Chamomilla recutita, German chamomille

Common names

German = Hundskamille, French = Camomille Common names

Single chamomile, Hungarian chamomile, pinheads, scented mayweed, sweet false chamomile, carnamine flowers.

History

IIn medieval britain it was often used used in hand washing waters and in headaches.Used as a wine to break gall stones and cure jaundice, good for aching “in a man’s head, and for the megri”.
Fatigue, fever, snakebites. Women used in labour pains.
Poor digestion and sluggish liver.
Used to soothe period pain. A poultice made from the flowers and the leaves was used against piles. Used for sore eyes.
For headache, especially headache that 'cometh out of the stomach' mixed with Rosa and fennel equal parts.

Scrofulous ulcer when it has discharged its contents and inflammation. Things that are useful to the brain.
For deafness. For gnawing in a man’s limbs or bones. For an imposthume in a wound. To staunch blood. For the stomach. Lily oil to draw down flowers & dissolve them (emmenogogue). Chamomile is known as the plants' physician because it is said that ailing garden plants will recover when it is planted next to them. Called maythen by the Anglo-Saxons, it was one of the nine sacred herbs given to the world by the god Woden. The root was traditionally chewed to relieve toothache. (Medieval references taken from: Anthony Askham, A Little Herbal, Healing Threads, A Leechbbok, The Physicians of Mydffai)

Medicinal uses

Anti-inflammatory, spasmolytic, vulnerary, antimicrobial, mild sedative, carminative, antiseptic, anticatarrhal and diaphoretic (please see Glossary)

Benefits

Used for Gastro-Intestinal (GI) spams, inflammatory disease of GI tract, Irritable Bowel syndrome, infantile colic, travel sickness, anxiety, teething problems, eczema, wound healing, mucous membrane inflammations, diarrhoea, bacterial skin disease, skin inflammations. Flatulence.
Can be used as Anti-emetic.
Nervine. Used for anorexia, menopausal depression, loss of appetite, dyspepsia, the common colds.

Warnings

Some people suffer from contact allergy, although this is rare. Can cause nausea.

References

Bradley, P.R. (ed.) 1992 British Herbal Compendium, Volume 1, BHMA, Bournemouth.

BHMA 1983 British Herbal Pharmacopoeia, BHMA, Bournemouth.

Culpeper, N. 1649 Complete Herbal and English Physician, 1990 reprint of the 1814 London edition of Culpeper’s Complete Herbal, Meyer, Illinois.

Grieve, M. 1931 A Modern Herbal, (ed. C.F. Leyel 1985), London.

Hoffmann, D. 1990 The New Holistic Herbal, Second Edition, Element, Shaftesbury.

Lust, J. 1990 The Herb Book, Bantam, London.

Mabey, R. (ed.) 1991 The Complete New Herbal, Penguin, London.

Mills, S.Y. 1993 The A-Z of Modern Herbalism, Diamond Books, London.

Ody, P. 1993 The Herb Society's Complete Medicinal Herbal, Dorling Kindersley, London.

Weiss, R.F. 1991 Herbal Medicine, Beaconsfield Arcanum, Beaconsfield.

Special thanks to www.purplesage.org.uk