Herbal Guild of Meridies

Summer 2000

 

From the Steward

Greetings all!

I hope the heat has not totally withered your garden as it has mine. The temperature in Grey Niche on the day of this writing reached 105 degrees; my plants are succumbing one by one. I keep reminding myself that autumn is just a month away.

I am very excited about an idea that I hope will take root (pun intended) in our guild. I am looking for a few good herbalists to start a local chapter in their area. A chapter could be drawn from a single SCA group, or be made up of people from two or more smaller groups that are close together and interact on a regular basis. The idea behind this is to tap into herbal activities that are already going on: folks visiting each other's gardens, swapping plants, seeds, and recipes, making gifts for the Crown, et cetera. We have plenty of people in this Kingdom who are very involved and enthused about herbs and herbcraft. I am asking those people to organize on the local level. It is very hard for an entire Kingdom guild to get together to work on a project or to help individuals start a garden. The best setting is within the local group. We will still have meetings and classes as the Kingdom Guild; the work of local chapters is a way to organize all of the hands-on activities that keep our guild alive and growing.

My requirements for starting a local chapter are fairly simple. First, the group in question needs to have several people who are active or willing to be active in herbal guild activities. Second, once a group has been formed, it must be open to everyone within the SCA group. (In other words, you can't have two chapters within one SCA group.) Third, for now, the only officer should be a secretary who can help run meetings and report to me on any chapter activities. The idea is to focus on fostering communication within the chapter, not to create paperwork and headaches. Have fun with it! Our local chapter in Grey Niche has decided to call itself the Rosemary Chapter because of the huge rosemary bush in my garden (three feet tall, six feet across, and still growing). A couple of chapters are already forming. If you are interested in starting a chapter in your area, please contact me.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Arielle

From the Chronicler

 

Greetings from Glaedenfeld! The chapter here is just beginning, but we are excited about a fundraising project we are working on for Tavern Brawl. I am still looking for articles, book reviews, and local happenings. I would like the Autumn edition to be all about gardens, whether it is a picture of your garden with a short description, a bunch of period plants in pots, a cool gardening book, or whatever. The best way for this Guild to become active is for people to participate, and sending in articles is a great way to participate! Submissions can be sent in just about any electronic form to me by email at awenyth@hotmail.com, or snail mailed to me at 2530 Flamingo Drive, Nashville, TN 37207.

Madrun

 

Cleavers "Galium Aparine"

Cleavers, also known as goosegrass and bedstraw, is a little-known and little used herb in this area. From the family rubiaceace, cleavers is related to madder and sweet woodruff, which it resembles. It sprouts on long, weak stems with lots of little hooks which "cleave" onto passers-by. The leaves look like whorls, and are often described as such, but are actually 2 leaves with deep indentations on either side of the stem. The flowers are very small and white. When the stems get over 4 inches they usually flop over and can make matted masses on the ground. They are usually found growing under trees, along fences and hedges. Cleavers is considered a pernicious weed in parts of Canada, but in Meridies it withers in the hot summers, and is rarely found after late June.

Cleavers was used in period in Europe, and all members of the family are native to northern Europe. It is mentioned by Culpeper, Pliny and Gerard in their herbals, but not usually in it’s modern usages. It was also used by the Anglo-Saxons, who called it hedge-rife. Cleavers is an introduced species to North America, but is firmly established.

Cleavers has many medicinal applications. The aerial parts were well known as a blood cleanser used for spring tonics in period, and was widely used for gout and scrofula. The blood cleansing properties are used to fight excema, acne and gout. It can be prepared as a tea with the dried aerial parts or juiced and drunk fresh. The aerial parts are a mild diuretic and are also used as a solvent of bladder stones. The roots can be dried and powdered and used as a styptic. This is an excellent addition to an herbal first-aid kit.

The roots of cleavers can also be used for a fast red dye, same as most of the madder family. Mordant the preparation with alum for cotton and silk and tin for wool. The color is a middle brick red.

Cleavers is a useful plant that thrives wild all over Meridies and would be an interesting plant to add to the herb garden.

 

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