Sabal
Palmetto, Palmetto
Four
varieties of Sabal have been found useful in Herbal Medicine: Sabal
etonia - Scrub Palmetto,
Sabal mexicana - Mexican Palmetto Synonym: Sabal texana, Sabal minor
- Bush Palmetto
Synonym: Sabal adansonii, Sabal palmetto - Cabbage Palmetto
Only
one shrub-form variety is native to my region, Sabal minor (Dwarf
Palmetto).
Plants
for A Future states:
Medicinal
use of Cabbage Palmetto: The berries or seeds have been used in the
treatment of grass
sickness, low fever, headaches and weight loss.
The
PDR for Herbal Medicine tells us:
In
human studies, Saw Palmetto’s mechanism of action in the treatment
of benign prostatic hyperplasia may have multiple sites of action and
involves antiandrogenic, anti testosterone and estrogenic properties.
Saw Palmetto has historically been used as a treatment for prostate
enlargement and chronic cystitis as well as a mild diuretic.
Salicornia,
Glasswort
Seven
varieties of Salicornia have documented use in Herbal MedicineL
Salicornia ambigua, Salicornia bigelovii - Dwarf Glasswort,
Salicornia europaea - Glasswort, Salicornia quinqueflora - Chicken
Claws, Salicornia rubra - Red Glasswort, Salicornia utahensis - Utah
Pickleweed, Salicornia virginica - Virginia Glasswort
Only
one variety is native to my region, Salicornia virginica (Virginia
Glasswort).
Gerard
wrote of Glasswort:
A.
A little quantity of the herb taken inwardly, doth not only mightily
provoke urine, but in like sort casteth forth the dead child. It
draweth forth by siege waterish humours, and purgeth away the dropsy.
B.
A great quantity taken is mischievous and deadly. The smell and smoke
also of this herb being burnt doth drive away serpents.
C.
The ashes are likewise tempered with those medicines that serve to
take away scabs and filth off the skin: it easily consumeth proud and
superfluous flesh that groweth in poisonsome ulcers, as Avicenna and
Serapio report.
D.
We read in the copies of Serapio, that Glasswort is a tree so great,
that a man may stand under the shadow thereof. but it is very like,
that this error proceeded rather from the interpreter, than from the
author himself.
E.
The flower of crystal, or (as they commonly term it, sandiver) doth
wonderfully dry. It easily taketh away scabs and manginess, if the
foul parts be washed and bathed with the water wherein it is boiled.
Culpepper
wrote:
This
Saltwort, Glasswort, or Kali grows usually with but one upright,
round, thick, and almost transparent stalk, a foot high or more;
thick set and full of joints or knots, without any leaves; the joints
shooting forth one out of another, with short pods at the heads of
them, and such like smaller branches on each side which are divided
into other smaller ohnes; it is thought to bear neither flower nor
seed; the root is small, long, and thready. Some other kinds there
are differeing somewhat in the form of the joints, and one kind
wholly reddish, and differing from the other in nothing else. There
are four kinds of Saltwort, or Glasswort, described by Parkinson,
viz. 1. Kali Majus Cochleaturm, Great Glasswort. 2. Kali Minus Album,
Small Glasswort. 3. Kali Ægypttiacum, Glasswort of Egypt. 4. Kali
Geniculatum, five Salicornia, jointed Glasswort.
Place.
The first and third are absolutely strangers in our countries, but
grow in Syria, Egypt, Italy, and Spain: the second grows, not only in
those countries but in colder climates, upon many places of our own
coasts, especially of the west country. The last generally grows in
all countries, in many places of our sea-coast where the salt water
overflows.
Time.
They all flourish in the summer, and those that perish give their
seed in August, or later; the last abides all the winter.
Government
and virtues. All sorts of saltwort, or glasswort, are under the dominion of Mars, and are of a cleansing quality, without any great
or manifest heat; the powder of any of them, or the juice, which is
much better, taken in drink, purges downwards phlegmatic, waterish,
melancholy, and adust humours, and is therefore very effectual for
the dropsy, to provoke urine, and expel the dead child. It opens
stoppings of the liver and spleen, and wastes the hardness thereof;
but it must be used with discretion, as a great quantity is hurtful
and dangerous.
The
ashes are very sharp and biting, like a cuastic, and the lye that is
made thereof is so strong that it will fetch off the skin from the
hands, or any part of the body; but ay be mixed with other more
moderate medicines, to take aay scabs, leprosy, and to cleanse the
skin. The powder of stones and the ashes hereof being melted is the
composition of which glass is made, which, when it glows in the
furnace, casts up a fat matter on the top, and, when cold, becomes
fat and brittle, and is then called sandiver.
It
works much to the same effect with the herb and ashes, and is often
used in powder to blow into horses eyes, or, being dissolved, to be
squirted at them, in order to take away any superflous film or skin
beginning to grow thereon; both of them likewise serve to dry up
running sores, scabs, tetters, ringworms, and to help the itch.
Mrs.
Grieve tells us:
Many
species of the genera Salsola, Suaeda and Salicornia belonging to
Chenopodiaceae are rich in soda and were formerly much employed in
making both soap and glass, hence the name Glasswort. Large
quantities of the ashes of these plants were formerly imported from
southern Europe and northern Africa under the name of Barilla, the
chief sources being Salsola Kali (Linn.) and Salsola Soda (Linn.),
the Spanish Salsola sativa (Loft) and S. tragus (Linn.). On the
introduction of Le Blanc's process of obtaining soda from common
salt, the importance of Barilla as an article of commerce ceased.
Our
native plant, the Jointed Glasswort (Salicornia herbacea, Linn.),
was, as its name implies, also regarded as of value in the
manufacture of glass.
Description---It
is a low-growing, annual herb, common in salt marshes and on muddy
seashores all round the British Islands and was much used for this
purpose. It has no leaves, but is formed of cylindrical, jointed
branches of a light green colour, smooth, very succulent and full of
a salt, bitterish juice, its minute flowers produced in threes in
little pits in the axils of the branches.
The
whole plant is greedily devoured by cattle for its saltish taste.
Steeped in malted vinegar, the tender shoots make a good pickle and
were often used as a substitute for Samphire in those parts of the
coast where the latter did not abound, on which account the plant is
also called Marsh Samphire. Sir Thomas More, enumerating the useful
native plants that would improve 'many a poor knave's pottage' if he
were skilled in their properties, says that 'Glasswort might afford
him a pickle for his mouthful of salt meat.'
Parkinson
relates a theory in connexion with Glasswort in his days:
'If
the soap that is made of the lye of the ashes be spread upon a piece
of thicke coarse brown paper cut into the forme of their shooe sole
that are casually taken speechless and bound to the soles of their
feete, it will bring again the speech and that within a little time
after the applying thereof if there be any hope of being restored
while they live: this hath been tried to be effectuall upon diverse
persons.'
There
are references in the Bible to the uses of Glasswort for soap and for
glass.
The
Prickly Glasswort (Salsola Kali, Linn.) has a thick, round, brittle
stem, with few, rigid leaves of a bluish-green colour and small,
yellow flowers.
Medicinal
Action and Uses---The juice of the fresh plant was said to be an
excellent diuretic, the twisted seed-vessels having the same virtue
and being given in infusion.
The
whole plant was likewise burnt for its fixed salt used in making
glass.
Plants
for A Future states:
Medicinal
use of Virginia Glasswort: The plant has been used externally in the
treatment of arthritic pain, rheumatism, aches, pains and swellings.
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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.
