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Herbs & Plants

Oenanthe crocata

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Botanical Name :Oenanthe crocata
Family: Apiaceae
Genus:     Oenanthe
Kingdom: Plantae
Order:     Apiales

Synonyms: Horsebane. Dead Tongue. Five-Fingered Root. Water Lovage. Yellow Water Dropwort.

Common Name :Water dropwort.

Other Names :  Dean’s fingers. Beldrum
(Pemb). Bendock, (Kent). Cowbane.  (Yks). Bilders, (Corn, Dev, IoW). Deadman’s cresh,
(Dumf). Dead tounge, (Lancs, Weat, Cumb). Eltrot, (Wilts,Som) Five fingered rot, (Pemb, Glam).
Water sapwort, (Ang). Water  hemlock, (Suss, Cumb) . Wild rue, (Donegal). Deathin. (Som).

Habitat :Oenanthe crocata is found in  S.& W. Great Britain. Rare of a line E from from London to Inverness. Ireland except C.& W. W.Europe. N.W. Africa. It grows in damp, marshy ground, and resembles celery with roots like a bunch of large white carrots.

Description:
Oenanthe crocata is a glabrous perennial but Poisonous plant With aroma of parsley and test is Sweet.The height of the plant is 150cm.The stem is hollow and grooved having yellow juice.The root is cylindrical-obovoid tubers, 6 x lcm. Has yellowish juice, which stains hands.The umbel (An umbel is an inflorescence which consists of a number of short flower stalks (called pedicels) which spread from a common point, somewhat like umbrella ribs. The arrangement can vary from being flat topped to almost spherical. Umbels can be simple or compound. ) is compound, terminal. 5-10cm. diam. with (7)12-40 smooth rays (1.5)3-8 cm long.

click to see the pictures

LEAVES : lower: 30cm 3(4) pinnate, sheathing petioles. Segments 1-2cm, ovate to suborbicular
in outline, crenate to pinnatifid, cuneate at the base, serrate, teeth obtuse or subacute with
minute apiculus. Upper: 1-2 pinnate, narrower segments with short sheathing petiole. Cotyledons
abruptly contracted into  a petiole.

Peduncle> than rays. Terminal hermaphrodite, lateral male Partial umbels not flat topped in fruit.

BRACTS : 5, linear to 3-fid. Bracteoles 6 or more, caducous, linear lanceolate.

FLOWERS : white. Sepals ovate to triangular, acute, persistent, outer petals scarcely radia­ting,
unequal. Styles form a stylopodium. F1 .6-7.

FRUIT : 4-5.5 mm cylindrical, rarely subovoid. Commisure broad. Mericarps with slender ridges. Carpophore present vittae solitary. Styles 2mm, erect 1/2 > as fruit. Stigma a small knob.2n=22*

Medicinal Uses:
Oenanthe crocata is most poisonous  plant and has never been used to any extent in medicine, though in some cases it has been taken with effect in eruptive diseases of the skin, being given at first in small doses, gradually increased.

Great caution must be exercised in the use of the tincture.
The roots have likewise been used in poultices to whitlows and to foul ulcers, both in man and horned cattle.

Other Uses with Known Hazards: The leaves may be eaten safely by livestock, but the stems, and especially the carbohydrate-rich roots are much more poisonous. Animals familiar with eating the leaves may eat the roots when these are exposed during ditch clearance – one root is sufficient to kill a cow, and human fatalities are also known. It has been referred to as the most poisonous of all British plants,[1] and is considered particularly dangerous because of its similarity to several edible plants.

Scientists at the University of Eastern Piedmont in Italy claimed to have identified hemlock water dropwort (Oenanthe crocata) as the plant responsible for producing the sardonic grin. This plant is the most-likely candidate for the “sardonic herb,” which was a neurotoxic plant used for the ritual killing of elderly people in Phoenician Sardinia. When these people were unable to support themselves, they were intoxicated with this herb and then dropped from a high rock or beaten to death. Criminals were also executed in this way.

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://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/d/drophe21.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_dropwort
http://www.spookspring.com/Umbels/Hem_Water_Drop.html

Categories
Herbs & Plants

Gleditschia

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Botanical Name: Gleditschia triacanthos
Family: Fabaceae
Genus: Gleditsia
Species: G. triacanthos
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Fabales
Synonyms: Gleditschine. Honey Locust. Gleditschia Ferox. Three-(t)horned Acacia. Gleditschine. Gleditschia triacanthos, Gleditschia macracantha.
Parts Used: The twigs and leaves.
Habitat: Eastern and Central United States.

Description: A small, thorny tree, with pinnated leaves and greenish flowers growing in dense spikes. The younger and smaller branches have strong, triple tapering thorns. In the autumn they bear thin, flat pods resembling apple-parings. They contain seeds surrounded by a sweetish pulp from which it is stated that sugar has been extracted. The wood is chiefly used for fencing.

Click to see the pictures

Gleditschia triacanthos L., or Honey Locust, and G. Macracantha Desf. (Fam. Leguminosae), and are small, thorny trees having pinnate leases and forming elongated pods filled with a sweetish pulp. The trees grow in rich woods in the Eastern and Central United States and are common in cultivation. G. Macracantha is indigenous to China. These trees were chemically studied by B. F. Lautenbach (P. M. T; 1878), who abstracted from them an alkaloid, which he found to produce in the frog stupor and loss of reflex activity, due to an action upon the spinal cord. To this alkaloid Lautenbach gave the name of gleditschine. In 1887 (Med. Rec., 1887) Goodman, Seward, and Claiborne brought before the profession, as a local anesthetic, an alkaloid under the name of stenocarpine which was asserted to be obtained from the Gleditschia triacanthos. In November, 1888, however, F. W. Thompson, of Detroit (Med. Age), and T. G. Novy (Ph. Rund.) and John Marshall of the University of Pennsylvania (Phila. Med. News), published analyses of this solution, showing that it contained 6 per cent. of cocaine, besides some atropine or other mydriatic alkaloid.

Constituents: An alkaloid, Gleditschine, has been abstracted, and another called Stenocarpine. It also contains cocaine, and probably atropine.

Medicinal Action and Uses: Stenocarpine was introduced as a local anaesthetic in 1887. Gleditschine was found to produce stupor and loss of reflex activity in a frog.

Other Species:
G. Macracantha possesses similar properties, and is indigenous to China.


Resources:

http://botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/g/gledit19.html
http://www.henriettesherbal.com/eclectic/usdisp/gleditschia.html

Categories
Herbs & Plants

Wolf’s bane (Indian aconite)

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Botanical Name: Aconitum ferox Wall
Family: Ranunculaceae
Genus: Aconitum
Species:A. ferox
Kingdom:Plantae
Order: Ranunculales

Syn: Aconitum virosum Don., A. napellus var. rigidum Hook, f & T.

English names: Wolf’s bane, Indian aconite.

Sanskrit names: Vatsanabha, Visa.

Vernacular names: Hin: Bish, Mahoor; Guj and Mar: Vachang; Kas: Mohra; Tam: Vasnumbi; Tel: Vasnabhi.

Trade name: Bish.

Habitat : Wolf’s bane  is  abundant at Sandakphu, which is the highest point of the Darjeeling Hills in the Indian State of West Bengal.
Alpine Himalaya including Nepal; endemic.

Descriptions: 

Wolf’s bane is  a deciduous perennial plant  . It is an erect herb growing up to 2 m in height; roots look like the navel of children; leaves alternate, simple, rounded or oval, may be palmately 5-lobed; flowers borne on branched racemes, bracts and bracteoles present, large helmet-type, helmet vaulted with short sharp beak, pale dirty blue in colour, zygomorphic, floral parts arranged spirally on an elongated receptacle; follicles erect, usually densely villose-sometimes glabrous.

Phenology: Flowering and Fruiting: July-November.
Ecology and cultivation: Temperate to alpine regions of the Himalaya in the altitude of 3300-5000 m…..CLICK & SEE

Cultivation:-
Thrives in most soils and in the light shade of trees[1]. Grows well in heavy clay soils. Prefers a moist soil in sun or semi-shade. Prefers a calcareous soil. Grows well in open woodlands. If the flower stems are removed after flowering the plant will normally flower again later in the season. Members of this genus seem to be immune to the predations of rabbits and deer. A greedy plant, inhibiting the growth of nearby species, especially legumes. A polymorphic species. The nomenclature is very confused for this species, A. lycoctonum. L. is treated as A. septentrionale by many botanists whilst A. lycoctonum. Auct. is A. vulparia.

Propagation:-
Seed – best sown as soon as it is ripe in a cold frame. The seed can be stratified and sown in spring but will then be slow to germinate. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in a cold frame for their first winter. Plant them out in late spring or early summer. Division – best done in spring but it can also be done in autumn. Another report says that division is best carried out in the autumn or late winter because the plants come into growth very early in the year

Chemical contents: Root: pseudoaconitine (a toxic alkaloid), indactonitine, chasmaconitine, bikhaconitine.
Medicinal Actions &  Uses:

Alterative; Anaesthetic; Antiarthritic; Antitussive; Deobstruent; Diaphoretic; Diuretic; Sedative; Stimulant.

The root is alterative, anaesthetic, antiarthritic, antitussive, deobstruent, diaphoretic, diuretic, sedative and stimulant. This is a very poisonous plant and should only be used with extreme caution and under the supervision of a qualified practitioner

Traditional use: AYURVEDA : Root: used in the mrityunjaya rasa (used to treat the fever supposed to be caused by deranged vayu, i.e., wind, sannipatika jvara, i.e., remittent fever, hingulesware-rasa, anandabhairav agnitundi vati, etc.

Vatsanabha has been used in medicine from a very remote period. It is regarded as healing and stimulant. It is used in a great variety of affections, but is specially recommended in fever, cephalagia, affections of throat, dyspepsia and rheumatism. HOMOEOPATHY: remedy for clotting of blood in heart or in lungs, pneumonia, Iymptisis, pleurisy, eye trouble, earache, toothache and urinary trouble.

Modern use: Extremely poisonous; used in leprosy, fever, cholera, nasal catarrah, tonsillitis, sore throat, gastric disorders, debility, etc., also used as a sedative and diaphoretic; applied in the form of paste in cases of neuralgia and rheumatism.

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Adulterants: Indian aconite root is known as ‘bikh’ or ‘bish’, the name which is applied to aconite from more than one species, and different authors have ascribed it to different species.

Remarks: Vulnerable due to excessive collection for medicinal uses. Collection in wild state should be banned and measures for cultivation should be initiated.

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

Reources:

http://www.bsienvis.org/medi.htm#Aconitum%20ferox

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aconitum_ferox

http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Aconitum+lycoctonum

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