Health Tips

Actaea spicata (LINN.)

N. O. Ranunculacea

Herb Christopher. Bugbane. Toadroot.

Root.

It is found in the bushes on limestone in the Lake District and Yorkshire, but is so unusual to be regarded by some botanists as almost a doubtful native.
The Baneberry, Tennessee, or Herb Christopher, is a relatively rare British plants (such as the peony) addressed Buttercup, but distinct from all other species in the order of its berry-like fruits. It is considered anti-spasmodic properties similar to the peony.

The black, creeping root-stock forever, sending annual erect stems, growing 1 to 2 meters high, which are triangular and branched or not, or very sparingly so. The foot-stalks of the leaves are long and emerged from the root. These divide into smaller three-foot stems, and are so distributed or redistributed to each leaf is composed of eighteen or twenty-seven, lobes or leaflets.
The flower stem arises from the roots and leaves of the same shape but smaller. The flowers grow in bunches and have a pure white.
The whole plant is dark green and bare (without hair), or only very slightly fluffy. It flowers in June and ripens its fruit in autumn, which are egg-shaped berries, 1 / 2 inch long, black and shiny, many-seeded and very toxic, well justify the popular name of Baneberry, Tennessee.
The plant is a corrosive, poisonous nature throughout, and though the root is used in some cases nervous, and it is said that a cure for catarrh, should be administered with great caution.

Antispasmodic. The juice of the berries, mixed with alum, gives a black dye.
There are two varieties of this species, one of British origin, only distinguished from the rest of the species by its red berries, instead of black and the other an American plant (Actaea alba, or White Cohosh) with white berries. Both species grow in the garden of the author.
The American species is regarded by the natives a valuable remedy for snake-bite, especially the rattlesnake, so it is - with a number of other plants - also known as one of the "Rattlesnake herbs. "
It is said the name "Herb Christopher" was also applied to the earlier flowering fern, Osmunda regalis.
The name of the sex act from the Greek, the oldest, these plants appear on the leaves and berries.
Toads seem to be attracted by the smell of Baneberry, Tennessee, making it even be called Toadroot, possibly the name of its preference for moist shady situations in which the path is found.
It is also Bugbane, because of its offensive smell, which is said to drive away vermin.
Closely related to this plant, and once assigned to the same sex, is the plant known as Black Cohosh.

Warnings-and contra-indications, were considered necessary by the eclectic, for acute diseases without the risk of residual effects (Felter and Lloyd 1893).

Cook suggests that Black Cohosh reduces irritation in serous tissues, reducing inflammation in joint diseases (1869).

Black Cohosh is also indicated in muscle, but not pain of spinal origin. Stomach and intestinal pain, urinary tenesmus, pleurodynia, and chest pain, lower back, neck, eye sockets and ears are standing to be relieved by Black Cohosh.

It is also used for disorders of the female reproductive system, the coordination of the contractions of the uterus and alleviating atonic states of the uterine muscle. The use of Black Cohosh in dysmenorrhea was highly praised by the eclectic, as the utility in amenorrhea, anemia, cold hands and feet and painful breasts. It has a long reputation as a revelation, but should only be used in the formulation for this purpose, with Caulophyllum and Mitch Ella. Black Cohosh has become a popular herbal treatment for menopause, but again it is best combined with other herbs for its occasional strong moderate impact and the benefit, such as Salvia leonorus and broaden.

In men Black Cohosh is reported to be effective in orchialgia and prostate congestion, and is useful as a tonic in spermatorrhea.

Nervous disorders in Black Cohosh is a powerful relaxant, useful in epilepsy, convulsions, neurogenic asthma, whooping cough, delirium tremens, neuralgia and in latent fever and skin rash, like measles or varicella, Black Cohosh is a diffuse remedy that acts as a diaphoretic to promote a crisis state, resolving the condition quickly, while relieving muscle and joint pain. Scudder states that Black Cohosh also specific instructions for a "Aopen wrist, paroxysmal pain, the skin dry and constricted" (Felter and Lloyd 1893). Ultimately, the activity of Black Cohosh is complex, making it a useful tool in many circumstances. It combines the ability to produce the tissues to relax and provide capillary dilation, improving peripheral circulation, but also has an astringent, tonic effect on tissue relaxation.