Butter-bur |
BUTTER-BUR
PETASITES HYBRIDUS (= TUSSILAGO HYBRIDA)
It were well if gentle women would keep this root preserved to
help their poor neighbours. It is fit the rich should help the poor, for the poor cannot
help themselves.
A perennial plant, Butter-bur has a long root that spreads underground, blackish on
the outside, whitish within. The hollow stalk rises to about a foot (30 cm) high bearing
flowers of bluish or deep red, according to the soil. The leaves appear on the plant after
flowering.
Where to find it: By rivers and watersides and muddy soils.
Flowering time: Late winter, early spring. The leaves do not appear until mid
spring.
Astrology: It is under the dominion of the Sun and, therefore, a great strengthener
of the heart and cheerer of the vital spirits.
Medicinal virtues: The roots are used against the plague and pestilential fevers by
provoking sweat. The powder taken in wine resists the force of any other poison. The
decoction of the root in wine is singularly good for those that wheeze much, or are
short-winded. It provokes the urine and women's courses and kills flat and broad worms
in the belly. The powdered root dries up the moisture of sores and takes away spots and
blemishes of the skin.
Modern uses: The root is used as a heart tonic. It stimulates heart function and is
diuretic. It is also used to treat asthmatics, calculi of the urinary tract and colds and
fevers. It is prepared in the form of a decoction, 1 OZ (28 g) Of the root being boiled in
1 1/2 Pt (852 ml) of water down to 1 pt (568 ml), allowed to cool, strained and taken in
doses of 2 fl oz (56 ml) three or four times a day. Homoeopaths use a tincture of the root
for headaches, neuralgia and inflammation of the urethra. |