Herb Library
| Earthnotes Herb Library |
| Back to Herb Menu Back to Index |
| DISCLAIMER: These pages are presented solely as a source of INFORMATION and ENTERTAINMENT and to provide stern warnings against use where appropriate. No claims are made for the efficacy of any herb nor for any historical herbal treatment. In no way can the information provided here take the place of the standard, legal, medical practice of any country. Additionally, some of these plants are extremely toxic and should be used only by licensed professionals who have the means to process them properly into appropriate pharmaceuticals. One final note: many plants were used for a wide range of illnesses in the past, but be aware that many of the historical uses have proven to be ineffective for the problems to which they were applied. |
| Butcher's Broom | Dyer's Broom | Scotch Broom | Spanish Broom |
BROOM, SCOTCH
| !!TOXIC IF EATEN!! LARGE DOSES FATAL! PROFESSIONAL USE ONLY! Dangerous alkaloids! Excess causes respiratory collapse! Possible ABORTIFACIENT! Especially toxic to animals! Subject to legal restrictions in some countries! |
Native to Europe, but naturalized in North America, this deciduous shrub grows from 3 to 10 feet with a multitude of slender, leggy, angular (5 angles) branches. Flower is peaflower-shaped with 2 lips (3/4"), having 10 stamens and appear solitary or paired from old leaf axils. Leaves are sparse, hairy when young, alternate, with lower leaves stalked and being divided into 3 oblong-lanceolate leaflets; upper leaves are stalkless with one lanceolate leaflet. The fruit is a brownish-black, shaggy, oblong, flattened pod about 1½ inches long , hairy on edges, smooth on sides and nearly black when mature, containing 12 to 18 seeds; when ripe, the pods burst and twist with an audible sound and spray their seeds outward for some distance. The fresh plant has a strong, peculiar odor which disappears when dried.
As the name implies, these plants were once cut at the base and tied to the end of a stick to create a crude broom, although it was considered unlucky to use the plant for a broom when in full bloom. It was suggested by Maude Grieve in A Modern Herbal that the Broom plant known to the ancients by the name Genista may have been another species, possibly Spanish Broom. At one time it was grown as a shelter for game and as wind-break for newly planted shrubs until they were properly hardened.
By the early Middle Ages it had become a part of Welsh and Anglo-Saxon medicine. It was mentioned in the London Pharmacopoeia of 1618 and continued to be included in the British Pharmacopoeia.
Broom was also used as an heraldic device: Badge of Brittany, part of the Great Seal of Richard I, the Badge of the Forbes (Scot). Its former name of Planta genista was taken by the Plantagenets as their family name.
Broom has also been used in religious rites, such as temple purification. At weddings and handfastenings the plant was tied up in bright ribbons as a symbolic representation of the union; also as the bunch over which the handfasting couple jump during the ceremony. Has also been used as an herb to invoke Blodewwedd. Astrologically under the rule of Mars.
MEDICINAL:
Large doses cause vomiting and purging, weaken the heart, depress the nervous system, and lower blood pressure. In action on the heart, it resembles Hemlock. The depression of the respiratory system can cause death.In the past was used primarily as a heart diuretic to strengthen and normalize heart beat while it rid the body of excess water build-up due to coronary insufficiency.Bitter, cold, toxic, hypertensive, peripheral vasoconstrictor, astringent, cathartic, diuretic, purgative, narcotic, depresses respiration, affects heart action (increases heart beat), colon, kidney and is a uterine stimulant. There is a tendency to stomach and bowel upset when used as a diuretic, so it was usually combined with other diuretics. SEED is cathartic and emetic. There are some anecdotal stories involving its use as an hallucinogenic, the flowering tops being smoked as with marijuana.Has been used primarily for heart problems and low blood pressure; has been combined with Lily of the Valley (Convallaria majalis) for heart failure. Has also been used to regulate arrhythmias associated with low blood pressure. Small doses slow the heart initially, then increase its rate as well as the pulse. Was once used as a heart tonic.Has been used for acute constipation, fluid rentention and edema related to heart problems.Was once used to induce labor (smoked) and has been used for excessive menstrual bleeding as well as hemorrhaging after delivery, hemophilia, rheumatism, gall stones, liver disorders, enlarged spleen, respiratory conditions, snakebites, and as a blood purifier.The flowers were once used as part of an unguent to relieve gout and the plant made into an ointment to dispel lice.One old herbal (Dodoens 1606) recommends a decoction of the tops for dropsy and stoppage of the liver. Culpeper extends its uses to black jaundice, ague, gout, sciatica, and pains of the hips and joints. For chronic dropsy 1 oz of Broom tops plus 1/2 oz of dandelion root was boiled in 1 pint of water down to 1/2 pint; toward the end, 1/2 oz of bruised Juniper berries were added, then allowed to cool before straining; a pinch of cayenne powder was then added; this was taken in wineglassful doses 3 or 4 times daily; it was also used for bladder and kidney problems combined with Urva ursi, Cleavers, and Dandelion to cleanse kidneys and bladder and increase urine output. Other uses have been for toothache, and bladder gravel.The tops were once burned to ashes to extract the salts, then infused in wine to create Salts of Broom (Sal Genista). The powdered seeds were used in a similar manner as well as employed for tinctures (1 tbsp in a glass of peppermint water was the recommended dosage for ague and liver problems).
DOSE: TRADITIONAL DOSAGES FOR PROFESSIONAL NOTE ONLY!
2 TBSP can cause symptoms of poisoning = dizziness, headache, palpitations, prickling in extremities, weakness in legs, sweating, insomnia, dilated pupils; asphyxiation possible!HOMEOPATHIC:VETERINARY:CULINARY:DYE:OTHER: Small, shrubby, perennial roadside plant with small, narrow, pointed alternate, leaves with hairy margins which is native to Europe but found naturalized in the eastern United States. Pea-like flowers are yellow and appear in spikes in July. Stems are smooth, bright green, much branched and between 1 to 2 feet in height. The fruit is a smooth pod 1 to 1¼ inches long, compressed laterally, brown when ripe and containing 5 to 10 seeds.
PART USED: Twigs, leaves, flowering tops, seeds
MEDICINAL:Flower tops and seeds have been used as diuretic, cathartic and emetic. The powdered seeds have been used as a mild purgative.A decoction has been used for dropsy, gout, and rheumatism (wineglassful dose 3 to 4 times daily). In the 14th century, it was combined with Scotch Broom to produce an ointment called Unguentum geniste which was used for gout.The ashes form an alkaline salt which was once used for dropsy.The seed has been employed as a plaster for broken limbs.In the Ukraine, it was once considered a remedy for rabies.
ANIMAL:DYE:BROOM, SPANISH | !!HIGHLY TOXIC!! !!MORE DANGEROUS THAN SCOTCH BROOM AND MORE VIOLENTLY PURGATIVE!! |
A small shrub native to southern Europe. Flowers are large, yellow and fragrant.
NEEDS: Grown as an ornamental.
MEDICINAL:Seeds were once used in tincture form for dropsy.The leaves have been used as a laxative.
DYE:OTHER: