Iris

Iris: Valuable plant for various ailments The iris is a beautiful plant. It is considered a naturalized neophyte in southern Germany and likes to grow on wet, agricultural land. However, it originally comes from North America and is found there in swamps and on the banks of bodies of water. Already with the native inhabitants of North America it was used as a medicinal plant against various [...]

Black radish

Black radish: antimicrobial and digestive Black radish is a variation of the normal edible radish. Its ingredients make it a potent medicinal plant and in our latitudes it has been used as such for a very long time. Nowadays it is certainly used more in the kitchen than in medicine, but its antimicrobial properties have made it the last [...]

Swallowwort

Swallowwort: Valuable medicinal plant in the winter months Swallowwort used to be much more popular than it is today. Unfortunately, it ekes out a bit of a niche existence. In the late Middle Ages and early modern times, the plant was used 'to drain the poisons of heated diseases...'. Especially for snake and dog bites the Swabian root was used. Today it is used as an ingredient in a few [...]

Sea onion

Sea onion: a heart-healthy plant Sea onion used to be a great and important medicinal plant. Especially for the treatment of dropsy, it was one of the first choice plants. Its active ingredients are quite similar to those of foxglove, hence a related use today. The type of dropsy for which it was used was probably mostly heart-related. In earlier [...]

Coloquinte

Coloquine: Poisonous pumpkin with healing properties The coloquine is an ancient medicinal plant. In the Arabic world, it has been used for centuries for medicinal purposes, and even in the Bible it is already praised as a suitable laxative. Thereby it was also meant for vomiting. Its nickname purging cucumber indicates that it was used to make patients vomit specifically [...]

Pokeweed

Kermes berry: the medicinal plant with the red berries The Asian Kermes berry is today an important medicinal plant in naturopathy. It has its origin in Southeast Asia, where it has been used for a long time and was extremely popular in the 1st millennium BC, so that it was considered a polychrest there. In our latitudes it has become popular in phytotherapy [...]

Kava-Kava

Kava-Kava: The divine pepper Kava-Kava belongs to the peppers and has it in itself. In its native region of Polynesia, the plant is sacred. Piper methysticum is used in almost every important ritual and is taken by the entire village. Mostly as an extract of the barkless root. The ritual helps to bring the gods and souls of the [...]

Cat's whiskers

Cat's beard: Medicinal plant for kidney ailments Cat's beard is a classic medicinal plant used for kidney and bladder ailments. In its homeland, tropical Asia and India, it has been used for a long time. In the 19th century, the plant also reached Europe through the English and quickly gained attention here. It is used in its homeland, as in [...]

Nasturtium

Nasturtium: With the help of mustard oils against infections The nasturtium is a medicinal plant that in recent years has won its place in phytotherapy. Since its active ingredients were isolated and studied in the 1950s, its antimicrobial effect has been widely recognized. In practice, it is often and willingly used for various bacterial, [...]

Chamomile

Real chamomile: help with gastrointestinal complaints Chamomile is one of the great medicinal plants. It is so versatile and so well researched that it is really known to everyone today. Its history begins in ancient times and ranges from applications for skin diseases, mouthwashes to the therapy of gastrointestinal complaints. Most of the time, one already comes quite [...]