Wood Betony as an Herb

(Stachys officinalis)

"Sell your coat and buy betony", admonished an Italian proverb of the Middle Ages.

Wood betony was once considered an herbal "magic bullet" for dispelling a wide variety of diseases. Antonius Musa, chief physician to the Roman emperor Caesar August, catalogued 47 conditions he treated with the herb.

Medicinal Uses for Wood Betony

Throughout the centuries, faith in its virtues as a panacea for all ills was thoroughly ingrained in the popular estimation. It was largely cultivated in the physic gardens, both of the apothecaries and the monasteries, and may still be found growing about the sites of these ancient buildings.

Robert Turner, a physician writing in the latter half of the seventeenth century, recounts nearly thirty complaints for which Betony was considered efficacious, and adds, "I shall conclude with the words I have found in an old manuscript under the virtues of it: 'More than all this have been proved of Betony.' "

Betony was once the sovereign remedy for all maladies of the head, and its properties as a nervine and tonic are still acknowledged, though it is more frequently employed in combination with other nervines than alone. It is useful in hysteria, palpitations pain in the head and face, neuralgia and all nervous affections. In the Medicina Britannica (1666) we read: 'I have known the most obstinate headaches cured by daily breakfasting for a month or six weeks on a decoction of Betony made with new milk and strained.'

Wood Betony was once used to expel worms, treat stomach disorders, gout, headaches, and spleen troubles. Now it is used mostly as a flavoring in herbal teas.

In addition to its medicinal virtues, Betony was endowed with power against evil spirits. On this account, it was carefully planted in churchyards and hung about the neck as an amulet or charm, sanctifying, as Erasmus tells us, 'those that carried it about them,' and being also 'good against fearful visions' and an efficacious means of 'driving away devils and despair.'

To make Betony tea, pour a pint of boiling water on an ounce of the dried herb. A wineglassful of this decoction three times a dayproves a benefit against languid nervous headaches.

The dried herb may also be smoked as tobacco, combined with Eyebright and Coltsfoot, for relieving headache.

A pinch of the powdered herb will provoke violent sneezing. The dried leaves formed an ingredient in Rowley's British Herb Snuff, which was at one time quite famous for headaches.

The fresh leaves are said to have an intoxicating effect. They have been used to dye wool a fine yellow.

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DISCLAIMER: These pages are presented solely as a source of INFORMATION and ENTERTAINMENT and to provide stern warnings against use where appropriate. No claims are made for any historical herbal treatment. In no way can the information provided here take the place of the standard, legal, medical practice of any country. Some plants are extremely toxic and should be used only by licensed professionals. Some plants used for illness in the past have proven to be ineffective for the problems to which they were applied.