Archives: 2009 June

Clary Sage

Latin Name: salvia sclarea
Alternative Name: clarry, orvale, toute-bonne, clear eye, see bright, eye bright
Forms Available: essential oil, leaf
Clary Sage – salvia sclarea – Its scent is fruity, floral, herbaceous, nutty and heavy. This is a relaxing, warming oil which eases nervous tension. Known as a hormone balancer, it may regulate scanty periods. Its well [...]

Cleavers

Latin Name: galium aparine
Alternative Name: goosegrass, bedstraw, barweed, goosebill, grip grass, sticky-willy, scratweed
Forms Available: ariel parts
Cleavers – galium aparine – This herb can be eaten. It is used as a coffee, a tea, and as a vegetable. Medicinally, it is used as both a diuretic and detoxifier. Applied as a poultice, it can relieve skin [...]

Clove

Latin Name: syzgium aromaticum
Forms Available: essential oil, ground, whole, leaf, flower, bud
Clove – syzgium aromaticum – Cloves are the sun-dried unopened flower buds of a dense evergreen tree, they have a strong spiciness that flavors foods and prevents nausea. The flowers are used to soothe aching eyes. Clove oil, from the distillation of leaves and [...]

Club Moss

Latin Name: lycopodium selago, clavatum, muscus terrestris repens
Alternative Name: selago, foxtail, lycopod, vegetable sulpher, wolf claw, stag’s horn moss, ground pine
Forms Available: Above-ground portions of the herb, spores
Club Moss – lycopodium selago or clavatum – Also called Selago, Foxtail, Lycopod, Vegetable Sulphur, Wolf Claw or Stag’s Horn Moss. This toxic, evergreen, mosslike herb has [...]

Cocoa Butter

Latin Name: theobroma cacao
Forms Available: butter
Cocoa Butter – theobroma cacao – cocoa butter is the fat which is obtained by hydraulic pressing of cocoa nib or cocoa mass obtained from the cocoa beans.It could be filtered or centrifuged. This is an all natural process and no solvents are used. It is used in balms [...]

Coconut Oil

Latin Name: cocos nucifera
Forms Available: oil
Coconut Oil – Cocos nucifera – Coconut oil is obtained from copra, the dried “”””meat”””” of coconut. Distillers separate the copra from the hull of the coconut. It is dried, crushed, and then expressed to remove the oil. This coconut becomes liquid at 76 degrees. When cold it becomes [...]

Columbine

Latin Name: aquilegia canadensis
Alternative Name: wild columbine
Forms Available: root, flower
Columbine – aquilegia canadensis – The flowers are edible but the root should be used with caution as it is both astringent and diuretic. The root has been used, as a weak tea, to treat stomach aches and diarrhoea. The root tea has also been used [...]

Combava Petitgrain

Latin Name: citrus hystrix
Alternative Name: petitgrain
Forms Available: essential oil, leaf
Combava Petitgrain – citrus hystrix – steam distilled leaf, Madagascar (organic). Its aroma is almost clove like. Its properties are anti-infectious, antiseptic, liver decongestant, very calming with hormone like properties. Indicated for liver congestion and insufficiencies of the ovaries and testicles. It is also a [...]

Comfrey

Latin Name: symphytum officinale
Alternative Name: slippery root, knitbone, backwort, assear, black wort, boneset, bruisewort, consolida, consound, gum plant, healing herb, knit back, yalluc -saxon, ass ear, miracle herb, wallwort
Forms Available: leaf, root powder, root
Comfrey – symphytum officinale – Also known as Slippery Root, Knitbone or Blackwort. Teas, tinctures and compresses of comfrey roots or leaves [...]

Copal

Latin Name: bursera odorata
Forms Available: resin
Copal – bursera odorata – Copal is a white, pale yellow or yellowish-orange gum resin. When smoldered on charcoal it produces a rich, delicious, piney-lemony fragrance. Copal is North America’s equivalent of Frankincense. While it lacks some of frankincense’s bittersweet odor, it is a fine substitute. When frankincense if left [...]