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 | Scurvy Grass Other Names: Spoonwort.
Botanical Name: Cochlearia officinalis
Family: N.O. Cruciferae |
Description: |
| It is a small, low-growing plant, annual or biennial, with thick, fleshy, glabrous, egg-shaped, cordate leaves (hence its name of spoonwort). The upper leaves are sessile - lower ones stalked, deltoid orbicular or reniform entire or toothed angularly. Flowers all summer in white short racemes - pods nearly globular - prominent valves of the mid-rib when dry. It has an unpleasant smell and a bitter, warm, acrid taste, very pungent when fresh. |
Habitat: |
| Abundant on the shores in Scotland, growing inland along some of its rivers and Highland mountains and not uncommon in stony, muddy and sandy soils in England and Ireland, also in the Arctic Circle, sea-coasts of Northern and Western Europe and to high elevations in the great European mountain chains. |
Constituents: |
Leaves abound in a pungent oil containing sulphur, of the butylic series.
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Medicinal Usage: |
Formerly the fresh herb was greatly used on sea-voyages as a preventative of scurvey. It is stimulating, aperient, diuretic, antiscorbutic. The essential oil is of benefit in paralytic and rheumatic cases; scurvy-grass ale was a popular tonic drink.
The infusion of 2 OZ. to a pint of boiling water is taken in frequent wineglassful doses. |
Ancient Lore: |
SCURVY-GRASS
COCHLEARIA OFFICINALIS
The juice helps all foul ulcers and sores in the mouth when gargled therewith.
Also known as Spoonwort, it is a perennial with thick flat leaves and white or pink flowers. It grows between four and ten inches (to and 25 cm) high.
Where to find it: Salt and brackish marshes and sea cliffs.
Flowering time: Late spring to late summer.
Astrology: A herb of Jupiter.
Medicinal virtues: A specific remedy against scurvy, purifying the juices of the body against that distemper. It clears the skin of scabs, pimples and foul eruptions. The juice is taken every morning, fasting. The decoction opens the liver and the spleen, bringing the body to a more livelier colour.
Modern uses: The plant contains vitamin C and the observation that it prevents scurvy was an accurate observation of the older herbalists. An infusion of the herb is taken in doses of 2 fl oz (56 ml). This is also used as a mouthwash. |
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