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CLEAVERS GALIUM APARINE It is familiarly taken in broth, to keep them lean and lank that are apt to grow fat. An annual herb also known as Goose-grass, Catchweed and Bedstraw, it has prickly stems which grow from two to six feet (o.6 to 1.8 m) high. The flowers are small, white and scattered. Where to find it. I t grows by hedges and ditches and in the edges of woods. It chokes whatever grows near it. Flowering time: Summer. Astrology: Under the dominion of the Moon. Medicinal virtues. The juice of the herb and seed together, taken in wine, helpeth those bitten by an adder by preserving the heart from the venom. The distilled water drunk twice a day helpeth the yellow jaundice. The decoction of the herb stayeth laxes and bloody fluxes. The juice of the leaves, or the bruised leaves, applied to a wound stayeth the bleeding. Boiled in hog's grease, it helpeth all sorts of hard swellings or kernels in the throat when anointed. Modern uses: An important remedy in modern practice, Galium is a soothing relaxing diuretic and is therefore employed as an infusion in cystitis in doses of two to four tablespoonfuls, three or four times a day. It can also he combined for this purpose with demulcents such as Marsh Mallow in equal parts. It is extensively used in the internal treatment of skin diseases, such as psoriasis and eczema. It acts on the lymphatic system. The juice is a powerful diuretic and useful in dropsy. Dosage varies from 1/6 -1/2 fl oz (5 -15 ml). The herb is considered to have anti-tumour properties, but there is as yet insufficient evidence to support this. Tinctures and fluid extracts are usually obtainable from herbalists. |