Herbs for digestion for Lucia

Here is a listing of herbs from the Old English Herbal which deal with anything related to digestion and the abdomen. At the start of each herb I will list the plant as it is in the book- modern name, scientific name, Latin or Greek name, and then Anglo-Saxon.

Just an FYI- I have not looked into the toxicity of most of these plants, and I do not recommend them at all for the conditions described. And some of them, I know for a fact, are deadly poisonous and have no medical qualities at all.

This is offered as a historical curiosity, not for medical use.




Common Plantain (Plantago maior L.), arniglosa, waegbraede
*For pain in the abdomen take plantain juice, put it in some kind of ale, and drink a great deal of it; it heals internally and purges the stomach and the small intestines wondrously well.
*If the stomach is sore, take the juice of the greater plantain plant, ensure that it is clear, and drink it. Then with a great deal of nausea, the soreness will depart. If it happens that the abdomen is swollen, shred the plant, lay it on the abdomen, and the swelling will disappear quickly.

Wormwood (Artemisia pontica L.), artemisia leptefilos, mucgwyrt
*For stomachache, take this plant, pound it, and simmer it well in almond oil in the way in which you make a poultice. Then put it on a clean piece of cloth and lay it on the stomach; within five days the person will be well. If the roots of this plant are hung over the door of a house, then no one may do harm to the house.

Horehound (Marrubium vulgare), prassion, harehune
*For stomachache take the juice of this same plant and give it to drink. It takes away stomachache.

Butcher's-broom or Knee-Holly (Ruscus aculeatus L.), uictoriola, cneowholen
*For gout and for the stomach, take two cups of the juice of this plant, and give it to drink on an empty stomach mixed with honey.

Comfrey (Symphytum officinale L.), confirma, galluc
*If someone has an internal rupture, take the roots of this same plant and roast them in hot ashes. Eat this on an empty stomach with some honey. The patient will be healed, and also it completely cleans out the stomach.
*For stomachache, take the same plant and mix it with honey and vinegar. You will experience greatly beneficial effects.


Rue (ruta graveolens L.), rute, rude
*For stomachache, take the seeds of this same plant, sulphur, and vinegar. Give this to eat on an empty stomach.

Pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium L.), pollegium, dweorgedwosle
-This plant, called polledium, effects many cures, although many do not know them, because this plant is of two kinds, that is, masculine and feminine. The masculine variety has white flowers, and the feminine red or brown; both are beneficial, wondrous, and have wondrous powers. They bloom with the brightest colour just about when other plants are withering and fading.
*For abdominal pain, take this plant and caraway, pound them together with water and place this on the navel. It will quickly be cured.
*Again for stomachache, take the same plant, pound it, rinse it with water. Give it to drink in vinegar. It will relieve the stomach pain very well.
*Again for abdominal pain; this plant relieves it well when eaten and placed on the navel so that it cannot fall off. It will quickly alleviate the pain.
*For swelling of the abdomen and intestinal swelling, take this same plant, pounded and simmered in wine or water, or give it to eat by itself. The discomfort will be relieved quickly.

Chervil (Anthriscus cerefolium L.), cerefolia, cerfille
*For stomachache, take three green sprouts from the plant called cerefolium, and pennyroyal. Grind them well in a wooden mortar together with one spoonful refined honey and fresh poppy. Simmer them together and give this to eat. It will quickly strengthen the stomach.

Sow-Thistle (Sonchus oleraceus L.), carduum silfaticum, wudueistel
-This plant grows in meadows and along roadways.
*For stomachache, take the upper part of the flower-head of this plant when it is soft and fresh, and give it to eat in sweetened vinegar. It will cure the soreness.

Caraway or Cumin (Carum carvi L. or Cuminum cyminum L.), quimminon, cymen
*For stomachache, take the seed of the plant that is called quimminon simmered in oil and mixed with bran, then simmered together. Make it into a poultice and put it on the abdomen.
*If the abdomen is tender and hot, take the same plant pounded with grapes or flour made from beans and make it into a poultice. It will heal the tenderness.

Bishop's-weed (Ammi maius), ami, no OE word*This plant has seed that is given in wine and is good for medications. It is beneficial for abdominal discomfort, for difficulty urinating, and for bites of wild animals.

Tassel Hyacinth (Muscari comosum Mill.), bulbus, no OE word
-This plant has two varieties; one is red and beneficial for stomach pain, the other is bitter to the taste and is called scilodes, and is also beneficial for the stomach. Both are powerful, and when eaten as food, strengthen the body.
*For dropsy, take this same plant, as we said before, pounded, and lay it on the abdomen. Mixed with honey it also cures dog bites. If it is mixed with pepper and applied it stops a person from sweating. It also lessens stomach pain.
*Also, taken with vinegar it heals swelling and ruptures in the abdomen.

Wood Betony (Sachys officinalis), betonica, biscopwyrt
*For stomach pain take two coins' weight of the same plant, boil gently in water, then give it warm to the person to drink. The stomach pain will diminish and be soothed, so soon there will not be any pain.
*If a person is constipated, take this same plant in warm water at night on an empty stomach. The person will be well in the space of three nights.
*If a person is not well inside or is nauseated, then you take two coins' weight of the betonica plant and one ounce of honey. Thoroughly and gently boil this in beer, drink three cupfuls at night on an empty stomach and the insides will quickly open up.
*If you want your food to digest easily, take three coins' weight of this same plant and one ounce of honey. Simmer the plant until it thickens, then drink it in two cupfuls of water.
*If a person cannot keep food down and vomits when he swallows, take four coins' weight of this plant and boiled honedy, then make four little pills from it. Eat one, take one in hot water, and then two in wine. Then swallow three cupfuls of water.
*For abdominal pain, or if one is swollen, take this plant, crumble it very fine in wine, lay some around the stomach and eat some of it. That will quickly bring recovery.

Hare's-Foot Clover (Trifolium arvense L.), leporis pes, haran hyge
*For constipation take the plant, dry it, make it into a powder, and give it to drink in wine if the person does not have a fever. If the person has a fever, give it to drink in water. The constipation will quickly be dispelled.

Spurge Laurel or Spurge Flax (Daphne laureola L. or D. Gnidium L.), lactyrida, givcorn
-This plant grows in cultivated and sandy soils.
*For constipation, take the seeds of this plant (they are the berries) well washed. Give this to drink in warm water. It will soon move the intestines.

German Iris or Blue Iris (Iris spp. L. or germanica L.) iris Illyrica, no OE word
-This plant called iris Illyrica has this name for the diversity of its blossoms, because it is thought that it resembles the rainbow in the sky in colour. It is called iris in Latin, and grows best and strongest in Illyrica. It has leaves like sea onion or squill, which the Grekks call xifian, and it has strong roots with a strong odour. It should be folded up in linen cloth and hung in the shade so it can thoroughly dry, because its nature is hot and soporific.
*In the same way, the powder of this plant taken in light beer induces sleep and relieves abdominal discomfort

Sweet Violet (Viola odorata L.), uiola purpurea, no OE word
*For constipation, take the flowers of this same plant mixed with honey and soaked in very good wine. The constipation will be relieved.

Bitter Cucumber (Citrullus colocynthis), colocynthisagria, no OE word
-This plant called colocynthisagria or curcurbita agrestis or frigilla, just like other gourds expands its branches over the ground. It has divided leaves like the cucumber and round and bitter fruit. It should be picked at the time just as its green gives way to yellow.
*To move the bowels, take two pennies' weight of the tender inside of the fruit without seeds, pounded in light beer. Give this to drink. It will move the bowels.

Knotgrass (Polygonum aviculare L.), proserpinaca, unfortraedde
-This plant grows everywhere in cultivated places and on mounds. You should pick the plant in summer.
*For diarrhea, take the juice of the leaves of this plant and boil gently in water. Give it to drink in the quantity you think suitable, and the person will be well.

White Water Lily (Nymfaea alba L.), nimpheta, no OE word
*For a swollen stomach, take the seeds of this plant, pound them with wine, and give it to drink.
*For the same, use the roots and give this to the patient to eat for ten days.
*Also, if you give the plant to drink in strong wine, it stops diarrhea.

Water Parsnip (Sium latifolium L.), sion, laber
-This plant, which is called sion, grows in watery places.
*This plant is also effective against diarrhea and discomfort of the bowels.

Stonecrop (Sedum album or acre L.), ayzos minor, no OE word
-This plant grows along roadways and in rocky places, on hills and on old ruins. From one root it sends out many small shoots, and it is full of many small, long, pointed, sharp, succulent leaves full of juice. Its roots are not used.
*For diarrhea and intestinal discomfort and for worms that harm the intestines, this same plant will help very much.

White Hellebore (Veratrum album L.), elleborus albus, tunsingwyrt or wedeberge
-This plant grows on hills, and it has leaves like a leek. The roots and the entire plant should be picked about midsummer because it is well suited to medications. To be recognized about this plant is that it has a small root, which is not so straight that it is not bent a little; it is brittle and fragile when dried and when it is broken, it smells as though it sent out smoke, and is slightly bitter to the taste. The larger roots are long, hard, and very bitter to the taste, and they have the violent and dangerous power that they often choke a person quickly. As we said before one should dry this root and cut it into lengths like peas. Ten pennies' weight of this root will make many remedies for many conditions; however, it should never be given to take by itself because of its strength, but mixed with some other food in the amount commensurate with the illness, that is, if the condition is very serious, give it to drink in beer or dark, thick soup.
*For diarrhea, give this to eat in pea broth or with the plant called oriza with flour; however, all these should first be simmered in light beer and softened.

Orpine (Sedum telephium L.), aizon, no OE word
-This plant is called aizon, as though it were everlasting. It has a stem more than a yard long that is the breadth of a finger. It is full of juice and has succulent leaves that are the length of a finger. It grows on hills and sometimes is planted inside a wall.
*Do the same thing for diarrhea, for intestinal worms, and for a bad chill. It cures them up.

Yarrow (Achillea spp.), achillea, no OE word
-The plant grows in cultivated soil and near water; it has yellow and white flowers. This plant is called 'achillea' because it is said that Lord Achilles used it often to treat wounds.
*Also this same plant drunk in water relieves diarrhea very well.


There might be a few more that I missed... but this should get you going! Best of luck, Lucia!

From: Medieval Herbal Remedies: the Old English Herbarium and Anglo-Saxon medicine, Anne van Arsdall.