A-Z of Herbal Remedies

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Aconite Aconitum napellus.
Common Name: Monkshood, blue rocket, friar's cap, wolfsbane.
Occurrence: indigenous to mountain slopes in the Alps and Pyrenees. Introduced into England very early, before 900 AD.
Parts Used: the leaves used fresh and the root when dried. It contains alkaloidal material- aconitine, benzaconine and aconine amongst other compounds.
Medicinal Uses:The plant is poisonous and should not be used except under medical advice. It is an anodyne, diaphoretic, febrifuge and sedative. Used for reducing fever and inflammation in the treatment of catarrh, tonsillitis and croup. It may be used in controlling heart spasm.
Administered As: tincture, liniment and occasionally as injection.


Agrimony Agrimonia eupatoria.
Common Name: Church steeples, cockeburr, sticklewort.
Occurrence: field borders, ditches and hedges throughout England. Found locally in Scotland.
Parts Used: the herb. Contains a particular volatile oil, tannin and a bitter principle.
Medicinal Uses: mild astringent, tonic, diuretic, deobstruent. It has a reputation for curing liver complaints and is very good for skin eruptions and blood diseases. Also recommended to treat the sting and bite of snakes.
Administered As: liquid extract.

Alder Alnus glutinosa.
Common Name: Betula alnus.
Occurrence: commonly found throughout Britain, usually in moist woods or by streams.
Parts Used: the bark, wood, shoots, catkins and leaves have all been used as dyes. The bark and leaves contain tannic acid.
Medicinal Uses: tonic and astringent. Used as a decoction to bathe swelling and inflammation, particularly of the throat.
Administered As: decoction.

Allspice Pimento officinalis,
Common Name: Pimento, Jamaica pepper, clove pepper.
Occurrence: indigenous to the West Indies and South America; cultivated in Jamaica and central America.
Parts Used: the fruit, which contains a volatile oil made up of eugenol, a sesquiterpene and other unknown chemicals.
Medicinal Uses: aromatic, stimulant, carminative. Allspice acts on the gastro-intestinal tract and is usually added to drinks tonics and purgatives for flavouring. The spice may also be used for flatulent indigestion and hysteria. Allspice is frequently used as a spice and condiment in food or drinks.
Administered As: essential oil, distilled water, powdered fruit, fluid extract.

Aloes Aloe perryi, Aloe vera.
Occurrence: indigenous to East and South Africa and introduced into the West Indies.
Parts Used: the drug aloes is described as "the liquid evaporated to dryness which drains from the leaves." It contains two aloin compounds, barbaloin and isobarbaloin, as well as amorphous aloin, resin and aloe-emodin in differing proportions.
Medicinal Uses: emmenagogue, purgative, vermifuge, anthelmintic. It is generally administered along with carminative and anodyne drugs, and acts on the lower bowel. The liquid form may be used externally to ease skin irritation.
Administered As: fluid extract, powdered extract, decoction, tincture.

Almond, Sweet Amygdalus communis var. dulais. Almond, Bitter Amygdalus commis var. amara.
Occurrence: native trees of western Asia and North Africa and cultivated in most Mediterranean countries and Great Britain.
Parts Used: the nut and the oil expressed from it.
Medicinal Uses: sweet almonds have demulcent and nutritive properties, but since the outer skin can cause irritation of the alimentary canal, almonds are normally blanched and the skin removed before being used as food. The oil produced is emollient, demulcent, nutritive and slightly laxative, and is mainly used in cosmetics but is also taken internally as a medicine. It is of benefit in allaying acrid juices, softening and relaxing solid materials, bronchial diseases, tickling coughs, hoarseness and nephritic pains. Sweet almonds are made into emulsions with barley water or gum arabic to treat gravel, stone, kidney disorders and bladder and biliary duct problems, with more success than almond oil. Bitter almonds yield a volatile oil upon distillation with water which is used as a flavouring agent. These almonds contain the glucoside amygdalin and the chemical emulsin that acts on the glucoside to produce glucose, prus-sic acid and benzaldehyde in the presence of water.

Prussic acid is poisonous and use of bitter almond oil must be carefully monitored. In the Middle Ages, the oil was used for intermittent fevers, hydrophobia and as an aperient, diuretic and vermifuge drug, but it is seldom administered medicinally now. The cake left after expressing the oil has a special dietary value and is often made into flour for cakes and biscuits for diabetic patients. Almond oil is used in trade as a lubricant for watches, and in soaps and toiletries.
Administered As: expressed oil, bitter almond oil (with prussic acid removed).

Anemone, Pulsatilla Anemone Pulsatilla,
Common Name: Pasqueflower, meadow anemone, wind flower.
Occurrence: found locally in chalk downs and limestone areas of England.
Parts Used: the whole herb. It produces oil of anemone upon distillation with water.
Medicinal Uses: nervine, antispasmodic, alterative and diaphoretic. It is beneficial in disorders of mucous membranes and of the respiratory and digestive passages. Can be used to treat asthma, whooping cough and bronchitis.
Administered As: fluid extract.

Anemone, Wood Anemone nemorosa.
Common Name: crowfoot, windflower, smell fox.
Occurrence: found in woods and thickets across Great Britain.
Parts Used: the root, leaves and juice.
Medicinal Uses: this species of plant is much less widely used than it has been previously. It used to be good for leprosy, lethargy, eye inflammation and headaches. An ointment made of the leaves is said to be effective in cleansing malignant ulcers.
Administered As: decoction, fresh leaves and root, ointment.

Angelica Angelica archangelica.
Common Name: Garden Angelica, Archangelica officinalis.
Occurrence: found native to some sites in Scotland although more abundant in Lapland and is a common garden plant in England.
Parts Used: the root, leaves and seeds. The leaves contain volatile oil, valeric acid, angelic acid, a bitter principle and a resin called angelicin. The roots contain terebangelene and other terpenes while the seeds also yield two acid compounds.
Medicinal Uses: Angelica has carminative, stimulant, diaphoretic, diuretic, aromatic, stomachic, tonic and expectorant properties and is good for colds, coughs, pleurisy, wind, colic and rheumatism. It is used as a stimulating expectorant and is good for digestion.
Administered As: powdered root, liquid extract, infusion or as a poultice.

Angostura Galipea officinalis,
Common Name: Cusparia bark, Cuspariafebrifuga,Bonplandia trifoliata, Galipea cusparia.
Occurrence: a small tree native to tropical South America.
Parts Used: the dried bark, which 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. There is a long history of usage by native South Americans as a stimulant tonic. It is useful in bilious diarrhoea and dysentery, but in large doses it has a purgative and cathartic effect on the body.
Administered As: infusion, powdered bark, tincture, fluid extract.

Anise Pimpinella anisum.
Common Name: Aniseed.
Occurrence: native to Egypt, Greece, Crete and western Asia, its cultivation spread to central Europe and North Africa.
Parts Used: the fruit. Upon distillation, the fruit yields a fragrant volatile oil that is made up of anethol, choline, a fixed oil, sugar and mucilage.
Medicinal Uses: carminative and pectoral. It is very useful against coughs and chest infections and is made into lozenges or smoked to clear the chest. Aniseed tea is good for infant catarrh, and aids digestion in adults. Anise seed is an ingredient of cathartic and aperient pills, to relieve flatulence and lessen the griping caused by purgative herbs. It can also be given in convulsions quite safely.
Administered As: essence, essential oil, tincture, powdered seeds, tea and pills.

Apple Pyrus malus.
Common Name:' Wild Apple, Malus communis, crab-tree.
Occurrence: native to Great Britain and found throughout the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere.
Parts Used: the fruit and bark. Apples contain water, protein material, carbonaceous matter, vitamins, organic acids, salts of potassium, sodium, carbon and magnesium.
Medicinal Uses: diuretic, slightly astringent. The organic acids in the fruit benefit sedentary people and ease liver problems, gout and indigestion. Apple juice or cider is drunk frequently in some areas e.g. Normandy, where problems of stone or calculus are unknown because of the diuretic effects of apples.
Apples can also help cure constipation, scurvy, sleeplessness or bilious complaints. They act as an excellent dentifrice (tooth cleanser) and are applied as a poultice to sore eyes when rotten. A decoction of the bark is used against intermittent and bilious fevers, while cooked apples are used in sore throats, eye problems, and in skin and tissue infected with the Streptococcus pyogenes bacterium. Dropsy is helped by drinking cider in which horseradish was steeped.
Administered As: fresh fruit, expressed juice, fermented drink, infusion, decoction, poultice.

Apricot Prunus armeniaca.
Common Name: Apricock, Armeniaca vulgaris.
Occurrence: originally found in northern China, the Himalaya region and temperate Asia. Now cultivated across temperate regions of Europe and introduced into England in the sixteenth century.
Parts Used: the kernels and the oil expressed from them. The oil contains olein and the glyc-eride of linolic acid. The cake left after oil removal produces an essential oil upon distillation that contains the glucoside amygdalin and is chemically identical to the essential oil from the almond. It is used in confectionery and as a food flavouring.
Medicinal Uses: apricot oil is substituted for oil of almonds in cosmetics, because of its lower cost. It has a softening action on the skin.
Administered As: expressed oil, essential oil.

Areca Nut Areca catechu,
Common Name: Betel nut, pinang.
Occurrence: a tree cultivated in the East Indies, India and Sri Lanka.
Parts Used: the seeds contain a large amount of tannin, gallic acid, a fixed oil, lignin and a volatile oil.They also contain three alkaloids, arcoline, arecain and guracine with the second listed being the active principle.
Medicinal Uses: aromatic, astringent, taenacide and mydriatic. The native people chew these nuts, which stain the teeth, lips and excrement red. Taken internally, the seeds expel tapeworms and cause contraction of the pupil of the eye. Areca nut is also made into a toothpaste in Britain.
Administered As: powdered nut, fluid extract.

Arnica Arnica montana.
Common Name: Mountain tobacco, leopard's bane.
Occurrence: indigenous to central Europe but found in England and southern Scotland.
Parts Used: the rhizome and flowers. They contain arnicin, tannin, phullin and a volatile oil.
Medicinal Uses: stimulant, vulnerary and diuretic. It is used in external application to bruises and sprains but is rarely used internally as it irritates the stomach, and may cause severe poisoning. A tincture of arnica has been used to treat epilepsy and seasickness.
Administered As: tincture, poultice.

Arrach Chenopodium olidum.
Common Name: Stinking motherwort/arrach/goosefoot, dog's arrach, goat's arrach, netchweed.
Occurrence: an annual herb found on waste ground or roadsides throughout Great Britain.
Parts Used: herb, contains trimethylamine, osmazome and nitrate of potash.
Medicinal Uses: nervine, emmenagogue, antispasmodic. This is used in female hysteria and was formerly said to cure barrenness.
Administered As: an infusion, fluid extract or injection.

Arrowroot Maranta arundinacea.
Common Name: Maranta indica, M. ramosissima, maranta starch or arrowroot, araruta, Bermuda arrowroot, Indian arrowroot.
Occurrence: indigenous to the West Indies and central America. It is cultivated in Bengal, Java, the Philippines, mauritius and West Africa.
Parts Used: the dried, powdered starch from the rhizome.
Medicinal Uses: nutritive, demulcent, non-irritating. Well suited for infants and convalescents, particularly after bowel complaints. The jelly made of water or milk may be flavoured with sugar, lemon juice or fruit. The fresh rhizomes are mashed and applied to wounds from poisoned arrows, scorpion or spider bites and to stop gangrene. The freshly expressed juice of the rhizome, when mixed with water, is said to be a good antidote against vegetable poisons.
Administered As: fresh root, expressed juice, dietary item.

Asarabacca Asarum europaeum.
Common Name: Hazelwort, wild nard.
Occurrence: Asarabacca is the only British species of the birth wort family and is very rare in. It is found in woodlands.
Parts Used: the root and herb.
Medicinal Uses: stimulant, tonic, emetic, purgative, aromatic and sternulatory. As dried powdered leaves of the herb, it is used in the preparation of snuffs, causing sneezing and giving relief to headaches and weak eyes. It has been utilized to remove mucus from the respiratory passages and may be an antidote to the bite of venomous snakes. The herb was formerly used as an emetic or purgative but its use has been replaced by safer drugs.
Administered As: tincture, emulsion.

Asparagus Asparagus officinalis,
Common Name: Sparrow grass.
Occurrence: a rare native in Britain, but found wild on the south-west coast of England. It is cultivated as a food crop in parts of Scotland.
Parts Used: the root.
Medicinal Uses: this plant has diuretic, laxative, cardiac and sedative effects. It is recommended in cases of dropsy.
Administered As: expressed juice, decoction or made in a syrup.

Avens Geum urbanum.
Common Name: Colewort, herb bennet, city Avens, wild rue, way bennet, goldy star, clove root.
Occurrence: a common hedgerow plant in Britain and Europe.
Parts Used: the herb and root. The herb contains a volatile oil composed of eugenol and a glucoside, while the root also contains tannin.
Medicinal Uses: an astringent, styptic, febrifuge, sudorific, stomachic, antiseptic, tonic and aromatic. It is useful in diarrhoea, sore throat, chills, fevers and headache amongst other complaints. An infusion may be used for skin problems, as a wash.
Administered As: an infusion, decoction or tincture.