Daisies 309medicinally in the name it bore in Old English: ‘groundsel’ meant pus-
absorber.^385 A minor virtue of its close relation, ragwort, the ability to draw
matter out of wounds, blisters, boils and the like has been for this species its
pre-eminent function, recorded from various parts of Ireland and most parts
of Britain. In Carmarthenshire and Cardiganshire that reputation extends
even to the extraction of thorns.^386
No other uses of the plant come near that in popularity. In Britain, those
have included healing inflammation, bruises and swellings when applied
externally (Norfolk,^387 Berwickshire,^388 Aberdeenshire,^389 the Highlands,^390
Colonsay in the Hebrides,^391 Isle of Man^392 ) as well as chapped hands when
made into a lotion (Devon,^393 Norfolk,^394 the Highlands^395 ); teething in
infants, by including the juice in their milk (Suffolk,^396 Norfolk^397 ); curing
ague, by wearing a handful of the pulped plant in a bag against the bare breast
or stomach and thereby inducing powerful vomiting some hours afterwards
(Cornwall,^398 Isle of Man,^399 Edinburgh^400 ); allaying rheumatism, especially
by soaking the feet in a preparation (Fens of East Anglia,^401 the Highlands^402 );
as a diuretic (Devon^403 ) and as a wart cure (Essex^404 ).
Ireland’s subsidiary uses have been about as numerous—but almost all of
them different: applied as a hot poultice to the face to ease toothache (Gal-
way^405 and some other unspecified area^406 ), taken as a tonic to cleanse the
blood (Limerick^407 ) and to staunch nosebleeds by drinking the juice mixed
with water and a drop of turpentine (Offaly^408 ). Before the advent of castor
oil, a sprig or two added to babies’ milk and that given to them once boiled
and strained also seems to have been peculiarly Irish, though information is
lacking on how widespread that was.^409 Only the use for chapped hands
(‘felons’) in Co. Dublin^410 and as a diuretic for removing gravel in Done-
gal^411 have counterparts in the records traced from Britain.
Tussilago farfara Linnaeus
colt’s-foot
Europe, northern and western Asia, North Africa; introduced into
North America, New Zealand
Tussilago farfara is the age-old folk cure for coughs par excellence.The prop-
erties which cause it to be valued for those have recommended it as well for
colds, catarrh, sore throats and lung and chest complaints, and for some at
least of those it has been recorded from most parts of the British Isles. Soak-
ing the leaves (more rarely, the roots) in water specifically for asthma has also
been a widespread practice, reported from areas in Britain as far apart as