MAST TREE - NOT THE ASHOKA TREE: INFORMATION AND USES OF MAST TREE

THE MAST TREE, POLYALTHIA LONGIFOLIA

The Mast trees Polyalthia longifolia and the variant pendula are native to the Indian subcontinent, and are easy to spot because of their elegant erect appearance. They have long, lance-like glossy pale to dark green leaves, depending on their maturity, and look as though they could walk. They are usually planted as screens and it is a wonderful sight to see them in a line. They can give shade, so are welcome in hot climates. They are members of the Anonaceae family of plants which means that they are related to the custard apple (shareefa) Anona recticula or squamosa and to the American pawpaw, or prairie banana Asimina triloba. The mast tree is also known as the False Ashoka as people frequently mistake this tree for the Ashoka tree, which is not related. The trees in this family typically contain acetogenins which may have anti-cancer and anti-HIV activities.

  In the days of sailing ships the wood from these Mast trees were used for masts, as they are flexible with straight trunks. These days however the pale yellow wood is mainly used to make decorative items such as ornamental boxes. The trees have special religious significance for Hindus and are often planted close to temples. Their branches, leaves and pale green flowers are used in religious ceremonies as decorations.

  The Mast tree is evergreen, with the new leaves being a coppery brown, although they soon turn glossy pale green which darken as they mature. The pale star-shaped green flowers grow on the small branches in clusters but are difficult to spot as they blend in with the leaves so well. They blossom in spring and are followed by small fruit which contain a single seed. Five fruit can come from one flower, and these are much loved by bats that flock to the trees in the evening when they have fruit. The trees can grow up to 12 metres tall and are easy to see on the landscape. The name polyalthia comes from the Greek meaning ‘many cures’ while longifolia means long leaved, and pendulous, hanging.

 In Ayurvedic medicine the bark is used to bring down the temperatureof the body during fevers. It is also used for skin diseases, inflammation, diabetes and to lower high blood pressure. In traditional medicine the seeds are also used to lower the temperature in fevers Ithas been the subject of quite a few research studies and has been shown to have antimicrobial and antifungal properties. It is though that it is the alkaloids found in the stem bark that are responsible for these properties. In 2009 a patent was taken out on an extract of the leaves for anti-inflammatory diseases (rheumatism etc) and its action against cancerous tumours. Just recently, on July 12^th 2011 it was reported that “new antioxidants” had been found in the Polyalthia longifolia var. pendula. Once again it would seem that ancient remedies for diseases often have a sound basis in medical science.

FIELD SOUTHERNWOOD - USED BY THE PHYSICIANS OF MYDDFAI TO CURE INSANITY

FIELD SOUTHERNWOOD, ARTEMISIA CAMPESTRIS

Field Southernwood, unlike southernwood, is a native of the British Isles, although it is not as prolific as it was in Culpeper’s day in the 17^th century, as he reports that it grew everywhere. It grows all over the temperate regions of the Northern hemisphere and can grow to around 30 inches high.

   It is another member of the Artemis genus which includes tarragon, (A dracunculus), mugwort (A. vulgaris), wormwood (A. absinthum) and sweet wormwood (A. annua). It has very similar properties to southernwood but they are not as potent. However if it is easier to come by and you’d like to discover what a tisane of it tastes like, follow the recipe given for southernwood).

  Culpeper believed that it was a good diuretic and advocated a conserve being made from the fresh tops, beaten with twice their weight of sugar and given in cases of hysteria and as a diuretic. He describes the taste as being “…pleasant, warm, aromatic” so unlike its close relative wormwood.

  It was used in poultices for rheumatic joints, eczema, bruises and sores. The tisane or infusion can be applied on the skin for eczema too. An infusion of the roots was used especially for children as a hair tonic and to treat any scalp problems, although these did not include head lice. The roots were also made into an infusion and given as a laxative and diuretic. However if you need a laxative, then senna would be more easily available, I imagine (Jamalgota is far too potent in the normal way of these things.)

  The pulverized roots were often used as perfume in the Middle Ages, to keep away unpleasant odours and diseases.

  The Welsh Physicians of Myddfai used it for palsy and insanity, although these uses seem to be very diverse.

  This is their remedy to cure palsy, although it did have to be taken specifically on Christmas Day.

  “Take the field southernwood, pound it in a mortar, and strain the juice to about a small cupful, and give it the patient to drink, on the dawn of God's day of Christmas.”

This is there remedy for insanity; clearly these are for reference only.

“When a man becomes insane, take daisy, field southernwood and sage, digesting it in wine, and let the patient drink it for fifteen days.”

  In other ways, Field southernwood is little different in properties and uses to the Southern European southernwood.

RED CABBAGE - QUEEN OF CABBAGES: HISTORY, USES AND HEALTH BENEFITS OF RED CABBAGE: WINTER SALAD RECIPE

RED CABBAGE, BRASSICA OLERACEAE var. CAPITATA F. RUBRA

The red cabbage is a headed one and has health benefits which the green cabbages don’t have, so it is well worth adding this cabbage to your diet.

  The wild cabbage was probably taken to Europe by the Celts who had settled in Britain by the 4^th century BC, although they were in Asia Minor (modern Turkey) by 600 BC. Their name for cabbage was bresic, clearly this word in Latin became Brassica, so it is highly likely that the Celts introduced the cabbage into Europe and not the Romans. It would seem that the wild cabbage grew in Asia, but was cultivated in the Mediterranean area by the Romans and ancient Greeks, although this was the loose-leaved cabbage. The hard-headed cabbages were late to appear on the scene, as they were not known until 1536 when the English made clear distinctions between loose-leaved and hard-headed ones using two words for cabbage, “cabaches” and “caboche.” The green Savoy cabbage, named after the province in Italy where they grew, was being cultivated in England in the 1500s.

  Red cabbage is a variant of the head cabbage which is white, and these two combined make a very healthy winter salad as given below. You can find pickled red cabbage in jars on supermarket shelves, but the taste is nothing like the one you get from a fresh cabbage that you have grated, or cooked yourself. Red cabbage tends to turn bluish when boiled, so if you want to keep the colour, add lemon juice to the water. Boiling red cabbage gets rid of some of its health-giving nutrients, so it is best steamed or eaten raw.

  Red cabbage is related to brussel sprouts, kale, broccoli and collard greens, and is packed with nutrients. It is probably the best of the cabbage family in terms of its protective benefits. All cabbages glucosinolates, but they contain different patterns of these, scientists have discovered, which means that we should include all types of cabbage in our diets to get the maximum health benefits from them. Sinigrin is one of these, and this has shown unique protective qualities against colon, bladder and prostate cancers.

  Red cabbage gets its colour from anthocyanin pigments which have potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and is probably the best cabbage for its preventative, and curative properties.

  It contains vitamins A, C, E, K and many of the B-complex vitamins, choline and betaine, Omega-3 and -6 fatty acids, and the minerals calcium, iron, phosphorous, potassium, sodium, selenium, magnesium, manganese and zinc. It is rich in potassium and this combined with magnesium can lower blood pressure and ensure a smooth blood flow, and dilates the veins so that it can help men with erectile dysfunctions. Who would have thought that the cabbage may be a true aphrodisiac for the male of our species?

  With that thought, perhaps you’d like to try this winter cabbage which is everywhere in Greece during the harsh winter months. They flavour it with oregano but caraway is good too and celery seeds, or dry-fried fennel seeds, the choice is yours.

                                                                                                          

                                                                                                                        

                                                                                                              

                                                                                                                

WINTER SALAD

Ingredients

½ head of red cabbage, thinly sliced

½ head of white cabbage, thinly sliced

4 large carrots, scraped and grated

30 gr sultanas

2 tsps dry fried cumin seeds

1 green apple, chopped

lemon juice

olive oil

freshly ground black pepper

Method

Soak the sultanas in lemon juice for 30 minutes so that they plump up.

Put all the ingredients in a bowl, pour over the lemon juice and olive oil, add the freshly ground black pepper and serve with meat or fish.

This has Taste and is a Treat.

SOUTHERNWOOD - NOT JUST A PRETTY ORNAMENTAL; HISTORY,USES AND HEALTH BENEFITS

SOUTHERNWOOD, ARTEMISIA ABROTANUM

Southernwood is native to Spain and Italy and was much used as a medicinal herb in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. It is scarcely used these days however as modern medical research has not yet been carried out to support or disprove the uses to which southernwood has been put.

  It is related to others in the Artemisia genus of plants, which include wormwood (A. absinthum), sweet wormwood (A. annua), mugwort (A. vulgaris), tarragon (A. dracunculus) and a whole host of others supposedly given by Artemis to Chiron the Centaur (after whom centaury was named, for the benefit of the human race) as he was in mythology at least, the first physician.

  In French it is called garderobe meaning clothes protector as it is a moth repellent. It is said that women used to take bunches of the herb to church with them along with balm, to prevent them dozing during long-winded sermons. It was also reputed to ward off contagious diseases, and was apparently put beside prisoners in the dock in bunches along with rue so that the good people at the trial would not catch jail fever. This practice continued up until the 19^th century.

  Southernwood, like sweet wormwood grows quite tall, and although it was introduced into the UK in 1548, it rarely flowers in the climate. In Italy it was once used as a herb in cooking, although it was more often used in the perfume industry. It is good to dry the leaves and crush them and add them to muslin sachets with dried lavender flowers and rose petals. To keep moths at bay, crush the dried leaves and put hem in muslin sachets with crushed cinnamon bark after first putting a few drops of patchouli oil on the muslin.

  Young country boys in Britain would burn the leaves and stems and use the ash in a homemade ointment made primarily with lard, and rub it into their faces in the hope of growing a beard. Perhaps that it was why it was known by a country name of Lad’s Love. It symbolized fidelity if it were presented to a loved one in a bouquet.

  A tisane of the fresh or dried leaves has been used to start periods which are irregular or absent, and to help with stomach cramps. You have to put ½ oz of fresh chopped leaves in a pot which has a tightly fitting lid and pour a cup of boiling water over it, then leave it to steep for 10 to 15 minutes covered, so that the aromatic steam does not escape and drink a cup three times a day. It doesn’t taste awful, but you may want to put a little honey in it to sweeten it.

  The dried, powdered leaves were given to children in a teaspoon of treacle to get rid of internal worms.

  Dioscorides writing in the first century AD thought that the bruised seeds heated in water and drunk stopped pains in the joints and sciatica, while boiled in wine they were an antidote to poisonous bites. He said that if the herb was burnt, venomous creatures would not go near it.

  Culpeper recommended it for worms, the spleen and said “The leaves are a good ingredient in fomentations for easing pain, dispersing swellings and stopping the process of gangrenes.” He also suggested a “wasted quince” mixed with oil of southernwood was good for inflammation of the eyes.

  Of course this is for information only. If you go anywhere near southernwood, wear gloves, as it can cause dermatitis.