seen this species growing abundantly in Somerset and that it was effective as
a diuretic, was misread by John Parkinson^73 as implying that that herbal use
was a speciality of the region.
Cuscuta epithymum (Linnaeus) Linnaeus
dodder
Europe, western Asia; introduced into North America, South Africa,
Australasia
‘Hairweed’, a name recorded for Cuscuta epithymum in three of the Eastern
Counties of England, was added to nettle tea in the Fens of East Anglia and
given to children whenever their mother detected signs of scurvy between
their fingers.^74 The plant was recommended in herbals as a purge for ‘ague’
and the intention may have been to cleanse the system of the impurities sus-
pected of being responsible.
Menyanthaceae
Menyanthes trifoliata Linnaeus
bogbean,báchrán
Europe, northern and central Asia, Morocco, North America
Wherever Menyanthes trifoliata occurs in any quantity, mainly in the boggy
regions of the north and west of the British Isles, it has constituted one of
the staples of the folk repertory and in some parts has been the most prized
herb of all. Its intense bitterness has led it to be used as a substitute for hops
in brewing or for adulterating beer, and it was probably in that connection
that large quantities of the plant’s pressed leaves and stems found round some
of the ancient Irish raths are thought to have been deposited.^75 Whether or
not that interpretation is correct, it is highly likely that bogbean was in favour
for medicine as well at the same period.
Except in Wales the plant has predominantly served in Britain as a tonic,
like the various imported bitters that have largely replaced it, while in the
course of revitalising the system also resolving digestive problems (Cumbria,^76
Berwickshire,^77 Shetland,^78 Isle of Man^79 ). As an ‘astringent’ it has banished
headaches in the Outer Hebrides^80 and stopped loose bowels in Colonsay in
the Inner Hebrides^81 and the Highlands,^82 while in the last^83 and in Shetland^84
tothe north it has been rated a cure for jaundice—so much so in Shetland
that it bore a name there from the Old Norse word for that affliction.^85
A second cluster of ailments for which bogbean has been widely used is
rheumatism and the like. Though Scottish records for that seem to be lacking
Gentians and Nightshades 201