The healing power of the rosary

Rosary is a perennial that is on the list of rare species in the Netherlands. This plant belonging to the aster family is a beautiful, medicinal ornamental plant to put yourself in the garden. The plant grows naturally throughout the Eurasian continent and in the mountains up to 2,400 meters. The plant with the female flowers has a magenta-purple-red color and the male ones are white. It grows to about 12 inches tall and blooms from May to August. The medicinal activities of this plant mainly target coughs and asthma.

Rosary in History

Dioscorides, pioneer of medicine and herbal science, already described the rosary. He called the leontopodium which is translated "lion's foot". Galen assigned this plant to the useful medicinal plants. Rembert Dodoens, the pioneering herbal scientist from the 17th-century Dutch republic, also described the rosary and called it 'small nail cruydt'. Dodoens tells in his book that the herb used to be hung around the neck.

This ground cover does not look out of place in the ornamental garden and is therefore sold at garden centers. It spreads slowly but its root system is strong and will form a carpet. Rosary can slowly take up a larger area in the garden, provided it is weeded well during the first year. Rosary grows well on poor soil such as dry, limestone moors, poor highlands, mountain meadows and roadsides. The soil should not be too moist for rosary. You don't have to fertilize it. It is a fairly easy plant in the garden.

In the Netherlands, the rosary is most commonly seen around Bergen aan zee and on the Wadden island of Schiermonnikoog. He likes to be close to where rabbits live because they keep the grass short so that the rosary has more opportunity to grow.

The Latin name of rosary is Antennaria dioica. The plant owes its Latin name to the fact that the female petals resemble the antennae of bees. Dioica means 'dioecious', which refers to the fact that the male and female plants are often found separately in a colony. Nicknames in Dutch are: cat's paw, seven-year flower and dioecious rosewort. It is also true that a few other species have been given the name rosary, just like this plant: these are Helichrysum arenarium and H. bracteatum. In English, the plant is called pussy toes or catsfoot, both of which can be translated as cat's paw. The shape of the flowers is somewhat reminiscent of cat feet. The plant is also called Katzenpfötchen in German. The plant is also called the same in French: pied-de-chat.

The reason that the rosary is less common is found in matters such as dewatering of the land, industrialization and over-fertilization of agricultural land and thus pollution of the drainage channels. We could reintroduce the rosary by first using more organic farming and secondly planting it in our own garden. The plant may be able to spread back into nature from the gardens. Because it is a rare plant in 2014, it is not recommended to pick it. Those who want to use the healing power of the rosary should grow it in their own garden. It belongs to the medicinal ornamental plants, just like calendula or marigold, lavender and arnica.

Traditionally, the plant is mainly used for bronchitis and bile duct disorders. Rosary can also help with laryngitis and mumps. It is also a natural remedy for liver problems such as jaundice. It is a remedy for diarrhea. According to Mrs Grieve who wrote the book "A modern herbal" it is a remedy for bites of poisonous reptiles and can make the intestines more flexible.

The flower heads of this plant are picked for medicinal use from May to September. Rosary contains flavonoids, camphor oil glycoside, bitter substances, essential oils, resin, oily tannins or tannins and coumarin. Due to these substances, the plant has the following medicinal properties: cough suppressant, astringent, cholagogue, diuretic and soothing.

Rosary is sometimes used as an extra herb in a tea for coughing. You can also make an infusion of just rosary if there are more serious problems. People with bronchitis suffer from a cough; that is why this plant is recommended for bronchitis patients. There are many mucilages in the plant; that's why it's good for the lungs.

You can use a teaspoon of rosary flowers to make a cup of tea. You pour the boiling water over it and let it steep for 10 minutes. Take half a cup to one cup of this per day. Other sources say that a stronger tea, from 30 grams of flowers to 500 ml. That equates to approximately 10 grams of flowers per teacup. You can also use the tea for external use.

Rosary is used externally as a vaginal douche and gargle. As a gargle it is a natural remedy for laryngitis and as a vaginal douche it is used for vaginitis. For use in vaginitis you can make a rosary tea and a good recipe below as a gargle.

Rosary is sometimes used as a gargle for throat problems such as tonsillitis. You can make a gargle by mixing 30 grams of flowers with 30 grams of raspberry bush leaves and adding 30 grams of myrrh. If you drink this with a liter of water you have enough gargle drink for a few days. The drink can be kept for several weeks.