Celandine

Biological Name: Chelidonium majus

Other Names: Celandine, Chelidonium, garden celandine, great celandine, tetterwort, jewel weed, quick-in-hand, slippers, snap weed, pale touch-me-not, slipper weed, balsam weed, weathercock, touch-me-not.

Parts Used: Rootstock, herb

Traditional Applications in Herbal Medicine:

Alterative, anodyne, antispasmodic, caustic, diaphoretic, diuretic, hydragogue, narcotic, purgative.

Taken internally, celandine has a special effect on the digestive system (stomach, gallbladder, liver), and its antispasmodic properties make it useful for asthmatic symptoms. As a hydragogue it is used for dropsical conditions. Externally, made into an ointment or a poultice, celandine can be used for skin diseases like herpes, eczema, and ringworm. The juice has some antiseptic properties and has long been used to remove warts. Mix with vinegar when using the juice on the skin.

The infusion is a cordial and greatly promotes perspiration. The addition of a few aniseeds in making a decoction of the herb in wine has been held to increase its efficacy in removing obstructions of the liver and gall. A fluid extract is also prepared, the dose being 1/2 to 1 drachm. 8 to 10 drops of the tincture made from the whole herb, or of the fresh juice, given as a dose three times a day in sweetened water, is considered excellent for overcoming torpid conditions of the liver. In the treatment of the worst forms of scurvy it has been given with benefit.

The orange-coloured, acrid juice is commonly used fresh to cure warts, ringworm and corns, but should not be allowed to come into contact with any other part of the skin.

In milk, it is employed as an eye-lotion, to remove the white, opaque spots on the cornea. Mixed with sulphur, it was formerly used to cure the itch.

An ointment made of the roots and lard boiled together, also of the leaves and flowers, has been used with advantage for piles.

Celandine is a very popular medicine in Russia, where it is said to have proved effective in cases of cancer.

It is still used in Suffolk as a fomentation for toothache.

Dosage:

Gather the rootstock in spring, before plant flowers. Use with extreme caution, use only with medical direction. The dried plant is less active than the fresh.

Infusion: Use I level tsp. rootstock or herb with 1 cup boiling water; steep for 30 minutes. Drink cold, 1/2 cup a day.

Tincture: A dose is 10 to 15 drops.

Juice: For warts, dab no more than 2 or 3 warts at a time with fresh juice, two or three times a day

Safety:

CAUTION: The juice can produce poisoning by congesting the lungs and liver and by narcotic action on the nervous system. Skin poisoning has also resulted from handling the crushed plant.

USE ONLY UNDER MEDICAL SUPERVISION.