PARSLEY Petroselinum sativum, Hoffm.( N. O.: Umbelliferae)
Common Names: Parsley Breakstone, Garden Parsley, Rock Parsley. Features: Parsley belongs to a small genus of the Mediterranean plant, Umbelliferae, cultivated since antiquity, and now grown in various forms in all of the civilized world. Parsley is a many-branched, bright green, smooth stemmed, biennial herb with ternately pinnate decompound, sometimes with crisp leaves; greenish-yellow flowers. The root is the official part. French chemists have succeeded in obtaining an essential oil named apiol which has proved a good replacement for quinia in intermittent fever and for ergot as a parturient. Medicinal Parts: Leaves, roots and seeds. Solvents: Leaves and powder, water; oil, alcohol. Bodily Influence: Diuretic, Aperient, Expectorant. Uses: Is chiefly used for renal congestion, inflammation of the kidney and bladder, for gravel, stones, urine retention, the culprit of many malfunctions. The root or leaves are excellent for the liver and spleen when jaundice and venereal diseases ar present. Also useful in epilepsy. A worthy ingredient, combined with other herbs such as Buchu( Borosma), black haw( Viburnum prunifolium), Cramp bark( Viburnum opulus), for female troubles. Drink as much as 3 cupfuls a day.
Parsley is high in Vitamin B and potassium, a substance in which cancerous cells cannot multiply. Should be considered among the preventive herbs. The seeds contain apiol, which is considered a safe and efficient emmenagogue and is used in amenorrhoea and dysmenorrhoea. Of assistance in intermittent fever or agues. Dose: Of the oil, for diuretic purposes, 3 – 4 drops a day. Of the infusion, 2 – 4 cupfuls. Externally: Often the bruised leaves are applied to swollen glands and swollen breasts to dry up milk. Hot fomentations wrung out of the tea will relieve insect bites and stings. Homoeopathic Clinical: Tincture of whole fresh plant when coming into bloom— Catheter fever, Cystitis, Dysuria, Gleet, Gonorrhoea, Gravel, Intermittent fever, Night blindness, Priapism. Russian Experience: Petrushka, Parsley, a common vegetable in all gardens, is used as food and home medicine. Preparations of tea and decoctions from the root, leaves and seeds are administered for dropsy, kidney and bladder, female corrective, indigestion, liver, spleen ailments, prostatitis. Externally: The fresh juice is used as a non-toxic insect repellent in the summer time.
PARTRIDGE BERRY Mitchella repens, L.( N. O.: Rubiaceae)
Common Names: Winter Clover, Squaw Berry, One Berry, Checker Berry, Deer Berry, etc. Features: A member of the Madder family( Rubiaceae). Partridge berry is indigenous to North America and found in dry and swampy woods from south-western Newfoundland to Minnesota, south to Florida and Texas, and in Guatemala.
The shining leaves are roundish or heart-shaped, ½-¾ in. long, which sometimes look like clover; they are opposite on the stem and may be marked with white lines, and they remain green throughout the winter. The fragrant white or pink paired flowers, ½ in. long, are joined at the base and usually have four hairy petals; seen in bloom from June to July. The scarlet berry, which remains on the plant