Materials to practical class 13

Families Solanaceae, Scrophulariaceae, Lamiaceae: general common description of families, morphological description and determination definition of kinds appearance .

THE PLANTS of SOLANACEAE FAMILY

The plant family of the Solanaceae is one of the most intriguing plant families in the world. Not only because it is one of the largest families in plant kingdom with more than 3,000 species, but because it also includes species which are essential for life. There are important edible species such as the potato (Solanum tuberosum L.), eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) tomato (Solanum lycopersicum (L.) Karsten ex Farwell, chilli pepper, capsicum (Capsicum species) and cape gooseberry (Physalis peruviana L.). The plant family also includes species that are grown as ornamentals such as those belonging to the genera Browallia, Brunfelsia, Cestrum, Datura, Nicotiana, Salpiglossis, Solanum, Solandra, etc.

   

Well known are the trumpet-like flowers of Datura species which are popular as ornamental plants and which can produce flowers of up to 30 cm. in a variety of colours. Plants of this family do good service as a medicine or narcotic e.g. Atropa belladonna L. with atropine as an active ingredient used in ophthalmology, as a dilatator of the pupil of the eye, thorn-apple leaves (Datura species) used in cigarettes as bronchi-dilatator for asthmatic patients and (luxury) tobacco (Nicotiana species). The plant family conjures up a lot of images in mythology, extracts have been used to stimulate hallucinations. The name Solanaceae is possibly derived from Solari which means ‘soothing’ in Latin. It might also be possible that the name night ‘shades’ refers to the toxicological properties of several Solanum species which can bring damage (Dutch: schade) to an individual, or refer to demoniacal powers (Danish: natskade or night-raven and Swedish: nattskata or bat). The link between the mid-Dutch word ‘nachtschaduw’ and the English word nightshade has herewith been established.

In 1967, during my study biochemistry, I became interested in this plant family and have been collecting material, growing species and describing them, ever since. There is so much data on this plant family available that it would be illusionary to think that everything could be included. Indeed, it was not my intention to attempt this as there exist a number of excellent works which can hardly be matched in this respect. I particularlyl refer here to the basic works of G. Bitter and U. Dammer at the beginning of this century on taxonomy and morphology of a great number of Solanum species, of T.H. Goodspeed on Nicotiana species, of P. Francey on the genus Cestrum L. and more recently to the work of A.T. Hunziker and W.G. D’Arcy. My primary aim was to provide a good overview of this plant family on paper and to mainly focus on aspects such as taxonomy, morphology and ethnobotany.
It will take several years to accomplish this task. In the meantime, however, I will share what I have available on this website.

Nightshade Deadly (Atropa belladonna (LINN.) Synonyms—Belladonna. Devil’s Cherries. Naughty Man’s Cherries. Divale. Black Cherry. Devil’s Herb. Great Morel. Dwayberry. Parts Used—Root, leaves, tops. Habitat–Widely distributed over Central and Southern Europe, South-west Asia and Algeria; cultivated in England, France and North America.

Though widely distributed over Central and Southern Europe, the plant is not common in England, and has become rarer of late years. Although chiefly a native of the southern counties, being almost confined to calcareous soils, it has been sparingly found in twenty-eight British counties, mostly in waste places, quarries and near old ruins. In Scotland it is rare. Under the shade of trees, on wooded hills, on chalk or limestone, it will grow most luxuriantly, forming bushy plants several feet high, but specimens growing in places exposed to the sun are apt to be dwarfed, consequently it rarely attains such a large size when cultivated in the open, and is more subject to the attacks of insects than when growing wild under natural conditions.

Description—The root is thick, fleshy and whitish, about 6 inches long, or more, and branching. It is perennial. The purplishcoloured stem is annual and herbaceous. It is stout, 2 to 4 feet high, undivided at the base, but dividing a little above the ground into three – more rarely two or four branches, each of which again branches freely. The leaves are dull, darkish green in colour and of unequal size, 3 to 10 inches long, the lower leaves solitary, the upper ones in pairs alternately from opposite sides of the stem, one leaf of each pair much larger than the other, oval in shape, acute at the apex, entire and attenuated into short petioles. First-year plants grow only about 1 1/2 feet in height. Their leaves are often larger than in full-grown plants and grow on the stem immediately above the ground. Older plants attain a height of 3 to 5 feet, occasionally even 6 feet, the leaves growing about 1 to 2 feet from the ground. The flowers, which appear in June and July, singly, in the axils of the leaves, and continue blooming until early September, are of a dark and dingy purplish colour, tinged with green, large (about an inch long), pendent, bell-shaped, furrowed, the corolla with five large teeth or lobes, slightly reflexed. The five-cleft calyx spreads round the base of the smooth berry, which ripens in September, when it acquires a shining black colour and is in size like a small cherry. It contains several seeds

History.The plant in Chaucer’s days was known as Dwale, which Dr. J. A. H. Murray considers was probably derived from the Scandinavian dool, meaning delay or sleep. Other authorities have derived the word from the French deuil (grief), a reference to its fatal properties. Its deadly character is due to the presence of an alkaloid, Atropine, 1/10 grain of which swallowed by a man has occasioned symptoms of poisoning. As every part of the plant is extremely poisonous, neither leaves, berries, nor root should be handled if there are any cuts or abrasions on the hands. The root is the most poisonous, the leaves and flowers less so, and the berries, except to children, least of all. It is said that an adult may eat two or three berries without injury, but dangerous symptoms appear if more are taken, and it is wiser not to attempt the experiment. Though so powerful in its action on the human body, the plant seems to affect some of the lower animals but little. Eight pounds of the herb are said to have been eaten by a horse without causing any injury, and an ass swallowed 1 lb. of the ripe berries without any bad results following. Rabbits, sheep, goats and swine eat the leaves with impunity, and birds often eat the seeds without any apparent effect, but cats and dogs are very susceptible to the poison.

Thornapple (Datura stramonium (LINN.) —Throughout the world, except the colder or Arctic regions. The Thornapple is, like the Henbane, a member of the order Solanceae. It belongs to the genus Datura, which consists of fifteen species, distributed throughout the warmer portion of the whole world, the greatest number being found in Central America. Nearly all of them are used locally in medicine, and are characterized by similar properties to those of the official species, Datura Stramonium. The plants vary from herbs to shrubs, and even trees.

Parts Used—Leaves, seeds.

The question of the native country and early distribution of D. Stramonium has been much discussed by botanical writers. It is doubtful to what country this plant originally belonged. Many European botanists refer it to North America, while there it is looked on as a denizen of the Old World. Nuttall considers it originated in South America or Asia, and it is probable that its native country is to be found in the East. Alphonse de Candolle, Géographie Botanique (1855), gives it as his opinion that D. Stramonium is indigenous to the Old World, probably to the borders of the Caspian Sea or adjacent regions, but certainly not India; it grows wild abundantly in southern Russia from the borders of the Black Sea eastward to Siberia. Its seeds are very retentive of life, and being often in the earth put on shipboard for ballast, from one country to another, the plant is thus propagated in all regions, and it is now spread throughout the world, except in the colder or Arctic regions.

Gypsies are also said to have had a share in spreading the plant by means of its seeds from western Asia into Europe. In the United States, it is now a familiar weed, found everywhere in the vicinity of cultivation, especially about barnyards, timber-yards, docks and waste places, frequenting dung-heaps, the roadsides and commons, and other places where a rank soil is created by the deposited refuse of towns and villages. Where the plant grows abundantly, its vicinity may be detected by the rank odour which it diffuses. Notwithstanding the abundance of the plant in North America, it is cultivated there in order to obtain a drug of uniform quality. The Bureau of Plant Industry, United States Department of Agriculture, has conducted experiments on a large scale: several hundred pounds of leaf were grown and cured by artificial heat in a tobacco barn, proving of excellent quality, being marketed at a price in advance of the highest quoted figures.

In Great Britain, it is only occasionally found and can scarcely be considered naturalized here, though it is sometimes met with in the south of England, generally in rich, waste ground, chiefly near gardens or dwellings. It is sometimes grown in private gardens in England as an ornamental plant. It was cultivated in London towards the close of the sixteenth century.

Medicinal Action and Uses—Antispasmodic, anodyne and narcotic. Its properties are virtually those of hyoscyamine. It acts similarly to belladonna, though without constipating, and is used for purposes similar to those for which belladonna is employed, dilating the pupil of the eyes in like manner. It is considered slightly more sedative to the central nervous system than is belladonna. Stramonium is, in fact, so similar to belladonna in the symptoms produced by it in small or large doses, in its toxicity and its general physiological and therapeutic action, that the two drugs are practically identical, and since they are about the same strength in activity, the preparations may be used in similar doses.

Henbane (Hyoscyamus niger), also known as stinking nightshade, is a plant of the family Solanaceae that originated in Eurasia, though it is now globally distributed. It was historically used in combination with other plants, such as mandrake, deadly nightshade, and datura as an anaesthetic potion, as well as for its psychoactive properties in “magic brews.” These psychoactive properties include visual hallucinations and a sensation of flight. Its usage was originally in continental Europe, Asia and the Arabic world^[5], though it did spread to England sometime during the Middle Ages. The use of Henbane by the ancient Greeks was documented by Pliny. The plant, recorded as Herba Apollinaris, was used to yield oracles by the priestesses of Apollo.

Henbane can be toxic, even fatal, to animals in low doses. Its name dates at least to 1265. The origins of the word are unclear but “hen” probably originally meant death rather than referring to chickens.^[6]. Hyoscyamine, scopolamine, and other tropane alkaloids have been found in the foliage and seeds of the plant. Common effects of henbane ingestion in humans include hallucinations, dilated pupils, restlessness, and flushed skin. Less common symptoms such as tachycardia, convulsions, vomiting, hypertension, hyperpyrexia and ataxia have all been noted.

Not all animals are susceptible; the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Cabbage Moth eat henbane.

 

It was sometimes one of the ingredients in grut, traditionally used in beers as a flavouring, until replaced by hops in the 11th to 16th centuries (for example, the Bavarian Purity Law of 1516 outlawed ingredients other than barley, hops, and water). In 1910, an American homeopathic doctor living in London, Hawley Harvey Crippen, used scopolamine, an alkaloid extracted from henbane, to poison his wife. Henbane is thought to have been the “hebenon” poured into the ear of Hamlet‘s father^[2][9] (although other candidates for hebenon exist^[10]).
However this plant extract is applied in Homeopathy (in homeopatchic doses i.e infinitesimally low doses )and is found to be very effective in treating convlusions and spasticity.

In 2008 celebrity chef Antony Worrall Thompson recommended Henbane as a “tasty addition to salads” in the August 2008 issue of Healthy and Organic Living magazine. He subsequently said that he had made an error, confusing the herb with Fat Hen, a member of the spinach family. He apologised, and the magazine sent subscribers an urgent message stating that Henbane “is a very toxic plant and should never be eaten.”

Nicotiana tabacum, or cultivated Tobacco, is a perennial herbaceous plant. It is found only in cultivation, where it is the most commonly grown of all plants in the Nicotiana genus, and its leaves are commercially grown in many countries to be processed into tobacco. It grows to heights between 1 to 2 metres. Research is ongoing into its ancestry among wild Nicotiana species, but it is believed to be a hybrid of Nicotiana sylvestris, Nicotiana tomentosiformis, and possibly Nicotiana otophora.

The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family. The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well. In the region of the Andes, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species. Potatoes are the world’s fourth largest food crop, following rice, wheat, and corn. Wild potato species occur from the United States to Uruguay and Chile.

 Genetic testing of the wide variety of cultivars and wild species suggest that the potato has a single origin in the area of southern Peru,^[3] from a species in the Solanum brevicaule complex. However, although Peru is essentially the birthplace of the potato, today over 99% of all cultivated potatoes worldwide are descendants of a subspecies indigenous to south-central Chile.^[4] Based on historical records, local agriculturalists, and DNA analyses, the most widely cultivated variety worldwide, Solanum tuberosum tuberosum, is believed to be indigenous to Chiloé Archipelago where it was cultivated as long as 10,000 years ago.

The potato was introduced to Europe in 1536,^[7] and subsequently by European mariners to territories and ports throughout the world.^[8] Thousands of varieties persist in the Andes, where over 100 varieties might be found in a single valley, and a dozen or more might be maintained by a single agricultural household.^[9] Once established in Europe, the potato soon became an important food staple and field crop. But lack of genetic diversity, due to the fact that very few varieties were initially introduced, left the crop vulnerable to disease. In 1845, a plant disease known as late blight, caused by the fungus-like oomycete Phytophthora infestans, spread rapidly through the poorer communities of western Ireland, resulting in the crop failures that led to the Great Irish Famine.

The annual diet of an average global citizen in the first decade of the twenty-first century would include about 33 kilograms (or 73 lbs.) of potato. However, the local importance of potato is extremely variable and rapidly changing. The potato remains an essential crop in Europe (especially eastern and central Europe), where per capita production is still the highest in the world, but the most rapid expansion of potato over the past few decades has occurred in southern and eastern Asia. China is now the world’s largest potato producing country, and nearly a third of the world’s potatoes are harvested in China and India.^[10] More generally, the geographic shift of potato production has been away from wealthier countries toward lower-income areas of the world. Potato plants are herbaceous perennials that grow about 60cm high, depending on variety, the culms dying back after flowering. They bear white, pink, red, blue or purple flowers with yellow stamens resembling those of other Solanaceous species such as tomato and aubergine. The tubers of varieties with white flowers generally have white skins, while those of varieties with colored flowers tend to have pinkish skins.^[13] Potatoes are cross-pollinated mostly by insects, including bumblebees that carry pollen from other potato plants, but a substantial amount of self-fertilizing occurs as well. Tubers form in response to decreasing day length, although this tendency has been minimized in commercial varieties. Potato farmer in India sitting beside the day’s harvest

Preparation. Potatoes are prepared in many ways: skin-on or peeled, whole or cut up, with seasonings or without. The only requirement involves cooking to break down the starch. Most potato dishes are served hot, but some are first cooked then served cold, notably potato salad and potato chips/crisps.

THE PLANTS OF  FAMILY Lamiaceae

Lamiaceae or Labiatae, also known as the mint family, is a family of plants comprising about 210 genera and some 3,500 species. It has been^{[citatioeeded]} considered closely related to Verbenaceae but several recent phylogenetic studies^{[citatioeeded]} have shown that numererous genera classified in Verbenaceae belong instead in Lamiaceae, whereas the core genera of Verbenaceae are not closely related to Lamiaceae and are more closely related to other members of the Lamiales.

The plants are frequently aromatic in all parts and include many widely used culinary herbs, such as basil, mint, rosemary, sage, savory, marjoram, oregano, thyme, lavender, and perilla. Some are shrubs, but rarely trees or vines. Many members of the family are widely cultivated, owing not only to their aromatic qualities but also their ease of cultivation: these plants are among the easiest plants to propagate by stem cuttings. Besides those grown for their edible leaves, some are grown for decorative foliage, such as coleus. Others are grown for food purposes, but seeds are utilized instead of leaves, such as with chia.

The original family name is Labiatae, so given because the flowers typically have petals fused into an upper lip and a lower lip. Although this is still considered an acceptable alternate name, most botanists now use the name “Lamiaceae” in referring to this family. The leaves emerge oppositely, each pair at right angles to the previous one (called decussate) or whorled.

The stems are frequently square in cross section, but this is not found in all members of the family, and is sometimes found in other plant families. The flowers are bilaterally symmetrical with 5 united petals, 5 united sepals. They are usually bisexual and verticillastrate (a flower cluster that looks like a whorl of flowers but actually consists of two crowded clusters).

Lamium album (White Deadnettle) is a flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae, native throughout Europe and western Asia, growing in a variety of habitats from open grassland to woodland, generally on moist, fertile soils.

It is a herbaceous perennial plant growing to 50-100 cm tall, with green, four-angled stems. The leaves are 3-8 cm long and 2-5 cm broad, triangular with a rounded base, softly hairy, and with a serrated margin and a petiole up to 5 cm long; they appear superficially similar to those of the Stinging nettle Urtica dioica but do not sting, hence the commoame “dead nettle”. The flowers are white, produced in whorls (‘verticillasters’) on the upper part of the stem, the individual flowers 1.5-2.5 cm long.The young leaves are edible, and can be used in salads or cooked as a vegetable. The plant also has a number of uses in herbal medicine. Bees are attracted to the flowers which contaiectar or pollen, hence the plant is sometimes called the Bee Nettle. ^[1]

Lavandula angustifolia (also Lavandula spica or Lavandula vera; common lavender, true lavender, or English lavender (though not native to England); formerly L. officinalis) is a flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae, native to the western Mediterranean region, primarily in It is a strongly aromatic shrub growing to 1–2 m tall. The leaves are evergreen, 2–6 cm long and 4–6 mm broad. The flowers are pinkish-purple (lavender-coloured), produced on spikes 2–8 cm long at the top of slender, leafless stems 10–30 cm long.

English lavender is commonly grown as an ornamental plant. It is popular for its colourful flowers, its fragrance and its ability to survive with low water consumption. It does not grow well in continuously damp soil. It is fairly tolerant of low temperatures, generally considered hardy to USDA zone 5.

In addition to its use as an ornamental plant, the flowers and leaves are also used as an herbal medicine, either in the form of lavender oil or as an herbal tea. The flowers are also used as a culinary herb, most often as part of the French herb blend called

Lavender essential oil, when diluted with a carrier oil, is commonly used as a relaxant with massage therapy. Products for home use including lotions, eye pillows—including lavender flowers or the essential oil itself—bath oils, etc. are also used to induce relaxation.

Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis (LINN.)  A native of South Europe, especially in mountainous situations, but is naturalized in the south of England, and was introduced into our gardens at a very early period.

The root-stock is short, the stem square and branching, grows 1 to 2 feet high, and has at each joint pairs of broadly ovate or heart-shaped, crenate or toothed leaves which emit a fragrant lemon odour when bruised. They also have a distinct lemon taste. The flowers, white or yellowish, are in loose, small bunches from the axils of the leaves and bloom from June to October. The plant dies down in winter, but the root is perennial. The genus Melissa is widely diffused, having representatives in Europe, Middle Asia and North America. The name is from the Greek word signifying ‘bee,’ indicative of the attraction the flowers have for those insects, on account of the honey they produce.  The word Balm is an abbreviation of Balsam, the chief of sweet-smelling oils. It is so called from its honeyed sweetness It was highly esteemed by Paracelsus, who believed it would completely revivify a man. It was formerly esteemed of great use in all complaints supposed to proceed from a disordered state of the nervous system. The London Dispensary (1696) says: ‘An essence of Balm, given in Canary wine, every morning will renew youth, strengthen the brain, relieve languishing nature and prevent baldness.’ John Evelyn wrote: ‘Balm is sovereign for the brain, strengthening the memory and powerfully chasing away melancholy.’ Balm steeped in wine we are told again, ‘comforts the heart and driveth away melancholy and sadness.’ Formerly a spirit of Balm, combined with lemon-peel, nutmeg and angelica root, enjoyed a great reputation under the name of Carmelite water, being deemed highly useful against nervous headache and neuralgic affections.

Many virtues were formerly ascribed to this plant. Gerard says: ‘It is profitably planted where bees are kept. The hives of bees being rubbed with the leaves of bawme, causeth the bees to keep together, and causeth others to come with them.’ And again quoting Pliny, ‘When they are strayed away, they do find their way home by it.’ Pliny says: ‘It is of so great virtue that though it be but tied to his sword that hath given the wound it stauncheth the blood.’ Gerard also tells us: ‘The juice of Balm glueth together greene wounds,’ and gives the opinion of Pliny and Dioscorides that ‘Balm, being leaves steeped in wine, and the wine drunk, and the leaves applied externally, were considered to be a certain cure for the bites of venomous beasts and the stings of scorpions. It is now recognized as a scientific fact that the balsamic oils of aromatic plants make excellent surgical dressings: they give off ozone and thus exercise anti-putrescent effects. Being chemical hydrocarbons, they contain so little oxygen that in wounds dressed with the fixed balsamic herbal oils, the atomic germs of disease are starved out, and the resinous parts of these balsamic oils, as they dry upon the sore or wound, seal it up and effectually exclude all noxious air.

—Medicinal Action and Uses—Carminative, diaphoretic and febrifuge. It induces a mild perspiration and makes a pleasant and cooling tea for feverish patients in cases of catarrh and influenza. To make the tea, pour 1 pint of boiling water upon 1 oz. of herb, infuse 15 minutes, allow to cool, then strain and drink freely. If sugar and a little lemonpeel or juice be added it makes a refreshing summer drink. Balm is a useful herb, either alone or in combination with others. It is excellent in colds attended with fever, as it promotes perspiration .

Used with salt, it was formerly applied for the purpose of taking away wens, and had the reputation of cleansing sores and easing the pains of gout.

John Hussey, of Sydenham, who lived to the age of 116, breakfasted for fifty years on Balm tea sweetened with honey, and herb teas were the usual breakfasts of Llewelyn Prince of Glamorgan, who died in his 108th year. Carmelite water, of which Balm was the chief ingredient, was drunk daily by the Emperor Charles V.

Commercial oil of Balm is not a pure distillate, but is probably oil of Lemon distilled over Balm. The oil is used in perfumery.

Cat’s Whiskers (Ortosiphon Stamineus) Misai Kuching has been used as a remedy for gout, rheumatism, diabetes, kidney stones (gallbladder), and hypertension. Misai Kuching is believed to exhibit a continuous decrease in systolic blood pressure. This is based on study on subcutaneous administration in conscious stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats.

 

This traditional herb has been used for centuries in Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia. It is appreciated for treating ailments of the bladder and kidney and used in treating gout, diabetes and rheumatism. Misai Kuching began to interest researchers as early as the beginning of the 20th century when this plant was introduced to Europe where it became a popular herbal tea.

Urology use for Misai Kuching. Ongoing clinical trials on Orthosiphon stamenius, var Benth (Misai Kucing) have shown the local herb inhibits the formation and growth of kidney stones(gallbladder problems). Misai Kuching has been found to be a safe and effective herbal diuretic. It causes the body to throw out excess fluids. It also has an anti-inflammatory effect and could be used in arthritic conditions. It basically flushes out acids that irritate and inflame joints out of the system. It also seems to gently flush out excess water form the joints. It contains ample potassium to replace that which lost from the body in the diuretic process. It does not provoke or aggravate the kidneys like modern diuretic drugs do. It seems to remove uric acid and would be a useful remedy for gout. While the herb works gently, it can show effects rather quickly. Patients report positive effects after just two weeks in experience trials. Positive effects in gout may be achieved even quicker with the necessary dietary and lifestyle modification.

Motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca) is a flowering plant in the mint family, Lamiaceae. Other commoames include Throw-wort, Lion’s Ear, and Lion’s Tail. The latter two are also commoames for Leonotis leonurus. Originally from Central Asia it is now found worldwide, spread largely due to its use as a herbal remedy. L. cardiaca has a square stem and opposite leaves. The leaves are palmately lobed; basal leaves are wedge shaped with three points and while the upper leaves are more latticed. Flowers appear in leaf axils on the upper part of the plant and it blooms between June – August. The flowers are small, pink to lilac in colour often with furry lower lips. The plant grows to about 60-100 cm in height. It can be found along roadsides and in vacant fields and  other waste areas.

Motherwort has a long history of medicinal use. The plant and its use as a medicinal herb originated in Central Europe and Asia, although it has long been in use in the North America as well. It is very useful for a variety of ills, and is very nourishing, much like stinging nettle or dandelion. The herb contains the alkaloid leonurine, which is a mild vasodilator and has a relaxing effect on smooth muscles. For this reason, it has long been used as a cardiac tonic, nervine, and an emmenagogue.

Among other biochemical constituents, it also contains bitter iridoid glycosides, diterpinoids, flavonoids (including rutin and quercetin), tannins, volatile oils, and vitamin A. Midwives use it for a variety of purposes, including uterine tonic and prevention of uterine infection.

Susun Weed recommends it for combating stress and promoting relaxation during pregnancy, also claiming that, given during labor, it prevents hemorrhage. Michael Tierra, on the other hand, contraindicates it for internal use during pregnancy, claiming that it has the tendency to cause bleeding and may induce miscarriage. It was historically used in China to prevent pregnancy and to regulate menstruation. Motherwort is also used to ease stomach gas and cramping, menopausal problems, and insomnia, although Susun Weed warns it may be habit forming if used regularly to combat sleeplessness. According to Tierra, the traditional Chinese medicine energy and flavors are bitter, spicy, and slightly cold, and the systems affected are the pericardium and liver. The fresh or dried leaves (which are called yìmǔcǎo) are used, and the recommended dosage is the standard infusion of one ounce herb to one pint boiling water or 10-30 drops of tincture three times daily.

Motherwort has a long history of use as a herb in traditional medicine in Central Europe, Asia and North America.^{[citatioeeded]} Like many other plants, it has been used for a variety of ills. Midwives use it for a variety of purposes, including uterine tonic and prevention of uterine infection in women, hence the name Motherwort. The herb contains the alkaloid leonurine,^[1] which is a mild vasodilator and has a relaxing effect on smooth muscles. For this reason, it has long been used as acardiac tonic, nervine, and an emmenagogue. Among other biochemical constituents, it also contains bitter iridoid glycosides, diterpinoids, flavonoids (including rutinand quercetin), tannins, volatile oils, and vitamin A.

Susun Weed recommends it for combating stress and promoting relaxation during pregnancy, also claiming that, given during labor, it prevents hemorrhage. Michael Tierra, on the other hand, contraindicates it for internal use during pregnancy, claiming that it has the tendency to cause bleeding and may induce miscarriage. It was historically used in China to prevent pregnancy and to regulate menstruation.^{[citatioeeded]} Motherwort is also used to ease stomach gas and cramping, menopausalproblems, and insomnia,^{[citatioeeded]} although Susun Weed warns it may be habit forming if used regularly to combat sleeplessness. According to Tierra, thetraditional Chinese medicine energy and flavors are bitter, spicy, and slightly cold, and the systems affected are the pericardium and liver. The fresh or dried leaves, which are called yìmǔcǎo (益母草), are used and the recommended dosage is the standard infusion of one ounce herb to one pint boiling water, 2–6 mL of 1 in 5 tincture or 2–4 mL of 1:1 fluid extract, either in 25% ethanol, three times daily.Yìmǔcǎo is believed to enter the bladder, heart, and liver meridians in traditional Chinese Medicine theory.

Oregano (Origanum vulgare) is a species of Origanum, native to Europe, the Mediterranean region and southern and central Asia. It is a perennial herb, growing to 20-80 cm tall, with opposite leaves 1-4 cm long. The flowers are purple, 3-4 mm long, produced in erect spikes. Oregano is the anglicized form of the Italian word origano, which is also a derivation from the Greek origanon ὀρίγανον oros ὄρος “mountain” + the verb ganousthai γανοῦσθαι “delight in”.

The subspecies of oregano Origanum vulgare is an important culinary herb. It is particularly widely used in Greek and in South Italy cuisine. It is the leaves that are used in cooking, and the dried herb is often more flavourful than the fresh.^[2]. Oregano is often used in tomato sauces, with fried vegetables, and grilled meat. Together with basil, it contributes much to the distinctive character of many Italian dishes. Oregano combines nicely with pickled olives, capers, and lovage leaves. Unlike most Italian herbs, oregano works with hot and spicy food, which is popular in southern Italy.

Oregano is an indispensable ingredient for Greek cuisine. Oregano adds flavour to Greek salad and is usually used separately or added to the lemon-olive oil sauce that accompanies many fish or meat barbecues and some casseroles.

Peppermint (Mentha × piperita) is a hybrid mint, a cross between the watermint (Mentha aquatica) and spearmint (Mentha spicata). The plant is indigenous in Europe and now widespread in cultivation throughout all regions of the world^[1]. It is an invasive species in the Great Lakes region and was first spotted in 1843^[2]. It is found wild occasionally with its parent species.

It was first described by Linnaeus from specimens collected in England; he treated it as a species,^[4] but it is now universally agreed to be a hybrid.^[5] It is a herbaceous rhizomatous perennial plant growing to 30–90 cm (12–35 in) tall, with smooth stems, square in cross section. The rhizomes are wide-spreading, fleshy, and bare fibrous roots. The leaves are from 4–9 cm (1.6–3.5 in) long and 1.5–4 cm (0.59–1.6 in) cm broad, dark green with reddish veins, and with an acute apex and coarsely toothed margins. The leaves and stems are usually slightly hairy. The flowers are purple, 6–8 mm (0.24–0.31 in) long, with a four-lobed corolla about 5 mm (0.20 in) diameter; they are produced in whorls (verticillasters) around the stem, forming thick, blunt spikes. Flowering is from mid to late summer. The chromosome number is variable, with 2n counts of 66, 72, 84, and 120 recorded. It typically occurs in moist habitats, including streamsides and drainage ditches. It is usually sterile, producing no seeds and reproducing only vegetatively, spreading by its rhizomes.

Peppermint is sometimes regarded as ‘the world’s oldest medicine’, with archaeological evidence placing its use at least as far back as ten thousand years ago. Peppermint has a high menthol content, and is often used as a flavoring in tea, ice cream, confectionery, chewing gum, and toothpaste. The oil also contains menthone and menthyl esters, particularly menthyl acetate.^[8] It is the oldest and most popular flavor of mint-flavored confectionery. Peppermint can also be found in some shampoos and soaps, which give the hair a minty scent and produce a cooling sensation on the skin.

In 2007, Italian investigators reported that 75% of the patients in their study who took peppermint oil capsules for four weeks had a major reduction in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) symptoms, compared with just 38% of those who took a placebo.

Peppermint oil is used by commercial pesticide applicators, in the EcoSmart Technologies line of products, as a natural insecticide.Peppermint generally thrives in shade and expands quickly by underground rhizomes. If you choose to grow peppermint, it is advisable to plant it in a container, otherwise it can rapidly take over a whole garden. It needs a good water supply, and is ideal for planting in part-sun to shade areas.

The leaves and flowering tops are the usable portion of the plant. They are collected as soon as the flowers begin to open and then are carefully dried. The wild form of the plant is less suitable for this purpose, with cultivated plants having been selected for more and better oil content. Seeds sold at stores labeled peppermint generally will not germinate into true peppermint, but into a particularly poor-scented spearmint plant. The true peppermint might rarely produce seeds, but only by fertilization from a spearmint plant, and contribute only their own spearmint genes.

Salvia officinalis (Sage, Common sage, Garden sage, Red sage) is a small perennial evergreen subshrub, with woody stems, grayish leaves, and blue to purplish flowers. It is native to the Mediterranean region and commonly grown as a kitchen and medicinal herb or as an ornamental garden plant. The word sage or derived names are also used for a number of related and non related species. Common sage is also grown in parts of Europe, especially the Balkans for distillation of an essential oil, though other species, such as Salvia fruticosa may also be harvested and distilled with it.

As a herb, sage is considered to have a slight peppery flavour. In Western cooking, it is used for flavouring fatty meats (especially as a marinade), cheeses (Sage Derby), and some drinks. In the United States, Britain and Flanders, sage is used with onion for poultry or pork stuffing and also in sauces. In French cuisine, sage is used for cooking white meat and in vegetable soups. Germans often use it in sausage dishes, and sage forms the dominant flavouring in the English Lincolnshire sausage. Sage is also common in Italian cooking. Sage is sautéd in olive oil and butter until crisp, then plain or stuffed pasta is added (burro e salvia). In the Balkans and the Middle East, it is used when roasting mutton.

The Latiame for sage, salvia, means “to heal”. Although the effectiveness of Common Sage is open to debate, it has been recommended at one time or another for virtually every ailment. Modern evidence supports its effects as an anhidrotic, antibiotic, antifungal, astringent, antispasmodic, estrogenic, hypoglycemic, and tonic.^[1] In a double blind, randomized and placebo-controlled trial, sage was found to be effective in the management of mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease.^[2

The strongest active constituents of Sage are within its essential oil, which contains cineole, borneol, and thujone. Sage leaf contains tannic acid, oleic acid, ursonic acid, ursolic acid, cornsole, cornsolic acid, fumaric acid, chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, niacin, nicotinamide, flavones, flavonoid glycosides, and estrogenic substances.

Caution is indicated when used in conjunction with central nervous system stimulants or depressants.There are a number of cultivars, with the majority grown as ornamentals rather than for their herbal properties. All are valuable as small ornamental flowering shrubs, and for low ground cover, especially in sunny dry environments. They are easily raised from summer cuttings.

Scutellaria baicalensis (or Baikal Skullcap, as opposed to Scutellaria lateriflora, a Skullcap native to North America) is a species of flowering plant in the Lamiaceae family. It is one of the 50 fundamental herbs used in traditional Chinese medicine, where it has the name huáng qín. It is important to note the Latiame of the Skullcap being used as there are over 200 varieties, some used for various ailments, each with varying degrees of effectiveness. Sometimes Scutellaria lateriflora (North American Skullcap) is mistaken for Scutellaria baicalensis (Baikal Skullcap).

This confusion can result in the intake of the lateriflora variety which is often processed and contaminated with other plants with high enough levels of toxicity to be of concern.

Wild thyme (Thymus serpillum (serpyllum) is used topically on the skin, as it is a great antioxidant, while at the same time helping to improve skin tone and providing good astringent qualities. It is also a powerful antifungal and antiviral agent – helping to keep your skin in tip-top condition.  Wild thyme originated in western and northern Europe (up to the Ukraine) and is a low, usually prostrate subshrub growing to 2 cm tall, with creeping stems up to 10 cm long. It has oval evergreen leaves 3-8 mm long. The strongly scented flowers are lilac, pink-purple, magenta, or a rare white, all 4-6 mm long and produced in clusters. The leaves and the dried flower heads are used.

The triterpenic acids are characteristic of Thyme (ursolic and oleanolic acids) as well as caffeic acid, the flavonoids luteolin or tetrahydroxy-5,7,3′.4′-favone and its glucosides and triterpenic saponins. The essential oil makes up 1-2% of the dry plant and is rich in thymol and carvacrol, with smaller amounts of linalool, p-cymene, thujan-4-ol and pinene. It is rich in labiate tannins as well as several polymethoxyflavones, triterpenes and polysaccharides. The total proportion of phenols varies from 20% to 70% depending on the species (thymol and its isomer carvacrol). It also contains precursors of synthesis (g-terpinene, p-cymene).

Although often used internally for gastrointestinal disturbances as well as the treatment of cough, colds, bronchitis and inflammation of the upper respiratory tract, it has a powerful effect on the skin when applied topically. In folk medicine it is often used to treat minor wounds and to treat inflammation, but it also has potent antioxidant properties.

Ocimum is a genus of about 35 species of aromatic annual and perennial herbs and shrubs in the family Lamiaceae, mostly native to the tropical and warm temperate regions of the Old World.

Some species include:

·                    Ocimum americanum (syn. O. canum) is a native of tropical Africa.

·                    Ocimum basilicum, or sweet basil, a culinary herb. Most culinary and ornamental basils are cultivars of this species and there are many hybrids between species.

·                                O. basilicum var. thyrsiflora, or Thai basil, is a common ingredient in Thai cuisine, with a strong flavour similar to aniseed, used to flavour Thai curries and stir-fries.

·                    Ocimum campechianum, or Amazonian basil, is a South American variety often utilized in ayahuasca rituals for its smell which is said to help avoid bad visions.^[1]

·                    Ocimum centraliafricanum, known for growing in soil so rich in copper that nothing else can survive.

·                    Ocimum gratissimum, also known as African basil, or Wild basil in Hawaii, where it has naturalized.

·                    Ocimum tenuiflorum (syn. O. sanctum), commonly called Holy Basil or Tulsi, is a sacred herb in India, used in teas, healing remedies, and cosmetics. The plant is worshiped as dear to Vishnu in some sects of Vaishnavism. It is also used in Thai cooking.

Hybrids:

·                    Ocimum × citriodorum, or Lemon Basil, a hybrid between O. americanum and O. basilicum, is noted for its lemon flavour and used in cooking.

·                    Ocimum kilimandscharicum × basilicum ‘Dark Opal‘

Agastache (giant hyssop) is a genus of 9–12 species of aromatic flowering herbaceous perennial plants in the family Lamiaceae, native to eastern Asia (one species) and North America (the rest).Most species are very upright, 0.5–3 m tall, with stiff, angular stems clothed in toothed-edged, lance shaped leaves ranging from 1–15 cm long and 0.5–11 cm broad depending on the species. Upright spikes of tubular, two-lipped flowers develop at the stem tips in summer. The flowers are usually white, pink, mauve, or purple, with the bracts that back the flowers being of the same or a slightly contrasting color. Leaf tips can be eaten and made into teas.

Species

·                    Agastache aurantiaca. Orange Hummingbird Mint. Mexico, SW USA (Arizona, New Mexico).

·                    Agastache breviflora. TransPecos giant hyssop. Northern Mexico (Chihuahua, Sonora), SW USA (Arizona).

·                    Agastache cana. Texas Hummingbird Mint. (Wild Hyssop, Mosquito Plant, Mexican Hyssop), SW USA (New Mexico, Western Texas).

·                    Agastache cusickii. Cusick’s Giant Hyssop. NW USA.

·                    Agastache foeniculum. Giant or Anise Hyssop. From Arctic Canada to Colorado and Wisconsin.

·                    Agastache mexicana. Mexican Giant Hyssop. Central Mexico.

·                    Agastache nepetoides. Eastern North America from southern Ontario and southern Quebec south to Georgia.

·                    Agastache pallida (syn. A. barberi). Northern Mexico (Chihuahua, Durango, Sonora), southwestern USA (Arizona).

·                    Agastache pallidiflora. Southwestern USA (New Mexico, western Texas).

·                    Agastache pringlei. Northern Mexico (Chihuahua), southwestern USA (New Mexico).

·                    Agastache parvifolia. California.

·                    Agastache rugosa. Korean Mint. Southeastern Russia (Primoriye), Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam.

·                    Agastache rupestris. Threadleaf giant hyssop or Licorice Mint. Arizona, New Mexico.

The crushed leaves of all species exude a spicy, fragrant essential oil. Of the species examined in one study, M. didyma contained the highest concentration of oil. Several species, including Monarda fistulosa and M. didyma, have a long history of use as medicinal plants by many Native Americans, such as the Blackfoot,Menominee, Ojibwa and Winnebago. The Blackfoot recognized the strong antiseptic action of the plants, and used them in poultices for skin infections and minor wounds. A tisane made from the plant was also used to treat mouth and throat infections caused by dental caries and gingivitis. Bee balm is a natural source of the antiseptic compound thymol, the primary active ingredient in some modern commercial mouthwash formulas. The Winnebago used a bee balm tisane as a generalstimulant. Bee balm was also used as a carminative herb by Native Americans to prevent excessive flatulence.An infusion of crushed, boiled Monarda has been used to treat headache and fever.

Although somewhat bitter due to the thymol content in the leaves and buds, the plant tastes like a mix of spearmint and peppermint with oregano. Bee balm was traditionally used by Native Americans as a seasoning for wild game, particularly birds. The plants are widespread across North America and can be found in moist meadows, hillsides, and forest clearings up to 5,000 feet (1,500 m) in elevation.^[6]

The cultivar Monarda ‘Panorama. Monarda plants thrive in sun and moist but well-drained soil. Plants growing in partial shade spread horizontally and produce fewer flowers. Monarda are used in beds and borders to attract hummingbirds, pollinating insects, and insects that control garden pests.

There are over 50 commercial cultivars and hybrids ranging in color from red to white to blue. These are generally not as robust as wild species. Some hybrids have been developed to produce high levels of essential oil for use as flavoring or medicine.

The thymol contained in the extract has been shown in studies to have great antifungal properties and furthermore has good antiseptic and astringent qualities, while also toning the skin. In another test, it was shown that the extract had a very potent effect on viral infections and was shown to contain valuable antiviral properties. At the Beijing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, a study was done on the effect of an ethanol extracts from Thymus quinquecostatus Celak (Thymus serpyllum L. subsp. quinquecostatus (Celak.) Kitam) – which showed that the ethyl acetate fraction is the major anti-tumor fraction – and proved to have good anti-tumor properties.

An essential oil is a concentrated hydrophobic liquid containing volatile aroma compounds from plants. Essential oils are also known as volatile oils, ethereal oils, or aetherolea, or simply as the “oil of” the plant from which they were extracted, such as oil of clove. An oil is “essential” in the sense that it carries a distinctive scent, or essence, of the plant. Essential oils do not form a distinctive category for any medical, pharmacological, or culinary purpose.

Essential oils are generally extracted by distillation, often by using steam. Other processes include expression or solvent extraction. They are used in perfumes,cosmetics, soaps and other products, for flavoring food and drink, and for adding scents to incense and household cleaning products.

Essential oils have been used medicinally in history. Medical applications proposed by those who sell medicinal oils range from skin treatments to remedies for cancer and often are based solely on historical accounts of use of essential oils for these purposes. Claims for the efficacy of medical treatments, and treatment of cancers in particular, are now subject to regulation in most countries.

As the use of essential oils has declined in evidence-based medicine, one must consult older textbooks for much information on their use.^[1][2] Modern works are less inclined to generalize; rather than refer to “essential oils” as a class at all, they prefer to discuss specific compounds, such as methyl salicylate, rather than “oil of wintergreen”.

Interest in essential oils has revived in recent decades with the popularity of aromatherapy, a branch of alternative medicine that claims that essential oils and other aromatic compounds have curative effects. Oils are volatilized or diluted in a carrier oil and used in massage, diffused in the air by a nebulizer, heated over a candle flame, or burned as incense.

Distillation. Today, most common essential oils — such as lavender, peppermint, and eucalyptus — are distilled. Raw plant material, consisting of the flowers, leaves, wood, bark, roots, seeds, or peel, is put into analembic (distillation apparatus) over water. As the water is heated, the steam passes through the plant material, vaporizing the volatile compounds. The vapors flow through a coil, where they condense back to liquid, which is then collected in the receiving vessel.

Most oils are distilled in a single process. One exception is ylang-ylang (Cananga odorata), which takes 22 hours to complete through a fractional distillation.

The recondensed water is referred to as a hydrosol, hydrolat, herbal distillate or plant water essence, which may be sold as another fragrant product. Popular hydrosols include rose water, lavender water,lemon balm, clary sage and orange blossom water. The use of herbal distillates in cosmetics is increasing. Some plant hydrosols have unpleasant smells and are therefore not sold.

Expression. Most citrus peel oils are expressed mechanically or cold-pressed (similar to olive oil extraction). Due to the relatively large quantities of oil in citrus peel and low cost to grow and harvest the raw materials, citrus-fruit oils are cheaper than most other essential oils. Lemon or sweet orange oils that are obtained as byproducts of the citrus industry are even cheaper.

Before the discovery of distillation, all essential oils were extracted by pressing.

Solvent extraction[edit]

Most flowers contain too little volatile oil to undergo expression; their chemical components are too delicate and easily denatured by the high heat used in steam distillation. Instead, a solvent such as hexaneor supercritical carbon dioxide is used to extract the oils. Extracts from hexane and other hydrophobic solvent are called concretes, which are a mixture of essential oil, waxes, resins, and other lipophilic (oil soluble) plant material.

Although highly fragrant, concretes contain large quantities of nonfragrant waxes and resins. Often, another solvent, such as ethyl alcohol, which is more polar iature, is used to extract the fragrant oil from the concrete. The alcohol is removed by evaporation, leaving behind the absolute.

Supercritical carbon dioxide is used as a solvent in supercritical fluid extraction. This method has many benefits including avoiding petrochemical residues in the product and the loss of some “top notes” when steam distillation is used. It does not yield an absolute directly. The supercritical carbon dioxide will extract both the waxes and the essential oils that make up the concrete. Subsequent processing with liquid carbon dioxide, achieved in the same extractor by merely lowering the extraction temperature, will separate the waxes from the essential oils. This lower temperature process prevents the decomposition and denaturing of compounds. When the extraction is complete, the pressure is reduced to ambient and the carbon dioxide reverts to a gas, leaving no residue. An animated presentation describing the process is available for viewing.

Supercritical carbon dioxide is also used for making decaffeinated coffee. Although it uses the same basic principles, it is a different process because of the difference in scale.

Florasols extraction

Florasol (R134a), a refrigerant, was developed to replace Freon. Florasol is an ozone friendly product and it poses little danger to the environment. One advantage is that the extraction of essential oils occurs at or below room temperature so degradation through high temperature extremes does not occur. The essential oils are mostly pure and contain little to no foreign substances

Production quantities

Although some are suspicious or dismissive towards the use of essential oils in healthcare or pharmacology,^[7] essential oils retain considerable popular use, partly in fringe medicine and partly in popular remedies. Therefore it is difficult to obtain reliable references concerning their pharmacological merits.

Studies have shown that certain essential oils may have the ability to prevent the transmission of some drug-resistant strains of pathogen, specifically Staphylococcus, Streptococcus and Candida.

Taken by mouth, many essential oils can be dangerous in high concentrations. Typical effects begin with a burning feeling, followed by salivation. In the stomach, the effect is carminative, relaxing the gastric sphincter and encouraging eructation (belching). Further down the gut, the effect typically is antispasmodic.

Typical ingredients for such applications include eucalyptus oils, menthol, capsaicin, anise and camphor. Other essential oils work well in these applications, but it is notable that others offer no significant benefit. This illustrates the fact that different essential oils may have drastically different pharmacology. Those that do work well for upper respiratory tract and bronchial problems act variously as mild expectorants and decongestants. Some act as locally anaesthetic counterirritants and, thereby, exert an antitussive effect.

 

Some essential oils, such as those of juniper and agathosma, are valued for their diuretic effects.With relatively recent concerns about the overuse of antibacterial agents, many essential oils have seen a resurgence in off-label use for such properties and are being examined for this use clinically.

Many essential oils affect the skin and mucous membranes in ways that are valuable or harmful. They are used in antiseptics and liniments in particular. Typically, they produce rubefacient irritation at first and then counterirritant numbness. Turpentine oil and camphor are two typical examples of oils that cause such effects. Menthol and some others produce a feeling of cold followed by a sense of burning. This is caused by its effect on heat-sensing nerve endings. Some essential oils, such as clove oil or eugenol, were popular for many hundred years in dentistry as antiseptics and local anaesthetics. Thymol is well known for its antiseptic effects.

THE PLANTS  OF SCROPHULARIACEAE FAMILY

Scrophulariaceae, the Figwort family, is a family of flowering plants. The plants are annual or perennial herbs with zygomorphic (rarely actinomorphic) flowers. Members of the Scrophulariaceae have a cosmopolitan distribution, with the majority found in temperate areas, including tropical mountains. The family name is based on the name of the included genus Scrophularia L.

In the past it was treated as including about 275 genera  and over 5,000 species, but its circumscription has been radically altered since numerous molecular phylogenies have shown the traditional broad circumscription to be grossly polyphyletic. Many genera have recently been transferred to other families within the Lamiales, notably Plantaginaceae and Orobanchaceae but also several new families ^[1][2]. Several families of the Lamiales have had their circumscriptions enlarged to accommodate genera transferred from Scrophulariacae sensu lato.

Purple Foxglove (Digitális purpúrea) is biennial or perennial grassy plant to 150 cm tall with upright stem, covered with hairs.

Leaves are lanceolate, wrinkled.  Lower leaves are stalked, forming a rosette, upper leaves unstalked. Flowers are zygomorphic, with 2-lobed margins, pink or purple, with dark spots inside, collected in raceme. Fruit is capsule. Uses: leaves – for strengthen weak heartbeat.

 

 

 

Verbascum,  mullein (also known as velvet plant) is a genus of about 250 species of flowering plants in the figwort family Scrophulariaceae. They are native to Europe and Asia, with the highest species diversity in the Mediterranean.

Mullein or “Mullein leaf” often refers to the leaves of Verbascum thapsus, the great or common mullein, which is frequently used in herbal medicine.

They are biennial or perennial plants, rarely annuals or subshrubs, growing to 0.5–3 m tall. The plants first form a dense rosette of leaves at ground level, subsequently sending up a tall flowering stem. Biennial plants form the rosette the first year and the stem the following season. The leaves are spirally arranged, often densely hairy, though glabrous (hairless) in some species. The flowers have five symmetrical petals; petal colours in different species include yellow (most common), orange, red-brown, purple, blue, or white. The fruit is a capsule containing numerous minute seeds.

Dark mullein (V. nigrum)

In gardening and landscaping, the mulleins are valued for their tall narrow stature and for flowering over a long period of time, even in dry soils. Many cultivars are available, of which ‘Gainsborough’,^[3]‘Letitia’^[4] and ‘Pink Domino’^[5] have gained the Royal Horticultural Society‘s Award of Garden Merit.

Since the year 2000, a number of new hybrid cultivars have come out that have increased flower size, shorter heights, and a tendency to be longer-lived plants. A number have new colors for this genus. Many mulleins are raised from seed, including both the short-lived perennial and biennial types. The plant has a long history of use as a herbal remedy. Although this plant is a recent arrival to North America, Native Americans used the ground seeds of this plant as a paralytic fish poison due to their high levels of rotenone. Verbascum sp. flowers have been used in the traditional Austrian medicine internally (as tea) or externally (as ointment, tea, baths or compresses) for treatment of disorders of the respiratory tract, skin, veins, gastrointestinal tract, and the locomotor system. Mullein is the active ingredient in many alternative smoking blends. It is considered a first-rate drill for use in the hand drill method of friction fire lighting.

 

     The Plantain Family (Plantaginaceae)

Greater Plantain (Plantágo májor) is perennial grassy plant to 40 cm tall with upright unbranched stem. Leaves are oval, with strong arc-shaped veins, collected in basal rosette.  Flowers are little, yellow-green, collected in spike. Fruit is capsule.  Uses leaves – as expectorant, for treating coughs, bronchitis, and  gastritis.

 

 

 

 

 

The Periwinkle  Family (Apocynaceae)

Vinca minor (Lesser Periwinkle) is a plant native to central and southern Europe, from Portugal and France north to the Netherlands and the Baltic States, and east to the Caucasus, and also in southwestern Asia in Turkey. Leaf margins for comparison; Vinca minor above, Vinca major below; note hairless margin of V. minor, hairy margin of V. major.

It is a trailing subshrub, spreading along the ground and rooting along the stems to form large clonal colonies and occasionally scrambling up to 40 cm high but never twining or climbing. The leaves are evergreen, opposite, 2-4.5 cm long and 1-2.5 cm broad, glossy dark green with a leathery texture and an entire margin. The flowers are solitary in the leaf axils and are produced mainly from early spring to mid summer but with a few flowers still produced into the autumn; they are violet-purple (pale purple or white in some cultivated selections), 2-3 cm diameter, with a five-lobed corolla. The fruit is a pair of follicles 2.5 cm long, containing numerous seeds. The closely related species Vinca major is similar but larger in all parts, and also has relatively broader leaves with a hairy margin. [The species is commonly grown as a groundcover in temperate gardens for its evergreen foliage, spring and summer flowers, ease of culture, and dense habit that smothers most weeds. The species has few pests or diseases outside it native range and is widely naturalised and classified as an invasive species in parts of North America [1]. There are numerous cultivars, with different flower colours and variegated foliage, including ‘Argenteovariegata’ (white leaf edges), ‘Aureovariegata’ (yellow leaf edges), ‘Gertrude Jekyll’ (white flowers), and ‘Plena’ (double flowers).

Other vernacular names used in cultivation include Small Periwinkle, Common Periwinkle, and sometimes in the United States, Myrtle or Creeping Myrtle (as a result of confusion with the unrelated myrtles).

• Ethnomedically, the dried leaves, aerial parts, and in some cases the entire plant of Vinca, are used to enhance blood circulation, including that of the brain, enhance metabolism in the brain, and to treat cardiovascular disorders.

Vincamine is the pharmaceutical molecule responsible for Vinca’s nootropic activity.

Catharanthus roseus, commonly known as the Madagascar rosy periwinkle, is a species of Catharanthus native and endemic to Madagascar. Other English names occasionally used include Cape periwinkle, rose periwinkle, rosy periwinkle, and “old-maid”.

It is an evergreen subshrub or herbaceous plant growing to 1 m tall. The leaves are oval to oblong, 2.5–9 cm long and 1–3.5 cm broad, glossy green, hairless, with a pale midrib and a short petiole 1–1.8 cm long; they are arranged in opposite pairs. The flowers are white to dark pink with a darker red centre, with a basal tube 2.5–3 cm long and a corolla 2–5 cm diameter with five petal-like lobes. The fruit is a pair of follicles 2–4 cm long and 3 mm broad.^[3][4][5][6]

In the wild, it is an endangered plant; the main cause of decline is habitat destruction by slash and burn agriculture.It is also however widely cultivated and isnaturalised in subtropical and tropical areas of the world.

The species has long been cultivated for herbal medicine and as an ornamental plant. In Ayurveda (Indian traditional medicine) the extracts of its roots and shoots, though poisonous, is used against several diseases.^{[citatioeeded]} In traditional Chinese medicine, extracts from it have been used against numerous diseases, including diabetes, malaria, and Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The substances vinblastine and vincristine extracted from the plant are used in the treatment of leukemia ^[7]and Hodgkin’s lymphoma. This conflict between historical indigenous use, and recent patents on C.roseus-derived drugs by western pharmaceutical companies, without compensation, has led to accusations of biopiracy.

It can be dangerous if consumed orally.^[7] It can be extremely toxic, and is cited (under its synonym Vinca rosea) in Louisiana State Act 159. As an ornamental plant, it is appreciated for its hardiness in dry and nutritionally deficient conditions, popular in subtropical gardens where temperatures never fall below 5 °C to 7 °C, and as a warm-season bedding plant in temperate gardens. It is noted for its long flowering period, throughout the year in tropical conditions, and from spring to late autumn, in warm temperate climates. Full sun and well-drained soil are preferred. Numerous cultivars have been selected, for variation in flower colour (white, mauve, peach, scarlet and reddish-orange), and also for tolerance of cooler growing conditions in temperate regions. Notable cultivars include ‘Albus’ (white flowers), ‘Grape Cooler’ (rose-pink; cool-tolerant), the Ocellatus Group (various colours), and ‘Peppermint Cooler’ (white with a red centre; cool-tolerant).

C. roseus is used in plant pathology as an experimental host for phytoplasmas. This is because it is easy to infect with a large majority of phytoplasmas, and also often has very distinctive symptoms such as phyllody and significantly reduced leaf size.

Rosinidin is an anthocyanidin pigment found in the flowers of C. roseus

Strophanthus is a genus of 35-40 species of flowering plants in the family Apocynaceae, native mainly to tropical Africa, extending to South Africa, with a few species in Asia, from southern India to the Philippines and southern China. The name (strophos anthos, “twisted cord flower”) derives from the long twisted threadlike segments of the corolla, which in one species (S. preussii) attain a length of 30–35 cm.

The genus includes vines, shrubs and small trees. The leaves are opposite or whorled, simple broad lanceolate, 2–20 cm long, with an entire margin.

Several of the African tribes used Strophanthus as the principal ingredient in arrow poison.

Nerium oleander /ˈnɪəriəm ˈoʊliː.ændər/ is an evergreen shrub or small tree in the dogbane family Apocynaceae, toxic in all its parts. It is the only speciescurrently classified in the genus Nerium. It is most commonly known as oleander, from its superficial resemblance to the unrelated olive Olea. It is so widely cultivated that no precise region of origin has been identified, though southwest Asia has been suggested. The ancient city of Volubilis in Morocco may have taken its name from the Berber name oualilt for the flower.^[Oleander is one of the most poisonous of commonly grown garden plants.

A seed capsule spreading seeds

Oleander grows to 2–6 m (6.6–20 ft) tall, with erect stems that splay outward as they mature; first-year stems have a glaucous bloom, while mature stems have a grayish bark. The leaves are in pairs or whorls of three, thick and leathery, dark-green, narrow lanceolate, 5–21 cm (2.0–8.3 in) long and 1–3.5 cm (0.39–1.4 in) broad, and with an entire margin. The flowers grow in clusters at the end of each branch; they are white, pink to red,^{[Note 2]} 2.5–5 cm (0.98–2.0 in) diameter, with a deeply 5-lobed fringed corolla round the central corolla tube. They are often, but not always, sweet-scented.^{[Note 3]} The fruit is a long narrow capsule 5–23 cm (2.0–9.1 in) long, which splits open at maturity to release numerous downy seeds.

N. oleander is either native or naturalized to a broad area from Mauritania, Morocco, and Portugal eastward through the Mediterranean region and the Sahara (where it is only found sporadically), to the Arabian peninsula, southern Asia, and as far East as Yunnan in southern parts of China. It typically occurs around dry stream beds. Nerium oleander is planted in many subtropical and tropical areas of the world. On the East Coast of the US, it can be planted as far north as Virginia Beach, Virginia, while in California and Texas it is naturalized as a median strip planting.

Rubia is a genus of the madder family Rubiaceae, which contains about 80 species of perennial scrambling or climbing herbs and sub-shrubs native to the Old World, Africa, temperate Asia and America. The genus and its best known species are also known as Madder, Rubia tinctorum (Common Madder), Rubia peregrina(Wild Madder), and Rubia cordifolia (Munjeet or Indian Madder).

The Common Madder can grow up to 1.5 m in height. The evergreen leaves are approximately 5–10 cm long and 2–3 cm broad, produced in whorls of 4–7 starlike around the central stem. It climbs with tiny hooks at the leaves and stems. The flowers are small (3–5 mm across), with five pale yellow petals, in dense racemes, and appear from June to August, followed by small (4–6 mm diameter) red to black berries. The roots can be over a metre long, up to 12 mm thick and the source of red dyes known as rose madder and Turkey red. It prefers loamy soils (sand and clay soil) with a constant level of moisture. Madders are used as food plants for thelarvae of some Lepidoptera species including the Hummingbird Hawk Moth.

The Madder Family (Rubiaceae)

Rubiaceae is a family of flowering plants, variously called the coffee family, madder family, or bedstraw family. The group contains many commonly known plants, including the economically important coffee (Coffea), quinine (Cinchona), and gambier (Uncaria), the medicinal ipecacuanha (Carapichea ipecacuanha), and the horticulturally valuable madder (Rubia), west Indian jasmine (Ixora), partridgeberry (Mitchella), Morinda, Gardenia, and Pentas. Members of the coffee family tend to be concentrated in warmer and tropical climates around the world. Currently, about 611 genera and more than 13,000 speciesare placed in Rubiaceae.^[2] This makes it the fourth-largest family of flowering plants by number of species, and fifth-largest by number of genera.

Rubiaceae are tolerant of a broad array of environmental conditions (soil types, altitudes, community structures, etc.), and do not specialize in one specific habitat type (although genera within the family often specialize). The plants tend not to be eaten by the larvae of butterflies, but some sphingids (Semanophorae) do appear to prefer them.^[2] The genera Myrmecodia and Hydnophytum are interesting, as they areepiphytes that have evolved mutualistic relationships with ants.

The most economically important member of the family, and the world’s second most important commodity (after petroleum) are the two species of Coffea canephora (also known as Coffea robusta) andCoffea arabica, used in the production of coffee.

Coffea arabica /əˈræbɪkə/ is a species of Coffea originally indigenous to the mountains of the southwestern highlands of Ethiopia. It is also known as the “coffee shrub of Arabia“, “mountain coffee” or “arabica coffee”. Coffea arabica is believed to be the first species of coffee to be cultivated, being grown in southwest Ethiopiafor well over 1,000 years.

It is said to produce better tasting coffee than the other major commercially grown coffee species, Coffea canephora (robusta), because robusta cherries contain twice as much caffeine as arabica. Caffeine itself has a bitter taste, making robusta more bitter. C. arabica contains less caffeine than any other commercially cultivated species of coffee.

Wild plants grow to between 9 and 12 m (29 and 39 ft) tall, and have an open branching system; the leaves are opposite, simple elliptic-ovate to oblong, 6–12 cm (2.4–4.8 in) long and 4–8 cm (1.6–3.2 in) broad, glossy dark green. The flowers are white, 10–15 mm in diameter and grow in axillary clusters. The fruit is a drupe(though commonly called a “cherry”; the plural form is simply “cherry” – used only when referring to the fruit of C. arabica – when referring to the actual cherry fruit, the appropriate plural is “cherries”) 10–15 mm in diameter, maturing bright red to purple and typically contains two seeds (the coffee seeds).

Arabian coffee (Cóffea arábica()

Originally found in the southwestern highlands of Ethiopia, Coffea arabica is now rare in its native state, and many populations appear to be mixed native and planted trees. It is common there as an understorey shrub. It has also been recovered from the Boma Plateau in South Sudan. C. arabica is also found on Mount Marsabit iorthern Kenya, but it is unclear whether this is a truly native or naturalised occurrence.

Coffea arabica accounts for 75-80 percent of the world’s coffee production.^[3]

C. arabica takes about seven years to mature fully, and does best with 1.0–1.5 meters (about 40–59 inches) of rain, evenly distributed throughout the year.^{[citatioeeded]} It is usually cultivated between 1,300 and 1,500 m altitude,^{[citatioeeded]} but there are plantations as low as sea level and as high as 2,800 m.^[4]

The plant can tolerate low temperatures, but not frost, and does best with an average temperature between 15 and 24 °C (59 and 75 °F).^[5] Commercial cultivarsmostly only grow to about 5 m, and are frequently trimmed as low as 2 m to facilitate harvesting. Unlike Coffea canephora, C. arabica prefers to be grown in light shade

Two to four years after planting, C. arabica produces small, white, highly fragrant flowers. The sweet fragrance resembles the sweet smell of jasmine flowers. Flowers opening on sunny days results in the greatest numbers of berries. This can be a curse, however, as coffee plants tend to produce too many berries; this can lead to an inferior harvest and even damage yield in the following years, as the plant will favour the ripening of berries to the detriment of its own health.

On well-kept plantations, overflowering is prevented by pruning the tree. The flowers only last a few days, leaving behind only the thick dark green leaves. The berries then begin to appear. These are as dark green as the foliage, until they begin to ripen, at first to yellow and then light red and finally darkening to a glossy deep red. At this point they are called ‘cherries’ and are ready for picking.

The berries are oblong and about 1 cm long. Inferior coffee results from picking them too early or too late, so many are picked by hand to be able to better select them, as they do not all ripen at the same time. They are sometimes shaken off the tree onto mats, which means ripe and unripe berries are collected together.

The trees are difficult to cultivate and each tree can produce from 0.5 to 5.0 kg of dried beans, depending on the tree’s individual character and the climate that season. The real prize of this cash crop are the beans inside. Each berry holds two locules containing the beans. The coffee beans are actually two seeds within the fruit; there is sometimes a third seed or one seed, a peaberry in the fruit at tips of the branches. These seeds are covered in two membranes; the outer one is called the “parchment coat” and the inner one is called the “silver skin”.

On Java Island, trees are planted at all times of the year and are harvested year round. In parts of Brazil, however, the trees have a season and are harvested only in winter. The plants are vulnerable to damage in poor growing conditions (cold, low pH soil) and are also more vulnerable to pests than the C. robusta plant.

A Coffea arabica plantation in São João do Manhuaçu,Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Arabica coffee production in Indonesia began in 1699. Indonesian coffees, such as Sumatran and Java, are known for heavy body and low acidity. This makes them ideal for blending with the higher acidity coffees from Central America and East Africa.

SUMMARY

The Mint Family (Lamiaceae)

Nearly all the  3500 members of the Mint Family are relatively easy to distinguish since they have a unique combination of angular stems that are square in cross section, opposite simple leaves, and zygomorphic flowers (Fig.). Most also produce aromatic essential oils (in epidermal radial glands that have short legs and 8-12 radially arranged secretors cells) in the leaves, flowers and stems. Epidermis contents a diacytos type of stomata.

They are spreading in dry places. The growth forms of plants: herbs, shrubs and hemi-shrubs. In perennial plants underground organ is rhizome. The leaves are simple, without stipules, entire or lobed.

The flowers are zygomorphical, collected in whorls of 4-10, and arranged in interrupted spike-alike, raceme-alike inflorescences. Corolla is generally 2-lipped: with 2–lobed upper lip and 3-lobed lower lip. The androecium is two-strong. The superior ovary is four-parted, with each of the four divisions developing into fruit a nutlets.

FLORAL FORMULA:     Ca₍₅₎Co₍₂₊₃₎ A₂₊₂G(₂₎

Included in the Family are such well-known essential oil’s plants as Lavander, Wild Majoram, Lemon Balm, Peppermint, Thyme, Sage etc.

Basic representatives:

Common Lavander (Lavándula angustifólia) is perennial evergreen hemi-shrub growing to about 60 cm tall with aromatic smell. Stem is branching. Leaves are opposite, narrowly linear, green-grey, covered hairs, with entire margin. Flowers are blue-violet, collected in whorls of 4-8, and arranged in terminal interrupted spikes. Corolla is distinctly 2-lipped. Fruits are nutlets.  

* This plant growth in Ukraine only in culture.

Active ingredients: essential oil, flavonoids, tannins.

Uses: flowers and herb for treating migraines and nervous disorders, as sedative.

Further uses: essential oil in perfume industry. 

 

Wild Majoram (Oríganum vulgáre) is perennial grassy plant, growing to about 50 cm tall with much branched stem. Leaves are opposite, ovate, short-stalked. Flowers are pink, collected in corymb-like panicles. Corolla is 2-lipped. Fruits are nutlets.   Active ingredients: essential oil, flavonoids.

Uses: herb for treating loss of appetite, digestive problems. In homeopathy – for treating female sexual disorders.

Further uses: for flavour foods, in tea. 

 

Lemon Balm (Melíssa officinális) is perennial grassy plant, growing to about 80 cm tall with aromatic lemon smell. Leaves are opposite, oval, stalked, with toothed margin. Flowers are yellowish-white, collected in whorls of 3-6, and arranged in interrupted spikes. Corolla is weakly 2-lipped. Fruits are nutlets.  

* This plant growth in Ukraine only in culture.

Active ingredients: essential oil, flavonoids.

Uses: herb for treating nervous complaints of stomach, intestine and heart, as sedative, anti-depressant.

Further uses: for flavour foods, in tea. 

Peppermint (Méntha piperíta) is perennial grassy plant, growing to about 80 cm tall with violet-tinged stems and aromatic smell. Leaves are opposite, narrowly ovate, stalked, with toothed margin. Flowers are pinkish-violet, collected in whorls of 4–8, and arranged in terminal interrupted spikes. Corolla is weakly 2-lipped. Fruits are nutlets.  

* This plant growth in Ukraine only in culture.

Active ingredients: essential oil, flavonoids.

Uses: leaves  and herb for treating nausea, stomach, intestinal and liver disorders, as mildly anesthetic and sedative.  Further uses: for flavour foods, desserts, and  toothpaste. 

 

Java tea (Ortosíphon stamíneus) is perennial evergreen hemi-shrub, growing to about 150 cm tall, with violet-tinged deeply stems below. Leaves are opposite, rhombus-elliptic, stalked, with toothed margin. Flowers are pale violet, collected in terminal raceme-like. Corolla is weakly 2-lipped. Stamens with long filaments. Fruits are nutlets.  

* This plant growth in Ukraine only in culture.

Active ingredients: saponins, tannins.

Uses: herb – as diuretic, for treating kidney stones.

Motherwort (Leonúrus cardiaca) is perennial grassy plant, growing to about 200 cm tall, with branched stems. Leaves are opposite, hairy. Lower leaves are deeply 3-5-lobed, upper leaves smaller, lobed or entire. Flowers are pinkish-violet, collected in the whorls in leaf axils. Corolla is deeply 2-lipped. Fruits are nutlets.  

Active ingredients: cardiac glycosides, bitters, tannins.

Uses: herb – as regulator the heartbeat and blood pressure (as hypotension).

 In medicine also used other similar species – Leonúrus quinquelobátus.

Common Thyme (Thýmus vulgáris) is perennial hemi-shrub growing to about 30 cm tall with aromatic smell. *It plant has creeping stem. Leaves are opposite, to 1 cm long, olate and hairy. Flowers are pink, collected in head-like raceme. Corolla is distinctly 2-lipped. Fruits are nutlets.

Active ingredients: essential oil, tannins, bitters.

Uses: herb as expectorant, for treating coughs and bronchitis.

Further uses: as culinary herb (in soups, salads, tea).

In medicine also used other similar species – Wild Thyme (Thýmus serpýllum).

Sage (Salvia officinalis) is perennial decidoues hemi-shrub growing to about 70 cm tall with aromatic smell. Leaves are opposite, stalked, narrowly elliptic and wrinkled. Flowers are blue-violet, collected in whorls of 4-8 and arranged in spikes. Corolla is distinctly 2-lipped. Fruits are long, ribbed nutlets, to 10 mm long.  

* This plant growth in Ukraine only in culture.

Active ingredients: essential oil, tannins, bitters.

Uses: leaves as anti-septic for treating mouth and throat infection, as anti-perspirant

Further uses: culinary herb (leaves in soups, salads, roasts).

    Other species of Mint Family: Nepeta, Hyssop, Baikal Skullcap, Rosemary, Basil, Oregano, etc. *In folk medicine uses also flowers of dead-nettle (Lamium album) for treating of upper respiratory ways inflammation.  

The Figwort Family (Scrophulariaceae)

 Nearly all the 2000 members of the Figwort Family are spreading concentrated on all planet.  Leaves are simple, entire. Flowers are zygomorphic, collected in racemes or spikes. Fruit is a capsule or a berries. In pharmacy for strengthen heartbeat uses species of Foxglove genus:

1)                           Purple Foxglove (Digitális purpúrea) is biennial or perennial grassy plant to 150 cm tall with upright stem, covered with hairs. Leaves are lanceolate, wrinkled.  Lower leaves are stalked, forming a rosette, upper leaves unstalked. Flowers are zygomorphic, with 2-lobed margins, pink or purple, with dark spots inside, collected in raceme. Fruit is capsule.

2)                          

Active ingredients: cardiac glycosides (poisonous!)

Uses: leaves – for strengthen weak heartbeat.

2) Yellow Foxglove (Digitális drandiflóra) – with yellow flowers.

3) Grecian Foxglove (Digitális lanáta) – with yellowish flowers and brownish veins. Lower lip is pale-pink.

The Nightshade Family (Solanaceae)

The Nightshade Family is concentrated in the tropics of Central and South America. The more than 3,000 species of the family have alternate simple leaves and occur as herbs, shrubs, trees, or vines. Epidermis contents an anizocytos type of stomata.  Its cells produce large crystals of waste products of calcium oxalate – druse  and other crystals. The flowers have 5 fused petals, with the 5 stamen filaments fused to the corolla so that they appear to be arising from it. The superior ovary develops into fruits a berry or a capsule.           

FLORAL FORMULA:  _*  Ca₍₅₎Co₍₅₎ A₍₅₎G(₂₎

Well-known representatives include vegetables (Tomato, Potato, Eggplant, Capsicum), Tobacco, and Petunia.

 

 

 

Many plants of Family (Deadly Nightshade, Henbane, Thorn-apple) produce poisonous drugs, some of which have medicinal uses. One of the best-known medicinal drug producers is the Deadly Nightshade. A drug complex called belladonna is extracted from its leaves and roots. Belladonna was used in the “magic potions” of the past and also for dilating human pupils for cosmetic purposes. It is now the source of several widely used drugs, including atropine, scopolamine, and hyoscyamine. Atropine is used in shock treatment, for relief of pain, to dilate eyes, and to counteract muscle spasms.

Deadly Nightshade (Átropa belladónna) is perennial grassy plant, growing to 150 cm tall, with upright stem. Leaves are short-stalked, elliptic, entire, and alternate, to 15 cm long.  Flowers are actinomorphic, brownish-violet, disposition solitary in leaf axils. Corolla is bell-shaped, with 5 lobes. Fruit is black berry.

Active ingredients: alkaloids (deadly poisonous!).

Uses: roots, leaves – as anti-spasmodic for treating intestinal and urinary pains.

Henbane (Hyoscýamus níger) is biennial grassy plant, growing to 90 cm tall, with sticky hairs and unpleasant smell. Leaves are ovate, and alternate, deeply toothed. Lower leaves are stalked, upper leaves unstalked. Flowers are yellow-brown, with purple veins, disposition in sympodial inflorescences. Corolla is funnel-shaped, deeply lobed. Fruit is jug-shaped capsule with cover.

Active ingredients: alkaloids (deadly poisonous!).

Uses: leaves  –  for treating asthma and Parkinson’s disease as anti-spasmodic.

Thorn-apple (Datúra stramónium) is annual hairless grassy plant, growing to 100 cm tall. Leaves are simple, deeply toothed and alternate, with long stalks. Flowers are actinomorphic, white, disposition solitary in branch angles. Corolla is funnel-shaped, deeply 5-lobed. Fruit is oval thorny capsule, splitting into 4 valves.

   Active ingredients: alkaloids (deadly poisonous!).

  Uses:  leaves –  for treating asthma and cough as anti-spasmodic.

Potato (Solánum tuberósum) is perennial grassy plant to 100 cm tall with ribbed branching stem, covered sticky hairs. Leaves are pinnate-dissected and alternate, to 20 cm long.  Flowers are actinomorphic, white or violet, disposition in sympodial inflorescences. Corolla is wheel-shaped, with 5 lobes. Fruit is green berry.

Active ingredients: alkaloids, starch (in tubers).

Uses: tubers  –  as source of starch.

Further uses: cooked tubers as popular food.

The Periwinkle  Family (Apocynaceae)

 Lesser Periwinkle (Vinca minor) is perennial evergreen hemi-shrub growing to about 30 cm. Long vegetative stems rooting at nodes. Flowering stems are upright. Leaves are opposite, ovate, to about 5 cm long. Flowers are actinomorphic, blue-violet, solitary and stalked, growing from leaf axils. Fruits – 2 follicles, joined at base.

Active ingredients: alkaloids (danger of overdose!), bitters.

Uses: herb for treating circulatory disorders (especially of the brain), as hypotension.

In tropical and subtropical zones of our planet growth other medicinal plants of the Periwinkle  Family:

Java devil pepper (Rauwólfia serpentína) – uses roots as hypotension.

Strophánthus   (Strophánthus  híspidus) –  uses seeds for strengthen  heartbeat.

Oleander (Nerium oleander) – uses leaves for strengthen heartbeat.

The Gentian Family (Gentianaceae)

Yellow Gentian (Gentiána lútea) is perennial hairless grassy plant to 150 cm tall with hollow upright stem. Leaves are elliptic, opposite, with strong veins.  Flowers are actinomorphic, yellow, collected in verticillaster (in upper leaf axils). Corolla with short tube and 5-6 deeply divided lobes.  Fruit is capsule.

        Active ingredients: bitters.

       Uses: roots – for treating loss of appetite, digestive disorders. Further uses:  as constituent of digestive bitters. 

Common Centaury (Centaúrium erythraéa) is biennial hairless grassy plant to 30 cm tall with upright stem, branching towards the top. Leaves are oval, opposite  Flowers are actinomorphic, pink, collected in verticillaster. Corolla is tubular and 5-divided.  Fruit is capsule.

Active ingredients: bitters, phenols.

Uses: herb – for treating digestive disorders, liver problems.

The Plantain Family (Plantaginaceae)

Greater Plantain (Plantágo májor) is perennial grassy plant to 40 cm tall with upright unbranched stem. Leaves are oval, with strong arc-shaped veins, collected in basal rosette.  Flowers are little, yellow-green, collected in spike. Fruit is capsule.   

Active ingredients: mucilage, tannins, bitters.

Uses: leaves – as expectorant, for treating coughs, bronchitis, and  gastritis.

Ribwort Plantain (Plantágo psýllium) is perennial grassy plant to 50 cm tall with upright unbranched stem. Leaves are narrowly-lanceolate, hairy, collected in basal rosette.  Flowers are little, pinkish-yellow, collected in little heads. Fruit is 2-seeded capsule.

Active ingredients: mucilage, tannins

Uses: leaves – as expectorant, for treating coughs, as mild laxative.

The Madder Family (Rubiaceae)

Arabian coffee (Cóffea arábica) is a species of coffee indigenous to Ethiopia and Yemen. It is also known as the “coffee shrub of Arabia“. Coffea arabica is believed to be the first species of coffee to be cultivated, being grown in south-west Arabia for well over 1,000 years. It is considered to produce better coffee than the other major commercially coffee species, Coffea canephora (robusta).

Wild plants grow to 10 m tall, and have a branching stems; the leaves are opposite, elliptic-ovate, to 12 cm long, glossy dark green. The flowers are white, and grow in axillary clusters. The fruit is a drupe (commonly called a “berry”), to 1,5 cm in diameter, maturing bright red and typically contain two seeds (the coffee ‘bean’).

Active ingredients: alkaloids (caffeine), tannins. 

 Uses: seeds as general tonic, stimulant.

Further uses: fried seeds for cook coffee. 

Common Madder (Rúbia tinctórum) is perennial grassy plant to 150 cm in height. The roots can be over a meter long, and are the source of a red dye known as rose madder. The evergreen leaves are to 10 cm long, arranged in whorls of 4-7 star-like around the stem. The flowers are small (to 5 mm across), with 5 pale yellow petals, collected in hemi-umbels. Fruit is a black berry.

Active ingredients: anthrahinons.

Uses: roots and rhizomes for treating kidney stones, as anti-spasmodic.

Literature

1.    Botany / Randy Moore, W.Denis Clark, Kingsley R.Stern, Darrell Vodopich. – Dubuque, IA, Bogota, Boston, Buenos Aires, Caracas,Chicago, Guilford, CT, London, Madrid, Mexico City, Sydney, Toronto: Wm.C.Brown Publishers.- 1994.-

2.    Kindsley R. Stern. Introductory plant biology- Dubuque, Ajowa, Melburne and Australia, Oxford, England: Wm.C.Brown Publishers1994.-P.23-38.

3. Gulko R.M. Explanatory Dictionary of Medicinal Botany- Lviv: LSMU, 2003.-200 p.

4. Raven, P. H., R. F. Evert, & S. E. Eichhorn. Biology of Plants, 7th ed., page 9. (New York: W. H. Freeman, 2005).

5. Harold C. Bold, C. J. Alexopoulos, and T. Delevoryas. Morphology of Plants and Fungi, 5th ed., page 3. (New York: Harper-Collins, 1987).

6.     http://www.google.wikipedia.Dracocephalum

7.     http://www.provisor.com.ua

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