Medicinal Herbs and Plants; the Dog Rose.difference day makes

I have come across the most wonderful little book. It’s called ‘’The natural guide to Medicinal Herbs and Plant’’’, written by Frantisek Stary and beautifully illustrated by Hana Storchova. I found it in a charity shop and just had to have it. The one thing that attracted me right away (apart from the wonderful illustrations), was the fact that it said ‘’Herbs and Plants’’. This reminded me of the first time I wrote about herbs and gardening, I asked the question ‘what is a herb?’ It turned out to be quite a difficult question to answer. The only definitive answer seemed to be ‘’a plant that is useful’’ which is why I like the title of this book. It recognises that plants not traditionally defined herbs can also be useful; hence the title ‘’Medicinal Herbs and Plants’’.

One of the plants featured in this little book is the common Dog Rose. I have a Dog Rose growing in the bordering hedge between my garden and my neighbour’s garden, which is why it was the first plant I looked up in my new book.  And this is what I found out;

         ‘’it is the commonest of the wild roses, mainly in Europe where it is widely distributed in the temperate regions, in the South only in the mountains, and also, but less abundantly, in Western Asia and Northwest Africa. It is an extremely variable species forming a group of approximately thirteen small species and numerous hybrids. The ripe, deep red, undamaged hips ( Fructus cynosbati, in pharmaceutical language), are the parts used medicinally. They are rich in vitamins, mainly vitamin C, vitamin A, B_1, B_2, and P and also include carotenoids, tannin,s sugars, and organic acids. The drug has a mild diuretic, and despite the presence of tannins also a mild laxative effect. It is used as a form of prevention against flu and diseases associated with chilling. Tea is made by boiling or steeping one teaspoon of crushed hips per one cup of water, which is then poured through a sieve to remove the irritating hairs on the fruit. The dosage is four to six cups per day. In diseases of the urinary tract it is recommended to drink two to three litres of the tea daily. The fresh hips can be made into puree, jelly, jam and wine, all rich in vitamins.’’

 

As I watched my own Dog Rose I was struck by how rapidly this plant changes as it goes through its natural flowering cycle. I walk past this plant every time I leave or enter my house, it’s so close to the path if often brushes against me as I pass. If it has been raining the leaves shed their rain drops all over my feet and if it is dry the old faded petals float away from their branch as I pass. These two pictures were taken lass than a day apart. In the first photo, just one of the flowers are open, they others remain tightly closed buds. In the second photo, the first flower is already beginning to wilt as the closed buds begin to open, changing from tightly closed buds still in their green skin, into bright pink flowers fluttering in the breeze. It’s amasing what a difference a day makes in the life of this plant.

ONE DAY LATER