Tag: Common Name

Saw palmetto,

[amazon_link asins=’B01884B454,B00T8MD7JC,B00XUZCSPC,B01CNHGVEG,B0016KG3O0,B01HFNL33M,B01HHOB42E,B002Y27KEQ,B0013OXII8′ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’finmeacur-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’cc805c28-07a2-11e7-a2e2-9bcd0a77fc61′]

Botanical Name :Sarenoa serrulata
Kingdom: Plantae
Order:    Arecales
Family: Arecaceae
Subfamily: Coryphoideae
Tribe:    Trachycarpeae
Subtribe: Livistoninae
Genus:    Serenoa
Species: S. repens

Synonyms: Sabal. Sabal serrulata, Serenoa repens

Common Names :Saw palmetto,

Habitat:Saw palmetto is native to the Atlantic Coast from South Carolina to Florida, and southern California.It is endemic to the southeastern United States, most commonly along the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal plains, but also as far inland as southern Arkansas. it grows in clumps or dense thickets in sandy coastal lands or as undergrowth in pine woods or hardwood hammocks.

Description:
Saw palmetto is a fan palm, with the leaves that have a bare petiole terminating in a rounded fan of about 20 leaflets. It is a hardy plant; extremely slow growing, and long lived, with some plants, especially in Florida where it is known as simply the palmetto, possibly being as old as 500–700 years. The petiole is armed with fine, sharp teeth or spines that give the species its common name. The teeth or spines are easily capable of breaking the skin, and protection should be worn when working around a Saw Palmetto. The leaves are light green inland, and silvery-white in coastal regions. The leaves are 1–2 m in length, the leaflets 50–100 cm long. They are similar to the leaves of the palmettos of genus Sabal. The flowers are yellowish-white, about 5 mm across, produced in dense compound panicles up to 60 cm long. The fruit is a large reddish-black drupe and is an important food source for wildlife and historically for humans. The plant is used as a food plant by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species such as Batrachedra decoctor, which feeds exclusively on the plant.

CLICK & SEE THE PICTURES

Edible Uses: This plant is also edible to human beings, but the more green it is the more bitter tasting it would be.

Medicinal Uses:
Part Used: Partially-dried ripe fruit……..CLICK & SEE

Constituents: Volatile oil, fixed oil, glucose, about 63 per cent of free acids, and 37 per cent of ethyl esters of these acids. The oil obtained exclusively from the nut is a glyceride of fatty acids, thick and of a greenish colour, without fruity odour. From the whole fruit can be obtained by pressure about 1 1/2 per cent of a brownishyellow to dark red oil, soluble in alcohol, ether, chloroform and benzene, and partly soluble in dilute solution of potassium hydroxide. The fixed oil is soluble in alcohol, ether, and petroleum benzin. The presence of an alkaloid is uncertain.

Diuretic, sedative, tonic. It is milder and less stimulant than cubeb or copaiba, or even oil of sandalwood. Like these, it has the power of affecting the respiratory mucous membrane, and is used for many complaints which are accompanied by chronic catarrh. It has been claimed that sabal is capable of increasing the nutrition of the testicles and mammae in functional atony of these organs. It probably acts by reducing catarrhal irritation and a relaxed condition of bladder and urethra. It is a tissue builder.

Saw palmetto is another wonderful instance of scientific research validating traditional herbal medicine. Saw palmetto frequently equals and sometimes exceeds pharmaceuticals for treating benign prostate hypertrophy( BPH). More than a dozen clinical studies involving almost 3,000 men have verified saw palmetto’s ability to markedly alleviate BPH symptoms- without the libido reducing side effects of the pharmaceutical drug. The herb helps more men than synthetic drugs, and it gets the job done faster. As an added benefit, saw palmetto inhibites enzymes that are suspected to cause male pattern baldness, and there is plenty of anecdotal evidence indicates that saw palmetto stems hair loss and triggers growth. Although it has lost the favor of mainstream medicine in the U.S., it is still widely used in Europe.

saw palmetto extract has been promoted as useful for people with prostate cancer. However, according to the American Cancer Society, “available scientific studies do not support claims that saw palmetto can prevent or treat prostate cancer in humans”

Disclaimer:
The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplements, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider.

Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serenoa
http://www.driscollsnatural.com/herb_detail.php?herb=255
http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/s/sawpal26.html

Tags 5-alpha reductase, Alicia Silverstone, Alopecia, American Cancer Society, AOL, BPH, Common Name, Dietary supplement, Florida, Hendry County, Hormone, Lake Okeechobee, Sabal, Serenoa, South Carolina, United States

Herbs & Plants

Tragopogon porrifolius

[amazon_link asins=’B002BUC4JC,B01M10C64Q,B01DT2B360,B01MSU08NO’ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’finmeacur-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’cb497540-49b0-11e7-981e-a1ad29234fb1′]

Botanical Name : Tragopogon porrifolius
Family: Asteraceae
Genus: Tragopogon
Species: T. porrifolius
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Asterales

Synonyms: Purple Goat’s Beard. Vegetable Oyster.
(French) Salsifis des prés.

Common Names :Purple or Common salsify, Oyster plant, Vegetable oyster, Jerusalem star,Goatsbeard or Simply salsify (although these last two names are also applied to other species, as well).

Habitat :Tragopogon porrifolius is native to Mediterranean regions of Europe but introduced elsewhere, for example, into the British Isles (mainly in central and southern England), other parts of northern Europe, North America, and southern Africa and in Australia; in the United States it is now found growing wild in almost every state, including Hawaii, except in the extreme south-east.This plant is normally found near the sea and estuaries in S.E. England

Description:
Tragopogon porrifolius is a common biennial wildflower plant growing to around 120 cm in height. As with other Tragopogon species, its stem is largely unbranched, and the leaves are somewhat grasslike. It exudes a milky juice from the stems.In the UK it flowers from June to September, but in warmer areas such as California it can be found in bloom from April. The flower head is about 5 cm across, and each is surrounded by green bracts which are longer than the petals (technically, the ligules of the ray flowers). The flowers are like that of Goatsbeard Tragopogon pratensis, but are larger and dull purple, 30-50mm across. The flowers are hermaphroditic, and pollination is by insects.

CLICK & SEE THE PICTURES

The fruits are of the clock variety.The seeds ripen from July to September.

Cultivation:
Succeeds in ordinary garden soils, including heavy clays. Plants do not grow well in stony soils. Prefers an open situation and a cool moist root run. Salsify is occasionally cultivated in the garden for its edible root, there are some named varieties. Grows well with mustard.

Propagation:
Seed – sow in situ as early in the year as possible, in March if weather conditions permit. Seed sowings often fail unless the soil is kept moist until the seedlings are growing well.

Edible Uses:
Edible Parts: Flowers; Leaves; Root; Seed; Stem.

Root – raw or cooked. The young root can be grated in salads, older roots are best cooked. The flavour is mild and sweet, and is said to resemble oysters. The roots are harvested as required from October until early spring, or can be harvested in late autumn and stored until required. Young shoots – raw or cooked. The new growth is used in spring. A sweet taste. Flowering shoots – raw or cooked. Used like asparagus. Flowers – raw. Added to salads[183]. The sprouted seeds can be added to salads or sandwiches. The root latex is used as a chewing gum.

Meditional Uses:

Antibilious; Aperient; Deobstruent; Diuretic.

Salsify is a cleansing food with a beneficial effect upon the liver and gallbladder. The root is antibilious, slightly aperient, deobstruent and diuretic. It is specific in the treatment of obstructions of the gall bladder and jaundice and is also used in the treatment of arteriosclerosis and high blood pressure

Other Uses : Gum.

Resources:
http://www.pfaf.org/user/plant.aspx?LatinName=Tragopogon+porrifolius
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragopogon_porrifolius
http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/s/salsaf08.html

Tags Angus cattle, Boston, British Isles, Chef, Chocolate cake, Common Name, Europe, Goatsbeard, Google, List of root vegetables, Matrix Partners, Michael Skok, Newell Rubbermaid, Plant, Robert Bosch GmbH, Tragopogon, Tragopogon porrifolius, United States, Venrock

Herbs & Plants

Rhinanthus crista-galli

Botanical Name : Rhinanthus crista-galli
Family: Scrophulariaceae
Kingdom: Plantae
Genus: Rhinanthus

Synonyms: Cock’s Comb. Yellow Rattle Grass. Pennygrass.

Common Names :Yellow rattlebox,(Welsh) Crivell Melyn. ,(French) Crôte-de-coq. ,(Gaelic), little yellow rattle [English], Boden chloigin.cockscomb rhinanthus

Habitat :Rhinanthus crista-galli is native to Europe.It grows on dry fields, meadows, thickets

Description:
Rhinanthus crista-galli is a perennial herb.Yellow flowers in upper leaf axils of hairy plants, forming vertical clusters on one side of the plant. The calyx forms a flat, rounded bladder-like pod with the 2-lipped flower emerging from its tip. The upper lip is hood-shaped, often tinged with violet; the lower lip is 3-lobed, spotted. Leaves opposite in pairs, narrowly triangular or oblong, ¾-2½” (2-6 cm) long, sharply toothed. The seeds of the mature plant rattle in the calyx when plant is shaken. Figwort family. (June 15)
Flower: ½-¾” (1-2 cm) long
Plant height: 8-20″ (10-50 cm)

Blooming period: June-September

CLICK & SEE THE PICTURES

Medicinal Uses:
The Yellow Rattle was considered to have certain properties in common with Eyebright. Culpepper tells us that it ‘is held to be good for those that are troubled with a cough or dimness of sight, if the herb being boiled with beans and some honey; put thereto be drunk or dropped into the eyes. The whole seed being put into the eyes draweth forth any skin, dimness or film from the sight without trouble or pain.’

Resources:
http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=524618
http://www.ct-botanical-society.org/galleries/rhinanthusmino.html
http://hortiplex.gardenweb.com/plants/p1/gw1094277.html
http://newhampshirewildflowers.com/yellow-rattle.php
http://snowbirdpix.com/montana_plant_page.php?id=1604

Tags Common Name, Crista galli, Leucanthemum vulgare, Plant, Rhinanthus, Rhinanthus minor, Seed, Yellow Rattle

Herbs & Plants

Quinsy-Wort

Post author By Mukul
Post date July 7, 2014
No Comments on Quinsy-Wort

[amazon_link asins=’B00016AICS,B001G7QRE4,B003UCCLG6,B00Q0JZX2K,B00ZQJ8458,B0013DCHJ0,B019CJ9L2C,B0013OSSBA,B001GAOGB2′ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’finmeacur-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’17fe8c19-7ca7-11e7-9405-ffdad24f38b4′]

Botanical Name : Asperula cynanchica
Family: Rubiaceae
Subfamily: Rubioideae
Tribe: Rubieae
Genus: Asperula
Species: A. cynanchica
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Gentianales

Synonym: Squinancy-wort

Common Names :Quinsy-Wort, Squinancywort or Squincywort

Habitat :Quinsy-Wort is native to much of southern and central Europe from Spain and Ireland to Russia.It grows in short grassland or sand dunes on calcareous soils.

Description:
Quinsy-Wort is perennial plant. It is small, smooth and 6 to 10 inches high, with very narrow, close-set leaves, four in a whorl, two of each whorl much smaller than the others. The flowers are in loose terminal bunches, the corollas only 1/6 inch in diameter, pink externally and white inside, and are in bloom during June and July.CLICK & SEE THE PICTURES

Medicinal Uss:
The plant was at one time esteemed as a remedy for quinsy, but it is no longer used in herbal medicine.

Other Uses:
In Sweden, the roots have been used as a red dying agent.

Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asperula_cynanchica
http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/q/quiwor07.html
http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Asperula+cynanchica

Tags Asperula cynanchica, Botanical name, Common Name, Perennial plant, Plant, Spain, Sweden, Wort

Herbs & Plants

Anemone nemorosa

[amazon_link asins=’B01MAZGK2W,B01M5KMQ7W,B006GFF5RG,B004A255R2,B006JVMIR2,B00TQJDDL4,B006GFDH30,B076SBFKZ7,B076S5MCVW’ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’finmeacur-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’3c7824e5-ba61-11e7-b488-ef3298bb6812′]

Botanical Name : Anemone nemorosa
Family: Ranunculaceae
Genus: Anemone
Species: A. nemorosa
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Ranunculales

Synonyms: Crowfoot. Windflower. Smell Fox., Anemanthus nemorosus Fourr. Pulsatilla nemorosa Schrank.

Common Names : Wood anemone, Windflower, Thimbleweed, and Smell fox

Habitat : Anemone nemorosa is native to Europe. It occurs throughout the northern temperate zone of C. Europe, including Britain, and W. Asia. It grows in woodland and shady hillsides in all but the most base deficient or water-logged soils.

Description:
Anemone nemorosa is a perennial herbaceous plant growing 5–15 centimetres (2.0–5.9 in) tall.It is an early-spring flowering plant.The plants start blooming soon after the foliage emerges from the ground. The leaves are divided into three segments and the flowers, produced on short stems, are held above the foliage with one flower per stem. They grow from underground root-like stems called rhizomes and the foliage dies back down by mid summer (summer dormant). The rhizomes spread just below th e soil surface, forming long spreading clumps that grow quickly, contributing to its rapid spread in woodland conditions, where they often carpet large areas.

CLICK & SEE THE PICTURES

The flower is 2 centimetres (0.79 in) diameter, with six or seven (and on rare occasions eight to ten) tepals (petal-like segments) with many stamens. In the wild the flowers are usually white but may be pinkish, lilac or blue, and often have a darker tint on the backs of the tepals. The flowers are pollinated by insects, especially hoverflies.

The yellow wood anemone (Anemone ranunculoides) is a similar plant with slightly smaller, yellow flowers.

It has a long, tough, creeping root-stock, running just below the surface; it is the quick growth of this root-stock that causes the plant to spread so rapidly, forming large colonies in the moist soil of wood and thicket. The deeply-cut leaves and star-like flowers rise directly from it on separate unbranched stems. Some distance below the flower are the three leaflets, often so deeply divided as to appear more than three in number and very similar to the true leaves. They wrap round and protect the flower-bud before it unfolds, but as it opens, its stalk lengthens and it is carried far above them.

Cultivation:
Prefers a moist soil but tolerates dry conditions during its summer dormancy. Plants tolerate dry conditions and drought so long as there is plenty of humus in the soil. Prefers a well-drained humus-rich soil. Dislikes very acid soils. Prefers a shady position, growing well on woodland edges, but plants can also be naturalized in thin turf. Plants seem to be immune to the predations of rabbits. A greedy plant, inhibiting the growth of nearby plants, especially legumes. The plant has a running rootstock and can spread rapidly when well-sited. A very ornamental plant, there are several named varieties.

Propagation:
Seed – best sown in a cold frame as soon as it is ripe in the summer. Surface sow or only just cover the seed and keep the soil moist. Sow stored seed as soon as possible in late winter or early spring. The seed usually germinates in 1 – 6 months at 15°c. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in light shade in the greenhouse for at least their first year. When the plants are large enough, plant them out in the spring. Division in late summer after the plant dies down.

Medicinal Uses:

Antirheumatic; Homeopathy; Rubefacient; Tonic.

The leaves are antirheumatic, rubefacient and tonic. The plant is sometimes used externally as a counter-irritant in the treatment of rheumatism. The herb is gathered in spring before the plant comes into flower. Various parts of this herb used to be recommended for a variety of complaints such as headaches and gout, though the plant is virtually not used nowadays. A homeopathic remedy has been made from the leaves.

Though this species of Anemone has practically fallen out of use, the older herbalists recommended application of various parts of the plant for headaches, tertian agues and rheumatic gout.’The body being bathed with the decoction of the leaves cures the leprosy: the leaves being stamped and the juice snuffed up the nose purgeth the head mightily; so doth the root, being chewed in the mouth, for it procureth much spitting and bringeth away many watery and phlegmatic humours, and is therefore excellent for the lethargy…. Being made into an ointment and the eyelids annointed with it, it helps inflammation of the eyes. The same ointment is excellent good to cleanse malignant and corroding ulcers.’

Known Hazards:The plant contains poisonous chemicals that are toxic to animals including humans. The plant contains poisonous chemicals that are toxic to animals including humans, but it has also been used as a medicine. All parts of the plant contain protoanemonin, which can cause severe skin and gastrointestinal irritation, bitter taste and burning in the mouth and throat, mouth ulcers, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and hematemesi All parts of the plant contain protoanemonin, which can cause severe skin and gastrointestinal irritation, bitter taste and burning in the mouth and throat, mouth ulcers, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and hematemesis.

Other Uses:
Anemone nemorosa is grown as an ornamental plant for use in gardens and parks.

Resources:
http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/a/anemo036.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anemone_nemorosa

http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Anemone+nemorosa