Medicinal use of Succulents

 Medicinal use of Succulents

Something i am very interested in  and use but

I have to advise that

Medicinal use of these plants is not recommended here.

  Semprevivum tectorum is the most popular plant for medicine this plant has small and thick leaves that form a rosette. It can grow up to 14 centimetres tall and 45 centimetres broad, with beautiful red flowers   in summer. This plant is resistant to drought and high temperatures 

 . The name is formed of two words: Semper that means “always” and Vivus that means “living”, indicating that this plant is perennial, and that has adapted to grow in very difficult conditions...
 I love this name the best Welcome-Home-Husband-Though-Never-so-Drunk, that it shares with the plant Sedum acre

The leaves are fleshy and have a crunchy texture. The flavour is mildly sweet with an astringent kick. It’s surprisingly drying for such a water-rich plant, which creates the odd experience of quenching your thirst while puckering your tongue. Still, it’s tasty raw. You can also use the plant medicinally to soothe skin irritations: squeeze the leaves to apply juice on insect bites and minor skin irritations.

Cautions

• No cautions are listed as long as the prescribed doses are followed.

History

. The Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne (742-814 AD) ordered all his subjects to grow houseleeks on their roofs they also believed this plant was a love medicine
 Others believed that this plant could protect them from evil, witchcraft thunder and. lightning it is believed that if you plant Houseleek on the roofs of the houses, it can protect you from lightning strikes   and indeed it did work as the thatch cottages had so many house leeks on them it would be hard for fire to get a start.

  It can still be found on roofs of cottagers in rural   West Wales in the UK. If the Welsh have a Houseleek on their roof, they will want to keep it there as it is believed that if it is removed or picked by a stranger, bad luck and perhaps the death of one of the family will follow.

 The Frankish King Charlemagne (742-814 CE) told his subjects to plant the herb on their roofs since it reputedly warded off lightning and fire.
 Many names of the Gods are also associated with this plant. In northern parts people called it Thor’s Beard
It can store water in the leaves making it able to survive drought .

Key Actions

• antiseptic    [ antimicrobial substances that are applied to living tissue/skin to reduce the possibility of infection, sepsis, or putrefaction.]
• anti diarrheal  [medication which provides symptomatic relief for diarrhoea.]
• antiparasitic  [Antiparasitics are a class of medications which are indicated for the treatment of parasitic diseases]
• anti-inflammatory   [refers to the property of a substance or treatment that reduces inflammation or swelling.]
• diuretic  [A diuretic is any substance that promotes the production of urine.]
• soothing astringent   [astringentis a chemical compound that tends to shrink or constrict body tissues.]

Key Components

• tannins  [they bind to and precipitates proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids.]
• mucilage  [Mucilage is a type of soluble fiber of viscous nature]
• malic and formic acids [. Malic acid doesn't just make for great wine. It's wonderful for your skin too.]  [formic acid  used in processing textiles and leather]

Medicinal Parts

• Leaves, leaf juice   crush in a mortar and pestle add hot water for infusion

Traditional Uses

 Freshly pressed leaves and their juice are used externally to soothe skin conditions, including burns, wounds, ulcers, insect bites, sore nipples, corns, inflammations, hemorrhoids, eczema, stomatitis,[is inflammation of the mouth and lips.] fungal infections, as well as itchy and burning parts of the skin.
Infusions are used internally to treat inflammations of the mucous membranes and has long been used to treat dysentery, diarrhoea, worm infestations, and for heavy menstrual bleeding.
Gargles of the juice may be used to treat throat inflammations, including tonsillitis and stomatitis (inflammations of the oral cavity).
Traditionally, the leaves were chewed to relieve toothache and the juice sniffed to stop nosebleeds.

Traditional medicinal uses described by Pliny the Elder (23 - 79 AD) in his Naturalis Historiae include use of the juice from crushed Sempervivum leaves to treat skin complaints such as burns, scalds, corns, calluses, warts, ringworm, shingles (localized infection with the chickenpox virus), insect stings shingles, itching and burning of the eyes, and earache. Discorides (40 - 90 AD) wrote in his Materia Medica that Sempervivum leaves crushed with wine would eliminate intestinal worms and flukes. The Romans also considered Sempervivum juice to be useful against caterpillar infestation of crops.
     

  
The main use of houseleeks has been for centuries, is to make a juice made from   the large fleshy leaves and used for eye and skin treatments. It is used for stings, as it has superb anti-inflammatory properties and relieves the pain of insect bites and stings virtually immediately

  
Sempervivum arachnoideum is low-growing, evergreen, perennial succulent, native to the mountain of Europe from the Pyrenees to the Carpathians.
 The leaves of Cobweb Houseleek are

• emollient,    [Emollients are moisturising treatments applied directly to the skin that are often used to treat skin conditions such as eczema and psoriasis.]
• haemostatic,   [retarding or stopping the flow of blood within the blood vessels]
• ophthalmic   [means pertaining to the eye,]
• and sedative.   [is a substance that induces sedation by reducing irritability or excitement.]

The fresh leaves and the expressed juice from them. The leaves have a saline, astringent and acid taste, but no odour.
---Constituents---The leaves contain malic acid in combination with lime.

---Medicinal Action and Uses---

• astringent [is a chemical compound that tends to shrink or constrict body tissue]
• diuretic  [[A diuretic is any substance that promotes the production of urine.]]
• Refrigerant [is a natural refrigerant. to help it from freezing ]

 In rural districts, the bruised leaves of the fresh plant, or its juice, are often applied as a poultice to burns, scalds, contusions, scrofulous ulcers, and in inflammatory conditions of the skin generally, giving immediate relief. If the juice be mixed with clarified lard and applied to an inflamed surface, the inflammation is quickly reduced.
It can be used in many skin diseases. Some old authorities recommend mixing the juice with cream.
With honey, is another medium used the juice has been used to assuage the soreness and ulcerated condition of the mouth in thrush, the mixture being used with a hair pencil.
Boerhaave, the famous Dutch physician, found 10 oz. of the juice beneficial in dysentery, but it is not admitted into modern practice.
In large doses, Houseleek juice is
emetic [Something that causes vomiting]
and purgative. [ending to cleanse or purge, especially causing evacuation of the bowels]
Dose, 2 to 10 drops.

It is said to remove warts and corns. Parkinson tells us:

'The juice takes away corns from the toes and feet if they be bathed therewith every day, and at night emplastered as it were with the skin of the same House Leek.'

The leaves sliced in two and the inner surface applied to warts, act as a positive cure for them.

Culpepper informs us that:

'Our ordinary Houseleek is good for all inward heats, as well as outward, and in the eyes or other parts of the body: a posset made of the juice is singularly good in all hot agues, for it cooleth and tempereth the blood and spirits and quencheth the thirst; and is also good to stay all defluction or sharp and salt rheums in the eyes, the juice being dropped into them. If the juice be dropped into the ears, it easeth pain.... It cooleth and restraineth all hot inflammations St. Anthony's fire (Erysipelas), scaldings and burnings, the shingles, fretting ulcers, ringworms and the like; and much easeth the pain and the gout.'

After describing the use of the leaves in the cure of corns, he goes on to say:

'It easeth also the headache and the distempered heat of the brain in frenzies, or through want of sleep, being applied to the temples and forehead. The leaves bruised and laid upon the crown or seam of the head, stayeth bleeding at the nose very quickly. The distilled water of the herb is profitable for all the purposes aforesaid. The leaves being gently rubbed on any place stung with nettles or bees, doth quickly take away the pain.'

Gerard tells us the:

'iuice of Houseleeke, Garden Nightshade and the buds of Poplar, boiled in hog's grease, maketh the most singular Populeon that ever was used in Chirugerie.'

Galen recommends Houseleek for erysipelas and shingles, and Dioscorides as a remedy for weak and inflamed eyes. Pliny says it never fails to produce sleep.

In the fourteenth century it was used as an ingredient of a preparation for neuralgia, called hemygreyne, i.e. megrim, and an ointment used at that time for scalds and burns.
Culpepper speaks of the Small Houseleek,  

The crushed plant, or its juice, is applied externally to boils, wounds etc and can be used to stop nose bleeds.

The slightly warmed juice has been used to relieve ear inflammations and toothaches can be relieved by chewing on the leaves.

. When macerated and infused in vinegar, the plant can be used to get rid of warts and corns.

The leaves are harvested in the summer and are best used when fresh since they are difficult to dry properly. The leaf pulp is used to make a cooling face mask for reddened or sunburnt skin.

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09/08/2016
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