Sunday, April 11, 2010

Brooklime


Brooklime, a slip of the tongue or a medicinal herb described in Doctor John Hill's The British Herbal, An History of Plants and Trees, Natives of Britain, Cultivated For Use or Raised for Beauty, published in an age when medical doctors had to also be botanists and astrologers. It was a pleasure to photograph this at work the other day, a welcome break from upholstery.

Modern sources contain similar recipes as the one mentioned in Hill's, sans cobwebs. Herbs2000's Brooklime entry includes this, for instance. "The juice extracted from the brooklime plant, along with the sap from Seville oranges and scurvy-grass, were once known as the ‘spring juice’. This ‘spring juice’ was held in high esteem in earlier times for their ability to cure scurvy. It may be mentioned here that the brooklime plant has always been a favorite herb for healing scrofulous or diseased conditions, particularly of the skin."

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