Leaves
Balm, Lemon: Light green oval leaves that smell and taste of artifical lemon. Used in foods and drinks; considered an aid against melancholy. Fresh leaves are used to polish furniture Beekeepers use it to charm bees into a new hive. (The flowers do attract bees!) Served as tea.
Basil: dark green leaves with a 'warm' spicy taste. Used in cooking-- for potage or boiled greens, in salads and green pickles. Symbolic of both love and hate. Culpeadre cautions that smelling it too much may breed a scorpion in the head.
Belladonna: bell-shaped flowers purple with green tinges and faintly scented. The fruits are berries, which are green ripening to a shiny black. Used in moderate amounts as an anesthetic and in greater amounts as a poison.
Borage: large hairy leaves that taste of cucumber, are used in salads and cooked greens, and in drinks. It is associated with courage.
Costmary or Alecost: narrow long sweet-scented leaves sometimes eaten in salad or used to season ale; also used to drive away bugs & moths.
Horehound: wooly leaves with a nasty taste. Horehound cough syrups and drinks are prescribed for chesty and head-colds and coughs.
Laurel, or bay-leaves: Are imported as dried leaves (and berries) or potted plants from Southrun, as bay will not grow well in Westrun or the Provinces. Bay leaves are used in incense and also in cooking and Bay leaf crowns are a Barasin sign of achievement.
Marjoram: a small-leaved plant related to oregano with a lighter flavor. Used in cooking, in Elven wine, in brewing Dwarfwort, and in medicines to 'comfort' the stomach.
Mint: all kinds are used in food and medicine. Mint vinegar is used as a mouthwash; mint sauce restores the appetite. Used for all stomach ailments, in fevers and in treating venom and wounds.
Mugwort: gray-green strong-smelling leaves. A charm for travellers and used in foot ointments; also used in treating women's ailments. It is NOT for internal use.
Rosemary: pine-scented leaves, symbolic of wisdom and faithfulness. The flowers, boiled in tea, are an all-purpose medicine. It may bes it boiled in wine for a face wash. Putting the leaves under your pillow guards against nightmares. The ashes of the wood, burnt, are used for cleaning teeth. Among the Realms brides and grooms exchange rosemary wreaths instead of rings; rosemary is also planted or strewn on graves. Rosemary is burned as an incense to kill or prevent infection, including the various plagues.
Rue: a sour-smelling periennial with rounded leaves, also called 'the herb of grace' because it is used as a holy water sprinkler. Used to treat venomous bites, and poor eyesight. Do not use internally!
Sage: a shrub with gray-green sharp-tasting leaves, symbolic of age and wisdom. The leaves are used in salads and green sauces and as a spring tonic. A tonic that is supposed to 'clean out' the system.
Thyme: a low, creeping plant with tiny leaves, symbolic of courage. Used in cooking, and in baths and as an astringent. Burned as to fumigate against infection and to scent sacrifices. There are lots of varieties of thyme; they all have different scents. Ladies will sometimes embroider a thyme sprig in flower, along with a bee, on favors for their favorite knights.
Yarrow: a fringey periennial with manyparted flowers. Used to treat headaches and wounds, especially battle wounds, and the bite of mad dogs.
Roots & Rhizomes
Angelica: a very tallgreen plant whose stalks are cooked like celery or candied and whose leaves & roots are used against fevers, plague, and illness of all kinds.
Calamus, aka Sweet Flag: the rushes of sweet flag are strewn on the floors of Halfling houses; the roots are dried and ground for use in body powders. Sometimes also used in food.
Galingale: rhizome of a gingerlike Eastrun plant, imported usually as dried strips. There are two kinds, the greater and the lesser. An ingredient in spice mixes: powder-douce and powder-fort. Similar to ginger but more spicey, peppery and complex.
Ginger: rhizome of a tropical plant. Travels as either whole roots, dried slices or crystalized (preserved in sugar) slices, packed in ginger jars. The dried slices are often powdered for use in recipes. Gingerbread is a popular sweet cake, sold in decorated slices by guilds. Suspected of provoking lust, but widely used in saucing meats, in cakes, and sidedishes anyway. Its warmth is used medicinally to treat stomach problems, and as a remedy for the various plague.
Flowers
Calendula: round yellow flowers that look similar to regular marigolds but are a different species. Associated with the sun, they are said to follow its progress across the sky. Flower petals are used in broths and tonics, and in treatments to strengthen the heart. Now also used in skin creams.
Chamomile: a short, creeping fringy plant with daisylike flowers. Used in handwashing waters and for headaches. Lawns and garden seats are planted with chamomile, for it smells the sweeter for being trodden on. Used to treat fever and excitement.
Hops: the cone-shaped flowers of the hop vine are used to flavor Dwarfwort. Also used as a sedative (to make people sleep).
Lavender: dried purple flowers. Used in food, and in refreshing washes for headaches; a cap with lavender flowers quilted in it keeps headaches at bay. Used extensively in baths, as a personal scent and as a moth repellent.
Roses: petals of white, pink and red roses [damask, apothecary, and dog roses among others] and the distilled water made from them is widely used in food as well as for scent, and adds to medical preparations to strengthen the patient generally.
Saffron: the inner parts of a kind of crocus flower. Saffron crocus can be grown in Westrun, but the best comes from the Provinces. Cooks use it extensively in both sweet and savory dishes, especially soups and grains, for flavor and color. Used to treat infections.
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