8744 MEN Guide to Unusual Herbs Spring 2018

50 “The familiar culinary sage is a staple of the herb garden and quite handsome even in a mixed border. But if you’re looking for something special, consider less common Salvia species.”  ROBIN SIKTBERG, “DISCOVER THE BEAUTY OF SAGE”

ON THE COVER Herbalist’s Favorite Herbs 14 Spring Herbal Starlets 36 Grow Exotic-Tasting Herbs 72 Left to right: Elisabeth/Adobe Stock; pengpeng/ Getty Images; 1255k/Getty Images; leonid_shtandel/Adobe Stock

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Shopping Tips

4 BULK HERB COMPANIES YOU CAN TRUST 7 These companies offer herbs produced in sustainable ways.

Choose them to make DIY remedies.

6 SEED COMPANIES YOU CAN TRUST These responsible, reputable garden suppliers offer a wide variety of top-quality seeds.

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For Your Health

HERBALISTS’ FAVORITE HERBS 14 Discover outstanding herbs for a range of health concerns with these expert recommendations.

THE BEST HERBAL REMEDIES YOU’VE NEVER HEARD OF 17 Learn about the potential benefits of five largely unknown plants that are attracting attention.

HEALING HERBS AROUND THE WORLD Take a tour of some ancient medicinal plants across the globe.

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ANCIENT HERBS, MODERN USES 24 Take a look at plants mentioned in the Bible, and learn about their role in today’s world.

MAKE LIFE DIFFICULT FOR DISEASE 28 Strengthen the body with adaptogens to fight against disease before it has a chance to grab hold.

5 HERBS FOR WOMEN’S HEALTH These five herbs are well-suited to women’s health issues.

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WHAT IS ZALLOUH? 33 Delve into the research behind this unusual gnarled root from across the globe.

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A PERUVIAN WONDER 34 The mysterious South American maca root can help boost mental acuity.

WHAT IS THE BALM OF GILEAD? 56 Uncover the possible identity of this ancient healing herb.

For the Garden

For the Kitchen

GLAMORIZE YOUR HERB GARDEN Curate a passion for exciting new herbs, exotic aromas and delicious flavors.

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REVISITING OLDFASHIONED RUE 42 Rich in herbal lore, this ornamental beauty may relieve eyestrain and muscle spasms.

BACKYARD BOUNTY 45 Discover a world of uses for eight of our favorite weeds.

FRAGRANT, NATIVE PEST REPELLENT 49 Mountain mint is a lovely scented herb that can safely and effectively keep away pests.

DISCOVER THE BEAUTY OF SAGE Ornamental salvias add rich texture, color and fragrance to beds, borders and beyond.

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WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW MIGHT HEAL YOU 54 Wood betony is a beautiful perennial with a long-standing reputation for healing.

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NATIVE PLANTS FOR YOUR TABLE 58 Aside from Mediterranean favorites, these edible herbs are native to the U.S. and great for growing at home.

THE SECRETS OF SAFFRON Prized since pre-history, this precious spice is the epitome of an artisanal treat.

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DISCOVERING ZA’ATAR 76 Za’atar is a well-known blend of Middle Eastern spices and herbs, as well as a name given to more than one herb.

TAME A WILD WEED The toothed leaves of epazote taste delicious in many savory dishes, including chili.

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MORE THAN A WEED 82 The hardy South American herb tansy is a great addition to a fragrant garden.

Footnotes

5 DELICIOUS HERBS MISSING FROM YOUR KITCHEN 67 Add interest to your diet with these oft-neglected culinary treasures.

THE TRUTH ABOUT HERBS 84 Use this guide to become a savvy natural-health consumer, and learn how to decipher herb safety for yourself.

A FINE HERBE FOR THE KITCHEN This often overlooked herb adds delicate flavor and fragrance to a wide range of dishes.

GUIDE TO HOME HERBALISM Use this beginner’s guide to make basic medicinal herbal applications that are safe and effective.

GUIDE TO GROWING EXOTIC HERBS Expand your culinary skills with these tropical-tasting herbs.

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THE SALAD GREENS’ COMEBACK QUEEN 74 Valued for its lemony flavor, sorrel is more than just a tender herb that makes a great salad.

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Healing Herbs Around the World

Take a tour of some of the most ancient medicinal plants across the globe.

BY T HE HERB COMPANI ON S TAFF ILLUSTR ATIONS BY S OPH IE KIT TREDG E

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We can only speculate about our prehis-

toric ancestors’ behavior, but clues and common sense tell us our ancestors used plants to survive, relying on them for nourishment and—over time and after observation— medical treatment. These plants might have been more than just food and medicine to early humans. Through their healing powers, plants may have represented a connection to the supernatural world. At the 60,000-year-old burial site of a Neanderthal man, researchers found eight species of flowering plants (laid there, some surmise, to fortify the man as he journeyed to the next life).

When humans began using formal writing systems, they also began documenting their use of medicinal plants, so we can be more certain about the use of herbal remedies dating back to about 3000 B.C. As civilizations developed and trade routes became established, travelers

began observing other cultures’ use of plants and brought both herbal remedies and knowledge of their use back to their home countries.

Such observations lead in a more-or-less straight line to conventional medicine’s adoption and adaptation of some phytomedicines, including Pacific yew, which gives us the anticancer drug Taxol; and curare, which gives us tubocurarine chloride, used to calm patients’ muscles during surgery. In terms of more commonly used herbal medicines, we prepare and take some of them in the same way our ancestors did. We know, for instance, the constipation remedy castor oil, which comes from the castor bean, was used as a laxative thousands of years ago. Such knowledge may be humbling, given our contemporary emphasis on expensive health care and medical research.

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Garlic Allium sativum

Myrrh

BIBLICAL REFERENCE: Numbers 11:5–6 USED FOR: angina, cancer, colds,

BIBLICAL REFERENCE: Esther 2:12 USED FOR: analgesic, astringent, bronchitis,

diabetes, flu, hypertension, infections

expectorant, high cholesterol

According to the Talmud, there are five properties to the garlic that many Jews consumed on Fridays (Shabbat): It keeps the body warm; it brightens the face; it increases semen; it kills parasites; and it fosters love and removes jealousy. Why Fridays? After the women’s ritual Friday bath (mikvah) the men could make love to their wives (with consent, of course).

The use of garlic to increase virility may be more than just an interesting bit of folklore or ritual. Garlic has a high content of free amino acids dominated by the amino acid arginine. Arginine is used by the cells that line the artery walls to manufacture nitric oxide, which facilitates blood flow to the penis. Without nitric oxide, erections are impossible.

Medicinally, garlic juice was prescribed to treat intestinal infections, respiratory ailments, snakebites, melancholy and hypochondria. Today, medical research has identified the phytochemicals that support many old wives’ tales. For example, garlic contains the active ingredient ajoene, reported to inhibit platelet aggregation in arteries. Garlic juice contains allicin, an antibiotic and antifungal compound. Around the world, folk remedies for headaches, tumors, and fungal and bacterial infections include inhaling vapors from the stalk, applying a poultice made from the bulb or massaging with an ointment made from the roots.

Garlic’s anticancer and antitumor reputation is no less stellar.

Allicin, a powerful antibiotic, has been isolated as the silver bullet that protects the body from carcinogens and bacteria. It also facilitates healing, lowers blood sugar and alleviates hypertension. If spinach gave Popeye the strength of 10 men, garlic gave 100,000 pyramid builders their strength for 30 years.

There are 135 species of myrrh found throughout Africa and Arabia, growing mainly in very arid regions. In her book All the Plants in the Bible, Winifred Walker asserts that the myrrh mentioned in the Old Testament came from a small plant called a rockrose that grew among the sand and rocks.

The gum collected from the rockrose was pressed into cakes and used as perfume. In the New Testament, the soft, dark brown or black resin collected and sold in golden spiral pieces, sometimes called “tears” or “pearls,” was from a small tree. Myrrh was sold as a spice or an ingredient of the anointing oil used in the Tabernacle or as a salve for the purification of the dead. The stems and leaves were used to prepare perfume and incense, a practice that continues in Eastern churches today. Medicinally, the extract served as a salve, stimulant or expectorant.

The myrrh that the Magi gave to the baby Jesus foretold how he would suffer and die. The term myrrophore was applied to the women who bore spices to the sepulcher of Jesus—aloes, cassia and cinnamon. In Mesopotamia and the Greco-Roman worlds, myrrh was a panacea for almost every human affliction, from earaches to hemorrhoids. The Asians esteemed myrrh as an astringent tonic taken internally and as a cleansing agent applied externally.

A salve of myrrh used as an analgesic can assuage the discomfort of topical ulcerations, and myrrh can be made into a mouthwash for spongy gums, ulcerated throats and mouth sores. Guggul, or Indian myrrh, has been the subject of recent research on leukemia and blood cholesterol levels.

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Turmeric Curcuma longa

BIBLICAL REFERENCE: Song of Solomon 4:14–15 USED FOR: inflammation, flatulence, arthritis, bronchitis, diuretic,

Commiphora spp.

dyspepsia, expectorant, laryngitis, lymphoma, rheumatism

Milk thistle Silybum marianum

BIBLICAL REFERENCE: Genesis 3:18 USED FOR: the effects of alcoholism, asthma, cirrhosis,

GETTYIMAGES/BAUHAUS1000 LEFT, GETTYIMAGES/ANYUDINA RIGHT

GETTYIMAGES/BAUHAUS1000 LEFT, GETTYIMAGES/ILBUSCA RIGHT

hepatitis, jaundice, kidney and urinary tract stones, psoriasis We aren’t certain milk thistle is one of the thistles and briers referred to in the Bible, but it could be. We know it grows among shrubs common in Samaria and parts of Israel today.

Milk thistle has been used as a liver remedy for nearly 2,000 years. Liver disease attacks the blood’s filtration system, allowing dangerous toxins to accumulate in the body.

Milk thistle, which contains silymarin, seems to be the most promising natural compound for preventing and repairing existing damage to the liver.

Studies show milk thistle can regenerate damaged liver cells. Research studies have led the German Commission E (the German expert panel that judges the safety and effectiveness of medicinal herbs for the German government) to approve milk thistle seeds and seed extracts as supportive treatment for cirrhosis and chronic inflammatory liver conditions. Silymarin also helps protect the liver from many industrial toxins such as carbon tetrachloride. Even if you don’t have liver damage or disease, milk thistle helps improve liver function by aiding removal of toxins from the body.

Silymarin also has shown great promise fighting diabetes.

In 1998, an Italian scientist suggested taking 600 mg of silymarin substantially reduced diabetic symptoms and complications. An article in the Journal of Hepatology said taking silymarin lowered blood sugar and insulin levels.

Three plants vie for the honor of being the biblical saffron: the saffron crocus, safflower and turmeric. Since saffron is mentioned only once in the Bible, this plant presents a conundrum for botanists. Linguistically, the issue is the proper translation and interpretation of the Hebrew kakom and the Arabic kurkum, or saferam.

OK. I confess: I want turmeric to be the saffron mentioned in the Bible. It’s such a good herb that it deserves to be in the Bible. I am sure humans have used it for thousands of years.

Dried turmeric rhizomes are used as a spice, whole or ground, to flavor meat and egg dishes, and to flavor or color pickles, relishes, prepared mustard, butter and cheese; turmeric is an indispensable constituent of curry powder. It provides a natural dye to color cloth, leather, silk, palm fiber, wool and cotton. Its rhizomes yield an orange-yellow essential oil used in flavoring spice products and in perfumery. Powdered turmeric is an antioxidant. The essential oil of turmeric has shown anti-arthritic and anti-inflammatory activity in rats. And I believe turmeric’s use as a pain reliever preceded aspirin’s by at least 2,000 years.

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Article adapted with permission from Herbs of the Bible by James A. Duke, Ph.D. Duke was an author and a botanist, and he developed the Dr. Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases at the USDA. Sadly, Duke passed away in December 2017. To read a tribute to this great man, visit thegreenfarmacygarden. com/from-the-desk-of-james-a-duke.

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Glamorize

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‘PRIMADONNA’ ECHINACEA

YOUR HERB GARDEN

Echinacea is tough, growing in rocky soil where not many other plants will grow. In midsummer, when the weather is hot and the days are long, 24- to 30-inch bloom spikes arise, the flowers unfurling into daisylike blossoms that stay in bloom for weeks. This impressive series of echinacea from Germany has an abundance of large flowers and, like its native parents, has good heat and drought tolerance. ‘Primadonna’ attracts butterflies and is an excellent cut flower. You have the choice of deep rose and white ‘Primadonna’ echinacea, both of which will be stunning additions to your garden. It’s hardy to zone 3.

Curate a passion for exciting new herbs, exotic aromas and delicious flavors. Here we have gathered inspiration for your spring garden.

Uncover 14 uncommon herbal treasures.

BY J I M LO N G

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Other names for bacopa (Bacopa monnieri) include brahmi and moneywort. It has been used as a medicinal herb to improve mental clarity and memory. (This plant is different from the flowering bacopa that is commonly grown in hanging baskets.) In India, it has been used traditionally as a remedy for the treatment of epilepsy and insanity.

Herbalists have used it for swollen mucus membranes, bronchitis, diarrhea and rheumatism. Bacopa is a fast-growing succulent and an annual creeping herb found in wet places throughout the Indian subcontinent. Easy to grow in pots, it is hardy to zone 8 and in colder climates can be grown outdoors as a summer annual.

Note: Bacopa is a restricted noxious weed in California.

Check with your county extension office for regulations in your area.

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ADOBESTOCK/IROTTLAENDER (LEFT); ADOBESTOCK/ LUCKYRIGA (TOP RIGHT); FLICKR/FOREST AND KIM STARR (BOTTOM RIGHT)

BACOPA

Left: Add ‘Nectar’ hyssop to the garden to attract butterflies. ■ Top right: ‘Primadonna’ echinacea is an excellent flower for bouquets. ■ Bottom right: More than just a weed, bacopa has been used to improve memory and mental clarity.

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‘NECTAR’ HYSSOP

This excellent new hyssop is hardy in zones 3 through 9 and is easy to grow from seed. The plant’s highly fragrant flowers appear the first season if sown early and are excellent for cut flowers or dried arrangements. ‘Nectar’ is available in blue, rose and white, and you can grow all three colors in one bed for a delightful color combination. Like many hyssops, ‘Nectar’ attracts butterflies and is a tasty tea plant, as well.

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‘PURPLE VOLCANO’ SAGE

This medicinal herb is known for its bronze-purple foliage, which contrasts beautifully with other textures and colors.

Grow it in a low border next to green or gray plants, or tucked in with dwarf basils or oreganos. The purple to bronze foliage is beautiful all season long. You may know the species as lyreleaf sage, but this cultivar is considerably more colorful and attractive. It will tolerate part shade and any standard garden soil. It’s hardy in zones 5 to 8 and grows easily from seed. www.MotherEarthNews.com

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Native Plants for Your Table Aside from Mediterranean natives such as parsley and sage, a number of edible herbs are native to the U.S. and great for growing at home.

When he was young, author Jim Long’s maternal grandparents encouraged his interest in plants, helping him identify delicious redbush tree (left), violets (above) and other edible wild plants.

GETTYIMAGES/COFFBETH LEFT, GETTYIMAGES/GSERMEK RIGHT

BY J I M LO N G

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SOME OF MY EARLIEST MEMORIES of exploring native plants as a child are of drying wild strawberry leaves and making hot tea from them. The tea was a beautiful yellow and, with honey, had a pleasant, wild herbal flavor.

I’m fortunate to have grown up in a family that loved plants. In early spring, my parents and I hunted wild mushrooms. We knew the patches in the meadows where the wild strawberries grew, and picked wild grapes and pawpaws in the fall. Persimmons were always a welcome delicacy, as were native lowland pecans from the Osage River basin. Those plants added wider variety to our traditional garden. My parents ran a grocery store, but despite the constant flow of cultivated produce, native plants always figured prominently in our diet.

My paternal grandparents were overly cautious, and with me as their only grandson, constantly cautioned me to be careful of what I ate from the woods. “Always ask someone before you taste it,” my father’s mother would say. Yet my maternal grandmother knew I had an interest in plants and would take me on walks in the woods and meadows, showing me how to identify plants. It’s from these early family teachers that I gained an appreciation for the bounty of wild edible plants.

Many of the more traditional herbs we grow (such as parsley and sage) are native to the Mediterranean regions.

They have so easily adapted to a wide range of garden conditions that when most people hear the word herb, those foreign plants are what first come to mind.

But did you know there are many herbs and edible plants native to the U.S. that you can grow, or find already growing, in your garden? Some can be found in the wild, and may even be growing in your garden, but you aren’t recognizing them as useful, edible plants.

Finding gems of plants like this is a bit like recycling— you might be digging up and throwing away plants that are better adapted to your environment than plants you are cultivating. Instead of trying to eliminate them, these native plants are worth recognizing and making use of. Here are some healthful native plants you might find in your own garden or in nearby fields.

VIOLETS (Viola spp.) are all pleasant and colorful in salads and can be candied for decoration on cakes and other desserts. Violets are easy to recognize once you look at the flower and leaf shape in a field guide.

CHICKWEED (Stellaria media) can be gathered in springtime and cooked as a green vegetable; it can be frozen; or you can dry it and make it into a beneficial first-aid salve. This is one of the first plants up in the spring and you can look for it in your garden, along the foundation of your house and at the edges of the lawn. It’s a creeping plant with a single, central stem. Gather it before warm weather; once the weather warms, this plant will begin to turn yellow, scatter its seeds and die. I like to mix chickweed with henbit and lamb’s quarters in about equal portions and boil them together briefly, season with some crumbled bacon and a teaspoon or two of vinegar, and enjoy as a refreshing, vitamin-rich, springtime vegetable side dish.

HENBIT (Lamium amplexicaule) can be found in moist, rich fields, lawns and the edges of home gardens. Most likely you have this plant in your lawn or garden beds.

As early as January in the Midwest, this plant is already green. By early spring, tiny purple flowers cover the WWW.MOTHEREARTHNEWS.COM

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Lemongrass leaves add a citrus zing to broths.

Q

Exotic

GUIDE TO GROWING

Herbs

A

Expand your culinary skills with these tropical-tasting herbs.

They both excite the senses and grow well in kitchen gardens.

For herbs that excite the senses with a taste of the exotic, try lemongrass, lemon verbena, pineapple sage and makrut lime. Look for plants at select farmers markets, garden centers, specialty catalogs or online stores.

With the exception of lemongrass, these tropical-tasting herbs benefit from an occasional to frequent pruning of branch tips—in other words, snipping of fresh sprigs—to encourage more leaf production. Often grown as annuals, they are all marginally hardy, though they thrive in containers. You can overwinter them as potted plants indoors.

BY K R I S W E T H E R B E E

OPPOSITE: ADOBESTOCK/EWAPEE; ADOBESTOCK/SOMBATS TOP, ADOBESTOCK/PRO PHOTO BOTTOM

Makrut Lime

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Lemon Verbena

I want to expand my culinary herb garden with plants that will lend an exotic flavor in the kitchen. Which herbs do you recommend for my garden?

Native to Thailand, this small, shrubby tree (Citrus hystrix) bears green lime-sized, bumpy-skinned fruit. You need two genetically diverse plants for cross-pollination to ensure fruiting.

This plant is also known as Kaffir lime, but this term is best avoided because it’s an Afrikaner slur.

Perhaps no other herb can appease the true lemon lover like lemon verbena (Aloysia triphylla). This deciduous woody shrub to bushy, tender perennial grows 3 to 5 feet in cooler climates, and 10 to 15 feet tall in frost-free regions of the South. ✽ GROWING CONDITIONS: Prefers rich

serving. Thinly slice tender leaves for use in salads, stir-fries and curries.

and moderately moist, well-drained soil in full sun; roots can be hardy down to 20 degrees if heavily mulched and grown in a protected area; zone 8

Lemongrass

✽ CULINARY TIPS: Use fresh or dried

The grassy lime-green to bluishgreen stalks of this 3- to 5-foot-tall tender perennial (Cymbopogon citratus) grow as densely tufted clumps.

leaves in teas and beverages; salads and fruit dishes; salad dressings and marinades; and baked goods and desserts.

Lemon verbena brightens the flavor of fish and chicken.

✽ GROWING CONDITIONS: Best grown in full sun and rich, well-drained soil with ample moisture; zone 9 ✽ CULINARY TIPS: The tough outer leaves lend a citrusy flavor to broths, soups and stews—just remove them before serving. Chop or mince the tender inner stalks and plump white bases and add to curries, stir-fries, salads, chicken, poultry or seafood dishes.

✽ GROWING CONDITIONS: Best in full

sun to light shade and moist, welldrained soil; protect from hard freezes; zone 9

This mostly herbaceous subshrub (Salvia elegans) grows from 3 to 5 feet tall and features brilliant green, slightly hairy pineapple-scented leaves and red, trumpet-shaped flower spikes from summer until frost. ✽ GROWING CONDITIONS: Plants thrive

in full sun and rich, well-drained soil, but appreciate some shade in hot summer areas; prefers more moisture and nitrogen than most other species of sage; zone 9, but can be grown a zone or two lower if you cut back the plant in late fall and cover the soil with a thick layer of winter mulch ✽ CULINARY TIPS: Use fresh or dried

leaves with foods enhanced by the light tropical flavor of pineapple such as fruit salads, jams and jellies, or to heighten the flavor of cheeses and desserts.

✽ CULINARY TIPS: The juice is bitter, but

the strongly flavored peel is sought after in many Asian dishes, especially curries.

Use the intensely flavored leaves to season broth, soups and stews as you would bay leaves, removing them before

Pineapple Sage

Lemon verbena brightens fish and chicken dishes.

KRIS WETHERBEE is a freelance writer who grows herbs in western Oregon.

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