originally posted: December 29, 2003 | by chelsie

In 1597, John Gerard had heard of the "drunken Date tree". In The Herbal, he classified date palms under Palma, coconuts under Nux Indica, and all other palms under Areca "which name is used amongst the Portugals which dwell in those Indies". The "drunken date", he called Areca sive Faufel using the Portuguese name with its common Arabian name. [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: December 22, 2003 | by chelsie

In the late autumn, after apple gathering, it was an Irish custom to mix a bowl of la mas nbhal, a drink of spiced ale, wine, or cider to which was added small apples and pieces of toasted bread. Each person who partook in the feast had to take an apple and wish good luck to the other members of the party. With the advent of Christianity, the apple gathering feast was set on All Hallows Eve. By the late 1500s, John Gerard highly recommended Irish "Lambes Wooll" made with roasted apples and toast in ale, as a medicinal treatment. [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: December 15, 2003 | by chelsie

The earliest record of mandrake is in the book of Genesis. Jacob worked for Laban, his maternal uncle, long enough to have both Laban's daughters, Leah and Rachel, as wives. Sibling rivalry ensued as to who would give Jacob the most sons. The rivalry became 'sible war' and Jacob ended up with his wives' maids also. But of the four women, only Rachel did not bear any sons. [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: December 8, 2003 | by chelsie

In Chapter 181, Of the Historie of Plants (The Herbal), Gerard wrote, "Psyllium, or the common Flea-wort hath many round and tender branches, set full of long and narrow leaves somewhat hairy. The top of the stalkes are garnished with sundrie round chaffie knops, beset with small yellow floures: which being ripe containe many little shining seeds, in proportion, colour, and bignesse like unto fleas." [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: December 1, 2003 | by chelsie

Nutmeg became an easily available spice in Europe after 1511 when the Portuguese "discovered" the Spice Islands, the Moluccas. The exotic flavors of spices had a tremendous impact on the European economy. Spices were pretentious items--the wealthy would host extravagant heavily spiced banquets. [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: November 24, 2003 | by chelsie

Chesten-trees or chestnuts comprise twelve species of the genus Castanea Miller. The trees are native to the north temperate zones. Depending upon the species, the tree bears one to seven nuts inside a bur-like hull. John Gerard described it as "a prickly huske like unto a hedge-hog". [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: November 17, 2003 | by chelsie

Dill (Anethum graveolens Linnaeus) has been both a medicinal and a culinary herb since ancient times. The generic name is derived from its Greek name anethon. This annual is native to southwest Asia from the eastern shores of the Mediterranean to the Caucus Mountains. [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: November 10, 2003 | by chelsie

Legend says that in the distant past, a gigantic basilisk (or dragon) fought an elephant to the death. Both animals were thought to have blood with magical powers. Where the spilled blood mingled, the first dragon tree sprang from the earth. When tapped, the dragon tree oozes deep red resin, Sanguis Draconis or Indian cinnabar, used since ancient times to treat wounds, as an ingredient in perfume, and as a pigment. [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: November 3, 2003 | by chelsie

Various wormwoods (Artemisia species) were the standard treatment for stomach problems (tonics for poor digestion), recurring agues (fevers), cleansing obstructions and "naughtie humours" from the liver, and for intestinal round worms. One species or another of wormwood was part of the materia medica of ancient Egypt, Persia, Greece, Rome, and China. Soldiers down through the centuries took wormwood as protection from 'pestilence'. (The Herbal, John Gerard, 1633 edition) [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: October 27, 2003 | by chelsie

Southern bayberry or wax myrtle (Myrica cerifera Linnaeus) is a large evergreen shrub native to the southern and eastern coasts of the U.S. Depending upon the authority, there are four to six species in North America and possibly fifty species worldwide. The southern bayberry was a source of fragrant wax. Although it was never 'official' in the U.S. Pharmacopeia, the plant supplied eclectic materia medica--medicines used by some doctors and in home remedies. [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: October 20, 2003 | by chelsie

Alexanders, masterwort, or great angelica (Angelica atropurpurea Linnaeus) is a member of the Apiaceae or Umbelliferae, the family of celery and parsley. The plants grow to 2 meters (6 feet) and are found in rich river bottomland soils and swampy areas of eastern North America from southern Canada into the northern U.S. Like its European cousin (Angelica archangelica), great angelica is an aromatic plant. [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: October 13, 2003 | by chelsie

Butterbur (Petasites hybridus (L.) P. Gaertner, B. Meyer & Scherbius) is a member of the Asteraceae, native to Eurasia. John Gerard wrote in The Herbal, "Of Butter-burre...the leaves are very great like to a round cap or hat, called in Latine Petasus, of such a widenesse...it is big and large enough to keepe a mans head from raine, and from the heate of the Sunne....This groweth in moist places neere unto rivers sides, and upon the brinks and banks of lakes and ponds." [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: October 6, 2003 | by chelsie

In the tenth century BCE, King Solomon wrote of his peasant bride, a Shulamite, "My beloved is unto me as a cluster of henna in the vineyards of En-gedi." (Song of Songs 1:14, Masoretic Text) Fifteen hundred years later, the Prophet Mohammed said alhenna was "chief of the flowers of this world and the next". In 1183, Ibn Jubayr traveled to Mecca and wrote that he visited "...a mosque attributed to Abu Bakr the Faithful...and girt with a lovely garden having palm-trees, pomegranate and jujube trees, and we saw there hinna' trees." [Click here to read more...]