Lungwort or Tears of the Virgin Mary

Medicinal Lungwort – Pulmonaria officinalis L.

Lungwort (Pulmonaria officinalis L.)

Borragines – Borraginaceae Old or other familiar names: medical lungwort, spotted knapweed, wasp or bumblebee grass, man-grass, bee-grass, lungwort, lungwort, spotted knapweed, chicken’s-foot grass, apothecary’s lungwort, bumblebee grass, wolf’s-foot grass A perennial plant that can be found throughout the country, especially in scrubby areas of woodland. In the past, it was used to treat lung and lung problems, respiratory diseases such as asthma, consumption, colds, hoarseness, pneumonia, sore throats and inflammation of the intestinal mucosa. With the spread of antibiotics and drugs, this herb has been forgotten. Smokers are strongly advised to consume it, as it helps to clear the lungs, which are burdened by harmful addiction! Medical Lungwort is a perennial plant, its sprouting stalk sprouting from year to year with many leafy and flower-bearing stems in a clump. The stems are 15-30 cm tall, heavily hairy and branched at the top. The leaves are elliptic, elliptic, with entire margins, glabrous, pointed, semi-stalkless. After flowering, the spotted lungwort produces leaves with much larger stamens, which are long-tongued, ovate, but at least the outer ones are cordate-shouldered, with a narrow-edged petiole one and a half times longer than wide; their plates taper slowly into the petiole. Stem and calyx pig-hairy, intermixed with a few glandular hairs. Leaves dark green above, often mottled with white and roughened by scattered stiff hairs. The flowers form a dense, branched inflorescence at the top of the stem. The flowers are first red, then blue (English name ‘Tears of the Virgin Mary’, partly because of the tear-like spots on the leaves, and partly because Mary’s blue eyes were red from weeping when Christ was crucified). Its bracts develop only after this. Its rootstock is blackish-brown, branched, with a multi-headed rootstock. When mature, the leaves are mottled, resembling diseased lungs. The name comes from Paracelsus (1493-1541), who wrote of it: ‘Nature names every plant…according to its medicinal properties.’ The medicinal lungwort is an important honey plant for bees, flowering early, attracting them with its nectar and producing acorns. This is also the meaning of its Russian and Polish names, which both mean honey.

Medicinal Lungwort – Pulmonaria officinalis L.

Occurrence:

Medical lungwort is common throughout the country, except in the low-lying lowlands of the lowlands, in wooded scrubland. It is said to grow only on calcareous soil. It is found in shady woods, beech woods and hornbeams. Native to Europe, Denmark, Sweden and North America, but also established in the British Isles, central Russia and Italy.

Medicinal properties of lungwort tea:

Medicinal Lungwort – Pulmonaria officinalis L.

Its leaves are used by the people as a remedy against lung disease because of their mucilaginous content. Its leaves, stems and roots were once official in medicine under the names herba and radix pulmonariae, but are no longer listed in the pharmacopoeia. It does have a role in the herb trade and can be sold in small quantities. It is sought and sold by herbalists under the name herba pulmonariae maculosae. Not long ago it was also used to make a secret remedy for lung disease. (1906) Anti-inflammatory, expectorant, good againstsore throat, cough, hurut, bronchitis and other respiratory diseases. It is an excellent poultice for sore, barley, tired eyes, a refreshing, slightly antiseptic, and an indispensable remedy for pneumonia. It is more suitable for treating wet asthma, but it also reduces the symptoms of dry asthma, which requires regular daily consumption of its tincture or a tincture of its wine infusion. For allergic attacks, its decoction should be drunk with thyme as a supplement or as a preventative. A tea made from the leaves of medicinal lungwort can be used to relieve colds, hoarseness and upper respiratory tract inflammation. It is also effectiveagainst diarrhoea and should be the first choice for gastrointestinal disorders associated with viral respiratory infections, and is an ingredient in herbal teas for enjoyment. The flowering shoots are emollient, diuretic, astringent, accelerate cell regeneration, and can be used to relieve haemorrhages and hemorrhoids. The leaves can be made into a tea or tincture. Because of its allantoin content, it can also be used externally to treat minor wounds, or smoked in tobacco mixtures. In case of thick or tarry louse due to smoking, a cure is recommended. It can reduce the amount of monthly bleeding if there is too much, it is good for washing off boils and ulcers. Medicinal pemetis grass (marribum vulgare), at least its flowering shoots, has also been used in folk medicine as a tea against consumption, as has martilapu (tussilago farfara L.), which is given to people with emphysema and lung ulcers.

Making lungwort tea:

add 2 tablespoons to half a litre of boiling water or 2 teaspoons to 2 dl of water and leave to steep, covered, for 5-10 minutes.

Side effect:

Not currently known. In the past, it was added to the feed of animals (cattle, sheep, horses, sheep) or soaked in their water when they caught cold, thus curing them.

Medicinal Lungwort – Pulmonaria officinalis L.

Active ingredient:

Mucilage (polygalacturonans) and a few, 6-10% of tannins, 10-15% of various minerals, saponins, silicic acid, species-specific allantoin, flavonoids, kempferol, quercetin, containing glycosides of the latter. The frequent presence of pyrrolizidine alkaloids has been confirmed but also refuted, probably due to intraspecific chemical differences. The leaves have a slightly astringent, slightly bitter, sour and slightly aromatic flavour, rich in vitamin C.

Cultivation:

It is not worth producing because the wild supply is sufficient to meet demand. (In the past, at least, but no precise figures are available for current quantities.) It is easily and rapidly propagated from seed, by division after flowering in late spring or autumn. Frost-tolerant, perennial, semi-evergreen, likes well-drained soil. After flowering, it is worth cutting back the leaves and stems, which will strengthen the plant. It mainly prefers semi-shade, but will also grow in sunny areas with a better water supply, thrives in drier soils and prefers chalky soils.

Lungwort (pulmonaria officinalis) collection:

There is limited value in picking medicinal lungwort. Only use in limited quantities. Lungwort leaves should be picked around the full moon in March-April (sometimes still found in June), from the time of snowdrop emergence during flowering. Healthy and intact bracts should be collected with a maximum 3 cm stem diameter. The leaves are stripped from the stem and dried in the attic. The dry lungwort can be bagged, 5 kg of fresh leaves will make 1 kg of dry goods, keep out of light! Collect new ones every year, sensitive people should pick with gloves on. The pigs’ stems of the leaves may cause an allergic reaction, and it is not advisable to consume them during pregnancy Due to the presence of alkaloids which are harmful to the liver, prolonged consumption (several weeks) and the internal use of alcoholic extracts should be avoided It can be confused with Pulmonaria mollissima, with darker blue flowers and velvety mottled leaves.

Pulmonaria saccharata

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Source: Dr. Ferenc Darvas and Dr Gyula Magyary-Kossa,Domestic herbs, their production, marketing, effects and medicinal uses Béla Páter, Wild medicinal plants, their production, use, distribution, and marketing Dr. Michael A. Weiner, Herbal Bible Rápóti-Romváry, Medicinal plants Kim Hurst, Treasures of Nature – Medicinal Plants Kolos-Pethes, Our native medicinal plants Bernáth Jenő, Medicinal and aromatic plants Earl Mendell, The Bible of Medicinal Herbs Péter Babulka, Discovering wild medicinal plants János Zelenyák, Effects and uses of medicinal plants Lesley Bremnes, Spices and herbs Ingrid and Peter Schönfelder, Herb Guide Jethro Kloss, Medicinal plants