"The Western Herbal Tradition" provides a comprehensive and critical exploration of the use of plant medicines through 2000 years of history from Dioscorides to the present day. It follows each of the 27 herbs through a wide range of key sources from European, Arabic and American traditions including Greek, Roman and Renaissance texts. A rich discussion of the historical texts is balanced with current application and research. The herbs have been selected on the basis of common use by practising herbalists. Each illustrated monograph contains: species, identification and botanical description; a study of the characterisation and medicinal use of the plants consistently drawn from featured herbals which includes the authors' own translations from the Latin; assessment of past and current texts in the transmission of herbal knowledge; consideration of traditional therapeutics, including humoral and physiomedical approaches; suggestions towards a modern experiential approach through Goethean methodology; current evidence on pharmacological constituents; review of evidence on safety; and, recommendations for internal and external uses, prescribing and dosage.
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Preface ix 1 The historical sources 2 Some observations on the Western herbal tradition 3 Origins and proponents of the revival of herbal medicine in 19th century Britain 4 A note on Goethe 5 Notes on botanical descriptions, constituents and dosage 6 Agrimonia eupatoria, agrimony 7 Alchemilla vulgaris, lady's mantle 8 Althaea officinalis, marshmallow; Malva sylvestris, common mallow; Alcea rosea, hollyhock 9 Apium graveolens, wild celery 10 Arctium lappa, burdock 11 Artemisia absinthium, wormwood 12 Artemisia vulgaris, mugwort 13 Centaurium erythraea, centaury 14 Daucus carota, wild carrot 15 Drimia maritima, squill 16 Fumaria officinalis, fumitory 17 Galium aparine, goosegrass 18 Glechoma hederacea, ground ivy 19 Hyssopus officinalis, hyssop 20 Inula helenium, elecampane 21 Lamium album, white deadnettle 22 Ocimum basilicum, basil 23 Paeonia officinalis, paeony 24 Potentilla erecta, tormentil 25 Rosa damascene, damask rose 26 Rubus idaeus, raspberry 27 Ruta graveolens, rue 28 Scrophularia nodosa, figwort 29 Stachys officinalis, wood betony 30 Tussilago farfara, coltsfoot 31 Verbena officinalis, vervain 32 Viola odorata, sweet violet; Viola tricolour, heartsease
