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Joanie

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Dear Joannie,

Thanks for this great mail - it is a failing of the sudden explosion

of the Herbal Industry in that many have written books with not really

any experience but by copying others who have written from others who

have written etc.s

This is where this list is so valuable - and

you are a valuable contributor.

And why we (the moderators, including Handsome Doc) value everyones

anecdotes of what they have ACTUALLY done with

herbs....................Love Penny

now I just answered a more general question about botanical name changes

offlist....

 

but THIS is something else.

 

these are two separate plants, in two different plant families, and with

totally different properties

 

but both with the common name " betony "

 

I do not personally know Stachys Betonica....oh, wait, yes I do...it is

an " alternate " or " older " name for

Stachys officinalis...which means the " Stachys, or Betony (common name)

sold in shops (as

medicine) " ....but I DO know a lot of other plants in the Stachys genus.

 

Stachys palustrus in a local one here. These are NOT wood-betony...but

some are called

" betony " ...and

cultivated widely as ornamentals. They are in the MINT

family...Labiatae or Lamiaceae. MORE

commonly called hedge nettle in botany books,,,and i mentioned it in my

little piece on nettles last

week.

But in the mint family..not smelling like that, but with square stems

and mint-like flowers. And looking

more like spearmint than the picture you sent.

 

Now Pedicularis canadensis IS " Wood Betony " and is the picture you sent

in. It is also called

" Lousewort " .

It is NOT in the mint family, but in the Scrophularia, or Figwort

family...along with mullein.

It does not have square stems. The flowers are those of the Figwort

family, with those big old

overhanging hoods.

 

Now..Mrs. Grieve's book does have mistakes..I have found quite a few.

ANd the books that copied hers

and others, have more mistakes. Before Latin names, it was worse, as

qualities ascribed to one plant,

would often be written down

to another with a similar common name. When Grieves copied from ancient

sources like Pliny and

Paracelsus and all, she often goofed up....Loosestrife is an example of

this..as she uses the same

material in articles that describe both types..the yellow and the

purple..though they are not related or

otherwise at all alike.

 

For a very modern example of this....lots of people think that Valium

was derived from Valerian, because

of their names...but they are totally unrelated in action and in source.

 

 

Another example is the internet hoax email that says that Canola or

Mustard seed are the source of

mustard gas..where in reality they have nothing to do with each other

either, except for a resemblance in

smell.

 

ANd...Bergamot is another...one is a mint..Bee Balm being the red

version...the other, which flavors Earl

Grey Tea, is a type of orange...as in citrus...more closely related to

Rue than to Bee Balm.

 

SO...if you have sources that give identical properties to both of

these plants Betony and wood

Betony...well, one of them is wrong...

and it may be a lot of fun to find out which.

 

so..the short answer is...different plants...totally...just similar

names. okay? more questions?

Joanie

www.

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