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Herbs & Plants

Feronia limonia

Botanical Name : Feronia limonia
Family: Rutaceae
Subfamily: Aurantioideae
Tribe: Citreae
Genus: Limonia
Species: L. acidissima
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Sapindales

Synonyms. Feronia elephantum, Feronia limonia, Hesperethusa crenulata, Schinus limonia

Common Names:
*Bengali) : bela, kait, kath bel
*(English) : curd fruit, elephant apple, monkey fruit, wood-apple
*(French) : citron des mois, pomme d’ elephant, pomme de bois
*(Hindi) : bilin, kait, katbel, kavitha
*(Lao (Sino-Tibetan)) : ma-fit
*(Malay) : belinggai, gelinggai
*(Thai) : ma-khwit
*Oriya: Kaitha
*Kannada: Belada Hannu / Byalada Hannu
*Telugu: Vellaga Pandu
*Tamil: Vilam Palam
*Khmer: Kvet
*Hindi: Kaitha  or Kath Bel.
*Gujarati: Kothu.
*Sinhalese: Divul.
*Marathi: KavaTH .
*Javanese: Kawis or Kawista
*Sanskrit: Kapittha, Dadhistha, Surabhicchada, Kapipriya, Dadhi, Pu?papahala , Dantas?tha, Phalasugandhika, Cirap?k?, Karabhith?, Kanti, Gandhapatra, Gr?hiphala, Kas?y?mlaphala.

Habitat : It is native in the Indomalaya ecozone to Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and in Indochinese ecoregion east to Java and the Malesia ecoregion.

Description:
Feronia limonia is a deciduous, slow-growing, erect tree with a few upward-reaching branches bending outward near the summit where they are subdivided into slender branchlets drooping at the tips. Bark ridged, fissured and scaly; spines sharp, 2-5 cm long on some of the zigzag twigs. Leaves alternate, 7.5-12.5 cm long, dark-green, leathery, often minutely toothed, blunt or notched at the apex, dotted with oil glands and slightly lemon-scented when crushed. Flowers dull-red or greenish, to 1.25 cm wide, borne in small, loose, terminal or lateral panicles. Fruit round to oval, 5-12.5 cm wide, with a hard, woody, greyish-white, scurfy rind about 6 mm thick, pulp brown, mealy, odorous, resinous, astringent, acid or sweetish, with numerous small, white seeds scattered through it. Feronia is a monotypic genus in the family Rutaceae. There are 2 forms, one with large, sweet fruits and the other with small,little showerish fruits.

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Edible Uses;
The fruit is eaten plain, blended into an assortment of drinks and sweets, or well-preserved as jam. The scooped-out pulp from its fruits is eaten uncooked with or without sugar, or is combined with coconut milk and palm-sugar syrup and drunk as a beverage, or frozen as an ice cream. It is also used in chutneys and for making Fruit preserves jelly and jam.

Indonesians beat the pulp of the ripe fruit with palm sugar and eat the mixture at breakfast. The sugared pulp is a foundation of sherbet in the subcontinent. Jam, pickle, marmalade, syrup, jelly, squash and toffee are some of the foods of this multipurpose fruit. Young bael leaves are a salad green in Thailand. Indians eat the pulp of the ripe fruit with sugar or jaggery. The ripe pulp is also used to make chutney. The raw pulp is varied with yoghurt and make into raita. The raw pulp is bitter in taste, while the ripe pulp would be having a smell and taste that’s a mixture of sourness and sweet.

Food Value :
A hundred gm of fruit pulp contains 31 gm of carbohydrate and two gm of protein, which adds up to nearly 140 calories. The ripe fruit is rich in beta-carotene, a precursor of Vitamin A; it also contains significant quantities of the B vitamins thiamine and riboflavin, and small amounts of Vitamin C.

Medicinal Uses:
The fruit is much used in India as a liver and cardiac tonic, and, when unripe, as an astringent means of halting diarrhea and dysentery and effective treatment for hiccough, sore throat and diseases of the gums. The pulp is poulticed onto bites and stings of venomous insects, as is the powdered rind.   Juice of young leaves is mixed with milk and sugar candy and given as a remedy for biliousness and intestinal troubles of children. The powdered gum, mixed with honey, is given to overcome dysentery and diarrhea in children.  Oil derived from the crushed leaves is applied on itch and the leaf decoction is given to children as an aid to digestion. Leaves, bark, roots and fruit pulp are all used against snakebite. The spines are crushed with those of other trees and an infusion taken as a remedy for menorrhagia. The bark is chewed with that of Barringtonia and applied on venomous wounds.

Other Uses:
Ornamental: F. limonia is planted as a roadside tree near villages. Boundary or barrier or support: The tree is cultivated along field boundaries.

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/Limonia_(plant)
http://www.worldagroforestrycentre.org/sea/products/afdbases/af/asp/SpeciesInfo.asp?SpID=18044
http://www.herbnet.com/Herb%20Uses_UZ.htm
http://www.floracafe.com/Search_PhotoDetails.aspx?Photo=All&Id=1143

Categories
Herbs & Plants

Angostura trifoliata

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Botanical Name :Galipea officinali
Family: Rutaceae
Genus: Angostura
Species: A. trifoliata
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Sapindales

Common Name: Cusparia bark, Cusparia febrifuga, Bonplandia trifoliata, Galipea cusparia.

Synonyms
Allocspariene, Angostura trifoliata, Angostura trifoliate, Bonplandia trifoliata Willd., candicine, Cusparia febrifuga Humb. ex DC., Cusparia felorifuga, Cusparia trifoliata (Willd.) Engl., Galipea, Galipea officinalis, galipinine, quinolones, Rutaceae (family), tetrahydroquinolines.

Parts used: the dried bark

Habitat :Angostura trifoliata is native to tropical  South America.

Description;

The plant is called the tree belongs to Angosturovoe hinnym trees 10-20 meters tall, with compound leaves and grows tropical South America and West Indies.In medicine used to treat only the bark of Angostura.  Angosturae cortex  Cortex Angosturae. Latin name: Angosturae cortex or Cortex Angosturae.(Angostura febrifuga, Galipea officinalis, Rutaceae). In farmetsevtike this plant is known also under the names angosturovoe tree, or a drug galipeya (Angostura febrifuga, Galipea officinalis, Rutaceae).
Angostura (Galipea officinalis, Angostura trifoliata)   has been studied for its potential antibiotic and cytotoxic (cell killing) activity.

click to see the pictures.>......(01).…...…(1).......(2).......…(3)..……………………

Chemical Constituents: The dried bark has the active ingredients angosturin, the alkaloids galipine, cusparine, galipidine, cusparidine and cuspareine, as well as a volatile oil and an unidentified glucoside.

Medicinal uses:
Aromatic, Bitter, Tonic, Stimulant, Purgative

A strong bitter with tonic properties, angostura stimulates the stomach and digestive tract as a whole.  It is antispasmodic and is reported to act on the spinal nerves, helping in paralytic conditions.  Angostura is typically given for weak digestion, and is considered valuable as a remedy for diarrhea and dysentery.  In South America, it is sometimes used as a substitute for cinchona to control fevers.

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.herbnet.com/Herb%20Uses_AB.htm
http://www.wellness.com/reference/herb/angostura-galipea-officinalis-angostura-trifoliata/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angostura_trifoliata
http://www.herbal-encyclopedia.net/a/angostura-galipea-officinalis.html
http://www.inmagine.com/imagebrokerrm-210/ptg01279776-photo

http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=ru&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.medrezept.ru%2Ftravi%2Fpage%2F2%2F

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Categories
Herbs & Plants

Psilopeganum

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Botanical Name Psilopeganum sinense Hemsl.
Family: Rutaceae
Genus: Psilopeganum
Hemsl.
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Sapindales
Species: P. sinense

Common Name :Rue nude ,Naked rue
Chinese name: Bare rue

Habitat :
t is native to the Three Gorges Reservoir area, in the Hubei province of central China, where it has become endangered.Grows in  Badong, Xingshan, Yichang,  Sichuan: Jiangjin, Wushan, Beibei, Nanchuan, Wuxi, Wulong. Grows well  at Altitude  100-500
A specimen exists at the New York Botanical Garden.


Description:

Psilopeganum is a genus of flowering plants.It is a monotypic genus, with only a single species: Psilopeganum sinense Hemsl. It is endemic genera of seed plants .

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Medicinal Uses :
P. sinense is one of the 50 fundamental herbs used in traditional Chinese medicine.

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://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=zh-CN&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.plant.csdb.cn%2Fsdb%2Fteyou%2FTyp186.htm

http://www.hb.xinhuanet.com/zhuanti/2007-04/15/content_9792353.htm

http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&sl=zh-CN&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hb.xinhuanet.com%2Fzhuanti%2F2007-04%2F15%2Fcontent_9792353.htm

Categories
Herbs & Plants

Ash, Prickly (Xanthoxylum Americanum)

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Botanical Name: Xanthoxylum Americanum (MILL.)

Family: N.O. Rutacea
Subfamily: Toddalioideae
Genus: Zanthoxylum
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Sapindales

Synonyms: Toothache Tree. Yellow Wood. Suterberry. Clava-herculis and americanum
Common NamesPrickly Ash Bark , Szechuan pepper, chuan jiao, Tooth Ache Tree, yellow wood,Hercules’ Club.
Parts Used: Root-bark, berries.

Habitat : Native to central and eastern portions of the United States and Canada.  Rare in the South, it is more common in the northern United States. It is listed as Endangered in Florida, Maryland, and New Hampshire; and as Special Concern in Tennessee. It can be found in Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Washington, DC, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, Vermont, Wisconsin and West Virginia in the United States, and in Ontario and Quebec in Canada. It is found on upland rocky hillsides and on moist low-lying sites, in open woods, on bluffs or in thickets.

Taxonomy
Originally described by Scottish botanist Philip Miller in 1768, Zanthoxylum americanum is a member of the wide-ranging genus Zanthoxylum in the Rutaceae family, which includes many species with aromatic foliage. Miller, who spelled the name Xanthoxylum, described the plant in the eighth edition of his Gardeners Dictionary, as “grow[ing] naturally in Pensylvania [sic] and Maryland


Description:

It is  is an aromatic shrub or tree .It can grow to 10 meters (33 ft) tall with a diameter at breast height (DBH) of 15 centimeters (5.9 in). It produces membranous leaflets and axillary flower clusters. The wood is not commercially valuable, but oil extracts from the bark have been used in alternative medicine and have been studied for antifungal and cytotoxic properties

CLICK TO SEE THE PICTURES…>..(01)….…(1).…….(2).…..(3).…….(4).……(5)…..(6)..
The plant has membranous leaflets numbering between 5-11 and growing in opposite pairs. It has “axillary flower and fruit clusters”. The buds are hairy. Dark green leaves are bitter-aromatic, with crenate margins.  The berries begin red   and turn deep blue to black,   with stalked fruit pods.   Flowers are dioecious, with yellow-green petals.
Cultivation:
Prefers a good deep well-drained moisture retentive soil in full sun or semi-shade. A relatively fast-growing plant in the wild, it often forms thickets by means of root suckers. All parts of the plant are fragrant. The bruised foliage has a delicious resinous orange-like perfume. Dioecious. Male and female plants must be grown if seed is required. Flowers are formed on the old wood[206]. Special Features:North American native, Attracts butterflies, Inconspicuous flowers or blooms, Blooms appear periodically throughout the year.
Propagation:
Seed – best sown in a greenhouse as soon as it is ripe in the autumn. Stored seed may requires up to 3 months cold stratification, though scarification may also help. Sow stored seed in a cold frame as early in the year as possible. Germination should take place in late spring, though it might take another 12 months. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle and grow them on in a cold frame for their first winter. Plant them out in early summer. Cuttings of half-ripe wood, July/August in a frame. Root cuttings, 3cm long, planted horizontally in pots in a greenhouse. Good percentage. Suckers, removed in late winter and planted into their permanent positions.
Edible Uses: Condiment.

Seed – cooked. It is used as a condiment. A pepper substitute. The fruit is rather small, about 4 – 5m in diameter, but is produced in dense clusters which makes harvesting easy. Each fruit contains a single seed.

Constituents:
The barks of numerous species of Xanthoxylum and the allied genus Fagara have been used medicinally. There are two principal varieties of Prickly Ash in commerce: X. Americanum (Northern Prickly Ash) and Fagara Clava-Herculis (Southern Prickly Ashj, which is supposed to be more active. Although not absolutely identical, the two Prickly Ash barks are very similar in their active constituents. Both contain small amounts of volatile oil, fat, sugar, gum, acrid resin, a bitter alkaloid, believed to be Berberine and a colourless, tasteless, inert, crystalline body, Xanthoxylin, slightly different in the two barks. Both yield a large amount of Ash: 12 per cent. or more. The name Xanthoxylin is also applied to a resinous extractive prepared by pouring a tincture of the drug into water.

The fruits of both the species are used similarly to the barks. Their constituents have not been investigated, but they apparently agree in a general way with those of the bark.

The drug is practically never adulterated. The Northern bark occurs in commerce in curved or quilled fragments about 1/24 inch thick, externally brownish grey, with whitish patches, faintly furrowed, with some linearbased, two-edged spines about 1/4 inch long. The fracture is short, green in the outer, and yellow in the inner part. The Southern bark, which is more frequently sold, is 1/12 inch thick and has conical, corky spines, sometimes 4/5, inch in height.

Medicinal Uses:
Traditional
An oil extracted from the bark and berries of the prickly-ash (both this species and Zanthoxylum clava-herculis) is used medicinally. The extract may act as a stimulant, and historic medicinal use has included use “for chronic rheumatism, typhoid and skin diseases and impurity of the blood…” as well as for digestive ailments. Grieve states, “The berries are considered even more active than the bark, being carminative and antispasmodic, and are used as an aperient and for dyspepsia and indigestion; a fluid extract of the berries being given, in doses of 10 to 30 drops.” The bark has been chewed for toothaches, and a tea from the berries has been used for sore throats and as a diuretic.

Traditional Chinese Medicine uses prickly ash to warm the “middle burner,” the energies in the middle of the body that power the immune response and help digest food.

It acts as a stimulant – resembling guaiacum resin and mezereon bark in its remedial action and is greatly recommended in the United States for chronic rheumatism, typhoid and skin diseases and impurity of the blood, administered either in the form of fluid extract or in doses of 10 grains to 1/2 drachm in the powdered form, three times daily.

The following formula has also become popular in herbal medicine: Take 1/2 oz. each of Prickly Ash Bark, Guaiacum Raspings and Buckbean Herb, with 6 Cayenne Pods. Boil in 1 1/2 pint of water down to 1 pint . Dose: a wineglassful three or four times daily.

On account of the energetic stimulant properties of the bark, it produces when swallowed a sense of heat in the stomach, with more or less general arterial excitement and tendency to perspiration and is a useful tonic in debilitated conditions of the stomach and digestive organs, and is used in colic, cramp and colera, in fever, ague, lethargy, for cold hands and feet and complaints arising from a bad circulation.

A decoction made by boiling an ounce in 3 pints of water down to a quarter may be given in the quantity of a pint, in divided doses, during the twenty-four hours. As a counter-irritant, the decoction may be applied on compresses. It has also been used as an emmenagogue.

The powdered bark forms an excellent application to indolent ulcers and old wounds for cleansing, stimulating, drying up and healing the wounds. The pulverized bark is also used for paralytic affections and nervous headaches and as a topical irritant the bark, either in powdered form, or chewed, has been a very popular remedy for toothache in America, hence the origin of a common name of the tree in the States: Toothache Tree.

The berries are considered even more active than the bark, being carminative and antispasmodic, and are used as an aperient and for dyspepsia and indigestion; a fluid extract of the berries being given, in doses of 10 to 30 drops.

Xanthoxylin. Dose, 1 to 2 grains.

Both berries and bark are used to make a good bitter.


Modern studies

There have been some modern studies of the oil’s constituents and antifungal properties  and cytotoxic effects.

Other Uses: Landscape Uses:Border, Massing. The fruits have been used by young men as a perfume. Wood – soft. It weighs 35lb per cubic foot. Of little use.

You may click to see
:-> What Is Prickly Ash Bark? :

Known Hazaards:  Tannins may reduce gut iron absorption. Possble nervous system stimulation. Excessive ingestion may interfere with anticoagulant therapy

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.anniesremedy.com/herb_detail403.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanthoxylum_americanum
http://botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/a/ashpr077.html

http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Zanthoxylum+americanum

Categories
Herbs & Plants

Tilia spp

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English: Lime Tree (Tilia sps) showing new gro...
English: Lime Tree (Tilia sps) showing new growth produced as a response to severe wind damage in late spring. Spier’s, Beith, Scotland. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Botanical Name : Tilia spp
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Malvales
Family: Malvaceae
Genus: Tilia
Common Names :  Linden , Lime tree, Basswood

Name :Lime is an altered form of Middle English lind, in the 16th century also line, from Old English feminine lind or linde, Proto-Germanic *lend?, cognate to Latin lentus “flexible” and Sanskrit lat? “liana”. Within Germanic languages, English lithe, German lind “lenient, yielding” are from the same root.

Linden was originally the adjective, “made from lime-wood” (equivalent to “wooden”), from the late 16th century “linden” was also used as a noun, probably influenced by translations of German romance, as an adoption of Linden, the plural of German Linde. Neither the name nor the tree is related to the citrus fruit called “lime” (Citrus aurantifolia, family Rutaceae). Another widely-used common name used in North America is basswood, derived from bast, the name for the inner bark . In the US, the name ‘lime’ is used only for the citrus tree.

Leaf of Tilia X cordata showing veination.Latin tilia is cognate to Greek , ptelea, “elm tree”, tiliai, “black poplar” (Hes.), ultimately from a Proto-Indo-European word  with a meaning of “broad” (feminine); perhaps “broad-leaved” or similar

Habitat : Native throughout most of the temperate Northern Hemisphere, in Asia (where the greatest species diversity is found), Europe and eastern North America; it is not native to western North America.The tree grows very fast in rich soil

Description:
Tilia is a genus of about 30 species of trees, Under the Cronquist classification system, this genus was placed in the family Tiliaceae, but genetic research by the APG has resulted in the incorporation of this family into the Malvaceae. They are generally called lime in Britain and linden or basswood in North America.

CLICK TO SEE THE PICTURES…...(01)..…....(1).….(2)..]………(3)……………..

Tilia species are large deciduous trees, reaching typically 20 to 40 metres (70 to 100 ft) tall, with oblique-cordate leaves 6 to 20 centimetres (2 to 8 in) across, and are found through the north temperate regions. The exact number of species is subject to considerable uncertainty, as many or most of the species will hybridise readily, both in the wild and in cultivation.
The Tilia’s sturdy trunk stands like a pillar and the branches divide and subdivide into numerous ramifications on which the twigs are fine and thick. In summer these are profusely clothed with large leaves and the result is a dense head of abundant foliage.

The leaves of all the Tilias are heart-shaped and most are asymmetrical, and the tiny fruit, looking like peas, always hang attached to a curious, ribbon-like, greenish yellow bract, whose use seems to be to launch the ripened seed-clusters just a little beyond the parent tree. The flowers of the European and American Tilias are similar, except that the American bears a petal-like scale among its stamens and the European varieties are devoid of these appendages. All of the Tilias may be propagated by cuttings and grafting as well as by seed. They grow rapidly in a rich soil, but are subject to the attack of many insects.

 


Madicinal Uses :
Common Uses:
Anxiety/Panic * Colds * Sore Throat/Laryngitis *
Properties: Demulcent* Diaphoretic* Sedative* Nervine*
Parts Used: The flowers, carefully dried in the shade.
Constituents: alpha-pinene,ascorbic-acid,astragalin,beta-amyrin,beta-sitosterol,caffeic-acid,chlorogenic-acid,cysteine ,eugenol,geraniol,hesperidin ,isoquercitrin,limonene,linalyl-acetate,mucilage,nerolidol,p-coumaric-acid,phenylalanine,quercetin, quercitrin ,tannin,terpineol,tocopherol, vanillin .

Most medicinal research has focused on Tilia cordata although other species are also used medicinally and somewhat interchangeably. The dried flowers are mildly sweet and sticky, and the fruit is somewhat sweet and mucilaginous. Limeflower tea has a pleasing taste, due to the aromatic volatile oil found in the flowers. The flowers, leaves, wood, and charcoal (obtained from the wood) are used for medicinal purposes. Active ingredients in the Tilia flowers include flavonoids (which act as antioxidants), volatile oils, and mucilaginous constituents (which soothe and reduce inflammation). The plant also contains tannins that can act as an astringent.

Tilia flowers are used medicinally for colds, cough, fever, infections, inflammation, high blood pressure, headache (particularly migraine), as a diuretic (increases urine production), antispasmodic (reduces smooth muscle spasm along the digestive tract), and sedative. New evidence shows that the flowers may be hepatoprotective. The flowers were added to baths to quell hysteria, and steeped as a tea to relieve anxiety-related indigestion, irregular heartbeat, and vomiting. The leaves are used to promote sweating to reduce fevers. The wood is used for liver and gallbladder disorders and cellulitis (inflammation of the skin and surrounding soft tissue). That wood burned to charcoal is ingested to treat intestinal disorders and used topically to treat edema or infection such as cellulitis or ulcers of the lower leg.

The fragrant, yellowish flowers of the Linden tree have been used since the Middle Ages to promote perspiration and for nervous conditions. Linden flower tea is better known in Europe than here in North America, though Native Americans used linden for colds, fevers and nervous headaches – much the same purposes as modern herbalists do today. European herbalists recommend linden as a mild tonic for nervousness, insomnia as well as colds and fever. You will find linden often combined with yarrow flowers and sage in cold remedies.

Lime Blossom, or Linden, is well known as a relaxing remedy for use in nervous tension. It has a reputation as a prophylactic against the development of arteriosclerosis and hypertension. It is considered to be a specific in the treatment of raised blood pressure associated with arteriosclerosis and nervous tension. It initially increases peripheral circulation to fingers and toes, helping the evaporation of body heat, and then stabilizes blood vessels and body temperature. Linden is an excellent remedy for stress and panic, and is used specifically to treat nervous palpitations. Its relaxing action combined with a general effect upon the circulatory system give lime blossom a role in the treatment of some forms of migraine. The diaphoresis combined with the relaxation explains its value in feverish colds and flus. The flowers bring relief to colds, and flu by reducing nasal congestion and soothing fever. Because of their emollient quality, linden flowers are used in France to make a lotion for itchy skin. The tea is given to babies for teething.

The sapwood of a linden growing wild in the south of France (T. cordata) is used as a diuretic, choleretic, hypotensive and antispoasmodic. A light infusion of the flowers is sedative, antispasmodic and diaphoretic. It also thins the blood and enhances circulation.


Other Uses:

The Tilia is recommended as an ornamental tree when a mass of foliage or a deep shade is desired. The tree produces fragrant and nectar-producing flowers, the medicinal herb lime blossom. They are very important honey plants for beekeepers, producing a very pale but richly flavoured monofloral honey. The flowers are also used for herbal tea, and this infusion is particularly popular in Europe.

T. cordata is the preferred species for medical use, having a high concentration of active compounds. It is said to be a nervine, used by herbalists in treating restlessness, hysteria, and headaches. Usually, the double-flowered Tilias are used to make perfumes. The leaf buds and young leaves are also edible raw. Tilia species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species; see List of Lepidoptera that feed on Tilia.

The timber of Tilia trees is soft, easily worked, and has very little grain, and a density of 560 kg per cubic metre. It is a popular wood for model building and intricate carving. Especially in Germany, it was the classic wood for sculpture from the Middle Ages onwards, and is the material for the elaborate altarpieces of Veit Stoss, Tilman Riemenschneider and many others. Ease of working and good acoustic properties also make it popular for electric guitar and bass bodies and wind instruments such as recorders. In the past, it was typically used (along with Agathis) for less-expensive models. However, due to its better resonance at mid and high frequency, and better sustain than alder, it is now more commonly in use with the “superstrat” type of guitar. It can also be used for the neck because of its excellent material integrity when bent and ability to produce consistent tone without any dead spots according to Parker Guitars. In the percussion industry, Tilia is sometimes used as a material for drum shells, both to enhance their sound and their aesthetics. It is also the wood of choice for the window-blinds and shutters industries. Real wood blinds are often made from this lightweight but strong and stable wood which is well suited to natural and stained finishes.

Limewood Saint George by Tilman Riemenschneider, c. 1490.It is known in the trade as basswood, particularly in North America. This name originates from the inner fibrous bark of the tree, known as bast. A very strong fibre is obtained from this, by peeling off the bark and soaking in water for a month; after which the inner fibres can be easily separated. Bast obtained from the inside of the bark of the Tilia tree has been used by the Ainu people of Japan to weave their traditional clothing, the attus. Similar fibres are obtained from other plants are also called bast, named after those from the Tilia: see Bast fibre.

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.anniesremedy.com/herb_detail309.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilia

http://www.herbnet.com/Herb%20Uses_LMN.htm

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