BUR MARIGOLD OR WATER AGRIMONY - SMALL PLANT WITH POTENTIAL: HEALTH BENEFITS AND USES OF BUR MARIGOLDS

BUR MARIGOLD, WATER AGRIMONY, BIDENS TRIPARTITA  

In the 17^th century, when Culpeper was writing his great Herbal this plant was known as water agrimony, but it is now more frequently called the bur marigold or beggarticks, this is because of the burs which are the fruit of the plant and which stick to things very easily. Culpeper says that in some countries it was called “water-hemp, bastard hemp, and bastard-agrimony; also eupatorium and hepatorium, because it strengthens the liver.” He says that the flowers have a substance in their middles which smells “like rosin, or cedar when it is burnt.”                                             

  The bur marigold is native to Europe including the British Isles, and also West Asia. It is a member of the Asteraceae or Compositae family which is the daisy family of plants and so it is related to the ox-eye daisy, costmary, tansy, feverfew, chamomile, elecampane, purple and yellow goat’s beard, black salsify, Mouse Ear Hawkweed, pellitory, Holy thistle, marigolds, sunflowers, yarrow, groundsel, fleabane and horseweed to name but a few of its many relatives. It has leaves which are edible when cooked like spinach.

  The bur marigold flowers in August- September and then the bur-fruit appear. The flower heads yield a pale yellow dye, and other parts of the plant a black one. In China it has been used in traditional medicine for centuries for chronic dysentery and it is called longbacao, which means ‘wolf’s grasp weed’.

Nicholas Culpeper has this to say about its medicinal benefits:-

“Government and virtues. It is a plant of Jupiter, as well as the other agrimony; only this belongs to the celestial sign Cancer. It healeth and dryeth, cutteth and cleanseth, thick and tough tumours of the breast; and for this I hold it inferior to but few herbs that grow. It helps the cachexia, or evil disposition of the body; also the dropsy and yellow jaundice. It opens obstructions of the liver, mollifies the hardness of the spleen; being applied outwardly, it breaks imposthumes; taken inwardly, it is an excellent remedy for the third-day ague; it provokes urine and the terms; it kills worms, and cleanseth the body of sharp humours, which are the cause of itch, scabs &e. The smoke of the herb, being burnt, drives away flies, wasps, &c. It strengthens the lungs exceedingly. Country people give it to their cattle when they are troubled with the cough, or brokenwinded.”                                                    

  It was used as a styptic, which contracts blood vessels and so was used to stop bleeding both externally and internally and was thought to be excellent for dispersing stones and gravel in the internal organs. It was effective for uterine haemorrhages and was said to be effective for stomach problems such as ulcerative colitis and peptic ulcers. It was sometimes combined with ginger root in a tisane for digestive problems.

  The whole plant has been used to increase the milk flow in breast-feeding mothers, as a narcotic, an astringent, antiseptic and to reduce fevers. It is harvested as the plant comes into flower.

  The flowers have strong antioxidant properties and these may be used in the “pharmaceutical or food industry” according to one study by Wolniach, M. et al. “Antioxidant activity of extracts and flavonoids from Bidens tripartita” (2007). Having potent antioxidant properties mean that they have anti-cancer potential as antioxidants fight the scavenging free-radicals which cause damage to healthy cells.                                                                                                         

   “The oil exhibited a strong antifungal activity” according to another study: “Composition of the Essential Oil of Bidens tripartita L. Roots and its Antibacterial and Antifungal Activities.” Monika Tomczykowa et al. in the Journal of Medicinal Food Vol14 March 2011.

  Bur marigolds have been used for centuries in traditional Polish medicine as diuretics, anti-inflammatory agents and to boost the immune system.

  Other studies have shown that the methylene chloride extract inhibits the growth of cancer cell lines and there is evidence for its antimicrobial and antibacterial use in skin diseases and other Polish studies have also shown that extracts of this plant have anti-inflammatory actions.

        This is another small plant which is clearly of value to us for the health benefits it can give.

MARLBERRY, ARDISIA JAPONICA; TRADITIONAL USES AND HEALTH BENEFITS OF MARLBERRY

MARLBERRY, ARDISIA JAPONICA

Marlberry, is a native of East Asia and is a plant indigenous to parts of China and Japan. It is a member of the Myrsinaceae family and is used by gardeners as an evergreen ground cover, for which it is ideally suited. It can grow to around 40 centimetres tall so can make a low hedge, and has white to pale pink flowers which give way to a small fruit which turns dark-purple to black when ripe in early winter. It looks a little like Butcher’s Broom, to which it is not related.

  It has the distinction of being one of the Fifty Fundamental Herbs in Chinese traditional medicine and is used in a decoction either alone or with other herbs as an expectorant. This decoction, made only with marlberry is also used to relieve the stomach cramps associated with menstruation, and those of rheumatoid arthritis, as well as to reduce painful swellings. It is also used as a diuretic, for jaundice and to cleanse the blood.                                                               

  In one research study it was shown to have “moderate in vitro anti-HIV activity” which is believed to have been brought about by bergenin and norbergenin. In another study it was shown to have only weak activity against the HIV virus.

   Bergenin is known to be effective against coughs.

   It is particularly used for bronchitis, and also reduces flatulence. The leaves of the shrub have been used against cancer, and a decoction of the leaves and stem is used for coughs and uterine bleeding. The root is a diuretic and an antidote to poison. Saponins generally have some anti-cancer actions and this plant contains them. A paper from the 2011 Conference on Biomedical Engineering Technology by Myat Myat Monetal et al. “Qualitative Determination of Free Radical Scavenging, anti-tumor and Antimicrobial Activities of some Myanmar Herbal Plants” concluded “Ardisia japonica can be used as anti-malarial drug or antioxidant diet or as food preservative” This was published in the Journal of the 2011 International Conference on Biomedical Engineering Technology IPCBET Vol 11.

  It is clear that marlberry has been used in Chinese traditional medicine for centuries so perhaps further studies will bring to light further benefits of this plant.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

LONGJACK, MALAYSIAN GINSENG: NOT JUST AN APHRODISIAC FOR MEN: HEALTH BENEFITS OF LONGJACK

LONGJACK, TANGKAT ALI, MALAYSIAN GINSENG, EURYCOMA LONGIFOLIA

Longjack is an accepted name for this evergreen tree which is native to Southeast Asia and which is known by a number of names throughout the region. The ones above are the most common. It is a member of the Simaroubaceae family. It gets the “jack” part of its name as William Jack (1795-1872), a surgeon with the British East India Company, was one of the first westerners to try to catalogue the plants of the Malaysian peninsular. The “long” part of the name presumably refers to the plants aphrodisiac properties. Tongkat Ali means “Ali’s staff ” and is a phallic reference worthy of D.H. Lawrence, who wrote “Aaron’s Rod” among other works of fiction and poetry.                                           

 A lot of research has been done on this plant focusing on the enhancing of the libido and semen volume in male rats and their testosterone levels. It seems that the quassinoids found in the plant may be responsible for their effects on men who have a reduced testosterone level, although it doesn’t seem to increase testosterone levels in men who have normal levels. Researchers at the Massachusetts institute of Technology (M.I.T) and the Malaysian research institutes have taken out a patent on one of the peptides isolated from this plant, 4.3kDa which is a potent phytoandrogen capable of boosting male testosterone levels, although this has caused some controversy in the scientific world as the peptide is a naturally occurring one.

  The root, bark, leaves and fruits of this tree are all used in traditional medicine systems, with the fruit of the tree ripening to a dark red, resembling a jujube or ber fruit. The different parts of the tree have been used for malaria, urinary tract infections, cancer, indigestion, itching and high blood pressure among other ailments.

  The aphrodisiac is made by boiling a few pieces of root bark in water and then drinking it. This decoction is also used as a general invigorating tonic, to relieve pains in the joints, and reduce fever. A decoction of the levels is applied externally to stop itching, for example during prickly heat attacks. The bark is applied externally to heal wounds and sores and to relieve headaches. In Indonesia a decoction of the roots is drunk to reduce fever, diarrhoea and swellings caused by a knock or fall. An infusion of the roots is given in coughs as an expectorant and is used for chronic bronchitis.

 The infusion of the roots is used as a gargle and a diuretic as well as an antidote to poison. It is called the “bitter antidote” referring to its taste.

  In some studies such as “Antimalarial activity of selected Malaysian medicinal plants” Rusliza Basir et al. (2012) Vol.1 (1) pp.82-92, the use of the plant to treat malaria has been substantiated. However, other traditional uses (apart from its effects on male erectile dysfunctions) have not been conclusively substantiated.

  In one study it was found to have antimicrobial and antifungal effects while another negated the findings, although it seems that it may have some effect on cancerous cell lines, more research is needed.

AUTUMN CROCUS OR MEADOW SAFFRON: A POISONOUS PLANT: HISTORY OF USES

AUTUMN CROCUS, MEADOW SAFFRON, COLCHIUM AUTUMNALE 

The Autumn Crocus is not a relation to Crocus sativa from which we get saffron, which is in the Iridaceae family of plants. This one was formerly in the Liliaceae (lily) family but has recently been moved to the Colchiaceae family. It has light purple or white flowers and as its name suggests, flowers between September and October during early autumn and grows in meadows.
 It is native to Europe and North Africa, but is restricted in range now in Britain to an area around the Bristol Channel.                                         

  All parts of the plant are poisonous to cattle and the corm or bulb from which the plant grows contains the alkaloid colchinine which is highly toxic. A woman was convicted of poisoning in 1862 using the drug Colchium. This was considered virtually a specific treatment for gout in the 18^th century, and was used extensively with imported corms being used in Britain. The corms used were cultivated for medicinal purposes in France and Germany.

  Autumn Crocus has a long history of use, although writing in his Des Materia Medica in the first century AD, Dioscorides records that it is a poison. Despite this knowledge, it was used in the Byzantine Empire for joint problems such as rheumatism and arthritis. It was the Arabs who first realized that it could be used to treat gout effectively.

 The plant is a drastic purgative and can be fatal to humans as it is to cattle which inadvertently graze on the leaves. However topically it can be applied to neuralgia and itching to bring relief – although so can other herbs which are safer to use. It should never be used during pregnancy or when lactating, and neither should it be used by people who suffer from kidney problems.                                                                                       

  It is also not a good idea to harvest it as some cases of poisoning have occurred when people have mistaken it for ramsons or wild garlic, Allium ursinum, also called bear’s garlic and cooked the leaves or corms.

    In the Language of Flowers the Autumn Crocus or Meadow Saffron stands for “my best days are gone; I am growing old.”

  The genus gets its name from the ancient district of Colchis which was situated on the eastern shore of the Black Sea and which seems to have been the original source of this medicinal herb.

  Nicholas Culpeper, the 17^th century English herbalist, had this to say about Meadow Saffron:

"Government and virtues. It is under Saturn. Indirectly used, this root is poisonous; two drachms of it killed a large dog, after putting him to great torment for twelve or fourteen hours; it operated violently by vomit, stool and urine. A single grain only being swallowed by a person in health, by way of experiment, produced heat in the stomach, and soon after flushing heats in various parts of the body, with frequent shiverings, which were followed by coliky pains, after which an itching in the loins and urinary passages was perceived, and presently after came on a continual inclination to make water, with a tremour, pain in the head, great thirst, a very quick pulse, and other disagreeable symptoms.                                                             

Notwithstanding these effects, it is, when properly prepared, a safe, but powerful medicine; the best way of doing this is to make it into a kind of syrup, by digesting an ounce of the fresh roots, sliced thin, in a pin of white-wine vinegar, over a gentle fire, for the space of forty-eight hours, and then mixing two pounds of honey with the strained liquor, and letting it boil gently afterwards till it comes to a proper consistence.
The syrup is agreeable acid, gently vellicates or bites the tongue, is moderately stringent, and excellent for cleansing the tongue from mucus. In an increased dose it vomits, and sometimes purges, but its most common operation is by urine, for which it is a remarkable powerful medicine. The dose at first should be but small, half a tea-spoonful twice or three times a day is enough to begin with, and the quantity may afterwards be gradually increased, as the stomach will bear it, or the case may require. It has been given with the most astonishing success in dropsies and tertian agues; and it frequently succeeds as an expctorant, when all other means fail."