plant. Distribution: Tropical Africa. Brillantaisia patula is used by the Yoruba in south Nigeria for small-pox medication, the roots being mixed with Bahia nitida and Marantolchloa leucantha, Piper guineense and snails. This is made into a soup and the snail piece eaten to protect against smallpox for a year (Neuwinger, 1994) which doubtless was effective after the global eradication of smallpox in 1979. Brillantaisia nitens is used in the Cameroons to treat cardiovascular disorders. Phytochemical screening of Brillantaisia species have shown antibacterial action, vascular smooth muscle relaxant properties. Kew reports their use as soap
Dr Henry Oakeley
- Digital Images
- Online
Avena Sativa (Oat)
Rowan McOnegal
- Digital Images
- Online
Westringia longifolia R.Br. Lamiaceae. Long leaf Westringia. Shrub. Distribution: Australia. Commemorates Dr Johan (John) Peter Westring (sometimes West Ring (1753-1833), also known as Johan Petter Westrin), physician to King Karl XIV of Sweden, and a keen lichenologist. He was born in Linköping, Sweden, where his father was a shoemaker. No information has been found for any medicinal use or toxicity, Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
Dr Henry Oakeley
- Digital Images
- Online
Hypericum perforatum (St John's wort)
Rowan McOnegal
- Digital Images
- Online
Fuchsia magellanica Lam. Onagraceae. Hardy fuchsia. Semi-hardy shrub. Distribution: Mountainous regions of Chile and Argentina where they are called 'Chilco' by the indigenous people, the Mapuche. The genus was discovered by Charles Plumier in Hispaniola in 1696/7, and named by him for Leonhart Fuchs (1501-1566), German Professor of Medicine, whose illustrated herbal, De Historia Stirpium (1542) attempted the identification of the plants in the Classical herbals. It also contained the first accounts of maize, Zea mays, and chilli peppers, Capsicum annuum, then recently introduced from Latin America. He was also the first person to publish an account and woodcuts of foxgloves, Digitalis purpurea and D. lutea. The book contains 500 descriptions and woodcuts of medicinal plants, arranged in alphabetical order, and relied heavily on the De Materia Medica (c. AD 70) of Dioscorides. He was a powerful influence on the herbals of Dodoens, and thence to Gerard, L’Escluse and Henry Lyte. A small quarto edition appeared in 1551, and a two volume facsimile of the 1542 edition with commentary and selected translations from the Latin was published by Stanford Press in 1999. The original woodcuts were passed from printer to printer and continued in use for 232 years (Schinz, 1774). Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
Dr Henry Oakeley
- Digital Images
- Online
Rhamnus frangula 'Asplenifolia'
Dr Henry Oakeley
- Digital Images
- Online
Cimicifuga Racemosa (Black cohosh)
Rowan McOnegal
- Digital Images
- Online
Origanum vulgare (Oregano or Marjorum)
Rowan McOnegal
- Digital Images
- Online
Alcea rosea 'Nigra'
Dr Henry Oakeley
- Digital Images
- Online
Artemisia annua (Sweet wormwood)
Sue Snell
- Digital Images
- Online
Humulus lupulus (Hop)
Rowan McOnegal
- Digital Images
- Online
Hepatica nobilis Mill. Ranunculaceae. Liverwort - not to be confused with the lichen of the same name. Distribution: North America. Liverwort (‘liver plant’): discontinued herbal medicine for disorders of the liver. The name and the use to which the Liverworts have been put medicinally is suggested, according to the doctrine of signatures, by the shape of the leaves which are three-lobed, like the liver. It is little used in modern herbalism but was employed in treating disorders of the liver and gall bladder, indigestion etc. It is highly toxic. Hepatica acutiloba was widely used for liver disorders in the 1880s, with up to 200,000 kilos of leaves being harvested per annum to make liver tonics - which eventually caused jaundice. Gerard (1633) calls it Hepaticum trifolium, Noble Liverwort, Golden Trefoile and herbe Trinity and writes: 'It is reported to be good against weakness of the liver which proceedeth from a hot cause, for it cooleth and strengtheneth it not a little. ' He adds ' Baptista Sardus[a Piedmontese physician fl. 1500] commendeth it and writeth that the chiefe vertue is in the root
Dr Henry Oakeley
- Digital Images
- Online
Magnolia stellata (Siebold & Zuch.) Maxim. Magnoliaceae. Star magnolia. Small flowering tree. Distribution: Japan. Named for the French botanist and physician, Pierre Magnol (1638-1715), Professor of Botany and Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Montpelier. Charles Plumier (1646-1704) named a tree on Martinique after him (Magnolia) and the name was continued by Linnaeus (1753). No medicinal use. This is a very ancient genus of flowering plants. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
Dr Henry Oakeley