HERB - Tobacco and other Smoking Herbs

[Betty Pillsbury]

I found Tussilago farfara (commonly known as Coltsfoot) in Magic and
Medicine of Plants.  Published by Reader's Digest.  1986.  

It states:  "From ancient times, people have used coltsfoot as a cough
and asthma remedy.  The herb has been a main ingredient in cough syrups
and asthma teas; the smoke has been inhaled to relieve bronchial
congestion since Greek and Roman times; and after the introduction of
smoking from America to Europe, cotlsfoot became the basic part of the
herbal smoking mixtures to which asthmatics restorted for several
hundred years - up to the modern discovery of antihistamines and other
more effective drugs.  Herbalists also applied crushed coltsfoot leaves
to burns and skin ailments."  

WARNING:  Laboratory tests on rodents indicate that coltsfoot may cause
cancer if taken in large doses or repeated small doses.  Do not use
internally.

I grew up in NY state and coltsfoot is one of the earliest spring
flowers there.  The yellow flowers appear before the leaves come out.
For this reason, it is also knows as son-before-the-father.

Betty Pillsbury
AKA Bronwynn O'Loughlin

Betty P.
mailto:flyingneedle at webtv.net
http://www.vintagevogue.com/html/betty_pillsbury.html
http://www.queststudios.com/heritage/profil04.html

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