|
|
 | Asparagus Other Names:
Botanical Name: Asparagus officinalis
Family: N.O. Liliaceae |
Description: |
This well-known table delicacy may be found wild on the sea-coast in the South-west of England, especially near the Lizard, in the Isle of Anglesea, otherwise it is a rare native. In the southern parts of Russia and Poland the waste steppes are covered with this plant, which is there eaten by horses and cattle as grass. It is also common in Greece, and was formerly much esteemed as a vegetable by the Greeks and Romans. It appears to have been cultivated in the time of Cato the Elder, 200 years B.C., and Pliny mentions a species that grew near Ravenna, of which three heads would weigh a pound.
Asparagus is noticed by Gerard in 1597, and in 1670 forced Asparagus was supplied to the London market. |
Medicinal Usage: |
The virtues of Asparagus are well known as a diuretic and laxative; and for those of sedentary habits who suffer from symptoms of gravel, it has been found very beneficial, as well as in cases of dropsy. The fresh expressed juice is taken medicinally in tablespoonful doses.
Prussian Asparagus, which is brought to some English markets, is not a species of Asparagus at all, but consists of the spikes of Ornithogalum pyrenaicum, which grows abundantly in hedges and pastures (especially in the locality of Bath). See STAR OF BETHLEHEM.
Culpepper tells us 'The decoction of the roots (Asparagus) boiled in wine, and taken is good to clear the sight, and being held in the mouth easeth the toothache.' He also tells us it helps those sinews that 'are shrunk by cramps and convulsions, and helpeth the sciatica .' |
Ancient Lore: |
Asparagus (asparagus officinalis)
The decoction taken fasting several mornings together, it stirs up bodily lust in man or woman, whatever some have written to the contrary.
Astrology: under Jupiter.
Medicinal virtues: The young buds or branches boiled in ordinary broth, make the belly soluble and open. Boiled in white wine they prevent the urine being stopped. It is good against strangury or difficulty of making water. It expels the gravel and stone out of the kidneys and helps pains in the reins. Boiled in white wine or vinegar it is prevalent for them that have their arteries loosened, or are troubled with the hip-gout or sciatica.
The decoction of the roots boiled in wine and taken, is good to clear the sight and being held in the mouth eases the toothache. The back and belly bathed with the decoction, or sitting therein as a bath, has been found effectual against pains of the reins and bladder, pains of the mother and colic, and generally against all pains that happen to the lower parts of the body. It is no less effectual against stiff and benumbed sinews, or those that are shrunk by cramps and convulsions, and sciatica.
Modern uses: Used by homeopaths in the treatment of rheumatism and oedema due to heart failure. It is a diuretic and will clear sediment from the bladder. It also has laxative properties |
|
|