Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (Linnaeus) Sprengel 6
bearberry
northern Eurasia and North America, and mountains to their south
(Folk credentials questionable) Featured in the older herbals,Arctostaphylos
uva-ursi enjoyed a revival in eighteenth-century official medicine on being
found effective against urinary problems (the result of containing arbutin, it
has turned out). In the Highlands,^179 where it is specially frequent, the berries
are credibly stated to have been ‘used medicinally’ but it is unclear whether
this antedated the demand for the herb by physicians and apothecaries.
Calluna vulgaris (Linnaeus) Hull 7
heather, ling
Europe, Morocco, Azores; possibly native to eastern North America;
introduced into New Zealand
Erica tetralix Linnaeus 8
cross-leaved heath
northern and western Europe; introduced into eastern North America
Erica cinerea Linnaeus
bell heather
western Europe, Madeira; introduced into eastern North America,
New Zealand
The three common heath species in the British Isles (Calluna vulgaris, Erica
tetralix and E. cinerea), let alone the rarer ones, are rarely if ever distinguished
in the folk records. As the three are readily told apart at a glance, this has
probably been due less to taxonomic myopia than because they were assumed
to share the same medicinal virtues.
Considered a panacea in the Shetlands in the early eighteenth century,^180
‘heather’ does indeed seem to have had a rather wide range of applications.
Several of these, though, may have had a common derivation: faith in a relax-
ing or mildly soporific effect. In the Highlands,^181 for example, it has been
valued for countering insomnia and soothing ‘nerves’ but also as a treatment
for consumption. On the other hand, its employment for rheumatism
(recorded in Britain from Cumbria^182 ) is allegedly because of a muscle-ton-
ing property, while its astringency has clearly prompted its use for stomach
upsets and diarrhoea (Cumbria,^183 too). A reputation as a diuretic has also
made it a remedy in Dorset for ailments of a urological nature.^184
In Ireland, the recorded uses of ‘heather’ are much the same: for a weak
122 Arctostaphylos uva-ursi