COMMON OR ENGLISH IVY: MEDICINAL BENEFITS OF HEDERA HELIX, USES AND HISTORY: IVY LEAF TISANE

COMMON OR ENGLISH IVY, HEDERA HELIX

There are several types of ivy, one being ground ivy which, as its name suggests, grows on the ground, providing ground cover. However this English Ivy or Common ivy grows up walls and trees, only flowering (in late October until December and then producing berries in the following spring) when it is firmly established and has support, for example when it has reached the top of a wall and can bush out. It is an evergreen and for the Druids was a sacred plant, the female counterpart of the masculine holly. The Druids used it to bring dreams which foretold the future. Together with mistletoe and holly it is traditionally used to decorate houses at Christmas time. This is a pagan tradition which stood the test of time even though the Church banned such decorations. This ancient verse illustrates the pagan roots of the ivy:-

     On Christmass Ivy

    At Christmass men do ivy always get                                    

    And in each corner of the house it set;

    But why do they then use that Bacchus-weed?

    Because they mean, then, Bacchus-like to feed.”

This refers to the fact that Bacchus, or Dionysus, his Greek counterpart, was depicted wearing wreaths of ivy leaves on his head. The Bacchanalian rites were orgies and feasts, and the Christmas meal is probably a throwback to these times. People gorge themselves on as much rich food as they can in Britain at Christmas time, so the orgies tend not to take place anymore. Its associations with Bacchus are strong, as it grows plentifully at the reputed home of Bacchus, Nyssa. The ivy leaves also formed a poet laureate’s crown. Ivy leaves when bruised and gently boiled in wine were thought to remove the effects of a hangover by the ancient Greeks. They would also tie a vine of ivy leaves around their foreheads to prevent intoxication from drinking wine.

   Ancient Greek priests would present a newly married couple with an ivy wreath as a symbol of fidelity and steadfastness and the binding together of the couple. There is an old Celtic poem which begins “The sweet harp of Wales” which also speaks of its binding qualities.

     “And golden mistletoe I’ll bring thee,

       With ivy-bands to bind it there…”

   In Britain an ivy bush was a symbol for a tavern, and many pubs still bear the ancient name of “The Ivy Bush”, hence the saying, “Good wine needs no bush”. In other words good wine needs no advertising.

   With other evergreen plants, ivy has had its place at funerals, and it has not always been recommended as a medicine; Dioscorides writing in the first century AD believed that it caused sterility. Culpepper tells us “It is an enemy to the nerves and sinews taken inwardly, but most excellent taken outwardly.” It is a member of the ginseng family, and has been used in traditional medicine both in Europe and Asia since ancient times. The twigs of the ivy, boiled in butter were a remedy for sunburn. It has also been used to treat arthritis, burns, cancer, coughs, as an expectorant and decongestant of the lungs, for gallbladder problems, gout, inflammation, lice and other parasites, scabies, skin problems disorders of the spleen, nerve damage (neuropathy), jaundice, rheumatic diseases, duodenal ulcers and whooping cough.

   The Physicians of Myddfai (from the 8^th century AD to the early 19^th century) recommended a mixture of the “inner bark of the ivy and the leaves of the honeysuckle, bruising them well together in a mortar, expressing them through a clean linen cloth into both nostrils, the patient lying on his back” for relief from toothache.

    If you want to make a tisane from the leaves they need to be dried first and you should only use 0.3 grams in a cup of boiling water. Ivy is poisonous if taken in large doses, and should not be used for children or pregnant or lactating women.

 The leaves contain chromium, manganese and zinc and modern medical research has shown that they may help reduce blood glucose levels for treatment in cases of diabetes. Studies have also shown that an extract from the leaves can help children with asthma and adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases. Animal studies have shown that the leaf extract may have anti-cancer and antioxidant properties. The German Commission E has approved the leaf extract for use in the treatment of coughs and chronic inflammatory bronchial conditions as an expectorant, and it is often used in cough medicines. The leaf contains saponins and the alkaloid emetine which induces vomiting and increases mucus in the lungs, but as the ivy leaf only contains small amounts of this, it may explain why it has been traditionally used as an expectorant. The saponins appear to be responsible for preventing spasms in the bronchial area.  It has been found that ivy leaf extract is effective in increasing oxygen in the lungs and the recommended dose of the extract for children with asthma is 25 drops per day and 50 for adults with bronchitis as it is an effective anti-inflammatory in bronchial conditions. A wash made from the leaf has been used to treat yeast infections such as candida, and a cream for external use is made from ivy leaves, horsetail and Lady’s Mantle to reduce, but not eliminate stretch marks.

   Ivy is native to Europe, and North and Central Asia, but it grows in many countries, although not the Hedera helix variety. Ground ivy never flowers, so only the Common ivy has berries for the birds to feast on. Its flowers do not have any fragrance, but they do have nectar for bees, although there aren’t many around when it actually blooms. If you were born between September 30^th and October 27^th, according to the old Celtic calendar you were born under the ivy’s influence as this was the month of “Gort” or ivy.

  

 

WHAT IS DATURA? THORNAPPLE: A POISONOUS NARCOTIC PLANT

DATURA STRAMONIUM, THORNAPPLE

There are many Datura species, and some which were formerly classed as Datura have been separately categorized into the genus Brugmansia. One of these is the Trumpet Flower tree, which I first saw growing wild in southern Turkey, near Antalya. They are truly magnificent flowers although at the time I was told that they were highly poisonous; all the Datura and Brugmansia species are.

   The thornapple grows in Britain but has not really become naturalized there. However the herbalist Gerard, writing in the late 16^th century had this to say about it,

  “the juice of thornapple, boiled with hogs grease, cureth all inflammations whatsoever, all manner of burnings and scaldings, as well of fire, water, boiling lead, gunpowder, as that which comes by lightning and that in very short time, as I myself have found in daily practice, to my great credit and profit.”

Brugmansia

  At the time it grew wild and in gardens for ornamental and medicinal purposes. However it is also called stinkweed as the leaves emit a foetid stench when bruised (hence the common appellation for this plant; Stinkweed), although the flowers are quite fragrant. The leaves were once listed in all Pharmacopoeias but in the early 20^th century they were reviewed annually in some countries. They were used for respiratory purposes as they have antispasmodic effects as well as being anodyne. The leaves and seeds especially are narcotic and have been used by bandits such as the assassins in India to drug victims and cause a deep sleep as they have narcotic and sedative effects. In Turkey it is believed that they were smoked by the poor who could not afford opium. The plant used for such purposes in India was and is Datura metel (an indigenous species) which if ingested can cause acute confusion in less than one hour. In India it is used in rituals and ceremonies for the god Shiva, and the flowers are strewn in his temples. It was believed that the plant first grew from Shiva’s chest. Datura fastiosa also grows in India, where it is an indigenous species and both also grow in Pakistan.

Datura metel

  In Peru the indigenous people brewed an intoxicating drink from the seeds which could apparently cause delirium and stupefaction if taken in large doses. The Chinese use the flowers of fastiosa in herbal preparations. Arabs in Africa used to smoke the dried leaves, flowers and seeds in hookahs as a remedy for asthma and flu. Today people smoke the dried leaves and seeds for their narcotic effects as well as to relieve asthma. It is said that the inhalation of the smoke from such a mixture relaxes the muscles and kills pain as well as relieving inflammation caused by rheumatism and other ailments.

  It has been used by shamans in different cultures for predicting the future, as a way of opening the doors to communication with spirits and was thought to have been utilized in this way by the priests and priestess of Apollo at Delphi before they read the oracle.

   It has been linked to the Salem witch trials and as it causes hallucinations, it may have been integral in these. Don’t touch this plant and then rub your eyes as it can cause loss of vision. It’s one of the few wild plants that animals won’t eat, and there have been many accidental deaths because of this plant’s poisonous properties.

  The thornapple variety of Datura is thought by some to have originated in Russia, around the Black Sea, as it grows wild as far as Siberia from that region. The Indian varieties are thought to have been spread to Europe by gypsies. Some species are native to the South American continent and were found by the early Jamestown colonists who recorded its effects. It is from this that it gets the names Jamestown-weed and Jimson-weed, the latter being a corruption of the former name. However it also goes by some other more colourful names such as Devil’s apple, Devil’s Trumpet, and Apple of Peru.

     It gets the name Thornapple from the seed pod which has spines on its outer casing. The seeds have the ability to remain dormant for long periods and can then germinate when conditions are right.

 Both the Nazis and the Americans investigated the plant for its truth telling potential but it would seem that the results of their experiments were inconclusive.

  The plant looks pretty, smells awful and is extremely dangerous and can kill,like aak, so the best advice is to steer clear of it and only use it when prescribed by a physician who knows what he/she is doing. It is psychotropic and can cause hallucinations which may not always be as happy as some would have you believe. It isn’t an upper by any stretch of the imagination.

ROWAN OR MOUNTAIN ASH TREE: HEALTH BENEFITS, USES AND MYTHS OF MOUNTAIN ASH: ROWAN BERRY JELLY RECIPE

THE ROWAN TREE OR MOUNTAIN ASH, SORBUS AUCUPARIA

The Rowan tree is also called the Mountain Ash because it grows at high altitudes and varieties of it can be found in the mountains of western China and the Himalayas. It isn’t an ash tree but is so called because the shape of its leaves is similar to those of the ash. The Sorbus americana has much the same properties as the European Sorbus aucuparia, or Pyrus aucuparia as it is also called. It is a member of the rose family of plants and is closely related to the crab apple and pear trees. The berries are called pomes as the seeds are surrounded by an endocarp around which is the fleshy fruit; in this way the berries are similar to loquats and quinces.

  Mountain Ash (Aberpennar) is also a town in South Wales in Rhondda Cynon, which is mountainous, and the Mountain Ash grows wild in the Welsh mountains. In earlier times the Welsh brewed beer with rowan berries and John Evelyn wrote that it was an “incomparable drink”.Unfortunately the recipe is said to be lost. The Irish flavoured their mead with the berries while the Scots made them into a spirit. It is also cultivated as an ornamental tree. Rowan berries are not poisonous and can be made into jams and a tart jelly (see recipe below) which goes well with game and wild fowl.

   The tree can grow to a height of 30 metres and can be 20 metres in diameter. The fresh and dried berries are used in medicine as is the bark. In times of scarcity, the berries have been dried and ground into flour. The bark and berries can be made into a black dye, and this was used by the Druids to colour the garments they wore in their lunar ceremonies. They also had staffs of rowan wood, and the tree is the symbol of the second month of the old Celtic tree calendar (January 21^st – February 17^th). It was the wood from this tree which was used for runes, and in Norse mythology we are told that the first woman was made from the Rowan tree, while the first man was made from the Alder.

   Greek mythology tells a different tale however; Hebe the daughter of Zeus and Hera was the cup-bearer of the gods and one day the cup of her father Zeus, fell into the hands of a demon. Zeus was wrathful and sent an eagle to retrieve his cup from the demon. In the battle that followed, wherever the eagle’s feathers landed on earth, a Rowan tree grew, and the blood-red berries are from the eagle’s blood. This myth also explains its feather-like leaves.

   It was believed that the tree offered great protection against witchcraft and people would wear twigs or rowan tied with a red thread, to protect themselves from enchantment. There is an ancient proverb: - “Rowan tree and red thread, put the witches’ tine to speed.” (Witches would hasten away from the tree.) It could be that the five pointed star shape under each berry was believed to protect from evil, as this pentagram sign is believed to be magical.

   In Wales there is an old superstition that if you cut down a rowan tree, then the faeries that were imprisoned in it would wreak their vengeance not only on the person who felled it but also on the whole community. The tree is not to be cut with a knife, but the twigs can be used to divine where metal lies in the earth.

   Because of its white flowers, like the elder tree and the hawthorn, it is believed to be a goddess tree and in Iceland it is thought that the bare tree when covered in frost in winter it looks as though it is covered in stars, so is a moon-tree. Moon trees were decorated with lights and fruit in mid-winter to remind people that even in those dark days there was hope of a brighter spring. Some people think that these moon trees were the forerunners of the Christmas tree tradition.

  In Northern Europe the ‘flying rowan trees’, those rooted in rocky clefts but not appearing to be rooted in the earth, gave a special protection against witchcraft. There is also a myth that the Rowan was the first tree and that all other trees are descended from it.

   In traditional medicine, the ripe berries are made into a decoction (boiled in water and allowed to cool) and used as a gargle for sore throats. This is also supposed to be good for piles as it has astringent properties. At one time the berries were used as a treatment for scurvy because of their high vitamin C content.  A decoction of the bark is said to be good for diarrhoea. The bark has astringent qualities as do all parts of the tree, and has been used in the tanning industry.

   Before they ripen the berries contain tartaric acid, and on ripening, citric and malic acid, they also contain carotene and also xylitol which is a sugar substitute used in diabetic diets, which is found in plums, raspberries and strawberries. It has been found to inhibit the growth of pneumococci and so is effective against some respiratory ailments.

    Little research has actually been carried out on the properties of rowan berries, but they are said to be good for sinusitis.

   Wood from the Rowan tree is used to make poles, hoops and barrels, and the trees are useful to protect young oak saplings in plantations as they grow quickly to 10 feet and do not give too much shade, so they protect the saplings until they are strong enough to brave the elements.

ROWAN BERRY JELLY

Ingredients

1 kg rowan berries, cleaned and washed

400 ml water

pectin

Method

Put the berries and water in a pan and cook on a low heat until they start to simmer.

Remove from the heat and allow to steep overnight.

Strain the liquid through a piece of muslin or cheesecloth. There should be about a litre of juice.

Add the pectin and follow the instructions on the packet.

This can be stored in jars in a cool dark place and used to serve with game or wild fowl.

This has Taste and is a Treat.

WHAT IS BAJRA? MILLET: MEDICINAL BENEFITS AND USES OF MILLET: HOW TO MAKE MILLET SALAD

MILLET OR BAJRA IN URDU, PENNISETUM GLAUCUM

Bajra is pearl millet, one of 6000 varieties of millet world wide. The grains range in colour from pale yellow through to grey, white and even red. Pearl millet is the most widely cultivated in Asia and Africa, with Foxtail or Italian millet (Setaria italica) coming a close second. Millet ranks as the sixth most important grain in the world.

 In the West we tend to think of it as the main component of bird seed and if you have ever kept a budgerigar or other bird, then you will know the long grins that you hung in the cage were millet. It might surprise you to know that millet was a staple grain in Europe until the introduction of corn and rice. It was also one of the first grains to be cultivated and is thought to have originated in Ethiopia, where today it is still used to make the flat bread called injera. It is also used in parts of India to make chapattis or roti.

  In Pakistan pearl millet is grown as a main ingredient for poultry feed, and not generally ground into flour. However, millet is becoming popular in the West once again as it is gluten free. In Eastern Europe it is made into kashka a type of porridge for breakfast and it can be very tasty, especially if you take the time to dry fry it for a few minutes before cooking it as in the recipe below.

   Millet is extremely nutritious, containing as it does high amounts of the minerals manganese, magnesium, phosphorous and smaller amounts of copper, iron, zinc, calcium and selenium. Millet also has the B-complex vitamins, niacin and riboflavin, and many amino acids such as tryptophan, and vitamins E and K plus the Omega-3 and -6 fatty acids. This means that it isn’t just bird food, as our prehistoric ancestors realized judging by the finds archaeologists made in Switzerland in the Stone Age settlements of the lake Dwellers. Surprisingly perhaps it was also once the staple grain used in China before rice took over that position. (It has been cultivated in China since 2700 BC.)

   The phytonutrients in millet and the lignans (such as are found in flax seeds) have potent antioxidant properties and help protect against heart disease. Magnesium can help reduce the severity of asthma and also reduce the incidence of migraines.

   The ancients used millet in breads and other foods, and Herodotus who was not usually known for his reticence in telling tall tales, when he described millet would not say how tall the millet grown in Assyria could become, in case his readers did not believe him. One wonders if they believed his tales of how the phoenix protected some of the spices and incense products of the ancient world.

    To cook millet, you have to wash it thoroughly under cold running water and then pick it over to remove any small stones or other debris which might have found their way into the grains. Dry it and then dry fry it for an added nutty flavour.

 

MILLET SALAD

Ingredients

1 cup millet, dry fried

2 cups water or chicken stock

1 sprig rosemary

1 tsp thyme or ajwain

2 tsps olive oil

1 cucumber, peeled and sliced

3 carrots, grated

1 red pepper, chopped

1 yellow pepper chopped

4 tomatoes, peeled and sliced

vinaigrette for tossing the salad

salt and pepper to taste

Method

Boil two cups of water and add the millet and bring back to the boil. Cover and simmer for 25 mins. Stir occasionally and add 2 tsps olive oil to prevent it sticking.

Put the salad ingredients into a bowl and make the vinaigrette with 2 part olive oil to 1 part vinegar adding herbs of your choice, or spices.

When the millet is cooked, fluff up with a fork and if you are not using immediately, rinse under cold running water so that the grains remain separate and fluffy.

Add this to the salad and toss with the vinaigrette.

This has Taste and is a Treat.