Medicinal Benefits of Plants: Wormwood for Cramps, Yarrow for Allergies

Yarrow

Yarrow is the common name for Achillea Millefolium. Achillea derives from Achilles, a legendary Greek warrior who actually used this plant to heal the men in his army after battle. Millefolium literally means Thousand-leaves. This plant is also known as Soldier's Woundwort and Old Man's Pepper. It is native to Central Europe and has been used on the battlefield for many centuries since ancient times.

It does, in fact, provide a strong medicinal purpose, not just rumored historical uses. If ingested it can help with all the following: inflammations, bleeding, bruises, and the reduction of allergies. The most effective part of the plant is the flower itself, which contains the highest concentration of the chemicals.

To properly use on wounds simply place the flower or stem on the wound itself and let it heal. For bruising and burns, you can spread the plant on the wounded area, allowing the oils to seep into the skin. When using Yarrow for allergies simply steam the flower and inhale the chemicals. When in the wilderness this can in some scenarios save your life, the same way it has saved and aided many wounded soldiers in the past. However, it is a fair warning to regard this plant with respect even though is not listed on the official hazardous plants. I grow it in my garden in a Zone 9 part of Florida and find it to be most useful for all of these purposes. It is an extraordinary plant because of its resilience to drought.

All the information i used for this part of the article can be found here: http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Achillea+millefolium

Wormwood

Wormwood, or Artemisia Absinthium, is another plant that is native to Central Europe and that can be grown in a Zone 9. It has unfortunately earned a rather bad reputation in recent years as one of the ingredients in Absinthe, which derives from the second part of the plant's Latin name.

According to most movies and other poor sources of information Absinthe, an Amsterdam liquor with a green tint and roughly 85% alcohol content, will bring about hallucinogenic visions and eventually drive a person into insanity. This is simply not true.