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SAVORY (summer)
SATUREIA HORTENSIS It is much commended for pregnant women to take inwardly and to smell often unto. Summer Savory is a hardy annual with small stringy roots and woody, hairy branches, eight or nine inches (20 or 23 cm) high. The flowers are white with a blush of pink or lilac. Where to find it. It is grown in gardens, but often escapes and flourishes near gardens. Flowering time: Early summer. Astrology: Under Mercury. Medicinal virtues: It expels tough phlegm from the chest and lungs, quickens the dull spirits in the lethargy, if the juice be snuffed up the nose. Dropped into the eyes it clears them of thin cold humours proceeding from the brain. The juice heated with Oil of Roses, dropped into the ears, eases them of the noises in them and deafness. Outwardly applied as a poultice with Wheat flour, it eases the sciatica and palsied members. It eases the pain from stings of wasps and bees. Modern uses: It is mainly used as a kitchen herb, but the dried tops are used as an expectorant and stomach medicine. Its aromatic properties make it a valuable addition to other medicines. It is indicated in the treatment of colic, flatulence, diarrhoea and frayed nerves. It also has a reputation as being aphrodisiac. The infusion of the dried tops - 1 oz (28 g) to 1 Pt (568 ml) of boiling water - is given in doses of 2 fl oz (56 ml) three or four times a day. |