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Medicinal Shrubs and Woody Vines: Hedera, Ivy
Ivy was a very common and popular ornamental a few generations ago. While some folks still plant it, it is so prone to get out of control and kill trees that doing so is discouraged. That said, Ivy has long use in Herbal Medicine, although it is not much used these days.
Naturalized in my region are Hedera colchica (Persian Ivy), Hedera helix (English Ivy and Hedera hibernica (Atlantic Ivy, Irish Ivy).
Dioscorides wrote of Hedera as Chamaecissus:
Chamaecissus has many leaves like those of cissus only longer and thinner, with five or six small branches of twenty centimetres, full of leaves from the ground. The flowers are similar to leucoion, smaller, and strongly bitter to the taste. The root is thin, white and useless. It grows in tilled places. A decoction of the leaves (as much as thirty grains taken as a drink in three cupfuls of water for forty or fifty days) is good for sciatica. A decoction (taken as a drink for six or seven days) cleans away jaundice. It is also called chamaeleuce, unfruitful ivy, the crown of the earth, or selinitis, while the Romans call it hedera pluviatica.
Saint Hildegard von Bingen wrote of Ivy:
Ivy is more cold than hot and, like a weed, useless as human food. But, a person who has jaundice should heat it in a small dish with deer tallow or old fat. He should place it, warm, over his stomach, so that the jaundice passes into the herb, and the yellow appears on the exterior skin of that person. When these herbs have been placed over his stomach, as explained, one should immediately crush watercress in cold water, stain it, and give the drink to him to drink cold. The jaundice will be expelled, and he will be cured. A woman who suffers inordinately great menses at the wrong time should cook ivey in water and place it, warm, around her thighs and navel. Its coldness is contrary to the flow. If the interior membrane, which encloses the intestines is cut by some accident, ivy and twice as much comfrey should be cooked in good wine. Then a bit of pulverized zedoary, sugar equal to the amount of ivey, and some cooked honey should be added to the wine and brought to a moderate boil. This should be poured through a little sack, making a clear drink. The ill person should take this frequently, after food, at night. He should also place the herbs which were cooked in the wine and place it over the place where the interior membrane was ruptured. This draws together the torn places. He should also cut comfrey root into tiny bits and place them in wine, so that it takes their flavor. He should drink this wine often until he is healed.
Gerard wrote of Ivy:
A. The leaves of Ivy fresh and green boiled in wine, do heal old ulcers, and perfectly cure those that have a venomous and malicious quality joined with them; and are a remedy likewise against burnings and scaldings.
B. Moreover, the leaves boiled with vinegar are good for such as have bad spleens; but the flowers or fruit are of more force, being very finely beaten and tempered with vinegar, especially so used they are commended against burnings.
C. The juice drawn or sniffed up into the nose doth especially purge the head, stayeth the running of the ears that hath been of long continuance, and healeth old ulcers both in the ears and also in the nostrils; but if it be too sharp, it is to be mixed with oil of Roses, or salad oil.
D. The gum that is found upon the trunk or body of the old stock of Ivy, killeth nits and lice, and taketh away hair: it is of so hot a quality, as that it doth obscurely burn: it is as it were a certain waterish liquor congealed of those gummy drops. Thus far Galen.
E. The very same almost hath Dioscorides, but yet also somewhat more: for over and besides he saith, that five of the berries beaten small, and made hot in a Pomegranate rind, with oil of Roses, and dropped into the contrary ear, doth ease the tooth-ache; and that the berries make the hair black.
F. Ivy in our time is very seldom used, save that the leaves are laid upon little ulcers made in the thighs, legs, or other parts of the body, which are called issues; for they draw humours and waterish substance to those parts, and keep them from hot swellings or inflammations, that is to say, the leaves newly gathered, and not as yet withered or dried.
G. Some likewise affirm that the berries are effectual to procure urine; and are given unto those that be troubled with the stone and diseases of the kidneys.
H. The leaves laid in steep in water for a day and a night's space, help sore and smarting waterish eyes, if they be bathed and washed with the water wherein they have been infused.
Cupepper wrote:
It is so well known to every child almost, to grow in woods upon the trees, and upon the stone walls of churches, houses, &c. and sometimes to grow alone of itself, though but seldom.
Time. It flowers not until July, and the berries are not ripe till Christmas, when they have felt Winter frosts.
Government and virtues. It is under the dominion of Saturn. A pugil of the flowers, which may be about a dram, (saith Dioscorides) drank twice a day in red wine, helps the lask, and bloody flux. It is an enemy to the nerves and sinews, being much taken inwardly, out very helpful to them, being outwardly applied. Pliny saith, the yellow berries are good against the jaundice; and taken before one be set to drink hard, preserves from drunkenness, and helps those that spit blood; and that the white berries being taken inwardly, or applied outwardly, kills the worms in the belly. The berries are a singular remedy to prevent the plague, as also to free them from it that have got it, by drinking the berries thereof made into a powder, for two or three days together. They being taken in wine, do certainly help to break the stone, provoke urine, and women's courses. The fresh leaves of Ivy, boiled in vinegar, and applied warm to the sides of those that are troubled with the spleen, ache, or stitch in the sides, do give much ease. The same applied with some Rosewater, and oil of Roses, to the temples and forehead, eases the head-ache, though it be of long continuance. The fresh leaves boiled in wine, and old filthy ulcers hard to be cured washed therewith, do wonderfully help to cleanse them. It also quickly heals green wounds, and is effectual to heal all burnings and scaldings, and all kinds of exulcerations coming thereby, or by salt phlegm or humours in other parts of the body. The juice of the berries or leaves snuffed up into the nose, purges the head and brain of thin rheum that makes defluxions into the eyes and nose, and curing the ulcers and stench therein; the same dropped into the ears helps the old and running sores of them; those that are troubled with the spleen shall find much ease by continual drinking out of a cup made of Ivy, so as the drink may stand some small time therein before it be drank. Cato saith, That wine put into such a cup, will soak through it, by reason of the antipathy that is between them.
There seems to be a very great antipathy between wine and Ivy; for if one hath got a surfeit by drinking of wine, his speediest cure is to drink a draught of the same wine wherein a handful of Ivy leaves, being first bruised, have been boiled.
Mrs. Grieve tells us:
This well-known evergreen climber, with its dark-green, glossy, angular leaves is too familiar to need detailed description. It climbs by means of curious fibres resembling roots, which shoot out from every part of the stem, and are furnished with small disks at the end, which adapt themselves to the roughness of the bark or wall against which the plant grows and to which it clings firmly. These fibres on meeting with soil or deep crevices become true roots, obtaining nourishment for the plant, but when dilated at the extremity, they merely serve to attach the stems and do not absorb nourishment from the substance to which they adhere. The Ivy is therefore liable to injure the trees around which it twines by abstracting the juices of the stem.
When it attains the summit of a tree or wall, it grows out in a bushy form, and the leaves instead of being five-lobed and angular, as they are below, become ovate, with entire margins. Ivy only produces flowers when the branches get above their support, the flowering branches being bushy and projecting a foot or two from the climbing stems, with flowers at the end of every shoot.
Professor Henslow has an interesting note on the Ivy and its shoots, in his Floral Rambles in Highways and Byways:
'The shoots turn to the darker side, as may be seen when Ivy reaches the top of a wall, from both sides; wherever the sun may be the shoots lie flat upon the top. The roots themselves only come out from the darker side of the shoots, so that both of these acquired habits have their purposes. When the Ivy is going to flower, the shoots now turn to the light and stand out freely into the air; moreover the form of the leaf changes from a finepointed one to a much smaller oval type. As the shoot now has to support itself, if a section be made and compared with one of the same diameter which is supported by the adhesive roots, it will be found that it has put on more wood with less pith, than in that of the supported stem. It at once, so to speak, feels the strain and makes wood sufficient to meet it.'
The form of Ivy which creeps over the ground on banks and in woods, etc., never blossoms. The branches root into the soil, but they are of the ordinary kind deriving nourishment from it. On endeavouring to train this kind on a wall, it was found to have practically lost the power of climbing; for it kept continually falling away from the wall instead of adhering to it; just as cucumbers refuse to climb by their tendrils, if the stem and branches are supported artificially.
The flowers of Common Ivy are small, in clusters of nearly globular umbels and of a yellowish-green, with five broad and short petals and five stamens. They seldom open before the latter end of October, and often continue to expand till late in December. Though they have little or no scent, they yield abundance of nectar and afford food to bees late in the autumn, when they can get no other.
The berries, which do not become ripe till the following spring, provide many birds, especially wood pigeons, thrushes and blackbirds with food during severe winters. When ripe, they are about the size of a pea, black or deep purple, smooth and succulent, and contain two to five seeds. They have a bitter and nauseous taste, and when rubbed, an aromatic and slightly resinous odour.
History---Ivy was in high esteem among the ancients. Its leaves formed the poet's crown, as well as the wreath of Bacchus, to whom the plant was dedicated, probably because of the practice of binding the brow with Ivy leaves to prevent intoxication, a quality formerly attributed to the plant. We are told by old writers that the effects of intoxication by wine are removed if a handful of Ivy leaves are bruised and gently boiled in wine and drunk.
It is the Common Ivy that is alluded to in the Idylls of Theocritus, but the Golden Ivy of Virgil is supposed to be the yellowberried variety (Hedera Chrysocarpa), now so rare.
The Greek priests presented a wreath of Ivy to newly-married persons, and the Ivy has throughout the ages been regarded as the emblem of fidelity. The custom of decorating houses and churches with Ivy at Christmas was forbidden by one of the early Councils of the Church, on account of its pagan associations, but the custom still remains.
An Ivy leaf is the badge of the Gordons.
The Roman agricultural writers much recommended Ivy leaves as cattle food, but they are not relished by cows, though sheep and deer will sometimes eat them in the winter. The broad leaves being evergreen afford shelter to birds in the winter, and many prefer Ivy to other shrubs, in which to build their nests.
The wood when it attains a sufficient size is employed by turners in Southern Europe, but being very soft is seldom used in England except for whetting the knives of leatherdressers. It is very porous, and the ancients thought it had the property of separating wine from water by filtration, an error arising from the fact that wood absorbs the colour of the liquid in its passage through the pores. On the Continent it has sometimes been used in thin slices as a filter.
In former days, English taverns bore over their doors the sign of an Ivy bush, to indicate the excellence of the liquor supplied within: hence the saying 'Good wine needs no bush.'
The medicinal virtues of Ivy are little regarded nowadays. Its great value is as an ornamental covering for unsightly buildings and it is said to be the only plant which does not make walls damp. It acts as a curtain, the leaves from the way they fall, forming a sort of armour and holding and absorbing the rain and moisture.
Ivy is very hardy; not only are the leaves seldom injured by frost, but they suffer little from smoke, or from the vitiated air of manufacturing towns. The plant lives to a great age, its stems become woody and often attain a considerable size - Ivy trunks of a foot in diameter are often to be seen where the plant has for many years climbed undisturbed over rocks and ruins.
The spring months are the best times for planting.
Medicinal Action and Uses---Robinson tells us that a drachm of the flowers decocted in wine restrains dysentery, and that the yellow berries are good for those who spit blood and against the jaundice.
Culpepper says of the Ivy: 'It is an enemy to the nerves and sinews taken inwardly, but most excellent outwardly.'
To remove sunburn it is recommended to smear the face with tender Ivy twigs boiled in butter; according to the old English Leechbook of Bald.
Brother Aloysius wrote:
The leaves only have external medicinal use. The nauseating sap can be dangerous. When boiled the leaves can be successfully used for ulcers, burns and cuts, skin complaints and eczema. If the juice extracted from the leaves is smeared inside the nose, it destroys polyps and drives any foul smell from the nose…. This mixture is also useful in treating running ears; 5 drops should be dripped in the affected ear every other day. Scurf on the scalp can be cured by washing the scalp twice a day with a handful of ivy boiled in 2 and ¼ cups of white wine; head lice are also killed by this. Calluses disappear if they are covered with ivy and boiled in vinegar. The berries act as a purgative.
Resources of The Southern Fields and Forests tells us:
The "Ivy," (Hedera helix,) an exotic, which by its tendrils clings to and covers the walls of brick houses, has been extensively and successfully used at the South during the late war to restore the color of silk dresses — a strong decoction of the leaves, as I" am informed, is employed. It owes this property of imparting lustre and freshness to silk no doubt to the resinous ivy gum which it contains, a principal constituent of which is bassorin.
King’s American Dispensatory of 1898 states:
This plant is common all over Europe, and is cultivated in many parts of the United States; it flowers in September. The gum-resin (Gummiresina Hederae, or Ivy gum), exudes from the incised bark, and comes to us in yellowish or red-brown, irregular pieces. The edges are translucent and of a garnet hue. It is acrid, faintly bitter, and when heated emits a pleasant, aromatic odor. The leaves and berries are the parts used. The former possess a peculiar, rather fragrant odor, and a nauseously bitter and astringent taste. The taste of the latter is somewhat acid, piquant, and terebinthine. A. Jandous (Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1883, p. 371), reports the ivy berries to contain in their fleshy part 70 per cent of water, a dark-red coloring matter soluble in alcohol and water, resinous matter first tasting sweet, then sharp and bitter, and grape sugar, gum, albumin, and salts. The seeds contain a fatty oil of irritating taste and producing a green color with ferric chloride. The poisonous properties of the fruit are neither due to the resinous matter in the pulp, nor to the oil in the seeds.
A bitter substance believed to be an alkaloid and named hederin, was obtained from the seeds by Vendamme and Chevalier (see Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1842, p. 172). Posselt, in 1849, isolated from the seeds two proximate principles, viz., crystallizable hederic acid (C16H26O4, according to Davies, 1878), which Kingzett believed to be a glucosid, and amorphous hederatannic acid. (For details regarding these substances see Husemann and Hilger, Pflanzenstoffe, p, 968.) The bitter hederin is probably identical with hederatannic acid. The leaves of ivy have a peculiar fragrant odor and an astringent, bitter taste. Mr. F. A. Hartsell, in 1875, by extraction with 85 per cent alcohol, obtained therefrom in impure form, a glucosid resembling saponin, but differing from the latter by not being soluble in water. L. Vernet (Jour. Pharm. Chim., 1881, p. 347), isolated this glucosid (C32H54O11), which was later named helixin (Joulin, Jour. Pharm. Chim., 1891, p. 215), by boiling out the bruised leaves with water repeatedly, then extracting them with alcohol, evaporating the latter, washing with cold benzin, and crystallizing from solution in boiling acetone. It forms silky needles melting at 233° C. (451.4° F.), insoluble in water, chloroform, and benzin, soluble in warm acetone, benzol, and ether; also in warm alkalies and hot alcohol. It reduces Fehling's solution only after being heated with diluted sulphuric acid, sugar, and a neutral, crystallizable substance (C26H44O6), melting at 278° to 280° C. (532.4° to 536° F.), being formed. The latter is not fermentable with yeast; helixigenin is the name recorded for the helixin derivative in C. E. Sohn's Dict. Active Principles of Plants, 1894.
Action, Medical Uses, and Dosage.—The leaves are stimulating, and have been employed as an application to issues; and have likewise been efficient in diseases the skin, indolent ulcers, eczemas, itch, etc., in the form of decoction, and applied locally; this will also destroy vermin in the hair, which, it is stated, is stained black by the application. They are reputed beneficial as a cataplasm in glandular enlargements. Marasmus of children, rachitis, and pulmonary affections have been benefited by the dried leaves in powder, in doses of 20 grains or more. The berries act as an emetic and cathartic, and were formerly esteemed in febrile affections, having been supposed to possess sudorific virtues. Associated with vinegar, they were considerably used during the London plague. The gum-resin has been used for toothache, ulcerations, local pains, and to control excessive discharges.
Plants for A Future states:
Medicinal use of Ivy: Ivy is a bitter aromatic herb with a nauseating taste. It is often used in folk herbal remedies, especially in the treatment of rheumatism and as an external application to skin eruptions, swollen tissue, painful joints, burns and suppurating cuts. Recent research has shown that the leaves contain the compound "emetine", which is an amoebicidal alkaloid, and also triterpene saponins, which are effective against liver flukes, molluscs, internal parasites and fungal infections. The leaves are antibacterial, antirheumatic, antiseptic, antispasmodic, astringent, cathartic, diaphoretic, emetic, emmenagogue, stimulant, sudorific, vasoconstrictor, vasodilator and vermifuge. The plant is used internally in the treatment of gout, rheumatic pain, whooping cough, bronchitis and as a parasiticide. Some caution is advised if it is being used internally since the plant is mildly toxic. Excessive doses destroy red blood cells and cause irritability, diarrhoea and vomiting. This plant should only be used under the supervision of a qualified practitioner. An infusion of the twigs in oil is recommended for the treatment of sunburn. The leaves are harvested in spring and early summer, they are used fresh and can also be dried.
This article is an excerpt from
Medicinal Shrubs and Woody Vines of The American Southeast An Herbalist's Guide
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Disclaimer
The information on this site is not intended to diagnose or treat any disease or condition. Nothing on this site has been evaluated or approved by the FDA. I am not a doctor. The US government does not recognize the practice of herbal medicine and their is no governing body regulating herbalists. Therefore, I'm just a guy who studies herbs. I am not offering any advice. I won't even claim that anything I write is accurate or true! I can tell you what herbs have "traditionally been used for." I can tell you my own experience and if I believe an herb helped me. I cannot, nor would I tell you to do the same. If you use any herb I, or anyone else, mentions you are treating yourself. You take full responsibility for your health. Humans are individuals and no two are identical. What works for me may not work for you. You may have an allergy, sensitivity or underlying condition that no one else shares and you don't even know about. Be careful with your health. By continuing to read my blog you agree to be responsible for yourself, do your own research, make your own choices and not to blame me for anything, ever.
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