Chelone glabra
| Chelone glabra | |
| Light: |   |
| Moisture: |   |
| Hardiness: | 3 |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-8.4 |
| Height: | 3' |
| Width: | 2' |
| Blooms: | Mid Summer-Early Fall |
| Open Woods Forest | |
| Native to: | |
| Medicinal Rating: | |
| Tea: | Yes |
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Chelone glabra (common name: balmony)
Propagation: Seed - sow spring in a cold frame and keep moist. The seed germinates in 2 - 6 weeks at 20°c[1]. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle and grow them on in the cold frame. Plant them out into their permanent positions in the spring or early summer.
Division in autumn[2].
Cuttings of soft tips in summer in a sandy soil in a frame[3].
Cultivation: Easily grown in any ordinary soil, but it grows best in a light loam[2]. Tolerates heavy clays and light shade[2][3]. Prefers growing in light shade[4]. Survives but does not thrive in dry conditions[3]. Prefers growing in a bog garden or in a soil that is unlikely to dry out[3].
Plants are very cold-hardy, tolerating temperatures down to about -20°c[5].
A polymorphic species, there are several named forms[6].
The plant spreads freely at the roots and so is best grown in a large pot[7].
Range: Eastern N. America - Newfoundland to Ontario and Minnesota, south to Georgia and Missouri.
Habitat: Margins of swamps, wet woods and rivers[7][6].
Medicinal: Balmony is a very bitter herb with a tea-like flavour that acts mainly as a tonic for the liver and digestive system[4]. It has long been held in esteem in N. American folk medicine, though it has never been investigated scientifically[8]. The herb also has anti-depressant and laxative effects[4].
A decoction of the whole herb is antibilious, aperient, appetizer, cathartic, cholagogue, detergent, tonic, vermifuge[7][9][10][11][12][13][14]. It is used internally in the treatment of consumption, debility, diseases of the liver, gallbladder problems, gallstones etc[7][15]. It is also used to relieve nausea and vomiting, intestinal colic and to expel worms[15]. Its tonic effect upon the digestive system has made it of benefit in the treatment of anorexia nervosa[8]. Externally, it is applied as a soothing ointment to piles, inflamed tumours, irritable ulcers, inflamed breasts etc[7][8]. The plant is harvested when in flower and is dried for later use[4].
Soil: Can grow in light, medium, and heavy soils.
Flower Type: Hermaphrodite
Heavy Clay: Grows in heavy-clay soils.
Also Known As: C. obliqua alba.
Links
References
- ↑ Bird, Alfred. Growing from Seed Volume 4. Thompson and Morgan, 1990.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Chittendon, Fred. RHS Dictionary of Plants. Oxford University Press, 1951.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Huxley, Anthony. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press, 1992.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Bown, Deni. Royal Horticultural Society Encyclopaedia of Herbs and Their Uses. Dorling Kindersley, 1995.
- ↑ Phillips, Roger and Martyn Rix. Perennials - The Definitve Reference. Pan Books, 1991.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lyndon, Merritt. Gray's Manual of Botany. American Book Co, 1950.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Grieve, Margaret. A Modern Herbal. Penguin, 1984.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Stuart, Malcolm. The Encyclopedia of Herbs and Herbalism. Orbis Publishing, 1979.
- ↑ Lust, John. The Herb Book. Bantam Books, 1983.
- ↑ Uphof, Johannes. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim, 1959.
- ↑ Usher, George. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable, 1974.
- ↑ Mills, Simon. The Dictionary of Modern Herbalism.
- ↑ Coffey, Timothy. The History and Folklore of North American Wild Flowers. Facts on File, 1993.
- ↑ Foster, Steven and Billy Tatum. Medicinal Plants of Eastern and Central North America. Houghton Mifflin, 1990.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Chevallier, Andrew. The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants. Dorling Kindersley, 1996.