#broadleaf arnica | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

sideblogformindtrash · 4 years ago

Text

A PLANT GUIDE TO ALTERNATIVE FOOD SOURCES/PLANT BASED MEDICINE/POISONOUS HERBS

FOR WHEN YOU ARE A 15th CENTURY PEASANT AND GOING TO THE DOCTOR WILL KILL YOU BECAUSE NO ONE HAS WASHED THEIR HANDS IN A MONTH.

This post ended up huge.

DISCLAIMER CAUSE I DON’T WANT ANYONE TO GET SICK BECAUSE THEY ATE BAD LEAF:

Natural medicine is a fascinating topic and it carries a rich history of survival, culture and human history.

It is also a valuable source of insight for traditional medicine – it is often by searching the traditional, plant or nature based solutions and researching the active compounds on them that regular medicine can be crafted. These sciences are allies, they aren’t enemies, and the end goal is, always, to save lives.

HOWEVER it is NOT a replacement for traditional medicine. Traditional medicine works on isolating and amplifying components that are proven to be the source of the healing properties of plants and other things, both increasing the chances of obtaining a result and reducing the collateral effects, as well as monitoring people on a close and safe environment were any side-effects particular to that individual, caused by other pre-existent conditions, can be taken in consideration and dealt with by professionals. Dosage is also a very important factor that has to be considered. Doctors are equipped to deal with that. Everything can be a poison in excess.

By this, I mean to say if you go around using this info to justify selling mlm essential oils or being antivaxx I’ll personally haunt you once I’m dead. Natural medicine can be an interesting addition to conventional treatments if used responsibly, but it is not a replacement and is not to be used if you have no clue what you are doing. Please don’t go outside to eat random leaves and don’t trust random moms on facebook, their ‘research’ is far less than what I did for a tumblr post :’)

I can’t stress this enough: this is intended as a writing resource and not to be used in real life or as a guide. Don’t eat/use plants you don’t know. Please don’t. I’m also not a medical professional, I’m a plant nerd :)

And – a lot of this comes from oral traditions passed on by family. So shoutout to my grandma. Most of it is stuff you should be able to verify with a quick google search and I expent the day doing just that as well as gathering more info; I can link more trustworthy sources than Wikipedia if someone is interested, but they are mostly not in English.

ALSO, as a note: Popular plant names are NOT RELIABLE and vary greatly among regions, besides, they often are used to refer to a great number of species of the same genus; when in doubt always check the scientific name of the plant as that is standardized globally and taxonomists work hard to keep it concise.

Go to the doctor if you are sick please please please please please please please please please please please please please please :)

And just one more little note: I live in South America, that’s the flora I’m most familiar with. I know very little about European and Oceanic flora; but I reckon a lot of these might be similar to Asia and North America since a bunch of these plants are invasive species originated from Asia that have adapted well and spread around the continent.

Ok, first part is medicine second part is poison.

Some general info:

TO MAKE A BALM: You’d need some sort of animal fat or vaselin + a triturated mix of the correct plant parts and bee wax. Fat needs to be melted first, then you’d add the plant mix and lastly the bee wax; it needs to be constantly mixed until it gets the balm consistency and then filtered.

HOW TO MAKE A POULTICE: It’s basically just the mashed ingredients + something to make it slightly moisty; it largely depends on what it is exactly but it could be water, milk, coconut oil or animal fat. The paste is to be spread over a warm wet cloth and wrapped around the wound.

ON TEAS: A lot of the time you will need the fresh plant leaves and not the dried versions they sell on little sacks; Or they might both work, but likely to different things. Different parts of the plant might have different effects.

ACTIVATED CHARCOAL: It’s the go-to emergency poison retardant. It has the characteristic of being an adsorptive; this means other particles tend to cling to its surface and later be expelled with it. It can cause vomiting and nausea. Regular charcoal has been used historically for the same reasons. Eating the charcoal may interfere with other medications the person might be on.

A Few Non-Conventional Edible Plants and Medicinal Herbs:

-Pereskia aculetea: Popular names are lemonvine; blade-apple cactus; leaf cactus; rose cactus; fruits, flowers and leaves are edible and has high-nutritional value. Depending on how it’s prepared, the leaves taste somewhat like fish. The flowers are sweet, and can be used in baking cakes and pies. They have sharp thorns on the fruits and branches. It is a good emergency food-source as it causes a fulfilling sensation and can be consumed raw.

Tea made with the leaves is good for the intestinal flora. It is anti-inflamation and helps ulcers heal. Can be used externally if the leaves are triturated and mashed into a paste. The fruit is anti-oxidant;

Stanchys byzantina + some others of the genus: Known as Lamb’s ear. It’s cute and fluffy. It also tastes like fish if fried on butter. Making tea with the leaves can help with cough and throat irritation. Helps with stomachache and indigestion.

-Mentha sp. – MINT! Everyone loves mint. It smells nice and is fresh. It helps with colds and is effective against parasites such as giardia and amebas. The tea has to be made with fresh leaves for it to be effective, not dried ones.

-Arnica sp. – NOT EDIBLE AND CAN BE TOXIC IF INGESTED. Small amounts can be used as a spicy however is not recommended. However, it’s a very good topical painkiller; can be used as a balm, a poultice or on lack of other options, making a strong tea and infusing a clean piece of cloth on it then applying to the sore muscles can work.

-Calendula sp. – It’s edible but not exactly tasty, a little spice I’d say. A balm can be made from it that is very good on cuts and bruises.

-Begonia cucullata – Known as wax begonia. It’s all edible, but calcium rich so should be avoided by someone with kidney problems.

-Portulaca oleracea – The Poultice is good against acne and insect stings; helps with inflammation and tea can be used against intestinal parasites. Slightly cooked leafs can help with burns (1º degree burns, don’t apply on anything worse). The seeds are specially good against parasites. Leaves, flowers and seeds are edible.

-Conyza canadensis / bonariensis – The Horseweed. Leaves are edible. They taste spicy-ish. Can help treat hemorrhoids and diarrhea.

-Echinodorus grandiflorus: This one is common of wetlands and water proximity. The crushed rhizomes can be put over the skin to alleviate rashes and hernias. Tea made with the fresh leaves is a diuretic and laxative; is also good against throat inflammations. Cold tea can help with skin conditions as well. Leaves are very bitter, the rhizome is somewhat sweet.

-Hedychium coronarium: White-ginger-lily or garland flower; It is common on wetlands or near water sources. The rhizomes and flowers are edible (leaves aren’t), flowers usually consumed as sort of a jam and the rhizomes as flowers. Helps with throat inflammations and pain. Oil made from this plant can be slightly sedative.

-Cymbopogum winterianus: Citronella; or Lemon Grass. NOT EDIBLE. It’s super sticky to the touch, makes your hands sticky too and very easy to get cuts from it because the leaf blades are somewhat sharp. A poultice of the leaves can be used on cuts, but the better use for it is as a natural repellent. Mosquitoes and other insects hate this plant. Just by having it planted somewhere near is very unlikely they’ll approach; candles can be made from it and incenses too.

- Pampinella anisum – Commonly known as aniseed and actually easy to find as dried leaves or the seeds. The dry leaves tea help with cold and throat swelling. Poultices and the essencial oil can be good as a relaxant; Tea made from fresh leaves is good for insomnia, nausea and stomachache. Tea made with the seeds can be used against intestinal parasites; breathing the vapor helps clean a constipated nose.

-Plantago major – Probably the most common one on this list and one of the best. Called great plantain or broadleaf plantain. Leaves are diuretics; help against inflammations and help soothe stomachaches and diarrhea. Everything but the roots are edible. Tea helps with cold.

-Ilex paraguaiensis – Yerba-mate or just matte. Has a very good nutritional value. People drink the dried leaves tea like water in Brazil and it’s very good for cooking sweets. It is slightly stimulant(high caffeine teor) and highly antioxidant. The fruits and leaves are nutrient rich; can be good on fighting anemia; has some effect against caries inducing bacteria and is effective against certain types of fungi; it only grows in forested areas because it is very sensitive to sunlight.

-Xanthosoma sagittifolium – Arrowleaf Elephant’s Ear. Rhyzomes, leaves and haste are edible BUT ONLY IF COOKED. Tastes similar to spinach. When they are raw, they have oxalic acid and are somewhat toxic. Is somewhat good against fever. A fried leaf can be used as a wrap over burns.

-Hibiscus sabidariffa - Slightly sour tasted tea made from the leaves; have a diuretic effect. Can be used as a natural pigment on other foods.

-Pistia stratiores – Water lettuce. It looks like a lettuce and it floats. Can be consumed as a juice, infusion or used as a poultice on hernias. HOWEVER I’d recommend never using any found on nature. Floating plants are being studied as having absorbent qualities and helping filter toxins and heavy metals from water, so much so they can make part of sewage treatment.

Dangerous/Poisonous Plants:

General treatment idea: A very generic idea of how poisoning is treated would be the administration of activated charcoal and a gastrointestinal wash depending on how long ago has been the ingestion. Mucosa can be treated/washed with products like egg whites, milk and olive oil in small quantities. Eyes are washed with water and saline. Most poison’s don’t have antidotes, so everything else would be treating the specific symptons. Catheterization may be needed on cases where the urinal tract is paralyzed because it’s important to keep the person hydrated. Laxatives may also be used in cases where it is safe. Everything largely varies with the specifics of each compound. On many of them inducing vomit might be worse.

PLANTS:

Brugmansia spps.: Known as Angel Trumphet; Angel’s Tears or Snowy Angel’s Trumpet. This plant likes high-humidity, so in a dry climate, it might indicate proximity to water sources. The in-nature form of this plant is highly toxic; every part of it being leaves, flowers trunk or roots. Seeds and leaves are specially dangerous. Can induce a trance-like and delusional estate as well as induce visual and auditory hallucinations; can cause paralysis of smooth muscles, confusion, dry mouth, pupil dilation and paralysis of the eyes. Can lead to death; severity varying depending on part of the plant ingested as well as the age of the plant and hydration state. They start from 15 to 30 minutes after ingestion.

Euphorbia milii.: Known as Christ’s Thorn; Crown of Thorns or Christ Crown. Honestly this one’s strength is the aesthetic. It has thicc thorns, pretty red flowers and I’m pleading you all to put it on a Whumpee’s head. It’s a moderate poison compared to the others; Inside the whole plant there is a white latex substance that is toxic. It causes skin and mucosa irritation. It can cause severe stomach-ache. Can lead to blindness if non-treated eye contact occur. If ingested, can cause severe stomach-ache and ulcers. The latex is very sticky to the touch.

Dieffenbachia spp: Similar to the one above without the fun thorns.

Zantedeschia aethiopica: The Calla Lily. In contact with mucosa’s it causes swelling and irritations; feelings of burn, nausea, vomit and diarrhea; difficulty swallowing and can cause death by asphyxiation due to internal swelling of the digestive system that in turns compresses the pharynx. ALSO: This is not exactly widespread knowledge I think, but this plant is hallucinogen and like 2-3 years ago the tea has been used as kind of a drug around here. However, this plant does not work as other popular recreational hallucinogens; it causes damage to the central nervous system and even if used just once, the user might never recover from it. What I heard from people who did try it, is that the hallucinations tend to be really bad and on the negative side.

Cicuta maculata – If you want to be dramatic and die like Socrates I guess. Its poison was used for execution in ancient Greece.

Calladium spp. – It’s ALSO called Elephant’s ear. See what I mean by common names not being reliable? Irritation, pain and swelling of tissues. All parts of the plant are poisonous. If ingested can lead to death due to swelling of throat/tongue.

‘Curare’ – this is actually not just one plant, but a mixture of several made into poison for darts and arrows. The Strynchnos and Chondodendron genus are the most important. It was used for hunting, but considered bad practice on war. Causes paralysis of the external body and some of the main internal systems killing the prey by asphyxiation. The person responsible for producing the poison was very likely to die due to being exposed to toxic fumes, because it was needed to cook the tree-barks during two to three days. Someone hit by the poison can survive if artificial respiratory methods are available until the poison-effect passes.

Potatoes – I’m not even going to elaborate on this one but raw and green potatoes = bad; however cultivated potatoes are way less toxic than the wild variations and the most poisonous plant parts are the leaves;

Aesculus hippocastanum – A horse chestnut seed, bark, flower and nut can cause poisoning when consumed raw. Causes muscle twitching, weakness, loss of coordination; vomiting; kidney problems and stupor. It slows the formation of blood cloths and might worsen the condition of hemorrhagic wounds.

Agave sp. – The flowers are edible and the saps can be used for an alcoholic beverage. But the saps cause pain and burning in contact with the skin; it will also start to develop blisters soon after the exposure. The healed skin tends to remain sensitive and have reoccurring itchy for years after the contact. Ingesting the saps might be fatal.

Anemonoides nermorosa – Wood anemone. All parts of the plant contain protoanemonim, it can cause irritation and burning sensation to skin; ulceras on the mouth; vomiting blood and nausea.

OK that should be it for today, but it isn’t even the surface. If anyone wants to expand or correct something on this, I encourage you to do so. Just don’t eat the leaf. Please don’t.

Not all but some of the sources (again, not english): here; here; here; here; here; here; one that IS in english and a shoutout for wikipedia cause why the hell not and one to my grandma who is a lovely lady who hates just about everything in the world.

#whump writing #whump scenario #whump writing resource #whump #im ded

34 notes · View notes