Equisetum - which one ?
Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2001 6:15 pm
Dear fellow students and practitioners of homeopathy,
the problem with Equisetum is a really tricky one, botanical speaking.
With inherited German thoroughness I tried to sniff it up and hunt it
down, but I couldn't solve it (of course not, God beware us of German
solutions) - but anyway, what I found out is the following:
1. There are two Equisetum
English "Scouring Rush"
name depends on the season whether it is the spring sprout (March and
April) or the infertile summer herbage (June to October or November).
The plant looks quite different, its two appearances made people think
that it was two different plants, but of course, there are only two
phases within its annual cycle. In English both are called horsetail.
2. The problem is that in phytotherapy - that means in all those herbal
teas for kidney and bladder troubles - Equisetum arvense is used. This
plant is the more common one, at least in Germany - the one each
gardener knows and gets annoyed at or if he be an organic gardener,
makes use of in organic gardening or in 'biologisch- dynamischer
Landwirtschaft'. The summer plant, the green, the herbage is used.
3. The common homoeopathy remedy, however, is Equisetum hiemale. To it
the abbreviation "equis." refers. For the preparation "frisches Kraut"
fresh green, fresh herbage, i. e. the summer plant is used.
4. Murphy (Homeopathic Repertory; Hahnemann Academy of North America)
mentions both: equis. = Equisetum hyemale and equis-a. = Equisetum
arvense; the common one seemingly being Equisetum hyemale.
5. All those enthusiastic gatherers shouldn't be troubled, even if they
got Equisetum arvense: In the "Homeopathisches Repetitorium ed. by the
Deutsche Homöopathische Union I found the following sentence: "Equisetum
avernse hat ähnliche Wirkungen" As far as I know there isn't any proofing of Equisetum
arvense.
Yours sincerly
Claudia Mennel
the problem with Equisetum is a really tricky one, botanical speaking.
With inherited German thoroughness I tried to sniff it up and hunt it
down, but I couldn't solve it (of course not, God beware us of German
solutions) - but anyway, what I found out is the following:
1. There are two Equisetum
English "Scouring Rush"
name depends on the season whether it is the spring sprout (March and
April) or the infertile summer herbage (June to October or November).
The plant looks quite different, its two appearances made people think
that it was two different plants, but of course, there are only two
phases within its annual cycle. In English both are called horsetail.
2. The problem is that in phytotherapy - that means in all those herbal
teas for kidney and bladder troubles - Equisetum arvense is used. This
plant is the more common one, at least in Germany - the one each
gardener knows and gets annoyed at or if he be an organic gardener,
makes use of in organic gardening or in 'biologisch- dynamischer
Landwirtschaft'. The summer plant, the green, the herbage is used.
3. The common homoeopathy remedy, however, is Equisetum hiemale. To it
the abbreviation "equis." refers. For the preparation "frisches Kraut"
fresh green, fresh herbage, i. e. the summer plant is used.
4. Murphy (Homeopathic Repertory; Hahnemann Academy of North America)
mentions both: equis. = Equisetum hyemale and equis-a. = Equisetum
arvense; the common one seemingly being Equisetum hyemale.
5. All those enthusiastic gatherers shouldn't be troubled, even if they
got Equisetum arvense: In the "Homeopathisches Repetitorium ed. by the
Deutsche Homöopathische Union I found the following sentence: "Equisetum
avernse hat ähnliche Wirkungen" As far as I know there isn't any proofing of Equisetum
arvense.
Yours sincerly
Claudia Mennel