Feverfew and Tansy

A plant of feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium) which has self-seeded in my garden. Although I think it's quite an attractive flower feverfew is usually considered to be an invasive weed in gardens. In the past, however, it was a useful medicinal herb. Its common name "feverfew" derives from the Latin  febrifugia, meaning "fever reducer" although it is no longer considered useful for that purpose. Though its earliest medicinal use is unknown, it was documented in the first century  as an anti-inflammatory by the Greek herbalist physician Dioscorides.

Recently, feverfew has been used as a prophylactic treatment for migraine. After taking feverfew some people reported that their migraines gradually became less frequent and in a few cases stopped altogether and a trial published in 2005 reported on the efficacy of feverfew as a viable preventative treatment for migraine. Various preparations of feverfew are available commercially. Although they are rather bitter, it is also possible to use one or two fresh leaves of the plant taken in a salad or a sandwich on a daily basis. Feverfew is contraindicated in pregnancy and as with any herbal product professional advice should be taken as there may be toxic side effects.

Another flower of the same genus is tansy  (Tanacetum vulgare) which was growing close to the old railway track in Lower Largo. For many years, tansy was used as a medicinal herb despite its toxicity. A bitter tea made with tansy flowers has been used for centuries as an anthelmintic to treat parasitic worm infestations, and tansy cakes were traditionally eaten during Lent because it was believed that eating fish during Lent caused intestinal worms. However, it has no place in modern herbal medicine.

Acorn Bank Garden and Watermill

Last week visited Acorn Bank a National Trust Property near Temple Sowerby in Cumbria. The gardens and woodland cover an extensive area. They include a watermill and an outstanding herb garden of medicinal and culinary herbs.

Part of the garden at Acorn Bank.

The watermill.

The waterwheel.

Ferns cover the wall at the side of the steps to the mill.

A selection of culinary herbs growing in a trough in the walled herb garden.

It was late in the season so not many plant flowering in the herb garden. This was one of the exceptions poke root (Phytolacca americana).

Sweet Joe Pye. (Eupatorium purpureum)

Bowles mint in flower.

 A small sycamore tree in the woodland. The back spots are caused by the fungus sycamore tar spot (Rhytisma acerinum).

Tiny bantam hens roaming free in the garden.

A coal tit on on of the many bird boxes.

Digitalis Purpurea and a Shropshire Hedgerow

I have always loved foxgloves (Digitalis purpurea). I love to watch the bees going in and out of the flowers collecting the pollen and as a child, I liked to make finger puppets with the flowers. 

All parts of the plant are extremely poisonous and ingestion can be fatal, but important cardiac glycosides (digitoxin, digitalin, digitonin, digitalosmin, gitoxin and gitalonin) can be obtained from the leaves and the plant has a remarkable history.

In 1785 William Withering, a Shropshire doctor and botanist investigated the plants properties after learning that a local folk herbalist, said to have been a Mrs Hutton had successfully used it to treat dropsy (oedema), a condition associated with heart failure and characterized by the accumulation of fluid in soft tissues. He considered the plant to contain a diuretic but we now know that it is the action of the glycosides on the heart that alleviate the oedoema, by improving the efficiency of the heart and slowing down the heart rate. Since that time countless patients have been successfully treated with minute doses of digitalis or its active constituents. I came across a short poem from 1818 which I liked, thought to have been written by a Miss Sarah Hoare whose father had been treated with digitalis.

The Foxglove's leaves, with caution given,

Another proof of favouring Heav'n,
Will happily display;
The rapid pulse it can abate;
The hectic pulse can moderate;
And blest by Him whose will is fate,
May give a lengthened day.

By 1869, a French pharmacist, Claude Adolphe Nativelle, had isolated a much-purified material he called “digitalin” from foxglove. Six years later, German chemist Oswald Schmiedeberg, whom many consider the father of pharmacology isolated the first pure glycoside in crystal form from foxgloves, which he called “digitoxin”. A brand of digitoxin called 'Nativelle Digitaline' was marketed in the UK at least as late as the mid 1980s.
Nowadays, digoxin is the cardiac glycoside of choice medically. It is obtained from a related plant Digitalis lanata which grows in Eastern Europe (although during the Second World War D. purpurea seeds were collected from the wild and grown to produce large quantities of leaves for medicinal use and at least as late as 1968 digitalis tablets prepared from the leaf were still in the British National Formulary).
With the possible exception of the opium poppy, digitalis species are probably the most important medicinal herbs known.

Nice marking on the inside of the foxglove flower.

A biennial and a popular cottage garden plant there are also pale and white varieties.

Comfrey and Butterbur

Comfrey - Symphytum species. Common folk-name - Knitbone

There is a small patch of comfrey in flower just now at the back of the car-park in Lower Largo. Comfrey is an interesting plant that has been used medicinally for centuries. The name comfrey comes from the Latin confarre - to bring together, to marry. Symphytum is from the Greek Sympho - to unite. Medieval herbalists made a sludge out of the roots of the plant, which was packed round a broken limb. The sludge hardened and kept the broken bones in place in a similar manner to plaster of Paris nowadays. Comfrey contains allantoin which promotes cell division. It had various other medicinal uses. It has expectorant, astringent, cooling and healing effects. It reduces inflammation and controls bleeding, and it was previously used internally and externally. It is also used in homeopathy. However, it contains alkaloids which have been shown to cause liver damage and tumours in laboratory animals. It is therefore not now recommended for internal use or for use on broken skin. Comfrey can be used as a green manure, also the leaves steeped in water for several weeks can be used as a liquid feed for tomatoes as it is high in potash. I've tried it in the past, and it works well, but smells terrible.

Butterbur - Petasites hybridus

Butterbur was in flower at the far end of the Serpentine Walk approaching Upper Largo. In past times its large leaves were used for wrapping butter, hence its common English name. The leaves can grow to almost 36 inches across. The genus name Petasites comes from the Greek petusos - a broad brimmed hat. There is a smaller white variety Petasites alba which was introduced from Central Europe for early Spring colourin woodland. However, it has now become a troublesome weed in Scottish woods. I saw a small patch of this growing amongst the trees at the Cambo Estate, when we went to see the snowdrops.