Rosemary Health Article

Description

Rosemary, a herb whose botanical name is Rosmarinus officinalis, is a sun-loving shrub, native to the south of France and other Mediterranean regions. It is widely cultivated for its aromatic and medicinal properties. This pine-scented evergreen of the Lamiaceae, or mint, family, can grow to 5 ft (1.5 m) in height in favorable settings. Rosemary thrives in chalky or sandy soil in full sun. The herb grows wild on dry, rocky slopes near the sea. Its name is derived from the Latin ros marinus, meaning "sea dew." Other common names for the herb include polar plant, compass-weed, or compass plant. The specific name, officinalis, refers to the herb's inclusion in official Western listings of medicinal herbs. Rosemary was a favored herb in early apothecary gardens.

Legend abounds around this lovely perennial known as the "herb of remembrance." It is said that rosemary will grow particularly well in gardens tended by strong-willed women. Young brides traditionally carried a sprig of rosemary in their wreaths or wedding bouquets. The young couple may even have been brought together with the magic of a touch of rosemary, as in the refrain of an old ballad: "Young men and maids do ready stand/With sweet rosemary in their hands." Greek scholars wore a bit of the pungent herb in their hair when engaged in study as an aid to increase concentration. The fragrant herb was exchanged between friends as a symbol of loyalty, and tossed onto the graves of departed loved ones. Gypsy travelers sought rosemary for its use as a rinse for highlighting dark hair, or as a rejuvenating face wash. In the fourteenth century, Queen Isabella of Hungary used an alcohol extract of the flowering herb to treat gout. In ancient Egypt the herb was buried with the pharaohs. Rosemary was believed to have magical powers to banish evil spirits. It was burned in sick rooms as a disinfectant, and was used to ward off the plague.

Rosemary's deep, woody taproot produces stout, branching, scaly, light brown stalks covered with simple, sessile narrow leaves about 1 in long and opposite, growing in whorls along the square stalks. Rosemary leaves are dark green on top and pale green on the underside with a distinctive mid vein. They curl inward along the margins. Tiny two-lipped, light blue or violet flowers grow in a cluster of five to seven blossoms each on a pair of short, opposite spikes. Each pair of flower spikes alternates along the sides of the stalk. This graceful aromatic herb blooms in late spring and early summer bearing two tiny seeds in each flower. Bees are attracted to rosemary flowers.

General use

Rosemary can be used to make an essential oil, a fixed oil, or teas and tinctures. These different products have different uses.

Volatile oil of rosemary

The volatile oil in rosemary leaves and blossoms, called a "sovereign balm" by the seventeenth-century herbalist Nicholas Culpeper, has a long history of medicinal uses in the West. Other chemical constituents of rosemary include bitters, borneol, linalol, camphene, camphor, cineole, pinene, resin, tannins, and rosmarinic acid, which acts as an antioxidant. Research has yielded promising results regarding the cancer-inhibiting effects of this antioxidant component of rosemary oil. In addition, rosemary is a circulatory stimulant. It has been shown to increase coronary blood flow, and is useful in treatment of blood pressure problems. A flavonoid known as diosmin in the volatile oil of rosemary can restore strength to fragile capillaries. Many of the traditional uses for this healing herb, discovered through trial and error and passed down through the generations, have not been clinically verified. Rosemary is still, however, officially listed as a medicinal herb in the United States Pharmacopoeia.