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COWSLIP PRIMULA VERIS Our city dames know well enough the ointment or distilled water of it adds to beauty, or at least restores it when it is lost. A well-known perennial from the Primrose family. Also called Peagle. Where to find it: Dry meadows, hedgerows and in woodland. Flowering time: Mid to late spring. Astrology. Venus lays claim to this herb as her own, and it is under the sign of Aries. Medicinal virtues: An ointment made from the flowers taketh away spots and wrinkles of the skin, sun-burnings and freckles. The flowers remedy vertigo, nightmares, false apparitions, frenzies, failing-sickness, palsies, convulsions, cramps, and nerve pains. The roots case pains in the back and bladder and open the urinary passages. The leaves are good to apply to wounds and the flowers take away trembling. Modern uses: The flowers are used for their sedative and anti-spasmodic properties. A teaspoonful of the dried flowers made into a tea and taken at night will prevent insomnia. It may be used in tincture form for insomnia in conjunction with Hops and Passiflora. For anxiety states it is combined with scull cap; and for what Culpeper calls "frenzies" it is combined with Valerian. An ointment made from the flowers is a good application to relieve sunburn. A decoction of the root is excellent as a remedy for bronchitis and whooping cough - 1 oz (28 g) of the dried root is boiled in 1 Pint (568 ml) of water, strained and taken in doses of 1-2 fl oz (28-56 ml) for its expectorant properties. |