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Dried Flowers

         Chamomile (Flowers, Petals, Pollen and Seeds)

Chamomile (Anthemis nobilis) is one of the oldest favourites amongst garden herbs and its reputation as a medicinal plant shows little signs of abatement. The Egyptians reverenced it for its virtues, and from their belief in its power to cure ague, dedicated it to their gods. No plant was better known to the country folk of old, it having been grown for centuries in English gardens for its use as a common domestic medicine to such an extent that the old herbals agree that 'it is but lost time and labour to describe it.'

Uses

Extracts of the plant are used in the form of ointments, lotions, vapor baths, and inhalations, all intended for local application. Internally, the drug is taken as a strong tea. Chamomile is used as a carminative (aids digestion), an anti-inflammatory, an antispasmodic, and an anti-infective.

The whole plant is odoriferous and of value, but the quality is chiefly centred in the flower-heads or capitula, the part employed medicinally, the herb itself being used in the manufacture of herb beers.

Chamomile Tea, is an old-fashioned but extremely efficacious remedy for hysterical and nervous affections in women and is used also as an emmenagogue. It has a wonderfully soothing, sedative and absolutely harmless effect. It is considered a preventive and the sole certain remedy for nightmare. It will cut short an attack of delirium tremens in the early stage. It has sometimes been employed in intermittent fevers. Chamomile Tea should in all cases be prepared in a covered vessel, in order to prevent the escape of steam, as the medicinal value of the flowers is to a considerable extent impaired by any evaporation, and the infusion should be allowed to stand on the flowers for 10 minutes at least before straining off.

Chamomile flowers are recommended as a tonic in dropsical complaints for their diuretic and tonic properties, and are also combined with diaphoretics and other stimulants with advantage. Chamomile flowers are also extensively used by themselves, or combined with an equal quantity of crushed poppy-heads, as a poultice and fomentation for external swelling, inflammatory pain or congested neuralgia, and will relieve where other remedies have failed, proving invaluable for reducing swellings of the face caused through abscesses. Bags may be loosely stuffed withflowers and steeped well in boiling water before being applied as a fomentation. The antiseptic powers of Chamomile are stated to be 120 times stronger than sea-water. The whole herb is used chiefly for making herb beers, but also for a lotion, for external application in toothache, earache, neuralgia, etc. One ounce of the dried herb is infused in 1 pint of boiling water and allowed to cool. The herb has also been employed in hot fomentations in cases of local and intestinal inflammation. The dried flowers are used for blond dyeing, and a variety of Chamomile known as Lemon Chamomile yields a very fine essential oil.

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    Calendula (Petals or Flowers)

Also known as pot marigold (Calendula officinalis), calendula is a versatile herb native to the Mediterranean region. Europeans have grown this flowering plant in their gardens since the 1100s, actively using it through the centuries as a food and healing agent. A member of the aster family, calendula should not be confused with the common garden marigold (Tagetes species), which also sports bright orange and yellow flowers. It’s the colorful blossoming tops that are used medicinally.

Uses

Calendula is nature's remedy for many of life's little accidents: sunburns, bruises, and scratches, to name a few. In years past, the herb was used to treat wide-ranging ailments, such as fever, cancer, and skin infections. Contemporary herbalists now focus primarily on its topical uses, namely, for treating boils, rashes, sunburns, chapped hands, insect bites, and other instances of inflamed or damaged skin. Lotions and other topical calendula preparations (tinctures, ointments, creams, gargles) are still widely used in Europe, particularly for slow-healing skin problems.

The herb's primary active compounds include triterpenoids (they are anti-inflammatory) and flavonoids. Modern laboratory and animal studies indicate that calendula petals do indeed have anti-inflammatory, astringent, and antiseptic (antibacterial and antiviral) properties, and may even offer immune-stimulating actions. The benefits of calendula in healing burns and wounds have also been demonstrated in research studies. The inflammation of a sore throat may be lessened by gargling or rinsing with an astringent tea made from the dried calendula flowers. German health authorities approve of using calendula tea for treating throat soreness and inflammation. Although drinking calendula tea may possibly help to control internal inflammation--some herbalists recommend it for stomach upset and ulcers--there is relatively little firm evidence to support its value when taken internally (in any form). For this reason, teas and other forms designed to be taken internally are not recommended.

Specifically, calendula used topically may help to:

   Heal burns and soothe sunburns. Because it reduces inflammation and has antiseptic and gentle astringent actions, calendula may help burns to heal more rapidly. Some herbalists contend that it is the single most effective herb for use in the treatment of first-degree burns. Since sunburn is a first-degree burn, it’s no surprise that a number of sunburn products contain calendula.

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