Cowbane/ Water Hemlock/ Gifttyde

Cicuta virosa


Water Hemlock, Aqua Mose, Silkeborg

Cicuta virosa /Cowbane/Northern Water Hemlock is native to Northern and Central Europe, Northern Asia and Northwestern North America.It is a perenniel herbaceous plant which grows up to 1–2 m tall. The stems are smooth, branching, swollen at the base, purple-striped, and hollow except for partitions at the junction of the leaves and stem. In cross section the stems have one flat side and the other sides are rounded. The leaves are alternate, tripinnate, only coarsely toothed, unlike the ferny, lacy leaves found in many other members of the family apiaceae. The flowers are small, white and clustered in umbrella shaped inflorescences typical of the family.


The poisonous qualities of these plants have long been known. In ancient Greece, the philosopher Socrates died in 399 BCE after drinking a potent solution of poison hemlock, which was favoured by his countrymen as a “humane” method of execution.

The “bane” in cowbane comes from the Anglo-Saxon word bana, meaning “murderer ” or “destroyer.” This and other old English names like fleabane, dogbane, and baneberry reflect the creatures that it was thought would be killed or repelled by the plants.

Aqua Mose, Silkeborg

Warning: Cowbane or Water Hemlock grows in wet meadows, along streambanks and other wet and marshy areas. The whole plant and especially its fruits have an almost cellery-like smell and a parsley-taste caused by the contents of etheric oil, which increases the danger of fatal mistakes, some say the liquid has a rank smell resembling that of parsnips, carrots or mice. The plant may be mistaken for parsnip due to its clusters of white tuberousroots. The rhizome's sweetisch taste has been reason for a confusion with cellery or Hamburg parsley. Immature plants often resemble the familiar garden plants. It is the most poisonous flowering plant in the Danish flora and it has to be handled with care. Knives and alike, which have been used to cut the plant, have to be cleansed, and you'll have to wash if you have touched it.

The plant is still poisonous after drying.

In humans, cicutoxin rapidly produces symptoms of nausea,emesis and abdominal pain,typically within 60 minutes of ingestion. A single bite of the root (which has the highest concentration of cicutoxin) can be sufficient to cause death. In animals the toxic dose and the lethal dose are nearly the same. One gram of water hemlock per kilogram of weight will kill a sheep and 230 grams is sufficient to kill a horse. Due to the rapid onset of symptoms, treatment is usually unsuccessful.  

NB: Accidental consumption by livestock, by children who are attracted by the flowers, or by adults who mistake poison hemlock or water hemlock for caraway, which it resembles. It pays to take care in identifying the edible members of this plant family. If you are in any doubt, bruise the plant in question; water hemlock will give off a strong, unpleasant odour said to be like that of mice. The plants are more likely to be fatal for children than adults.



Water Hemlock, Aqua Mose, Silkeborg August 2009: grethe bachmann

Agrimony/Agermåne

Agrimonia eupatoria


Agrimony is native for Denmark. It grows along roadsides, wasteland, hedges and banks. Its natural habitat is woods and fields, but it takes to cultivation easily. Both the yellow flowers and the notched leaves give off a faint characteristic lemony scent when crushed.

In Greek Agrimone means ' to heal the eyes' and the Greeks used the plant to treat ailments affecting the eyes. The Anglo Saxons used the plant for snake bites and treatment for wounds. It contains tannin and bitter substance plus ethereal oil. It was used for leather tanning and dyeing. The whole plant yields a yellow dye.

The medicinal use of Agrimony in Denmark goes probably back to the Viking period, since its fruits were found in the Oseberg ship. It was a common used medicinal plant in monastery gardens. Monks and physicians used it for many ailments: liver and gallblatter disease, inflammation of the urinary system, compress for wounds and other skin damage, and as gargling water for inflammation in mouth and throat.

Folkmedicine
In the 1400s: the seeds were eaten as a protection against various diseases, they seeds were cruched and mixed with honey and goat's milk rubbed against headache, the leaves were used in compresses against fever and lung diseases, the juice from the plant in stomach trouble , warts were rubbed with the plant crushed in vinegar, a "blue eye" was treated with agrimony and egg white, etc.
Christiern Pedersen in 1533: the plant juice mixed with destilled water from Rumex to drink against the plague, winedecoct against malaria, juice against snake bite.
Henrik Smid 1546: destilled water from the plant stops cough, good for patients with malaria, kill intestinal worms.
Simon Paulli 1648: the doctors gave a syrup or a decoct of agrimony for a blocked up liver, the plant mixed in a herbal extract against syphilis, cooked with the root of alant used for bathing frost-bites in hands and feet.

Agrimony was also used as a tea or mixed in herbal teas.

Dried agrimony hung in beer prevents it from getting sour. The plant was also used in fodder for sheep.



Today
Agrimony is not commonly used today, but has its place in traditional herbal medicine. It is frequently used in alternative medicine as a herbal mouthwash and a gargle ingredient and is applied externally in the form of a lotion to minor sores and ulcers.
Caution: this is an astringent herb, do not use if constipated. Do not use internally during pregnancy without discussing with your obstetrician.

Folklore
Witches used it in spells to dispel negative energies and to ward off hexes. Agrimony was said to cause deep sleep. When placed beneath a man's head this sleep would last until it was removed. This passage is from an old English medical manuscript:

'If it be leyd under mann's heed
He shal sleepyn as he were deed;
He shal never drede ne wakyn
Till fro under his heed it be takyn.'

It was also said that the Anglo Saxons included Agrimony in charms and dubious preparations of blood and pounded frogs.

Snaps
Dried spikes are poured over with a neutral snaps (in bottle or jar). Drawing time is about one week, then filter it and let it draw for some time. Thin your drink according to your taste.

Source: V.J. Brøndegaard, Folk og Flora, Dansk Etnobotanik 3, 1979
photo ⓒ : grethe bachmann