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 | Restharrow Other Names: Wild Liquorice. Cammock. Stinking Tommy. Ground Furze. Land Whin.
Botanical Name: Ononis arvensis
Family: N.O. Leguminosae |
Description: |
A troublesome weed, with a root that affords a sweet, viscid juice. Common in arable land. Its long, thicklymatted root will arrest the progress of the harrow, hence its name.
It is a favourite food of the donkey, from which the generic name is derived, onos being the Greek word for an ass.
A tradition exists that this was the plant from which the crown of thorns was plaited for the Crucifixion.
The plant is obnoxious to snakes.
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Medicinal Usage: |
The young shoots were much used at one time as a vegetable, being boiled, eaten in salad or pickled.
In medicine it was used for stone in the bladder and to subdue delirium. |
Ancient Lore: |
REST-HARROW ONONIS SPINOSA
The decoction with some vinegar used to wash out the mouth, eases toothache.
A perennial shrub with reddish-pink flowers. The stems have thorns making the plant difficult to collect. Also called Spiny Rest-harrow.
Where to find it: Roadsides, waste ground and fields.
Flowering time: Midsummer.
Astrology: It is under the dominion of Mars.
Medicinal virtues: It provokes urine, breaks and expels the stone, if the bark of the root is taken in wine. The decoction powerfully opens obstructions of the liver and spleen. The powdered root, made into an electuary, or lozenges, with sugar, or the bark of the fresh roots boiled until tender and beaten to a conserve with sugar, works to the like effect. The powdered roots strewed upon the brims of external ulcers consumes their hardness and causes them to heal the better.
Modern uses: The flowers and roots are popular with French herbalists for the treatment of urinary tract infection and inflammation. The powdered roots are diuretic and given by decoction. This is indicated in cases of dropsy, kidney stone, cystitis and water retention. The flowers are dried and the infusion used as a gargle or mouthwash for sore throat and gums. |
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