Is there variation, or appreciable variation, between (I hope I'm using the terminology right) different cultivars of the same genus/species of something? As in, I have seedlings coming up of several different echinaceas. Will orange or white or pink or yellow have any real difference from the purple?
I also have yarrow and Colorado yarrow. This is the sort of thing I'm talking about. Anybody have any input?
I'm interested on the culinary front as well, but that's more just a taste thing -- I know chocolate mint would make a tea that's different from peppermint. But would it have the same medicinal qualities?
medicinals question
I believe you are asking if there are significant differences in the pharmacology (medicinal effects) of various cultivars? There can be. It really depends on the type of plant. Sometimes it's just a matter of one having a stronger effect than another, other times it can make a bigger difference. Most herbal materia medicas will list the variations, their descriptions and differing uses or cautions.
Regarding Echinacea, the Plants for a Future Database says this:
"There are some named forms for this species, but these have been developed for their ornamental value and not for their other uses. Unless you particularly require the special characteristics of any of these cultivars, we would generally recommend that you grow the natural species for its useful properties. We have, therefore, not listed the cultivars in this database[K]."
http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Echinacea+purpurea
Hi - you might want to take a look here:
http://www.henriettesherbal.com/index.html
Many thanks to both of you! It's pretty much what I expected, I guess. I'll go ahead and plant the different-colored echinacea for the beauty, but I'll make the tisane from the real deal.
Live and learn, and DG makes the learning part easier, doesn't it?
Gazing at beauty also has a de-stressing, healing effect!
Brigidlily ~ this link sells alot of seeds and has some information about same. https://www.gardenmedicinals.com/pages/herb_seed_c-e.html Scan down on link to Echinacea info.
g_m, not only gazing at beauty, but gardening as well. So if I work in the garden, then sit there petting my critters as I look at the flowers I should be perfectly healthy, right? Worth a try, anyway!!!
pod, thanks for the link. I put it in my favorites; nice, succinct information.
Have not ordered from nor have I checked them out in the Garden Watchdog but an interesting site to read. I am soooo skeptical about general info found online. I have found a few too many bobos. One, would be too many when you are dealing with something medicinal.
Isn't that the truth? I keep a journal where I put in every precaution I find about herbs. I'm VERY careful about using them, and would never give them to my g'kids unless I knew for sure what I was about. Nor to anyone else, for that matter. It's just all so interesting.
One thing I always gave my kids, and have told my daughter to give her kids (once they're at least 2 years old) is apple cider vinegar and honey mixed in hot water. Nice and tart, and boosts the immune system wonderfully.
Children and herbals would open a whole new realm. I rarely see much written about treating children. I would excercise caution too. Vinegar is wonderful stuff ! I agree...
I'm very leery of using herbs (especially the more potent ones) for medicinal purposes, and here's why... You can grow two herb plants of exactly the same cultivar, side by side in the same soil and under the same conditions, and end up with very different levels of "active ingredients" in each plant... plus, essential oil contents are also said to vary with season of harvest, time of day, etc. So it's very difficult to determine any sort of "standard" dose.
Also (and this is more of a usage problem), many herbs are brewed into teas for medicinal use... and some people tend to think, oh, it's herbal tea, it can't possibly hurt me... and if 1 cup twice a day (like it says on the package) is good, 10 or 12 cups a day would be even better, right? Wrong!! My SIL is a pharmacist, and she says you would not believe how many people can't get it into their heads that just because it's "natural" doesn't mean it isn't a drug, or that you don't have to follow dosing instructions.
That said, I'm all for the use of an occasional cup of tea with peppermint, ginger, echinacea, chamomile, etc in it... but I'd read all the info 3 times and purchase the most "standardized" dose form I could find before dosing myself with St.Johnswort (I seem to recall that one can be tricky). Just be careful. :-)
I agree! If you take SJW you really need to let your doc know, is what I've heard.
Some things are absolutely poisonous if not used right. Comfrey is wonderful, but hard on the liver if taken internally. And echinacea should NEVER be used until and unless you actually think you're getting sick. The more I learn the more I realize I don't know. Mine is a much more esoteric interest -- I'll ingest the ones I'm sure of (peppermint or chamomile, etc.) and I may grow some more exotic ones, but chances are I won't be ingesting any astralagus! Aloe has saved my skin more than once, but I won't drink it. That sort of thing.
Brigidlily ~ I agree completely. I read twice and even then can venture into things. To avoid taking a painkiller, I tried 'standardized' Valerian to relax muscles after a trying day. Slept like a baby and woke up with a grim headache. Took the painkiller in the morning instead. Upon rereading, I find that can be a side effect of Valerian. Herbs affect us all differently. Standardized Echinacea caps seem to work well at our house in light of a cold. They give us quick relief but will take them no longer than 2 weeks.
We grew up with herbal medicine as the first course of action to take. After having several severe reactions to both prescription and OTC pharma products that were supposed to be "safe", my DH and I have returned to the use of food, herbs and homeopathic remedies for our health care needs. There are more deaths attributed to supposedly safe pharma chemicals than to medicinal herbs.
One thing we will not buy are "standarized" extracts of herbs. We considered these to be adulterated and therefore not safe. To identify only certain aspects of a medicinal herb as an "active ingredient", and then artificially increase those ingriedients disrupts the balance and potential safety net of the plant. When a researcher talks about the "active ingredient" in a medicinal herb, they are stating that they don't understand the whole plant and what they don't understand, they consider "inactive" or useless. I find that to be the height of arrogance.
BTW, there are several varieties of Comfrey. Symphytum officinalis is the one that has traditionally been used as medicine or food. Symphytum uplandicum, which goes by Russian comfrey or Gardeners comfrey, is the higher content of the controversial alkaloids. There are many comfrey hybrids. I made sure that I purchased a non-hybrid officinalis.
"As the widespread use of herbal and natural therapies prove themselves to be safer and more effective than orthodox medicines, the pharmaceutical giants are becoming increasingly anxious to tap into the financial growth of the emerging herbal market. Standardization is a process where medical science identifies what they feel is the active ingredient and attempt to isolated, concentrated and regulate the potency of the active ingredient for each herbal product. While standardization may be useful when doing controlled medical research when precise dosage and response is measured, often the overall quality herbs are compromised causing them to be chemically unbalanced. These herbs are then potentiated to reach certain standardized constituents making them more drug-like, without the protection of their natural gentleness and balance.
Top quality whole herbs contain not only the one or two active ingredients medical science has identified, but the full range of phytochemicals, those known to science and those yet undiscovered. One of the greatest strengths of herbal medicine is the diversity found within each herb. Unlike drugs, individual herbs are not disease or condition specific. Within each herb are the cofactors, synergists, buffers and supporting chemicals that render the utilization of the active ingredients safe, nontoxic and balancing to the body. Since all body parts and systems are interrelated and disease effects more than one body part, it makes sense to take a complete herb that will work with each part of the problem rather than isolated or concentrated standardized "active ingredients". "
http://www.westernbotanicals.com/en/wbotrules.html
g_m -- I never realized that "standardizing" meant adulterating! I assumed (and yes, I know what u do when u ass-u-me) that it meant they tested the entire batch and made sure it was a certain strength. Learn something new every day.
Your reasoning is the same reason vineger is a better disinfectant than the ones companies are making huge profits on -- it's COMPLEX! Whereas something like penicillin is simple -- it's one compound. Vinegar (and herbs) have a variety of compounds, and the viruses and bacteria, etc., can't figure them out and mutate sufficiently to survive.
"Modern medicine" certainly has its place. If I ever got shot or broke a leg, I'd rather have a doctor take care of me. But only to an extent. We're doing a very poor job of stewards of Earth in my opinion. If pharma and the FDA have their way, I wonder if we'll continue to be allowed to grow our comfrey and aloe and echinacea. I'd hate to have to go underground at my age!
I'd do it, though!
There will be a lot us in the underground cave with you, so you won't be lonely.
I agree that "modern medicine" is best suited for trauma and acute care (emergency care), though once I'm stable enough to leave the ER room, I want holistic care. Many other developed countries allow the other modalities to work together with allopathic medicine. It's really quite frustrating that we don't have freedom of healthcare here. Hopefully someday.
I think the movement toward it will force them to pay some attention, but only because it will make them a fortune. What I'm afraid of is that they'll take it over, and once the FDA gets hold of herbs... ugh. Makes me shudder to think of it. They've made such a pig's breakfast of everything else.
We'll need a flock of sheep near the cave, so we can knit sweaters for when it gets damp down there. Or maybe goats -- we'd have the milk.
And some chickens.
And some alpacas to add variety to our knitting and provide food for the compost, which will feed our herbs.
Guess we'd better get a big cave. It's going to be crowded.
Yes, alpacas definitely.
Clover, sweetgrass, hay -- I'll bring the scythe.