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| Golden Feverfew or Chrysantheum parthenium |
Found at the Cat's pub, golden feverfew is a favourite of mine, once you have it, it will distribute its seed quite happily. A sport of the ordinary green herb, it makes a pleasant change as a background plant amongst other brightly coloured plants.
It is an old physic herb grown partly to get rid of fevers and also to get rid of headaches, which was needed in every family down through the ages. There have been trials in this country to be used against migraine, whether they succeeded or not I do not know, but I have taken it. (5 leaves in a sandwich, because of its bitter taste) but it did not seem to work! Grigson reckons it was introduced in the Middle Ages, and it accompanies Tansy (chrysantheum vulgare) that other spicy medicinal plant in the books I have.
Feverfew is a corruption of the Latin word febrifugia, the distinct spicy smell is chamomile camphor oil, which if you ever rubbed the leaves of chamomile you would recognise.
I absolutely hate the smell of feverfew which is such a shame as I love the plant!
ReplyDeleteVery interesthing.
ReplyDeleteThe plant I most hate is the curry plant Em, but just thinking about the grey plants in a garden, wormwood and southernwood which also smell quite pleasant....
ReplyDeleteHi Ana, I expect plants in Madeira have a very distinctive smell in the hot weather.