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BILBERRIES VACCINIUM MYRTILLUS It is a pity they are used no more in physic than they are, Also known as Whortleberries. There are two sorts - the black and the red berries. The small bush bearing the black berries creeps along the ground and has small dark green leaves with small pinkish coloured flowers. The Whortle-bush has leaves like Box tree leaves, green and round-pointed which stay on all winter. Where to find it: In forests and on heathland. Flowering time. Early to mid spring. The fruit is ripe from mid to late summer. Astrology: They are under the dominion of Jupiter. Medicinal virtues: Black Bilberries are good in hot agues, and to cool the heat of the liver and stomach. They bind the belly and stay the vomitings. The .juice of the berries made into a syrup, or the pulp made into a conserve with sugar, is good for the aforesaid purposes and for an old cough, or an ulcer in the lungs. The Red Whorts are more binding and stop women's courses, spitting of blood, or any other flux of blood or humours, and are used both outwardly and inwardly. Modern uses: Bilberries, when used medicinally, act as an astringent diuretic. The dried berries administered in the form of a decoction are effective in diarrhoea and dysentery. A tincture of the leaves is hypoglycaemic and is indicated as a diabetic remedy. For home use an infusion can be made in the ratio of one teaspoonful of the leaves to a cup of boiling water. Homoeopathic tablets are also available for use by diabetics. |