ENTER CODEX

Yarrow: The Wound Healer of Ancient Battlefields

Achillea millefolium takes its genus name from Achilles, who, according to the myth, was taught by the centaur Chiron to use yarrow on the wounds of soldiers in battle. Whether or not the myth is historically accurate, yarrow pollen has been found in Neanderthal...

Schisandra: The Five-Flavor Berry

Schisandra chinensis (wu wei zi in Chinese, meaning “five-flavor berry”) occupies a unique position in the materia medica because it is almost impossible to describe its taste in conventional terms. It is simultaneously sour, sweet, bitter, salty, and...

Herbs for the Skin in Late Summer: Sunburn, Bites, and Heat

By August, summer has been doing its work on skin for several weeks: sun exposure, insect activity, swimming, heat rash, and the general abrasion of an active outdoor season. The herbs that address these specific late-summer skin situations are often growing in the...

Marshmallow Root: The Gentle Giant of Soothing Herbs

Althaea officinalis is the plant from which marshmallow confectionery was originally made: the spongy white sweet derived its name and originally its substance from the root of this tall, soft-leaved plant, whose mucilaginous root was boiled with sugar to produce the...

Burdock: The Overlooked Root That the Herbalist Loves

Arctium lappa is the plant most people recognize by its round, hooked seed heads (burs) that attached enthusiastically to clothes and animal fur throughout the autumn walks of childhood. The plant that produces those burs is less well known: a tall, large-leaved...

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