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''Prunella vulgaris'', the common self-heal, heal-all, woundwort, heart-of-the-earth, carpenter's herb, brownwort or blue curls, is a
''Prunella vulgaris'' grows high, with creeping, self-rooting, tough, square, reddish stems branching at the leaf axes.
The leaves are lance-shaped, serrated and reddish at the tip, about long and broad, and growing in opposite pairs down the square stem. Each leaf has 3-7 veins that shoot off the middle vein to the margin. The stalks of the leaves are generally short, but can be up to long.
The flowers grow from a clublike, somewhat square, whirled cluster; immediately below this club is a pair of stalkless leaves standing out on either side like a collar. The flowers are two-lipped and tubular. The top lip is a purple hood, and the bottom lip is often white; it has three lobes, with the middle lobe being larger and fringed upwardly. Flowers bloom at different times depending on climate and other conditions, but mostly in summer (from June to August in the USA).
Self-heal propagates both by seed and vegetatively by creeping stems that root at the nodes.
Two subspecies of ''Prunella vulgaris'' have been identified: ''var. vulgaris'' and var. ''lanceolota.''
''Prunella vulgaris'' is edible, and can be used in salads, soups, stews, and boiled as a pot herb.
The herb is used in Chinese medicine to treat dizziness, red eyes, dry cough, and dermatitis and boils. It is also a main ingredient in several herbal teas in southern China.
The Nlaka'pamux drink a cold infusion of the whole plant as a common beverage. The plant is traditionally used by some Indigenous cultures to treat various physical ailments.
herbaceous
Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials.
Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous"
The fourth edition o ...
plant
Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae excl ...
in the mint family Lamiaceae.
Self-heal is edible: the young leaves and stems can be eaten raw in salads; the plant as a whole can be boiled and eaten as a leaf vegetable; and the aerial parts of the plant can be powdered and brewed in a cold infusion to make a beverage.
Description
''Prunella vulgaris'' grows high, with creeping, self-rooting, tough, square, reddish stems branching at the leaf axes.
The leaves are lance-shaped, serrated and reddish at the tip, about long and broad, and growing in opposite pairs down the square stem. Each leaf has 3-7 veins that shoot off the middle vein to the margin. The stalks of the leaves are generally short, but can be up to long.
The flowers grow from a clublike, somewhat square, whirled cluster; immediately below this club is a pair of stalkless leaves standing out on either side like a collar. The flowers are two-lipped and tubular. The top lip is a purple hood, and the bottom lip is often white; it has three lobes, with the middle lobe being larger and fringed upwardly. Flowers bloom at different times depending on climate and other conditions, but mostly in summer (from June to August in the USA).
Self-heal propagates both by seed and vegetatively by creeping stems that root at the nodes.
Two subspecies of ''Prunella vulgaris'' have been identified: ''var. vulgaris'' and var. ''lanceolota.''
Habitat
''Prunella vulgaris'' is a perennial herb native inEurope
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
, Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...
, Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
, and North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...
, and is common in most temperate climates. It was introduced to many countries in the 1800s and has become invasive in the Pacific Islands
Collectively called the Pacific Islands, the islands in the Pacific Ocean are further categorized into three major island groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Depending on the context, the term ''Pacific Islands'' may refer to one of se ...
, including Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
, New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...
, and Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
. In Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...
, it is generally abundant.Parnell, J. and Curtis, T. 2012. ''Webb's An Irish Flora.'' Cork University Press. This herb also grows in Kashmir
Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...
where it is known as ''kalyuth''. It is boiled in water, which used to wash and bathe in order to relieve muscle pain.
It grows on roadsides, gardens, waste-places, and woodland edges, and usually in basic and neutral soils.
Uses
''Prunella vulgaris'' is edible, and can be used in salads, soups, stews, and boiled as a pot herb.
The herb is used in Chinese medicine to treat dizziness, red eyes, dry cough, and dermatitis and boils. It is also a main ingredient in several herbal teas in southern China.
The Nlaka'pamux drink a cold infusion of the whole plant as a common beverage. The plant is traditionally used by some Indigenous cultures to treat various physical ailments.
Phytochemicals
Phytochemical
Phytochemicals are chemical compounds produced by plants, generally to help them resist fungi, bacteria and plant virus infections, and also consumption by insects and other animals. The name comes . Some phytochemicals have been used as poison ...
s include betulinic acid
Betulinic acid is a naturally occurring pentacyclic triterpenoid which has antiretroviral, antimalarial, and anti-inflammatory properties, as well as a more recently discovered potential as an anticancer agent, by inhibition of topoisomerase. It ...
, D-camphor
Camphor () is a waxy, colorless solid with a strong aroma. It is classified as a terpenoid and a cyclic ketone. It is found in the wood of the camphor laurel (''Cinnamomum camphora''), a large evergreen tree found in East Asia; and in the k ...
, D-fenchone
Fenchone is an organic compound classified as a monoterpenoid and a ketone. It is a colorless oily liquid. It has a structure and an odor similar to those of camphor. Fenchone is a constituent of absinthe and the essential oil of fennel. Fenchon ...
, cyanidin, delphinidin, hyperoside, manganese
Manganese is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese is a transition metal with a multifaceted array of ...
, lauric acid, oleanolic acid, rosmarinic acid, myristic acid, rutin, linoleic acid
Linoleic acid (LA) is an organic compound with the formula COOH(CH2)7CH=CHCH2CH=CH(CH2)4CH3. Both alkene groups are ''cis''. It is a fatty acid sometimes denoted 18:2 (n-6) or 18:2 ''cis''-9,12. A linoleate is a salt or ester of this acid.
...
, ursolic acid
Ursolic acid (sometimes referred to as urson, prunol, malol, or 3β-hydroxyurs-12-en-28-oic acid), is a pentacyclic triterpenoid identified in the epicuticular waxes of apples as early as 1920 and widely found in the peels of fruits, as well ...
, beta-sitosterol, lupeol, and tannin
Tannins (or tannoids) are a class of astringent, polyphenolic biomolecules that bind to and precipitate proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids.
The term ''tannin'' (from Anglo-Norman ''tanner'' ...
s.
Etymology
''Prunella'' is derived from 'Brunella', a word which is itself a derivative, taken from "", theGerman
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
name for quinsy (a type of throat inflammation), which ''Prunella'' was historically used to cure.Gledhill, David (2008). "The Names of Plants". Cambridge University Press. (hardback), (paperback). pp 316, 404 ''Vulgaris'' means 'usual', 'common', or 'vulgar'.
Self-heal and heal-all refer to its uses in traditional medicine.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q158469 vulgaris Medicinal plants Plants used in Native American cuisine Flora of North America Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus