Success and Failure With Plantain Tincture and Salve

Last weekend I started the second tincture. Since there were (as usual) so many of them growing in the garden, I decided to work with plantain. The variety growing here is Plantago major. According to Bartram’s, this is “one of the most versatile of herbal medicines.” You can use the seeds, the roots, or the leaves. Taken internally, it’s an anti-histamine, anti-bacterial, a blood tonic, helps stop bleeding (such as from ulcers), a diuretic, helps with getting rid of phlegm, is both a demulcent and an astringent (moistening and drying), and acts as an antacid as a tea. Externally, it’s good for wounds. It’s got a long list of historical uses. No wonder why, when the Europeans came to North America, they planted it all over the place (and it reproduced to the point of being called Englishman’s waybread). Side note: Bartram’s mentions this combined with horehound (Marrubium vulgare) as an antidote to rattlesnake bite, called “Caesar’s Cure” after a Carolina  slave who won his freedom in 1750 by recommending plantain root and horehound leaves as an antidote. But this does not work, so don’t rely on it.

Regarding plantain’s planetary rulership, Culpeper says:  ”Its true Myzaldus and others yea almost all Astrologo-Physitians hold this to be an Herb of Mars, and they give a verisimile of a truth for it too, Viz. becaus it cures diseases of the Head and privities which are under the Houses of Mars, Aries, and Scorpio: All Diseases of the Head coming of heat are caused by Mars, for Venus is made of no such hot mettle, or at least deals in inferior parts. The truth is, it is under the command of Venus, and cures the Head by Antipathy to Mars, and the Privities by Sympathy to Venus, neither is there hardly a Martial Diseas but it cures, If I were to fortifie my Body against a Martial Diseas I would do it by this Herb as soon as by any, and may do it (it may be) when time shal serve.” This is interesting, because this herb does not have any lush flowers or sweet smell or even aromatic leaves. Its flowers are small knotty things, so I sure would not jump to the Venus identification. But it’s application to the treatment of wounds seems to be a very Venus task in herbalism. Likewise, the staunching of blood would seem to be acting directly against Mars (blood being red, etc.). At any rate, I thought it was worth noting that this Venus herb does not look like one.

Bartram’s gives a number of ways this herb can be prepared. I chose to do a folk tincture in brandy (like the one I did for ground ivy) and prepare the salve they described made of 12 parts fresh leaves, 16 parts olive oil, and 2 parts beeswax. Here’s the method for preparing the salve: “melt beeswax in the oil by gentle heat in a  suitable vessel, pyrex, etc. (not aluminum or metal). Add bruised or shredded Plantain leaves and place in a warm oven for 3 hours. Strain off when hot into pots” (p. 341).

The problem was that the leaves, as is so often the case with plantain, were dirty (I guess this is very much the Earth aspect of Venus, lol). The leaves grow in such a flat rosette and often in rather bare spots, so the rain splashes them with mud. The fibers in the leaves kind of snap like synthetic thread when you harvest the leaves. I carefully washed them while the beeswax was melting, shook off the water, roughly chopped them, and put them in the dish in my oven, which only goes down to 180F/82C. After three hours, I strained and put into a pint jar (since I had cut the recipe in half). They smelled tasty, but unfortunately, the tiny fibers have to be removed from the leaves before they are eaten, which would be very tedious indeed.

Check out the pic of the salve about 12 hours after I poured it into the jar. The combination of olive oil and beeswax has hardened nicely into a greenish waxy solid with a savory fragrance. But look at the bottom there. That’s water. And water that is sealed off from air is not a good thing, especially if there might be any chance of garden dirt being in the water. It’s a recipe for botulism. The wax part would be fine to use. I could scoop it out and put it into a separate jar, but why mess around with it? There’s plenty more plantain where that came from, and more olive oil, and more beeswax. I will redo this salve, this time making sure that I both dry off the herb better after washing it (will probably wilt it in the dehydrator on its lowest setting) and that I keep it longer in the oven. In the past when I have infused an oil with a fresh herb, I have kept the herb in the oil until the herb was brown and crisp and all the water has been completely driven off the oil. I’ve always used a pot or a rice cooker for that, not the oven. Since I was doing something a bit unfamiliar using the oven to heat the herb and oil, I slavishly followed the recipe. When the three hours of oven warmth were up, the herb was obviously depleted, but it was not brown or crisp. It was kind of a greenish brown and limp. I went ahead and strained anyhow, because the recipe said three hours. I didn’t rely on the experience I already had working with herbs in hot oil.

Lesson: Learn new things but don’t forget what you already know.

Magically, this herb would be good for stealth protection, since it grows all over lawns (showing it enjoys being around humans) and is rarely noticed. Since it’s a traditional remedy for snake and insect bites, it has been recommended as a good charm against the same, but I think since it actually does not work in that fashion, maybe that’s not a good idea.:)