Herb Profile: Passionflower

The Passionflower is a common roadside weed, found throughout many areas of the Southeastern United States where it often grows in large masses in ditches and open fields. It is actually the state flower of Tennessee! 

Passiflora incarnata derived the early common name of Maypop from the way it just seems to 'pop' out of the ground in May. Maypops were eventually renamed as the Passion Flower by missionaries in the early 1500s.

Passiflora (which is also the homeopathic name for the preparation of this plant), known also as the passion flowers or passion vines, is actually a genus of about 500 species of flowering plants, the namesakes of the family Passifloraceae. (They are mostly vines, with some being shrubs, and a few species being herbaceous.) Nine species of Passiflora are native to the USA, found from Ohio to the north, west to California and south to the Florida Keys.

Growing:
Passionflowers are considered to be hardy in USDA zones 5-9, but they should be planted in a protected location and mulched heavily if severe cold threatens. Only the top growth is killed back by frost, but your Passion Flower will pop back to life (Maypop!) in the spring.
Passion Flowers are easy to grow. They need partial to full sun, and will adapt themselves to most well-drained soils. During the growing season, the soil should be kept evenly moist, to ensure good flowering and growth. Passion Flower vines should be planted in early spring. They benefit by the addition of compost.

Propagating:
Passionflowers can be propagated by softwood cuttings taken from mature wood in early summer.
Softwood cuttings will take 3 months or longer to root. Passion Flowers can also be grown from seed.
The seeds must be soaked in warm water for 12 hours, before sowing indoors in early spring.
Germination may take up to a year (so be patient!). It is probably a good idea to keep the young plants indoors until the following spring, and then plant them outdoors in their permanent homes.
Passion flowers make excellent container grown plants in the home. Indoors, grow Passion Plants in bright light but never full sun.

Harvesting for Medicinal Use:
Strip leaves from the plant in fall and dry them in a dehydrator, on a drying screen or outdoors in a paper bag (a single layer of leaves at a time). Place dried leaves in an airtight container and keep in a cool, dark spot.

Eating them:
The fruit produced by the Passionflower is an oval berry, a little smaller than a kiwi fruit.
Passionfruit is edible, but it is pretty seedy. Good for jams and the like.

Medically Classified as:
Anodyne, antispasmodic, anxiolytic, aphrodisiac, aromatic, narcotic, sedative.

Medical Uses:
The aerial parts of the plant are used in herbal medicine. You can use it as a tea, in a tincture, or smoke the herb.

Passionflower has a long history of medical use with native Americans: The Houma tribe added it to drinking water as a tonic, and in the Yucatan, it was a remedy for insomnia, hysteria and convulsions in children.  Other tribes used it in poultices to heal bruises, and the early Algonquians brewed passionflower in a tea to soothe their nerves.  In 1783, a visiting European doctor described its use as a remedy for epilepsy, and other early physicians prescribed the fruit juice as a wash for sore and tired eyes.  The plant was largely ignored in conventional North American medicine until the late 1800s, when it became a popular nineteenth-century remedy for insomnia.

Its use was adopted by the European colonists. The fresh or dried leaves of maypop are used to make a tea that is used to treat insomnia, hysteria, and epilepsy, and is also valued for its analgesic properties.

It finally received official recognition in the United States National Formulary from 1916 to 1936.

Passionflower is very useful in the treatment of modern ills such as anxiety, depression, and patients trying to wean themselves from synthetic sleeping pills and tranquilizers.  Despite the dearth of research into Passionflower in the United States (what else is new), the herb is frequently prescribed in Europe to  calm the nerves and ease tension, restlessness, irritability and mild insomnia.

Passionflower has been used to treat sleep disorders and historically in homeopathic medicine to treat pain, insomnia related to neurasthenia or hysteria, and nervous exhaustion. Passionflower is nature's tranquilizer. Many European herbalists prescribe passionflower for insomnia, nervous anxiety and relief of pain and neuralgia. I am personally looking forward to trying it with some fibromyalgia sufferers that I know, in combination with a few other herbs.

Passionflower is a very gentle (but effective) herbal sedative that has a depressant effect on the central nervous system.  The alkaloids and flavonoids are believed to be effective and work as a non-addictive sedative, which promotes restful, sound sleep, particularly in cases of nervous insomnia.  It is one of nature's best natural tranquilizers and has been used for centuries as a reliable remedy for nervous, menopausal and premenstrual tension, irritability, fatigue and tension headaches.

It is said to gently shift moods, alter perception and aid concentration, and the alkaloids are thought to act in a similar way as MAO inhibitors, which may be of some help in cases of depression.  In Italy, passion flower is used to treat hyperactive children.

Its relaxing qualities appear to extend to relaxing spasms and other manifestations of extreme anxiety. As a muscle relaxer, passion flower helps to relieve muscle tension, which may be quite beneficial for restless leg syndrome, Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

Considered a fine herbal pain reliever, passionflower works as an anodyne to alleviate pain, and as such, is used to relieve headache and nerve pain, the pain of shingles and dysmenorrhea (painful menstruation).

Passionflower is thought to relieve hypertension and lower blood pressure.  Some tests claim that it relaxes the walls of the arteries, which may be useful for increasing circulation and maintaining good heart health.

It has been studied in relieving symptoms related to narcotic drug withdrawal, when used in combination with a medication called clonidine. This combination seems to be effective in reducing symptoms such as anxiety, irritability, sleep problems (insomnia), and agitation.

In laboratory tests, passionflower was able to stop the growth of certain kinds of thyroid malignancy, and further research may, hopefully, bring positive results in this area.

There are reports that passionflower stops chemical reactions that cause nausea and vomiting as a result of withdrawal from cocaine, heroine or opiate painkillers, and this may prove useful for those patients trying to withdraw from such substances.  A bitter principle in passionflower is thought to be beneficial for functional digestive problems as well.

Passionflower may help a diminished sex drive. The herb is a source of an antioxidant chemical known as chrysin, which helps the body conserve testosterone.  It does not cause the body to produce more of the hormone, but by conserving it, the action has a direct effect of increasing testosterone levels, which may boost sex drive.

It is often blended with valerian, chamomile, lemon balm, skullcap, St. John's wort, or other relaxing herbs. In tea, it has a pleasant, very mild but unusual taste, much like its fragrance, that is hard to describe. The color of the infusion is a very pale green, lighter in color than most herbal teas. The taste is not at all overwhelming so it could blend well with most any herb or iced tea.

Counterindications:
No adverse effects of passion flower have been reported. Avoid use during pregnancy (passion flower is a known uterine stimulant). Since it may cause sleepiness, it should not be used before driving or operating machinery.  Children should never be given this herb in any form, and older adults and older children (twelve) should take low dosages (preferably in consultation with a physician).  Do not use Passion Flower if you take MAO inhibitors, and it should not be taken with other prescription sedatives or sedative herbs or alcohol, as it increases their sedative effects.  Passion Flower may have additive anticoagulant effect.

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References:

1. Ngan A, Conduit R. A double-blind, placebo-controlled investigation of the effects of Passiflora incarnata (Passionflower) herbal tea on subjective sleep quality. Phytother Res 2011;25:1153-9.
2. Miyasaka LS, Atallah AN, Soares BG. Passiflora for anxiety disorder. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2007;:CD004518.
3. Mori A, Hasegawa K, Murasaki M, et al. Clinical evaluation of Passiflamin (passiflora extract) on neurosis - multicenter double blind study in comparison with mexazolam. Rinsho Hyoka (Clinical Evaluation) 1993;21:383-440.
4. Gralla EJ, Stebbins RB, Coleman GL, Delahunt CS. Toxicity studies with ethyl maltol. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 1969;15:604-13.
5. Aoyagi N, Kimura R, Murata T. Studies on passiflora incarnata dry extract. I. Isolation of maltol and pharmacological action of maltol and ethyl maltol. Chem Pharm Bull 1974;22:1008-13.
6. Dhawan K, Kumar S, Sharma A. Anti-anxiety studies on extracts of Passiflora incarnata Linneaus. J Ethnopharmacol 2001;78:165-70.
7. Dhawan K, Kumar S, Sharma A. Anxiolytic activity of aerial and underground parts of Passiflora incarnata. Fitoterapia 2001;72:922-6.
8. Akhondzadeh S, Naghavi HR, Shayeganpour A, et al. Passionflower in the treatment of generalized anxiety: a pilot double-blind randomized controlled trial with oxazepam. J Clin Pharm Ther 2001;26:363-7.
9. Fisher AA, Purcell P, Le Couteur DG. Toxicity of Passiflora incarnata L. J Toxicol Clin Toxicol 2000;38:63-6.
10. Bourin M, Bougerol T, Guitton B, Broutin E. A combination of plant extracts in the treatment of outpatients with adjustment disorder with anxious mood: controlled study vs placebo. Fundam Clin Pharmacol 1997;11:127-32.

Herb Profile: Calendula

A bit of just-picked Boline calendula,
mixed with California Poppy and Nasturtium.

Calendula, aka Pot Marigold (Although it is not actually in that family), is a wonderful healing herb for skin and we use it in a lot of our products.

We use the dried petals in our Facial Scrub, and calendula-infused oil in many of our lotions, salves and balms.

We have four calendula patches growing here in Columbus for our purposes, and we keep clipping the flowers off of the tops in order to get more and more flowers over the course of the summer. After all, we need them to produce enough to create remedies for the entirety of 2014!

We will be making an oil blend for our salves next year that mixes two great skin care herbs- cultivated, organic calendula and ethically wildcrafted, plentiful plantain.

There's calendula oil in there!

Calendula "has been used for centuries to heal wounds and skin irritations. Calendula has anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, astringent, antifungal, antiviral, and immunostimulant properties making it useful for disinfecting and treating minor wounds, conjunctivitis, cuts, scrapes, chapped or chafed skin, bruises, burns, athlete’s foot, acne, yeast infections, bee stings, diaper rashes, and other minor irritations and infections of the skin. Plus, it stimulates the production of collagen at wound sites to help minimize scarring and assist with stretch marks." - Mountain Rose Herbs Blog

Research has shown that calendula is beneficial for treatment of pain and dermatitis due to radiation therapy in breast cancer patients, and it may protect skin against sun damage. Overall, it gentle sunny disposition helps myriad skin issues gently and effectively, making it a real favorite- from diaper rash creams to lip balms to our Belly Butter for Baby Bumps to our Eczema and Psoriasis Salve.

Wanna hear more "technical stuff" about calendula? According to the Sloane-Kettering Cancer Center:

Myriad salves, many use calendula.

The triterpenoids from calendula have been shown to have anti-inflammatory and anti-HIV effects, and a calendula extract suppressed cell fusion, which may inhibit early events in the HIV replication cycle. The most active triterpenoid is a monoester of faradiol. Calendula also exhibits hepato- and reno-protective effects which are likely due to its antioxidant activity. The photoprotective effect of topical gel formulations of calendula is thought to be associated with an improvement in collagen synthesis in the sub-epidermal connective tissue. Calendula also affords cardioprotection which involves modulating the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory pathways by activation of Akt (a serine/threonine protein kinase) and Bcl2 (a protein that regulates apoptosis) and down regulation of tumor necrosis factor (TNF alpha). In another study, calendula was shown to inhibit human gingival fibroblast-mediated degradation of collagen and matrix metalloprotease (MMP-2) activity.In a recent study, the essential oil from calendula flowers was shown to have sun protection activity Application of a cream containing essential oil of calendula prevented UV-B-induced alterations in the skin in a study of rats. Calendula extract also accelerated healing of experimentally-induced thermal burns in rats by increasing collagen-hydroxyproline and hexosamine, bio-indicators of wound healing.

So, this herb, like all the ones Boline uses in its formulations are backed by generations of folk medicine practitioners as well as modern science.

Herb Profile: Nettles!

So nettles are at the base of several of our teas. Wanna know why? They are awesome! So nutritious and plenty of great medicine in this humble plant.

We put it as the base of our Allergy Tea:

Newly cut nettles, waiting to be dried for tea.

In a double-blind study, 58 percent of people reported nettles to to be very effective in lessening seasonal allergies (by itself).

The stinging hairs contain amines — histamine, seratonin, acetylcholine — as well as glucoquinones and chlorophyll. It is thought that these are some of the active constituents (though as with all herbs the list of active constituents is much greater than science can tell us).

Histamine is the component that induces the inflammatory cascade and leads to the symptoms. It acts like a local hormone that modulates the immune response. Fifty percent of allergy symptoms are caused by the release of histamine from mast cells. The allergen binds to the mast cell and the mast cell spills out inflammation and immune mediators which cause at first an acute/immediate response, and they in turn then release their own mediators in a delayed response that occurs hours later. The issue becomes a problem when this cycle repeats incessantly.

Nettle affects this part of the problem. (The leaf is also anti-inflammatory.)

Wear gloves! They don't call them "stinging nettles" for nothing!

Nettles are also in our Preggers Tea and some of our other female reproductive teas. 

Herbalists and midwives have recommended nettle leaves as a tonic for pregnant women for generations. It is high in iron, which is much needed during gestation.

It is also wonderful for treating and preventing urinary tract issues, which can rear their head at this time.

Nutritionally, nettles are a powerhouse! It is reputed to have more chlorophyll than any other herb. The list of vitamins and minerals in this herb includes nearly every one known to be necessary for human health and growth. Nettle leaves are a storehouse of nutrition, with high iron and calcium contents, as well as an excellent source of folic acid, an essential nutrient during pregnancy.

Nettles, ready for drying.

Nettle strengthens the kidneys and adrenals, while it relieves fluid retention. Because nettle also supports the vascular system, it can prevent varicose veins and hemorrhoids.

Postpartum, it increases breast milk (so it will be added to our ending Milky Time Tea, too).

I drank a combination of nettles, oatstraw, and red raspberry leaf during my pregnancy and swear by it. Now that I am no longer pregnant, I enjoy nettles to maintain optimum nutrition and to help me deal with seasonal allergies.