According to the two thousand year old Doctrine of Signatures, medicinal plants were thought to resemble the area of the body for which they would be useful. Later Christian writers agreed with the idea, thinking that God would have wanted to show Man what each plant could be used for. The ovate, spotted leaves of Pulmonaria Officinalis, commonly known as Lungwort, symbolised diseased lungs and was used in traditional herbal medicine to help pulmonary ailments simply because of its appearance.
As is often the case, the ancient herbalists were not so far wrong as one might expect, and today Lungwort is used in cough medicines and to treat asthma, tuberculosis and other pulmonary, digestive and renal ailments.
I just love them for their fragile pink flowers that cycle through soft lavenders and blues as they age, with each cluster being an opalescent pastel bouquet in early spring.
Sue Vincent's Daily Echo 
Nothing quite like the ancients and their stories ~ and traditional medicine from thousands of years ago always gets my mind spinning. Great post and photo Sue.
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They were so often right too. I’ve often wondered how they found out… I think it may be an instinct right at the beginning, in the way other animals know what to eat.
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That is what is so amazing…how all these ancient medicines are still used today (and most western medicines are based off of natural properties of ancient traditional medicine).
You mention something very interesting here: “in the way other animals know what to eat” Do you know that fortified junk food is actually beginning to be a concern because in the past our bodies would unconsciously gravitate towards the necessary vitamins and minerals it needed…but since junk-food is now fortified, it is wrecking havoc with eating habits. 🙂
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I lived in France for a number of years where herbal and homeopathic medicine was mainstream long before it gained fashionable status in Britain… my local doctor prescribed stuffing the bra with cabbage leaves to cure mastitis…something he’d learned from his elderly father and was delighted to be able to try on me. Not a pleasant smell in a hot climate 🙂 But it worked brilliantly and allowed me to keep feeding my son.
No, I hadn’t realised that..but it makes perfect sense. I recall some research done with small children, allowed to graze and choose from a selection of healthy and non-healthy foods over a period of time, where the results showed that choice, rather than force, would ensure they met their bodies requirements. If junk food now has the same attraction, we are in trouble!
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When I first came to China, I couldn’t believe that traditional medicines where the primary medicines people were treated with, and then found myself happily amazed when they worked. 🙂
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If you can be treated with something natural and get the same results as modern medicine, it has to be better than the synthesised stiff we swallow here.
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Spring is peeking out of the ground here. I like the idea of medicinals in our gardens, fields, and forests. Lovely post.
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Half the plants we love have known medicinal qualities… and the other half are probably tapping their petals and waiting for us to find out 🙂 I like that too 🙂
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Beautiful photo and poem both. 🌸 This is wild no pun intended) “medicinal plants were thought to resemble the area of the body for which they would be useful.” I’ve used herbal remedies for years and never heard that. Very cool.
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It goes right back to Galen and Dioscurides as a theory, Sarah. I started using plants …ye gods, about 40 years ago… ( how did that happen??) and did a lot of reading up on the history. It is amazing how accurate many of the old remedies are.
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Reblogged this on Anita Dawes & Jaye Marie.
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i have read that as well and I think it is true. Also when a person needs a specific herb or flower it is supposed to grow in their garden. When I suffered badly from migraines I found fever few growing in the garden.
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I used feverfew for migraine too…and always have some growing. Apart from anything else, ‘weed’ or not…it is such a pretty and prolific plant 🙂
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it is lovely.
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Like a carpet of stars 🙂 Okay… a fairly tall carpet 😉
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It is amazing how true some of the old plant wisdom has proven to be. Herbalism is a fascinating thing to study, and nature is just so generous in her medicinal gifts😊
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I believe there is a natural treatment for every natural illness… if we could only find it before we have destroyed too many species…
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So true…..who knows what cures we have already lost through our destructive tendencies. People are often afraid of having to take chemotherapy for their cancer, and I always tell them about the plants from which their medicine has been developed….this often helps when they realise that it is something natural from nature….it’s less frightening😊
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So many of our modern medicines are plant based, even if their components are synthesised. I agree, it helps to know that.
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Beautiful, Sue. Interesting information. 🙂 — Suzanne
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I love using plants when I can 🙂
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So lovely, Sue. I’ve always wanted to research medicinal plants. Our spring flowers are finally coming out, pansies leading the way.
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I started with them when I was in my mid-teens… to treat y father’s racing pigeons 🙂 The first plant I used was yarrow, I remember 🙂
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Clever!
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Just curious … and broke… and the pigeons had some kind of respiratory problem…:)
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