Health Topic::Dictionary Amaranthus

Dictionary Amaranthus

	Amaranthus Other Names: Love-Lies-Bleeding. Red Cockscomb. Velvet Flower. Botanical Name: Amaranthus hypochondriacus Family: N.O. Amaranthaceae
Habitat:
The Amaranths are met with most abundantly in the tropics, especially in tropical America, but are not plentiful in cold countries. Many species are widely distributed as pernicious weeds. Their economic importance is slight, their properties chiefly proteid nutrient. Many abound in mucilage and sugar and many species are used as pot-herbs, resembling those of Chenopodiaceae. Many, also, are excellent fodder-plants, though not cultivated.
Constituents:
Their constituents are indefinite; none are poisonous, none possess very distinct medicinal properties, though many have use in native practice as alteratives, and as antidotes to snake-bite, etc.
Medicinal Usage:
Some species have slightly astringent properties, others are diaphoretics and diuretics, and a few are tonics and stimulants. In ancient Greece, the Amaranth was sacred to Ephesian Artemis: it was supposed to have special healing properties and as a symbol of immortality was used to decorate images of the gods and tombs. The name, from the Greek signifying unwithering, was applied to certain plants which from their lasting for ever, typified immortality. Some of the species are old favourites as garden flowers, viz., Amaranthus hypochondriacus, known as Prince's Feather, an Indian annual - with deeply-veined, lance-shaped leaves, purple on the under side with deep crimson flowers, densely packed on erect spikes, and A. caudatus (Jacq.) (Love-lies-bleeding), a native of Africa and Java, a vigorous hardy annual with dark purplish flowers crowded in handsome drooping spikes. It is considered astringent and a decoction of the flowers has been administered in spitting of blood and various haemorrhages and has been said to be so energetic that it may be used in cases of menorrhagia. With several other species belonging to the closely allied genus Aeva, natives of India, it has also been used as an anthelmintic. A. spinosa (Linn.), A. campestris (Willd.) and many others are used in India as diuretics. A. oleraceus (Linn.) is used in India in diarrhoea and menstrual disorders and the young leaves and shoots are also eaten as a vegetable, similarly to spinach. A. polygonoides, a common garden weed in India, is also used as a pot-herb and considered so wholesome that convalescents are ordered it in preference to all other kinds.
Ancient Lore:
AMARANTHUS AMARANTHUS HYBRIDUS (=A.HYPOCHONDRIACUS) I wonder in my heart how the virtue of herbs came at first to be known, if not by their signatures. The moderns have them from the writings of the ancients; the ancients had no writings to have them from. Amaranth is also called Flower-gentle, Flower-velure, Floramor, Velvet- flower and Prince's Feather. It runneth up with a stalk which is streaked and somewhat reddish towards the root. It has long, broad reddish-green leaves and flowers which are more like tufts, very beautiful to behold. Where to find it: A garden plant, commonly known as Love Lies Bleeding. Flowering time: Continues in flower from late summer till the frost nips it. Astrology: It is under the dominion of Saturn and is, an excellent qualifier of the unruly actions and passions of Venus, though Mars should also join with her. Medicinal virtues: The flowers, dried and beaten into powder, stop the terms in women. The flowers stop all fluxes of blood, whether in man or woman, bleeding either at the nose or wound. There is also a sort of Amaranthus that bears a white flower, which stops the whites in women, and the running of the reins in men, and is a most gallant anti-venereal, and a singular remedy for the French pox. Modern uses: Classified today as an astringent and used to check diarrhoea, dysentery and rectal bleeding. Also used for treating heavy menstrual periods. The flowering herb is used for these purposes in the form of a decoction - 1 oz (28 g) of herb to 1 Pt (568 ml) of boiling water - in doses of 2 fl Oz (56 ml). The same can he used as a mouthwash for ulcerated conditions, and as a vaginal injection for leucorrhoea.