HOME REMEDY: What’s in a name?
Alison Kendal wrote to me about my column, saying she turns to the health page first, which is always good to hear. But Alison also mentions my column on the lichen ‘old man’s beard’, correctly pointing out that it is also the name of the seed head of the wild clematis – Clematis vitalba, or traveller’s joy, a name given to it because it is frequently found in roadside hedges.
In fact, the name old man’s beard is shared by both the wispy, pale-green lichen that hangs from trees in pure, unpolluted areas and the balllike seed head of the clematis. With their individual similarities to an old man’s beard, I can see why.
This reminded me of the ‘doctrine of signatures’, whereby ancient herbalists attributed powers of healing to certain plants if they resembled a part of the body. For example, lungwort’s (pulmonaria) speckled leaves were thought to resemble diseased lungs, hence their use. This philosophy is no longer in use, though if it were, I wonder what aspect of an old man’s beard these plants would be used for?
Sof McVeigh: www.thehomemadecompany.com
In fact, the name old man’s beard is shared by both the wispy, pale-green lichen that hangs from trees in pure, unpolluted areas and the balllike seed head of the clematis. With their individual similarities to an old man’s beard, I can see why.
This reminded me of the ‘doctrine of signatures’, whereby ancient herbalists attributed powers of healing to certain plants if they resembled a part of the body. For example, lungwort’s (pulmonaria) speckled leaves were thought to resemble diseased lungs, hence their use. This philosophy is no longer in use, though if it were, I wonder what aspect of an old man’s beard these plants would be used for?
Sof McVeigh: www.thehomemadecompany.com