White wormwood, the gift of Artemis, the elixir of Hungarian monks and the favourite of Endre Ady, Vincent van Gogh, in the form of absinthe

White Wormwood – Artemisia absinthium

Artemisia absinthium Asteraceae – Asteraceae Older or other names: absinth, lamb’s-quarters wormwood, lamb’s-quarters wormwood, patchica, white wormwood, white wormwood, mountain wormwood, brook wormwood, bush wormwood, motherwort, Calvinistic knapweed, meset grass, neset grass White wormwood is a perennial perennial (H), a semi-shrub with a downy stem, and a well-known medicinal and aromatic plant from the Middle Ages. Its Latin name is given to the plant by the Greek goddess Artemis, who is considered to have given it to the plant. Like the more familiar black wormwood, it was used as an herb. The ancient Greeks and Egyptians valued its invigorating medicinal properties. The American Indians have used the plant for centuries for various ailments and as an insecticide, especially against bedbugs. In the Kingdom of Hungary, it was found in medieval monastery gardens and monks used it to make various elixirs. In the first year it only produces leaves, which form a rosette of leaves; it flowers only in the second year. Its roots are persistent and 15-20 cm long. Its bracts are long-stalked, triple-winged, with a fringe of thread-lanceolate frills, with silky hairs, especially on the back of the bracts, which are whitish-grey in colour. Stamens only short-stalked or sessile, once or twice smaller and more undivided, densely pubescent. Upper leaf blade greyish green, veins whitish. The leaves around the inflorescence are lanceolate. Stem erect, densely branched, white fuzzy, slightly woody underside, growing to 30-130 cm. After maturing, the stem dries to the balls. The upper part of the stem merges into a many-branched inflorescence. Flowers are very small, yellow in colour and form small spherical heads. The receptacle is small, short-tubed, downward-bending, hemispherical, 3-4 mm in diameter, supported by a small filamentous leaflet. The white wormwood flowers from July to September, is rich in pollen (one of the strongest allergens) and has a strong scent. Unlike ragweed, it can no longer flower after mowing. All parts are fragrant and have a bitter taste. Its fruits are 1 mm large, pale brown, slightly shiny clusters. It retains its germination capacity for 3-4 years.

A French alcoholic drink, absinthe contains an extract of the root of the plant and is known to have killed French poet Paul Verlaine and artist Toulouse Lautrec or Vincente van Gogh. it was banned in the United States and much of Europe in 1915. Inhaling white wormwood was believed to increase psychic powers. It was used for stargazing, to induce visions, to see the future, and was put into potions. The first references to the plant are found on an Egyptian papyrus from around 1600 BC.

Occurrence:

Eurasian flora, but also found in North and South America and New Zealand. It occurs in roadside and field weed communities, rubble hillsides and fallow land. Found in terrestrial and Mediterranean areas of the world, less commonly in mountainous areas up to 2000 m altitude.

Related species:

There are about 350 species in the genus Artemisia.

• Black wormwood – Artemisia vulgaris L.
• Annual wormwood – Artemisia annua
• Lamb’s Wormwood – Artemisia pontica
• Artemisia arborescens

Drugs:

• Absinthii folium: dried leaves
• Absinthii herba: shoot tips up to 50cm (included in the VIII Hungarian Pharmacopoeia) harvested in full flower: strong, aromatic odour, spicy, bitter taste, bitter value ≥10000, volatile oil content ≥ 2 ml/kg
• Absinthii herba cum caule: the whole above ground shoot is less frequently used
• Absinthii aetheroleum: essential oil

White wormwood cultivation:

White wormwood is widespread throughout the country, preferring dry, sunny places and is found in large numbers in communal allotments and cemeteries, on sunny, gravelly slopes, along roadsides and in vineyards. It is not fussy about soil. It is propagated from seed (germination 50-60%) or by division in March, June, July or September. Seeds are sown 50-60 cm apart in rows. To plant a catastrophic acre requires 300 grams of seed or 20,000 seedlings, yielding 6-8 q (mase) of leafy flower stalk. White wormwood is productive when grown on dry sunny banks and rocky slopes. Such places, as well as abandoned mine spoil heaps (rubble mounds) and similar barren slopes could be used for growing white wormwood. It can be propagated from this end by root division and seed sowing. One plant can be used for years.

It is not recommended for planting alongside dill, coriander, fennel and sage due to its toxicity. For the same reason, it helps keep caterpillars, moths and aphids away from fruit trees (especially apple trees). It is said that when its tea is sprayed on the ground, it repels slugs and mice. Its spray is also used to control mealybugs, thrips and weevils. It protects currants from rust fungus.

Uses:

White wormwood is a plant with a very strong succulent odour and a very bitter taste, one of our most delicate herbs. It contains volatile oil, bitter substance(absinthin), tanning agents and many other substances. White wormwood is used to extract wormwood oil(oleum absinthii) and to makeextractum and tinctura absinthii (extractum et tinctura absinthii). It is also used to treat breast asthma. Meliloti, species amaricantes and unguentum aromaticum. It is also used in the production of liqueur (vermouth) and in the production of wormwood wine. These substances are used mainly for stomach upset are used in the manufacture of White wormwood is also used gastric drops, the wormwood wine and several types of liqueurs (e.g absinthe) are also used in a similar way to cumin. In trade, the flowering branches and leaves of the wormwood are known as herba absinthii. White wormwood was a much sought-after article, so much so that it was widely cultivated. We have many wormwoods growing unexploited, even though the wild variety is valued more than the cultivated variety, as it gives better medicinal properties. To increase appetite:

• boil a teaspoon of leaves in 2.5 dl of water, after 15 minutes of steeping, take a sip at a time.

Use in the kitchen:

• It is used in meat dishes, roasts, for its spicy flavour, and ice creams.

To make an enema:

White wormwood, peppermint, rosemary, orange peel, cinnamon, cloves, sweet wine. Add the spice mix to the wine in a ratio of 1:20. Allow to steep for two to three days, keep warm, strain and bottle.

Making homemade wormwood wine:

Use the dried shoot ends, cut off when in full bloom and 20-80 cm long. to 5 l of wine add 2-2 g of dried wormwood, gentian, calamus, angelica and thyme. The wine is fortified with 1 dl of pure must. Leave to stand for the next day, shaking it up and down, then strain it through a clean sieve and sweeten it with 25-50 dkg of sugar to taste. It can be consumed immediately. An excellent aperitif with ice.

Medicinal properties of white wormwood tea:

Traditional use:

• appetite stimulant, digestive complaints relief, menstrual disorders, anaemia, wounds that are difficult to heal, antispasmodic, rheumatic relief, insecticide Food industry (wormwood wines – A. pontica), bitter liqueurs, absinthe), perfume industry, intestinal worm repellent, parasite repellent (veterinary medicine).

Human evidence is incomplete, human trial evidence:

• increases the secretion of digestive enzymes in the small intestine. It can be used as an appetite stimulant and to relieve bile secretion disorders. It can only be used in traditional herbal medicines. Appetite stimulant for mild digestive-organic problems. To be taken 30 minutes before meals as an appetite stimulant and after meals as a digestive aid.

Consumption is contraindicated in cases of bile duct obstruction, bile duct inflammation and liver problems Due to lack of clinical data, consumption is not recommended in people under 18 years of age, during pregnancy and breastfeeding On its own or in a tea blend:appetite stimulant, digestive stimulant, reduces bloating and nausea, diaphoretic, intestinal wormicide, biliary stimulant (can increase excretion up to 3-4 times), uterus and liver stimulant, relieves fever. The essential oil of flowering wormwood, produced by steam, is used in the preparation of tonics, antispasmodics, intestinal wormers (the latter with no experimental evidence) Anti-rheumatism it is also added to an embrocation. It is also used in the spice, liqueur and wine industries. It has also been used to treat jaundice, cholelithiasis and liver problems. Used externally as a poultice against swelling, inflammation, sprains and sprains (again, no acceptable experimental evidence) The Chippewa Indian tribe used the hot boiling of the shoot tips as a poultice the Chippewa Indian tribe used to apply hot applications to sprains and muscle strains, bruises, bruises and rashes. It is used to treat the clinical picture of convulsions, spasmodic spasms, and pronounced seizures (epilepsy). The tremor may occur before the seizures. Facial features may become spasmodically distorted, tremor may also occur on the tongue. Severe dizziness may accompany the symptoms. The smell of urine is very strong, sometimes reminiscent of horse urine. There is a violent, intense palpitation. Antiseptic, cardiac stimulant, sedative and blood purifier, used in detoxifying tea mixtures. It can help with female troubles, and for painful, irregular monthly periods (before) a tincture or tea should be taken as a cure. Despite its known beneficial properties, excessive(!) use of white wormwood can be dangerous, easy to get used to, and poisonous! Self-treatment with great care is recommended! Overdose (toxic due to its high concentration of thujone), symptoms may include vomiting, severe diarrhoea, urinary retention, loss of consciousness, convulsions or narcosis.

Taking white wormwood:

White wormwood should be picked in July and August according to the collection calendar, i.e. when it has already started to flower, although it can now be picked earlier in May. The flowering wormwood plant is cut at the base, snipped and transported home – this used to be the method used, but now we know that the maximum cut is 50 cm of the flowering shoot when in full flower. At home, clean, separate the thick parts of the stems (for better quality) and discard; the leaves from the stems and the flowering tips of the stems are spread out thinly on a tarpaulin and dried in the attic. In addition to the flowering stems, the pistillate leaves are also harvested. The leaves can be harvested before flowering. Drying can also be done in a ventilated attic or in the sun – This common misconception is wrong, as it needs to be done in a shady place, in a thin layer and at a maximum temperature of 40 degrees, otherwise its valuable active ingredients will be damaged. 4 kg of fresh wormwood plants will yield 1 kg of dry goods. Although other types of wormwood are also found (e.g. black wormwood), white wormwood is easily distinguishable from these mainly by its whitish silky leaves, strong succulent smell and bitter taste. Its flowering foliage should not be composted, as it degrades the quality of the compost! It is worth picking fresh every year, because no matter how well it is stored, it loses its active ingredients. Store in a dark, dry, preferably airtight box.

Active ingredient of white wormwood:

Essential oil, varying between 0.2-1.5% (almost twice as much in leaves as in flowers, over 50 constituents, often blue due to the camazulene content), malic acid, and succinic acid, besides resin, tannic acid, camazulene, 0.2-0.4% bitter sesquiterpene (arbazin 25-30%, absinthin 70-75%), lactones, flavonoids, phenolic acids, vitamins C and B6, potassium, essential oil: thujol 25-70%, alpha and beta thujone 3-12%, pinene, fellandrene, cadinene and artimisinin, anabsynthin. Artimisinin is currently being studied for its antitumour activity. in 2014, theInternational Herb Association (IHA) named artimisin as the Herb of the Year.

Systematic classification:

Strain: Closing herbs Order: Nests of flowers Family: Primroses Ethnicity: Empty Race: A. absinthium Cultivation Usage White wormwood tea effect Harvesting Active ingredient Source: Dr. Michael Weiner, Herbal Bible, 1992, Glória Publishers, ISBN 963 7495 29 0 Andreas Wacker, Herbs in Homeopathy, 2009, Island Publishing, ISBN 963 7268 71 7 Kim Hurst, Nature’s Treasures Herbs, 2015, Saxum Publishing, ISBN 978 963 248 253 8 Dr. Ede Kolos – Edit Kolosné Pethes, Our native medicinal plants Páter Béla, The wild medicinal plants Dr. Ferenc Darvas and Dr Gyula Magyary-Kossa,Domestic medicinal plants, their production, marketing, effects and medicinal uses Rápóti-Romváry: Medicinal plants, Medicina Könyvkiadó Rt, Budapest, 1999, ISBN 963 242 594 30 Bertalan Galambosi, 88 colour pages on herbs and medicinal plants, ISBN 963 231 455 7 Herbarium – Dr.Sándor Kmeth, ISBN:-978-615-80075-2-111 Medicinal plants – Jethro Kloss, ISBN:978-963-689-351-17 Alexandra, Treasury of herbs, ISBN:978 963 357 507 9 Alexandra, Handbook of Spices, ISBN:978 963 297 917 5 János Boruzs, Useful advice on domestic herbs, ISBN:963 9246 18 77 Ágnes Molnárné Juhász, Book of Herbal Teas, ISBN:978-963-278-477-19 Carol Landa Christensen,Cultivation and use of medicinal plants for cooking and decoration, ISBN:963-7457-59-13 Bernáth Jenő, Medicinal and aromatic plants, ISBN:963 286 258 9 Dr. István Isépy, Medicinal plants, ISBN:963 11 6369 5 Babulka Péter, Discovering wild medicinal plants, ISBN:963 9237 66 3 Dr. János Zelenyák, The effects and uses of medicinal plants Lesley Bremnes, Spices and Herbs, ISBN:963 545 041 9 Ingrid and Peter Schönfelder, Herbal Herb Guide, ISBN:963 684 124 1 Ladocsi Teréz, Guide to Herbs, ISBN:963 234 454 5 Aladár Béla Varró, Production, collection and use of Hungarian herbs, ISBN:963 9125 45 8 Aladár Béla Varró, Production, collection and use of Hungarian spice plants, ISBN:963 9125 45 8 Járainé-Regéczy, Spice plants, ISBN:963 11 2125 9 Vilmos Romváry, The book of spices, ISBN:963 9268 63 1 Lajos Inczefi, Spices and spice making, ISBN:963 231 974 5 Varró Aladár Béla,Medicinal properties of herbs, ISBN:963-9117-02-230 Wikipedia