MORNING GLORY

Rivea corymbosa, the revered ololiuqui of the Aztecs, was one of the most important hallucinogens of ancient Mexico at the time of the conquest. The seeds, which contain alkaloids closely related to LSD (Wasson, Hofmann & Ruck), were used to induce a ritually divinatory trance (Norbeck). Another New World hallucinogen is COHOBA, growing in the northern part of South America, particularly in the Orinoco basin. A snuff, known as yopy, or parica, is made from the powdered seeds, and is one of the most famous New World hallucinogens. The original inhabitants of Haiti made this narcotic snuff, which they took through a bifurcated tube (Youngken), and in fact it was much used in religious ceremonies over most of the area (Hostos). Lewin described the use among one of the Brazilian tribes: “… begin to take Parica snuff … they assemble in pairs, everyone with a (bamboo) tube containing Parica in his hand, and … everyone blows the contents of his tube with all his strength into the nostrils of his partner. The effects produced in these generally dull and silent people are extraordinary. They become very garrulous and sing, scream and jump about in wild excitement…” Banisteriopsis caapi is another South American narcotic, inseparably submerged in the total culture of the people who take it. Ayahuasca, a Quechua word meaning ‘vine of the dead’, or; ‘vine of the souls’, is its Peruvian name. Partakers often experience a kind of “death”, and the separation of body and soul. Those who “die” are reborn in a state of greater wisdom. It serves, too, for prophecy, divination, etc., But it may be taken at funeral ceremonies, and., in other contexts, by a shaman (or ayahuasquero) to diagnose an illness or divine its cure, especially for those who believe themseleves bewitched, or to establish the identity of an enemy (Reichel-Dolmatoff), when evil magic would be “returned to its perpetrator” (Dobkin de Rios. 1970). The effects may be violent and with unpleasant after-effects, especially when the bark is boiled, and certainly when other toxic plants are mixed in. Nausea and vomiting are almost always early characteristics; this is followed by pleasant euphoria and visual hallucinations, but few have ever admitted that they find it a pleasant experience, for they drink it to learn about things, persons or events which could affect the society as a whole, or its individuals (Kensinger).

Hamamelis virginica > WITCH HAZEL

PALSYWORT

An old name for COWSLIP, which shows that it must have been used for that complaint. It must have been the trembling or nodding of the flowers that suggested it (Grigson. 1955). The Regimen Sanitatus Salernitanum had commended the cowslip as a cure
for palsy or paralysis (hence another old name, Herb Paralysy). Gerard repeated the prescription – “cowslips are commended against the pain of the joints called the gout, and slacknesse of the sinues, which is the palsie”.

PALM (PALM SUNDAY)

In Lincolnshire, HAZEL was often used as “palm” on Palm Sunday, and kept green the year round by putting it in water. In the south of the county, these “palms” were preserved for the express purpose of protection from thunder and lightning (Gutch & Peacock). YEW acted as “palm” in many parts of Britain, and was actually called Palm in a number of areas. In 1709 a “palm-tree” was planted in the churchyard of St Dunstan’s, Canterbury, and the accounts of Woodbury, in Devonshire, for 1775 refer to “ a yew or palm tree planted ye south side of the Church” (Tyack). But it was the Goat Willow (Salix capraea) whose catkins were most often used as ‘palm’, and was the English embodiment of the tradition. In medieval times, a wooden figure representing Christ riding on an ass was sometimes drawn in procession, and the people scattered their branches in front of the figure as it passed (Ditchfield. 1891). Flora Thompson tells how sprays of sallow catkins were worn in buttonholes for church-going in her day, and how they were brought indoors to decorate the house. They should not be brought in before Palm Sunday, though – at least, that was the belief in Hampshire, for that would be most unlucky (Boase). At Whitby, palm crosses were made, and studded with the blossoms at the ends, and then hung from the ceiling (Gutch). Similarly in County Durham, where the branches were tied together so as to form a St Andrew’s cross, with a tuft of catkins at each point (Brockie). These Durham crosses were kept for the whole of the coming year (M Baker. 1980).

JACKFRUIT

Artocarpus heterophyllus
A near relative of Breadfruit, but the fruits are much larger, and, astonishingly, may weigh as much as 26 pounds or more (Tosco). The tree is now grown in all tropical countries, but it is economically important only
in tropical Asia. The enormous size of these fruits convinced the Negritos of Malaysia that this was the original, or archetypal, fruit, from which all others are descended (Endicott). Southern Indian symbolism equates the Jackfruit tree with the life-span of the family and its ancestral house, so it is a sacred tree there (Rival). One will be planted at the south-west corner of a house, to be associated, not with the ghost of an original family member, but with all the ancestors of the house and the past and present family group that it shelters. The tree therefore is a “metaphor” for the “longevity of the house-family group” (Uchimayada). But it is feared in Jamaica, where no driver will agree to carry them – “they think it attracts duppies, and will cause an accident” (Newall. 1981).

KAPOK

(from a Malay word, kapoq) is the very light fibre that covers the seeds of silkcotton trees, used for stuffing pillows, lifebelts, etc., The Red Silkcotton Tree (Bombax ceiba) is grown in the West Indies (though it is not indigenous to the area), and they say there that it is the haunt of ghosts and other spirits, hence the names Jumbie Tree or Devil’s Tree. Doubtless it is the kapok itself that suggests it. Anyone trying to cut one down could expect harm (Bell), unless he had propitiated the duppy first with rum and rice put round the root. But the usual tree producing kapok is Ceiba pentandra, from West Africa, Malaysia, etc., The floss is harvested chiefly from cultivated trees in Java, Sri Lanka and the Philippines (Everett). This is a sacred tree in Yoruba belief (J O Lucas), and in Maya cosmology, a sacred silkcotton tree (another name for the Kapok Tree) stood at each of the four cardinal points, fertilising and feeding life in the four directions. Each tree had its colour (red – east; white – north; black – west; yellow – south), and in each tree a bird nested. There was also a central tree, green in colour to represent the fountain of all life (I Nicholson). In Ghana, it is often used in sorcery, and sorcerers themselves are believed to have the power to change themselves into a silkcotton tree, which is a place of assembly for witches. Any big forest tree like this is also said to be a place where tutelary spirits reveal themselves (Debrunner).

PAIGLE

A common alternative name for COWSLIP. Hazlott recorded “as blake as a paigle” in his collection of proverbs (blake is yellow). Chambers’s dictionary is honest about this word –“derivation unknown” is fair, but there have been a number of attempts at explaining it. A verb ‘to paggle”, unknown to Halliwell, is sometimes quoted. It apparently meant ‘to bulge’, or ‘swell’, according to one informant. Grigson. 1955 saw a different meaning – to paggle, he said, when applying it to a cow’s neck, meant to hang and shake, and he saw the analogy with the loosely hanging flowers. Yet another attempt at the derivation saw the original as French ‘paillette’, a spangle. Whatever it was, the word itself went through a number of changes, from Peagle, to Piggle, Peggle (Hazlitt; Macmillan) and Paggle (Tusser), even Beagle (Tynan & Maitland).The ultimate variant must be Pea Gull (J Smith. 1882).

JAPANESE MINT

Mentha arvensis “Piperascens”
In the 18th and early 19th centuries, the dried powdered leaves of this mint were specially imported, to be carried in small silver boxes fastened to the belts of gentlemen, who would inhale a pinch whenever they felt like it (Genders. 1972).

KAPOORIE TEA

A Russian beverage, made by adulterating ordinary tea with the leaves of Rosebay Willowherb (Chamaenerion angustifolium) (Leyel. 1937). The spelling varies somewhat, as Kapa, or Kappair, etc., (Usher).

JAPANESE GENTIAN

Gentiana scabra
A plant that is much used in Chinese medicine. The root is prescribed for fevers and rheumatism, and is of benefit to the liver. It is also given as an analgesic, and to treat eye disorders (R Hyatt), even to strengthen the memory (F P Smith).

INDIAN PHYSIC

Gillenia trifoliata
This was the principal ingredient of “cure-all” nostrums sold by travelling medicine salesmen in America. So much of it was sold that the plant got the name Dime-a-bottle Plant (Mitton).

JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT

Arisaema triphyllum
The spadix is the ‘Jack’, and the spathe is the ‘pulpit’ (Parson-in-the-pulpit is another name for it). Keep a piece in the pocket as a preventive against rheumatism (H M Hyatt). African-Americans in the southern states of the USA look on it as a protective plant. They would take the leaves and rub them on the hands, and that would blind an enemy. But they use it to make charms to bring security and peace, and to protect them from enemies (Puckett). The leaves are luck-bringers, if you carry them on the person. For centuries it was regarded as an aphrodisiac (Whittle & Cook) (the spadix in the spathe is expressive enough). But this is a poison, inasmuch as the rhizomes are extremely acrid. They are certainly edible after boiling, for that reduces the poison, though the acrid principle is never entirely eliminated.

It has been used as a medicine by both native American Indians and Caucasian immigrants, and also by African Americans, who take the root tea for kidney and liver problems (Fontenot). The Hopi used the powdered dried root (a teaspoonful in half a glass of cold water) as a contraceptive, lasting a week. Two teaspoons of a hot infusion would bring permanent sterility, so they said (Weiner). Another use of the root, pounded, is for a poultice to put on sore eyes. Small doses of the partially dried rhizome are used to treat chronic bronchitis, asthma and rheumatism, the latter also treated by the Pawnees with the powdered rhizome (Corlett).

BLACK NIGHTSHADE

(Solanum nigrum) In some parts of Europe, the leaves used to be put in babies’ cradles, the idea being that they would soothe them to sleep (Grieve. 1931). There may be some justification for this, for the generic name, Solanum, comes from a word meaning ‘to soothe’ (Young). Some South American Indian peoples use this plant for insomnia, by steeping a small quantity of the leaves in a large amount of water (Weiner).

The main folk medicinal use is for skin complaints, an ancient practice. “Dioscorides writeth, that Nightshade is good against S Anthonies fire, the shingles, …” Gerard wrote, while still warning his readers of the dangers of using such a toxic plant. We find this use against erysipelas, for that is what St Anthony’s fire is, in America, too. In Mexico, for instance, the Totonac grind the whole plant, add salt and lime juice to it, and apply it as a plaster (Kelly & Palerm). In South Africa, too, a paste made of the unripe berries is in general use as an application to ringworm (Watt & Breyer-Brandwijk). Sunburn is treated in Indiana by crushing the leaves and stirring them in a cup of cream. When ready, put the cream on the sunburned area (Tyler).

INDIAN SHOT

Canna indica
The seeds, round and bullet-like (that is why the plant is called Indian Shot), have been used as coffee substitutes, and to make rosaries (Coats. 1975). According to Burmese legend the canna sprang from sacred blood. Dewadat tried to kill the Buddha
by pushing a great boulder on him as he passed by below. The boulder fell at the Buddha’s feet, bursting into a thousand fragments. A single fragment striking the Buddha’s toe, drew blood, from which the canna arose (Skinner). On the other hand, it is said in Ghana that a witch keeps the soul and blood of the people she has killed in a pot. It is not real blood, but the seed of Canna indica, one for each person killed (Debrunner). The analogy is with the red flower, red = blood.

INDELIBLE INK

SLOE juice is indelible, as careless handling during the making of sloe gin will prove. Juice squeezed out of unripe sloes was sold at one time under the name of German Acacia, and used to mark linen – an ideal laundry marking, in fact. American Indian
groups used POISON IVY to make an indelible ink (Sanford).

INCENSE

CINNAMON has been used as incense – a little burned on charcoal, it is claimed, is good for “aiding meditation and clairvoyance” (Valiente). Egyptians used FENUGREEK seeds to make an incense oil (Sanecki), and powdered dried PATCHOULI leaves are sometimes introduced into incense (Schery). It is said that the Chinese used the sawdust of SANDALWOOD to make incense, mixed with swine’s dung(!) (Moldenke & Moldenke). CARDAMOM seeds are sometimes burned to produce an incenselike atmosphere (Valiente).

ZEDOARY

Curcuma zedoaria
As with Turmeric, its close relative, it yields a yellow dye. Popular at one stage
as a spice, it is now only used by Indonesians in curry powder (Clair), and in perfumery (Genders. 1972). Zedoary is actually mentioned in Anglo-Saxon medicine, but being a rather unusual substance, is recommended for magical medicine, as an ingredient in the “holy drink” against “elfin enchantment” (Bonser). As late as the mid-17th century, it was still marvel enough to be recommended against the plague. Lupton has “The root of Zedoary (but be sure it be perfect and good) mixed with aisins, and a little liquorice, champed with the teeth and swallowed, preserves them that do so unhurt, or without danger of the plague, if they go to any that are infected with the plague, or that are constrained to speak with them that have the plague”. Pomet, a century or so later, was still quite enthusiastic about it, describing it as “esteem’d a good Cordial, and of great Efficacy
against all Venom and Contagion”, but in real terms, its reputation was going down by the end of the 17th century, until its use is confined to its own habitat.

Zephyranthes atamasco > ATAMASCO LILY

Zingiber officinale > GINGER

IMPOTENCE

The testicle-suggesting tubers of EARLY PURPLE ORCHID would ensure that Salep, a preparation made from them, enjoyed a reputation for curing impotence. Salep, which has medicinal value, was extremely popular, particularly in eastern countries, for the
purpose. It was treated as an aphrodisiac. ANISE was used as a Greek cure for the condition; ointments were made of the root of narcissus mixed with the seeds of anise or nettles (Simons). The early Persian and Arabian doctors prescribed GINGER for impotence (Dalby), ‘hot’ making the reason fairly obvious, and SESAME seed, blended with crow’s gall, made an embrocation for impotence (Lehner & Lehner).

PALSYWORT

An old name for COWSLIP, which shows that it must have been used for that complaint. It must have been the trembling or nodding of the flowers that suggested it (Grigson. 1955). The Regimen Sanitatus Salernitanum had commended the cowslip as a cure for palsy or paralysis (hence another old name, Herb Paralysy). Gerard repeated the prescription – “cowslips are commended against the pain of the joints called the gout, and slacknesse of the sinues, which is the palsie”.

PAIGLE

A common alternative name for COWSLIP. Hazlott recorded “as blake as a paigle” in his collection of proverbs (blake is yellow). Chambers’s dictionary is honest about this word –“derivation unknown” is fair, but there have been a number of attempts at explaining it. A verb ‘to paggle”, unknown to Halliwell, is sometimes quoted. It apparently meant ‘to bulge’, or ‘swell’, according to one informant. Grigson. 1955 saw a different meaning – to paggle, he said, when applying it to a cow’s neck, meant to hang and shake, and he saw the analogy with the loosely hanging flowers. Yet another attempt at the derivation saw the original as French ‘paillette’, a spangle. Whatever it was, the word itself went through a number of changes, from Peagle, to Piggle, Peggle (Hazlitt; Macmillan) and Paggle (Tusser), even Beagle (Tynan & Maitland).The ultimate variant must be Pea Gull (J Smith. 1882).

PARSLEY PIERT / Aphanes arvensis

Parsley (Piert) refers to the form of the leaves, not any relationship to parsley. The common name is from French perce-pierre, meaning breakstone (Prior) and it is actually called Parsley Breakstone (Grigson. 1955) (cf SAXIFRAGE). By sympathy, it was much used against stone in the bladder. Gypsies use an infusion of the dried herb for gravel and other bladder troubles (Vesey-Fitzgerald). It was well-known as a powerful diuretic in Camden’s time, and it was in great demand during World War 11, being used for bladder and kidney troubles, and it is also valuable for jaundice (Brownlow). A decoction with sanicle was used for stomach complaints, but it was especially recommended, powdered and with a little cochineal, for bowel complaints, especially bowel-hive, an inflammation of the bowel, occurring in children. It was even called Bowel-hive, or Bowelhive Grass (Britten & Holland), once. Colicwort is another relevant name, from Herefordshire (Grigson. 1955).

MAIZE / Zea mays

The name Corn is used more frequently than Maize in America (A W Smith), often varied to Indian Corn, or even to Indian Wheat (Britten & Holland) in England. It has also been dubbed Welsh Corn, Asiatic Corn or Turkish Corn (Turner, in 1548, also called it Turkish Millet). “Asiatic”, and “Turkish”, because the early herbalists of the 16th century believed the plant had been brought by the Turks from Asia. The Turks invaded Europe about this time, and brought many new plants into the west. Anything unusual was labelled “Turkish”, or perhaps it was confused with buckwheat, which was at one time specified as turcicum for some reason (Bianchini & Corbetta). “Welsh”, of course, must simply mean “foreign” (OE walch, or something like it).

NEVER-DIE

Kalanchoe crenata - A West African species, much used in medicine in the region. In Ghana, for example, the leaves are boiled or macerated in water, to be used as a sedative for asthma (Dalziel). It also formed part of a Yoruba headache remedy in the Ewé ritual (Verger), and the leaves, either on their own or combined with other ingredients formed a medicine to treat not only headache but also more serious illnesses, including smallpox. They are also viewed there as a poison antidote.

HALLUCINOGENS

Some uses of SWEET FLAG stem directly from the fact that the oil expressed from the roots can produce an LSD-like experience. The Cree Indians, for instance, have long used it as a hallucinogen (Emboden 1979). In Europe it seems to have been connected with witchcraft (one formula for a witch ointment was “De la Bule, de l’Acorum vulgaire,, de la Morelle endormante, et de l’Huyle”

MAIDENS’ GARLANDS

It was the custom in parts of England for a young girl to carry a wreath of white roses before the coffin of a virgin. The wreath would be hung in church after the funeral, above the seat that she had used during her life, till the blooms faded. But if the wreath was made with artificial flowers, when it is known as a “maiden’s garland”, it could be kept in church for a long time. The church at Abbot’s Ann, in Hampshire, has its walls hung with these “maidens’ garlands” of paper or linen roses; the earliest of them dates from 1716 (Mayhew).

MAIDENHAIR FERN / Adiantum capillus-veneris

Adiantum is from a Greek word meaning unmoistened, because the fern has the property of repelling moisture, a peculiarity that was attributed to the hair of Venus (capillusveneris), who when she rose from the sea came out with dry hair. So, ever since these legends arose, it has been used in hair lotions, and particularly in lotions to prevent the hair going out of curl on damp days. The doctrine of signatures ensured that it should be used for alopecia; it is the ashes of the fern, mixed with olive oil and vinegar, that are used (Leyel. 1937). It was used too for lung complaints, like coughs and breathing difficulties, and it was also recommended for jaundice and swollen joints (Addison. 1985). In Brazilian belief, maidenhair fern will wilt if looked at by by the victim of the evil eye (P V A Williams).

MAHUA / Bassia latifolia

An Indian tree, known also as Butter Tree (Coon). When the flowers fall to the ground in April and May, they are eaten by the indigenous people. In anticipation, they may burn the ground under the trees, to make it easier to pick them up. Some they eat fresh, others they dry, boil and ferment, and, so it seems, now distil in a simple still consisting of two pots and a bamboo tube. The Gonds, or Konds, also distil a very strong liquor, “something resembling Irish whisky” (Chopra, Badhwar & Ghosh) from the flowers, a drink important enough to figure in their mythology (Fürer-Haimendorff). But the tree has an importance for them unrelated to the drink, for this is the Kor tree, by the side of which funerary rites are performed. It is the tree of the dead, and as such the rites there are the final ones in mortuary ceremonies (Fürer-Haimendorff). The Gonds hung the dead bodies of their relatives on a branch of this tree before burying them (Upadhyaya).

INDIAN SHOT / Canna indica

The seeds, round and bullet-like (that is why the plant is called Indian Shot), have been used as coffee substitutes, and to make rosaries (Coats. 1975). According to Burmese legend the canna sprang from sacred blood. Dewadat tried to kill the Buddha by pushing a great boulder on him as he passed by below. The boulder fell at the Buddha’s feet, bursting into a thousand fragments. A single fragment striking the Buddha’s toe, drew blood, from which the canna arose (Skinner). On the other hand, it is said in Ghana that a witch keeps the soul and blood of the people she has killed in a pot. It is not real blood, but the seed of Canna indica, one for each person killed (Debrunner). The analogy is with the red flower, red = blood.

INDIAN PHYSIC / Gillenia trifoliata

This was the principal ingredient of “cure-all” nostrums sold by travelling medicine salesmen in America. So much of it was sold that the plant got the name Dime-a-bottle Plant (Mitton).

INDELIBLE INK

SLOE juice is indelible, as careless handling during the making of sloe gin will prove. Juice squeezed out of unripe sloes was sold at one time under the name of German Acacia, and used to mark linen – an ideal laundry marking, in fact. American Indian groups used POISON IVY to make an indelible ink (Sanford).

INCENSE

CINNAMON has been used as incense – a little burned on charcoal, it is claimed, is good for “aiding meditation and clairvoyance” (Valiente). Egyptians used FENUGREEK seeds to make an incense oil (Sanecki), and powdered dried PATCHOULI leaves are sometimes introduced into incense (Schery). It is said that the Chinese used the sawdust of SANDALWOOD to make incense, mixed with swine’s dung(!) (Moldenke & Moldenke). CARDAMOM seeds are sometimes burned to produce an incenselike atmosphere (Valiente).

HASHISH

HASHISH is an Arabic word, meaning hay or dried herb (Grigson. 1974), but it is a term with many meanings, though it seemed to be applied by Burton to a form of CANNABIS (HEMP) taken or used voluntarily. “Tis composed of hemp leaflets whereunto are added aromatic roots and somewhat of sugar; then they cook it and prepare a kind of confection which they eat, but whoso eateth it, (especially if he eat more than enough), talketh of matters which reason may in no wise represent” (quoted by Lloyd). It is the resin obtained from the glandular leaves and floral parts of the female plant. The name appears, too, in the name of a Persian form Hashishin Rus (some would say it actually derived from that name). Al-Hasan ibn-al-Sabah (the “old man of the mountains”), a 12th century charismatic dissenter from orthodox Moslem thought, founded a new sect called Hashishin, a name that also produced the word assassin (Emboden. 1969). In Egypt and the Middle East, hashish is smoked in special pipes called josies (De Ropp). See also HEMP.

HAND OF GLORY

HAND OF GLORY is a magical torch made from a dead man’s hand, usually cut from a criminal on the gibbet, to cast people into deep sleep, a charm much used by thieves. It is mentioned in this context because VERVAIN played a part in its preparation, for one set of instructions (Radford & Radford) required the hand to be wrapped in a piece of winding sheet, drawing it tight so as to squeeze out the little blood that might remain. Then it had to be placed in an earthenware vessel with saltpetre, salt and pepper, all well dried and carefully powdered. It should remain a fortnight in the pickle, and then it had to be exposed to the sun in the dog days, till completely parched, or it could be dried in an oven heated with VERVAIN and fern.

HALITOSIS

Chew ORRIS-ROOT to neutralize the smell of liquor, garlic or tobacco on the breath (Moldenke & Moldenke).

HAEMORRHAGES

GREAT BURNET (Sanguisorba officinalis), besides being a wound herb in the usual sense, is able to deal with internal bleeding. As Gerard said, “Burnet is a singular good herb for wounds … it stauncheth bleeding, and therefore it was named Sanguisorba [Latin sanguis, blood], as well inwardly taken as outwardly applied …”. But SHEPHERD’S PURSE is “the great specific for haemorrhages of all kinds”, in Mrs Leyel’s words (Leyel. 1937). A 17th century physician, Symcott by name, was treating a pregnant woman for blood loss. Then “a baggar woman told me that she would recover if she took shepherd’s purse in her broth”. She was cured (Beier). It is still being recommended for similar conditions, and even if we did not know that, old names like Stanche and Sanguinary would quickly point out the use.

GALL WASPS

responsible for the growths, known as galls, on DOG ROSES. These enjoyed a great reputation at one time. Often known as Briar-balls, they had a number of more picturesque names, such as Robin Redbreasts’s Cushions (Latham), or Robin’s Pillows, or Robin’s Pincushions (Page), as well as Canker-balls (Elworthy. 1888). They used to be sold by apothecaries to be powdered and taken to cure the stone, as a diuretic, and also for colic. Boiled up with black sugar, the result would be drunk for whooping cough. That is a gypsy remedy, but country people generally used to hang them round their necks as amulets against whooping cough (Grigson. 1955) (even merely hanging them about the house (Rolleston) for rheumatism (Bloom), or piles (Savage) ). Putting one under the pillow was a Norfolk way of curing cramp (Taylor). In Hereford and Worcester the gall was carried round in the pocket to prevent toothache (Leather), and Yorkshire schoolboys wore them as a charm against flogging (Gutch); that is why they were known as Savelick, or Save-whallop (Robinson), in that area. Gerard mentioned the galls, his reference being Pliny, and reckoned that, stamped with honey and ashes, it “causeth haires to grow which are fallen through the disease called Alopecia, or the Foxes Evill”.

HANGOVER

A sailor’s cure for a hangover, from South Uist, was to pull a bunch of THRIFT, roots and all, and boil it for an hour or more. It had to be left to cool, then it was drunk slowly (Shaw). Sufferers in Norfolk would cure a hangover by the simple expedient of chewing CELERY. (V G Hatfield. 1994). RED POPPY, too, was a hangover treatment in Norfolk, (V G Hatfield. 1994), an interesting choice, for the underlying folklore has it that these plants will actually cause a headache. As John Clare said: Corn poppys that in crimson dwell

Call’d ‘head achs’ from their sickly smell.

HAND OF GLORY

is a magical torch made from a dead man’s hand, usually cut from a criminal on the gibbet, to cast people into deep sleep, a charm much used by thieves. It is mentioned in this context because VERVAIN played a part in its preparation, for one set of instructions (Radford & Radford) required the hand to be wrapped in a piece of winding sheet, drawing it tight so as to squeeze out the little blood that might remain. Then it had to be placed in an earthenware vessel with saltpetre, salt and pepper, all well dried and carefully powdered. It should remain a fortnight in the pickle, and then it had to be exposed to the sun in the dog days, till completely parched, or it could be dried in an oven heated with VERVAIN and fern.

GANGRENE

As Culpeper pointed out, “the meal of DARNEL is very good to stay Gangrenes”, a usage that was still in vogue in the 20th century in the Balkans, where some darnel is still pushed into wounds (Kemp). One of the names given to MARSH MALLOW was Mortification-root, for the powdered roots make a poultice that would remove obstinate inflammation and prevent “mortification”, gangrene in more recent terms, in external or internal injury (AW Hatfield).

HAEMORRHAGES

GREAT BURNET (Sanguisorba officinalis), besides being a wound herb in the usual sense, is able to deal with internal bleeding. As Gerard said, “Burnet is a singular good herb for wounds … it stauncheth bleeding, and therefore it was named Sanguisorba [Latin sanguis, blood], as well inwardly taken as outwardly applied …”. But SHEPHERD’S PURSE
is “the great specific for haemorrhages of all kinds”, in Mrs Leyel’s words (Leyel. 1937). A 17th century physician, Symcott by name, was treating a pregnant woman for blood loss. Then “a baggar woman told me that she would recover if she took shepherd’s
purse in her broth”. She was cured (Beier). It is still being recommended for similar conditions, and even if we did not know that, old names like Stanche and Sanguinary would quickly point out the use.

GINGER

Zingiber officinale “… great Quantities of it are us’d by the Hawkers and Chandlers in the Country, who mix it with pepper; they reduce it to Powder, and then call it white Spice” (Pomet). Apart from its use as a spice and as a base for alcoholic liquors of one kind or another, ginger has for a very long time enjoyed a reputation for medicinal use, from the prescription of Arabian and Persian doctors for impotence (Dalby), to its still popular reputation as a stomach settler, and this use dates from the earliest records (Lloyd). Ginger tea, even ginger biscuits, help to combat travel sickness, or morning sickness and nausea generally (M Evans). Parihar & Dutt point out that ginger jam is still a favourite for colds and coughs, and it is even
used to treat diabetes. In this case, it is ginger juice that is used, mixed with sugar candy.

It was used for asthma in Russian folk medicine (Kourennoff). The recipe given is a pound of ginger grated, put in a quart bottle, which was filled with alcohol. This was kept warm for two weeks, shaken occasionally, until the infusion was the colour of weak tea. This was strained, and the sediment allowed to settle. Then the liquid was poured into another bottle, and the infusion taken twice a day.

Ginger is known as djae, and used in Java as a salve for rheumatism and headaches (Geertz). Similarly in New Guinea, where the usage is more magical: boys at nitiation are rubbed all over with ginger, “to give warmth to the body” (La Fontaine). Magic lies, too, behind the Malagasy prohibition on pregnant women eating it. The reason lies in the shape of the root, which is sometimes flat with excrescences like deformed fingers and toes. Nor must she keep the root tied into a corner of her costume, where odds and ends, coins, etc., are usually kept. If she fails to keep these taboos, the foetus will become deformed, with too many fingers or toes; its legs will not grow straight, the deformation making delivery difficult as well (Ruud). Some peoples of the Malay Peninsula have their children wear a piece of ginger tied to a string round their neck to keep harmful spirits away. It is the pungent smell that achieves this (Classen, Howes & Synnott).

GARDEN RADISH / Raphanus sativus

There were odd beliefs about the efficacy of radishes. For example, “if the vintener cutteth a Radish into slices, and bestoweth those pieces into a vessel of corrupt Wine, doth in a short time draw all the evil savour and lothsomeness (if any consisteth in the Wine) and to these the tartness of it like reviveth” (T Hill). Lupton claimed that “if you would kill snakes and adders, strike them with a large Radish, and to handle adders and snakes without harm, wash your hands in the juice of Radishes and you may do so without harm”. It would be interesting to know if anyone actually tried this.

There is an annual radish feast at Levens Hall, about half way between Kendal and Milnthorpe, in Cumbria, held on 12 May (Ellacombe), which is the day on which Milnthorpe used to hold its fair (granted in 1280). Part of the feast seems to have been some kind of initiation ceremony, but the mayor and corporation of Kendal and most of the gentry attended the feast, of radishes and oatbread and butter (Vickery. 1995). Another traditional radish feast was held at the Bull Inn, New Street, in St Ebbe’s, Oxford, after the annual meeting for the election of churchwardens (Bloxham).

FAIR MAIDS OF FEBRUARY

that is, SNOWDROPS, and a reference to the festival of Candlemas (2 February), when it was the custom for the Fair Maids, dressed in white, to walk in the procession at the festival (Prior). A stage from this would mean that the plant was sacred to virgins in general, and at one time the receipt of snowdrops from a lady meant to a man that his attentions were not wanted (Prior).

HALITOSIS

Chew ORRIS-ROOT to neutralize the smell of liquor, garlic or tobacco on the breath (Moldenke & Moldenke).

WITCH HAZEL

Hamamelis virginica
The twigs were used in America as divining rods, as those of hazel still are in England. As water divining was once looked on as the result of occult power, the name Witch Hazel was given (Weiner). This is a useful tree in medicine, the leaves and bark being used in pharmacy as Pond’s Extract, a lotion to be applied for skin inflammation,
bruises (Sanecki), or for scalds and burns (Browning). This preparation, properly diluted, can be used as an eye lotion, too (Leyel. 1937).

FAIRY FLAX / Linum catharticum

The fairies use it for their clothes, and its small bells make music that cannot be heard by human ears (Spence. 1949). But this is a medicinal herb, as its specific name implies, and a name in English, Purging Flax, confirms it. It is certainly an effective purge, but like many another herb, thoroughly dangerous to use. But, particularly in the Highlands, it was used regularly for gynaecological and menstrual problems (Beith). Even putting it under the soles of the feet, so it was believed until quite recently in the Hebrides, was an aid to easy childbirth. James Robertson, who toured the Western Highlands and Islands in 1768, noted: “The women are frequently troubled with a suppression of the menses, to remedy which they use an infusion of Thalictrum minus [Small Meadow Rue] and Linum catharticum (quoted by Beith). We are told, too that “country people boil it in ale, and cure themselves of rheumatic paine” (Hill. 1756), while in Ireland the herb, boiled in beer, was used for jaundice (Moloney).

FAIRY FOXGLOVE / Erinus alpinus

A plant from central and southern Europe, occasionally naturalized in Britain. In the north of England, where it is naturalized, the local tradition is that it only grows where Roman soldiers have trodden (Vickery. 1995). One of its names there is Roman Wall Plant (Mabey. 1998), and it certainly grows in the village of Wall (near Hadrian’s Wall).

HALLUCINOGENS

Some uses of SWEET FLAG stem directly from the fact that the oil expressed from the roots can produce an LSD-like experience. The Cree Indians, for instance, have long used it as a hallucinogen (Emboden 1979). In Europe it seems to have been connected with witchcraft (one formula for a witch ointment was “De la Bule, de l’Acorum vulgaire,, de la Morelle endormante, et de l’Huyle” (Summers. 1927)

BAMBOO

A very important motif in Chinese art, being the symbol of longevity in both Chinese and Japanese systems, and the most frequently portrayed plant form on Chinese porcelain. The bamboo, prunus, and pine together are the emblems of Buddha, Confucius and Lao Tzu, the Three Friends (Savage. 1964). In some parts of Japan, there is a superstition that bamboo will bring death within three years of its planting (Bownas), which is odd, because Japanese mythology has it as generally a lucky symbol, representing tenacity and courage (J Piggott), and, as mentioned, long life, as is the pine. They usually combine the two to decorate gateposts at New Year (Seki)

BARLEY / Hordeum sativum

An Irish charm for warts was to get ten knots of barley straw (though it was more usual to use ten slices of potato), count out nine and throw away the tenth. Rub the wart with the nine, then roll them up in a piece of paper, and throw them before a funeral. Then the wart would gradually

disappear (Haddon). Large amounts of boiled barley juice were recommended in Scotland to be drunk for kidney disease, and Jewish folklore has a recipe for retention of urine, i. e. water in which barley, eggshells and parsley had been boiled (Rappoport). In seventeenth century Skye a mixture of barley meal and white of egg was applied as a first aid measure for broken bones. After that splints were used (Beith). Martin gave an example of a cure used in Harris for

drawing “worms” out of the flesh. It involved applying a “Plaister of warm Barley-dough to the place affected”. Eventually the swelling went down, and it drew out “a little Worm, about half an inch in length, and about the bigness of a Goose-quill, having a pointed head, and many little feet on each side”. They called this creature, whatever it was, a Fillan. Barley is required for many Hindu religious ceremonies, and is particularly associated with the god Indra. It is important at ceremonies attending the birth of a child, at weddings, funerals, and some sacrifices (Pandey).

BALSAM FIR / Abies balsamea

A fir from the eastern side of North America. Oil of fir is distilled from the bark and needles, the latter aromatic, and often made up into balsam pillows (Schery). Blisters on the bark are the

source of Canada Balsam, used in American domestic medicine as an application to sore nipples (Weiner). Native Americans, such as the Menomini, would press the liquid balsam from the trunk and use it for colds and lung troubles (H H Smith. 1923). Another use by the same people was to steep the inner bark, and drink the subsequent tea for chest pains. The Ojibwe used it for sore eyes (H H Smith. 1945) and for gonorrhea (Weiner).

APPLE-RINGIE

A Scottish name for SOUTHERNWOOD. Simpson’s explanation is that apple is from the old word aplen, a church, and ringie is Saint Rin’s, or St Ninian’s, wood (Ringan was the Scots form of Ninian). Aitken offers another derivation. Appelez Ringan, pray to Ringan, became first Appleringan, then Appleringie. But Jamieson says that it is from the French ‘apile’, strong, and ‘auronne’, southernwood, which derives from abrotanum.

ANISE / ANISEED

(Pimpinella anisum) It is not a popular flavouring in Britain, though apparently it was cooked as a potherb in England in the mid-16th century (Lloyd). Anisette is one of the cordial liqueurs made by mixing the oil from the seeds with spirits of wine, added to cold water on a hot day for a refreshing drink (Grieve. 1933). But it is also used in ouzo, raki, Pernod, etc., (Brouk), and, in South America, aguardiente (Swahn). Another use for the oil has been to cover up the bad taste of medicines (Swahn), but it is also said to be a good mice bait, if smeared in traps. It is poisonous to pigeons, and will destroy lice.

This is one of the herbs supposed to avert the evil eye (Grieve. 1931), and it was used in a Greek cure for impotence; ointments were made of the root of narcissus mixed with the seeds of nettle or anise (Simons). Gerard claimed, among other things, that “it helpeth the yeoxing or hicket, [hiccup, that is] both when it is drunken or eaten dry; the smell thereof doth also prevaile very much”. It is best known as an indigestion remedy. The Romans offered an anise-flavoured cake

at the end of rich meals to ease indigestion.

ALEXANDERS

(Smyrnium olusatrum) A Mediterranean plant, naturalised now in Britain, chiefly near the sea, probably as a relic of old cultivation as a potherb (Grigson). There have been a number of medicinal uses in past times, notably for dropsy, for which Dioscorides recommended it. A 15th century leechdom also prescribed it, and other herbs, “for all manner of dropsies: take sage and betony, crop and root, even portions, and seed of alexanders, and seed of sow thistle, and make them into a powder, of each equally
much; and powder half an ounce of spikenard of Spain, put it thereto, and then put all these together in a cake of white dough and put it in a stewpan full of good ale, and stop it well; and give it the sick to drink all day …” (W M Dawson). Alexanders also used to be prescribed for bladder problems.

AFRICAN BLACKWOOD

(Dalbergia melanoxylon) Among some of the peoples of the Sudan, the causes of illness are divined through burning the young growths of this tree. The wood will burn “bright and sharp”, so giving information about the activities of witches, which can then be interpreted by diviners (Rival). More empiricially, decoctions of the roots are given throughout East Africa in the treatment of sickness ascribed to the effect of an evil
spirit, and the bark is one of the ingredients of the steam bath used for the same purpose (Koritschoner).

DANDRUFF

PARSLEY makes a good lotion for getting rid of dandruff, and helps to stave off baldness (A W

Hatfield). The Wiltshire remedy was to massage the scalp with a NETTLE infusion each day (Wiltshire) (see also Baldness). An American domestic remedy for the condition is to use a lotion made of one part APPLE juice to three parts of water (H M Hyatt). Evelyn favoured a MYRTLE decoction for dandruff, and also for dyeing the hair black. Not only that, but “it keepeth them from shedding”. Gerard reported thet the “juyce of the decoction” (of FENUGREEK) “pressed forth doth clense the haire, taketh away dandruffe …”, and the “meale”, presumably the paste or porridge made from the seeds, he reports as being “good to wash the head …, for it taketh away the scarfe, scales, nits, and all other imperfections”. An American cure for dandruff and falling hair is to make a strong tea from PEACH leaves (H M Hyatt). Native Americans, especially the Pueblo groups, used SOAPWEED (Yucca glauca) not only as a soap substitute, but as a ritual hair shampoo in initiation ceremonies, but the Kiowa claimed it was an effective cure for dandruff and baldness (Vestal & Schultes).

ABSCESS

GROUNDSEL, MALLOW or MARSH MALLOW poultices were quite common for boils and abscesses (Hampshire FWI, Flück, Tongue. 1965), and a hot compress made from FENUGREEK seeds was used in the same way (Flück). The inner leaves of CABBAGE could be used, too (V G Hatfield. 1994), and in Ireland, a favourite treatment was to make a tea from BROOM tops, and bathe the place with this (Maloney). MADONNA LILY petals, macerated in alcohol,

usually brandy, were bound to abscesses, boils and ulcers (Porter), and to all sorts of other skin eruptions. A poultice of WILD SORREL leaves was used in parts of South Africa to treat an abscess (Watt & Breyer Brandwijk). Similarly, a poultice of chickweed is still prescribed by herbalists (Warren-Davis).