Flower remedies

Harvey, Clare and Cochrane, Amanda, Encyclopedia of Flower Remedies, Thorson s, San Francisco, 1995. Hoffmann, David, Herb Users Guide, Thorson s Publishing, Rochester, Vermont, 1987. 

Herbal products are considered a type of alternative medicine (e.g., herbal medicines, Chinese herbs, homeopathy, acupuncture, biofeedback, color therapy, music therapy, hypnotherapy, aromatherapy. Ayurvedic medicine, massage, therapeutic touch, Bach flower remedies, chiropractic, reflexology, naturopathy, and more). According to the Office of Alternative Medicine of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), characteristics of alternatives medicine include treatments that lack sufficient documentation in the United States for safety and effectiveness against specific disease and... 

Antirheumatic. Elder flower and vinegar fomentations can be used topically for painful joints, muscle soreness and stiffness. Elderberry juice is an ancient remedy to help neuralgia, rheumatism, gout and sciatica. Parts used flowers, berries, leaves. 

Diaphoretic. Because it promotes perspiration by relaxing the pores, elder is a traditional remedy to help the body release toxins through the skin. It increases blood circulation and body heat near the surface of the skin. It has been used to treat blemishes, acne, herpes, psoriasis, measles and chicken pox. Parts used flowers, berries, leaves. 

Vulnerary. Elder is an effective remedy for relieving hemorrhoids when applied topically as a salve. Elder has been used to treat erysipelas, an acute inflammation caused by strep bacteria that erupts on the skin. Elder has also served humankind well in applications for bums, cuts and wounds. It can also be used as a sore throat gargle or for inflamed gums and mouth tissue. Parts used flowers, berries, leaves. 

Steep 2 parts fresh elder flowers in 12 parts apple cider vinegar for two weeks. Strain through several layers of cheesecloth. Discard the flowers and bottle the vinegar in clean bottles. A gourmet s delight, this is delicious on salads. It can also be used as a gargle for sore throats and is an effective asthma remedy. 

Crushed elder leaves placed in one s shoes are a traditional European remedy for fatigue. Consider a soothing foot bath in warm elder flower tea. 

St John s wort is a yellow flowering plant that was first used medicinally by the ancient Greeks as a diuretic and a treatment for wounds and menstrual disorders. This herbal remedy is widely prescribed in Germany, where it has been studied extensively in clinical trials as a treatment for depression. In most countries, including the UK, it is available over the counter. In Ireland it is available only by prescription. Recently, a team of German scientists led by Klaus Linde at the University of Munich published a comprehensive review of 29 clinical trials of St John s wort, involving more than 5,000 depressed patients. They concluded that it is more effective than placebos and as effective as standard antidepressants in the treatment of major depression. 

Artemisia stelleriana Bess., or dusty miller sagewort, beach wormwood old woman, or pai hao, fan, lu (Chinese), is a shrub that grows to 1.20 m in Japan, Korea, China, and Siberia. The whole plant is covered with a glaucous indumentum. The leaves are compound, and the lobes are rounded. The flowers are small, yellowish, and packed in globose capitula (Fig. 53). The medicinal values of Artemisia stelleriana Bess, were mentioned by Su Sung (11th century). It has been used internally for food, as carminative, to promote the growth of hair, and to stimulate mental faculties, and externally it provides a remedy for ulcers. 

The family Hamamelidaceae consists of 26 genera and about 100 species of shrubs or tress known to contain tannins and iridoids. The leaves are alternate, simple, and often palmately lobed. The flowers are small and appear in spikes. The fruits are woody, capsular, and scepticidal. In Western medicine, the dried leaves of Hamamelis virginiana (hamamelis, British Pharmaceutical Codex, 1963), yielding not less that 20% of alcohol (45%)-soluble extractive, have been used as astringents for the treatment of hemorrhoids. Hamamelis water (British Pharmaceutical Codex, 1969) made from the stems has been used as a cooling application to sprains and bruises and as a styptic remedy. It is also used in cosmetics and as active ingredient of eye lotions. 

What to do Identify the cause and then remedy if possible. Causes include frost at flowering time lack of suitable pollinators in the vicinity (apples and pears) lack of flowers as a result of inappropriate pruning male flowers not open at same time as female flowers (cucurbits) poor weather at flowering, hindering pollinating insects dry soil. 

Chrysanthemum jucundum Nakai Kitag. C. koraiense Nakai C. morifolium Ramat. C. sinense Sabine. Jiu Hua (Chrysanthemum) (flower) Bomol, chrysanthemin, camphor, stachydrine, choline, acacetin-7-rhamnoglucoside, cosmosiin, acacetin-7-glucoside, diosmetin-7-glucoside, adenine.33 Antipyretic, antitoxin, remedy for common cold, headache, dizziness, red eye, swelling, hypertension. 

Iris lactea Pall, subsp. chinensis (Fisch.) Kitag. Wu Gan (seed, flower, leaf, root) Iridin, irigenin, irisflorentin.60 Astringent, diuretic, hemostatic, remedy for hemorrhage, postpartum difficulties. 

Plants constitute more than 60% of homeopathic remedies. Different parts of plants such as roots, barks, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds are used in homeopathic medicine. Roots of annual herbs are taken out when they yield ripe fruits. In case of perennial plants roots should be lifted in the spring in the 2nd or 3rd year. Examples are Ipecacuanna and Bryonia (Cook, 1988). Fully grown and uninfected leaves are collected after sunset before the flowering season. Examples are Rhus toxicodendron and Ocimum sanctum. Flowers are collected when they begin to open. Cina serves as an example. Here the flowering tops of the plant Artemisia sp. are used. Barks are collected from young plants. Cinchona serves as an example. 

Although flowers have played a role in healing for centuries — Australian Aborigines and Native Americans were using remedies made from flowers to ease emotional trauma and achieve peace of mind thousands of years ago — the healing power of flowers was only rediscovered in the West in the 1920s when it was revived by Edward Bach, who provided the following attributes ... 

Passion flowers contain harmine and harmaline, which have been used in the treatment of Parkinson s disease. Folk remedies use passion flower to treat depression and insomnia (see Chapter 65). 

Honey gathered from different flowers and from different parts of the world has different efficacies in treating different maladies unique to that region. Only a few of these remedies will be mentioned here ... 

Flavonoids concentrate in the seeds, bark, flowers, or fruit of most plants. The herbal remedy green tea (Camellia sinensis), which is used for stomach disorders, contains about 30% flavonoids by weight. Apples and onions, which are listed in the Physicians Desk Reference for Herbal Medicines (PDR-HM), also contain high amounts of flavonoids. 

The remarks of Rafinesque, then Professor of Medical Botany in the University of Transylvania, are interesting in view of the "orthodox" attitude towards remedies of the herbalists "I am enabled to introduce, for the first time, this beautiful genus into our materia medica all the species are equally remedial. They have long been known to the Indians, who called them moccasin flower, and were used by the empyrics of New England, particularly Samuel Thomson. Their properties, however, have been tested and confirmed by Dr. Hales, of Troy Dr. Tully, of Albany, etc. 

The herb is extremely useful in colds and acute catarrhs of the respiratory tract generally. As it has the effect of opening the pores, thus permitting free perspiration, Yarrow is taken at the commencement of influenza and in other feverish conditions. An infusion of 1 ounce to 1 pint of foiling water is drunk warm in wineglass doses. As a very popular remedy for influenza colds it is usually combined with Elder flowers and Peppermint in equal quantities. It was sometimes prescribed by the old herbalists as a tonic in nervous debility, but there are many better herbal medicines for this condition. 

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