Bee Balm

Bee Balm; Monarda 

The Oswego Indians made tea from the aromatic leaves and introduced this practice to the original settlers as a beverage. The Shakers thought that the tea was effective in treating upper respiratory infections. They prescribed it for young brides to stimulate the appetite and regulate menstruation. The early settlers steamed the plant and inhaled fumes to clear their sinuses. It contains thymol which is a pleasant aromatic substance used in dentistry as a preservative and a fungicide.

Oswego tea replaced imported tea after the Boston Tea Party on December 16, 1773. The embargo of imported tea by all of the American colonies led to the bankruptcy of the British East India Company.

This genus is accepted, and is native to Northern America.

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Witch-Hazel

Witch-Hazel

Native Americans taught the English settlers to make a decoction of witch-hazel bark, twigs, and leaves to use in cold or warm compresses to treat bruises, to use it as an eye wash, and to take it by mouth for the treatment of diarrhea. Currently, it is used as a topical application for the treatment of eczema. A decoction is an extraction made by boiling a plant in water and removing the resulting mash from the liquid; the liquid contains the active ingredient in a concentrated form. 
“Witch” refers to an Anglo-Saxon word meaning to bend; it has no reference to magic. This shrub blooms in the fall. There are other varieties of witch-hazel that bloom in late winter or very early spring.

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Autumn Crocus

Autumn Crocus; Colchicum autumnale

Theophrastus (c.371-287 B.C.) noted it to be very toxic. In the fifth century (Byzantine Empire), it was used for the treatment of joint conditions. Colchicine is an alkaloid that relieves the joint pain and inflammation of gout. Colchicine is still derived from the plant itself because chemists have not been able to synthesize it inexpensively in the laboratory. Though they are called autumn crocus, they belong to the lily family and should not be confused with the saffron crocus


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Roman chamomile

Roman chamomile; Chamaemelum nobile

It is used for the relief of gastric distress. Peter Rabbit’s mother treated Peter with chamomile tea to alleviate the distress that followed the overindulgence of eating too much in Mr. McGregor’s vegetable garden. Roman Chamomile resembles German Chamomile. Both Chamomiles are members of the same family. They have pale green feathery leaves and have flowers that resemble daisies with an apple-like fragrance.

This species is accepted, and is native to Morocco, Azores, Algeria, Great Britain, Spain and Portugal.

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Garlic

Garlic; Allium sativum

It has been used for centuries for medicinal purposes and as a culinary herb. In the Talmud Book of Ezra, Jews are encouraged to partake of garlic at the Friday night Shabbat meal for the following five reasons: to keep the body warm; to brighten the face; to kill intestinal parasites; to increase the volume of semen; and to foster love and to do away with jealousy. Garlic is mentioned more than twenty times in the ancient Egyptian medical papyrus called the Codex Ebers dating back to ca. 1550 B.C. Pliny the Elder sited more than sixty therapeutic uses for garlic. Dioscorides, chief physician for the Roman army, prescribed garlic for intestinal parasitic disorders. 
Garlic oil was first isolated in 1844. More than one hundred compounds have been identified as constituents of garlic oil. In the Middle Ages, it was eaten daily as a protection against the bubonic plagues that ravished the European continent. Louis Pasteur described its antibacterial properties in 1858. Tons of garlic were used in World War I in field dressings to prevent infection. Alliin and allicin are sulfur-containing compounds that are antibacterial and anti-fungal. When garlic cloves are sliced, diced, or minced, alliin converts allicin into a large number of thioallyl compounds that are effective in lowering blood pressure, blood sugar, serum cholesterol and serum triglycerides It is effective in boosting the immune system. Garlic is a natural pesticide against mosquito larvae.

Garlic is native to Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tadzhikistan and Uzbekistan) and northeastern Iran.
It is widespread in cultivation.

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