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MERCURY (French)
MERCURIALIS ANNUA The juice takes away warts. An annual growing about a foot (30 cm) high with angular stalks and narrow leaves with yellowy-green flowers, either male or female. Also known as Annual Mercury. Where to find it: Waste ground. Flowering time. Early summer. Astrology: It is under the dominion of the Moon. Medicinal virtues: The leaves and stalks are aperitive and mollifying. The decoction purges choleric and serous humours. It is also used in clysters. A decoction of the seeds with Wormwood is commanded for the yellow jaundice. Modern uses: Mucilaginous, diuretic and purgative. The properties are similar to Dog's Mercury, but milder. The leaves are boiled and eaten as a pot herb in some parts of Europe, but the herb is not now recommended for collection and use in domestic medicine. Boiling the leaves reduces their acrid nature. |