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Thursday 12 July 2012

Scarlet Pimpernel

They seek him here, they seek him there...
Why did he choose this particular plant to be called after,was it for it's medical virtues?


it's a low growing creeper, barely noticable unless you are specifically looking for it, but it does have the most gorgeous little flowers, they can also be in white or blue!!!


they tend to only open in direct sunlight but as you can see are very attractive none the less.

This plant poses a bit of a dichotomy, some sources saying it's poisonous,some say it's edible, some say it's got medicinal properies,none seem to agree..so I tried it out..it's very bitter to the taste and vitually unpalatable, so it's out as far as edibility goes..medicinally I know it has been used for virtually every ailment going, but especially for the liver and apparently is also a great antidepressant!
 
                                'No heart can think, no tongue can tell
The virtues of the Pimpernel.'

says one particular rhyme, and this maybe the case but like most plants, it's being able to separate the essential ingredient from the rest of the plant that poses the problem as it does contain some toxins.
One thing I've just read is that is has a lot of saponins and if so then like soapwort could be very beneficial to the outdoorsman simply from a hygenic point of view..I will need to experiment a little more!!

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