GIANT PUFFBALL - BIGGEST EDIBLE FUNGUS: HISTORY, USES AND HEALTH BENEFITS OF THE GIANT PUFFBALL

GIANT PUFFBALL, CALVATIA GIGANTEA

The giant puffball mushroom can be found in Europe including Britain, and North America. If you see a mushroom the size of a football in a field or on the edges of woodland then it is probably the giant puffball which was once named Langermannia gigantea. Its correct Latin name is now Calvatia gigantea. They can grow to enormous sizes, with the largest British specimen being 64 inches (162 centimetres) in circumference and a reported on from the US was 1.5 metres across and weighed in at an amazing 20 kilos. However these are giants of the giant puffball world; a 4 kilo puffball is more usual.

  The young immature puffball is edible and has a rich, earthy, nutty taste, although some believe it to be bland, only taking on the flavours of the foodstuff it is cooked with. They are delicious fried in butter and good in an omelette. Some say that they can be used instead of tofu or aubergines, but they are good chopped in any recipe that calls for mushrooms. You should only eat giant puffballs which have no gills and have not formed spores. When this happens they turn a pale yellow colour and as they mature they become yellow-brown. They have to have solid white flesh in their interior for them to be edible. In the UK you can sometimes find them in specialty mushroom shops.

  When they have formed spores and are ready to ejaculate them, a single drop of rain will trigger the spores’ release. Children love kicking them to release the powdery spores, and as they are inedible at this time it isn’t a waste of a mushroom.

  Native Americans used the spores for wound healing as they help blood to coagulate and it is believed that they have antiseptic properties.

  Back in the 1960s a substance named calvacin was isolated from giant puffballs and proved to have anti-tumour properties in vitro. When experiments on animals became increasingly used this substance was tested on lab rats but unfortunately. Although it did kill the cancerous cells and the tumour it had bad side effects and caused anorexia, acute liver failure, muscle inflammation and bleeding from the lungs. Some rats died within two days of being subjects of the experiment.

  However in 2008 new research was conducted into the substances which can be found in these mushrooms and three were found to be present which had not been reported in mushrooms previously: Methyl anthranilate, Methyl N N-dimethylanthranilate and Methyl N-methylanthranilate. (“Volatile Constituents of the Giant Puffball Calvatia gigantea” by John C. Leffingwell and E. D. Alford in Leffingwell Reports Vol. 4 March 2011.)

  Although these mushrooms can be found in most of Europe they are a cause for conservation concern in Norway and are becoming rare in Lithuania and are protected in Poland, so you can’t forage for them there.

  In Britain they have been used as kindling and placed under beehives to make bees sleepy so that the beekeepers can get into the hives. At one time it was thought that they had narcotic effects on bees but this has proved not to be the case.

  Apart from eating them, our ancestors used them for tinder as this piece of information from the 16^th century British herbalist, John Gerard, shows.

  “In divers parts of England, where people dwell farre from neighbours, they carry them kindled with fire, which lasteth long.”

  They have similar nutrition qualities as other mushrooms including morels, chanterelles and the oyster mushrooms.

IRIS OR STINKING GLADWYN - NOT REALLY A STINKER: USES AND HEALTH BENEFITS OF IRIS FOETIDISSIMUS

IRIS, STINKING GLADWYN, IRIS FOETIDISSIMUS

This pale purple iris has a bad name because of the smell it is said to give off, although I have never found it to smell so bad. The bruised or crushed leaves are said to smell like roasting beef, which is how it gets one of its common names in Britain, Roast Beef. However I can’t say that it smells like this to me either. (Perhaps my sense of smell isn’t well developed.) The name “gladwyn” means sword-grass, and the plant does have sword-like leaves, and is said to smell unpleasant, so that’s how it gets the name “stinking gladwyn.”

  In his English translation of Dodoen’s book, “A New Herbal”, Henry Lyte wrote of it as “Stinking Gladin’” whose leaves were “of a loathsome smell or stinke, almost like unto the stinking worme, called in Latin Cimex.”

  The iris was a symbol of life after death for the ancient Egyptians, but probably not this iris. This one is one of only two native to Britain (Yellow Water Flag being the other), although there are many varieties of iris growing around the world. This one is native to Europe, and North Africa, so it could be the one which was sacred to Osirus and Horus, the ancient Egyptian gods. The oil obtained from the iris was used in perfume and in the wrappings of mummies as was the dried flowers.

  For the ancient Greeks, the iris was a source of medicine, and Dioscorides, Pliny and Theophrastus mention it as a remedy for chest complaints such as bronchitis. They used a decoction of the iris, hyssop and honey or liquorice for these ailments.

  It used to be used to draw out arrowheads and splinters in poultices made with the crushed leaves. The dried powdered root was used in an infusion for hysterical outbursts, fainting and so on and to relieve stomach cramps and pains.

  Today it is used as a remedy for migraines, although it has a laxative action and can be as drastic a purgative as its relative the Yellow Water Flag. The infusion is made with one teaspoon of chopped leaves to one cup of boiling water left to steep for 10 minutes before straining and drinking. You can take this three times a day. The plant has also been used, it is said effectively, for ringworm.

  This iris has mild pain-relieving properties, is antiseptic, and a very strong laxative. It has been used in the past to promote women’s periods, and the infusion above can be used for skin problems such as pimples.

  Nicholas Culpeper, the 17^th century English herbalist describes its actions and uses in this way:-

  “Government and virtues. It is supposed to be under the dominion of Saturn. It is used by many country people to purge corrupt phlegm and choler, which they do by drinking the decoction of the roots; and some to make it more gentle, do but infuse the sliced roots in ale; and some take the leaves, which serve well for the weaker stomach. The juice hereof put up, or snuffed up the nose, causes sneezing, and draws from the head much corruption; and the powder thereof doth the same. The powder thereof drank in wine, helps those that are troubled with the cramps and convulsions, or with the gout and sciatica, and gives ease to those that have griping pains in their body and belly, and helps those that have the stranguary. It is given with much profit to those that have had long fluxes by the sharp and evil quality of humours, which it stays, having first cleansed and purged them by the drying and binding property therein. The root boiled in wine and drank, doth effectually procure women's courses, and used as a pessary, works the same effect, but causes abortion in women with child. Half a dram of the seed beaten to powder, and taken in wine, doth speedily cause one to make water abundantly. The same taken with vinegar, dissolves the hardness and swellings of the spleen. The root is very effectual in all wounds, especially of the head; as also to draw forth any splinters, thorns, or broken bones, or any other thing sticking in the flesh, without causing pains, being used with a little verdigrease and honey, and the great Centaury root. The same boiled in vinegar, and laid upon an eruption or swelling, doth very effectually dissolve and consume them; yea, even the swellings of the throat called the king's evil; the juice of the leaves or roots heals the itch, and all running or spreading scabs, sores, blemishes, or scars in the skin, wheresoever they be.”

ADDER'S TONGUE (FERN) - GOOD FOR WOUNDS: HISTORY, AND HEALTH BENEFITS OF ADDER'S TONGUE

ADDER’S TONGUE FERN, OPHIOGLOSSUM VULGATUM

The adder’s tongue fern resembles the cuckoo-pint and the Arum or Calla lily, but you can see it in the months of June to August only (at least in Britain), as it unfurls a solitary leaf or frond. A spike growing in the middle of the leaf holds this fern’s reproductive spores, which is how it gets the name adder’s tongue. The rest of the year there is only the rhizome underground. Ophios means snake in Greek and glossa is tongue, so that is the meaning of its genus appellation, while vulgatum is Latin for common.

  It is native to Europe, including Britain and has a range which extends from Iceland through to North Africa and north and west Asia. It is related to the other British ferns, polypody, the maidenhair fern, hart’s tongue, bracken, moonwort and horsetail.

  Because the ancient herbalists believed that like cured like, and thought that the spike looked like a snake’s tongue, this fern was used as an antidote to snake bites. (They believed that red herbs and flowers were good for the blood and so on.)

  The leaves of this fern are reportedly edible when cooked and can be used as a green vegetable. The distilled water of the plant was used for eye problems, and the ointment Culpepper describes was know as Green Oil of Charity, made from two pounds (one kilo approximately) of leaves, ½ pint of oil and 1½ pounds of suet all melted together, and boiled until the leaves were crispy, then strained and used for ointment for wounds.

  In Britain the plant doesn’t grow very tall, perhaps to around ten centimetres, so it is difficult to spot it in long grass. It can grow to around 30 centimetres or approximately one foot, and is rare now except in southern England. The central spike can grow to around forty centimetres, with to rows of spores on it. It is thought to be a good indication of places where there were ancient meadows, as are couch grass and the early purple orchid.

  The English herbalist, Nicholas Culpeper, writing his Complete Herball in the 17^th century has this to say of Adder’s tongue: -

  “It is temperate in respect of heat, but dry in the second degree. The juice of the leaves, drank with the distilled water of horse-tail, is a singular remedy for all manner of wounds in the breasts, bowels, or other parts of the body, and is given with good success to those that are troubled with casting, vomiting, or bleeding at the mouth or nose, or otherwise downwards. The said juice given in the distilled water of oaken buds, is very good for women who have their usual courses, or the whites flowing down too abundantly. It helps sore eyes. Of the leaves infused or boiled in oil, omphacine or unripe olives, set in the sun for certain days, or the green leaves sufficiently boiled in the said oil, is made an excellent green balsam, not only for green and fresh wounds, but also for old and inveterate ulcers, especially if a little fine clear turpentine be dissolved therein. It also stayeth and refresheth all inflammations that arise upon pains by hurts and wounds.”

INDIAN CORAL TREE: HISTORY, USES AND HEALTH BENEFITS OF THE INDIAN CORAL TREE

INDIAN CORAL TREE, TIGER’S CLAW, ERYTHRINA VARIEGATA 

The Indian coral tree is as its name suggests native to the Indian subcontinent, and its range extends throughout South-east Asia to Malaysia. It was introduced in ancient times to the Pacific islands and to parts of Africa. The Indian coral tree is a member of the Leguminoseae or Fabaceae family of plants making it a relative of dhak, the pongam tree, ashoka (Saraca indica),the monkey pod tree, jhand, lentils, indigo, the butterfly pea, chickpeas, soya beans and lupins to name but a few.

  The tree is useful as a nitrogen fixer and helps poor soil increase its fertility. It is panted as an ornamental and a shade tree, and used for this last purpose in coffee and cacao plantations. It is also used as a trellis for vines and climbing plants and is used to support the betel nut (paan) vine, black pepper plants, as well as vanilla and yams.

  The bark of this tree is paper-thin and can be yellow through to brown, and the seed pods contain between five and twelve seeds. The tree can grow to around sixty feet although they rarely grow to heights of more than fifty feet (fifteen metres). Some people in Bangladesh use the seeds, a kidney-shaped bean that looks rather like a red kidney bean, as food, but mostly they are not eaten. The seeds contain oil and it has been suggested that this could be a source of biofuel in the future. The pods grow to between six inches and a foot. The trees have thorns on their branches, but nonetheless the pods are used for fodder. However this means that they make useful living fences to demarcate boundaries and deter animals.

  The bark and leaves of this tree are mainly the parts used in Ayurvedic medicine in the Indian subcontinent, with the juice from the leaves being put into ears to stop earache. The paste made from the tree parts is used for rheumatism and joint pains, applied to the affected areas, and it is also used for wounds as it has antiseptic properties, and for inflammation, including for eye problems. A powder is made to aid digestion, as an aphrodisiac and for erectile dysfunctions. It is also used to get rid of intestinal worms, for blood purification, to regulate menstruation, for infections of the urinary tract such as cystitis, obesity, fevers and externally for skin problems.

  It is believed to support the liver and nerves functions and is anti-inflammatory, analgesic (pain-relieving), and to dilate the blood vessels. An infusion of the bark and leaves is used for coughs as an expectorant. A preparation is also used for insomnia, to promote lactation in breast-feeding mothers, for lower back pain relief and knee pain as well as for rheumatism.

  Clinical studies have found that the isoflavonoids present in this coral tree can help protect bone mass in mice and have anti-osteoporotic effects (2007, Zhang Y. et al. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, Vol.109 (1) pp 165-9). However these actions have not been tested on humans.

  In a 2002 study conducted by Tanaka H. et al. the isoflavonoids were found to have antibacterial properties. More studies are underway to discover whether the traditional medicinal uses of this tree have scientific bases.