The Medicinal Herb Info site was created to help educate visitors about the often forgotten wisdom of the old ways of treating illnesses. Many of today's drugs and medicines were originally derived from natural ingredients, combinations of plants and other items found in nature.

We are not suggesting that you ignore the help of trained medical professionals, simply that you have additional options available for treating illnesses. Often the most effective treatment involves a responsible blend of both modern and traditional treatments.

We wish you peace and health!

Brooklime

Scientific Names

Brooklime

  • Veronica beccabunga L.
  • Primrose family

Common Names

  • Beccabunga
  • Mouth-smart
  • Neckweed
  • Speedwell (V. officinalis)
  • Water purslain (purslane is really Portulaca oleracea)

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Parts Usually Used

The plant
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Brooklime

Description of Plant(s) and Culture

Brooklime is a succulent perennial plant; its round stem grows 1-1 1/2 feet high from a creeping jointed rootstock. The leaves are glabrous, ovate or broadly elliptical, and finely serrate. The small blue flowers grow in axillary spikes from May to August. Seeds appear the month after flowering.
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Where Found

Found in wet places, as in streams and ditches, usually near watercress.
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Medicinal Properties

Diuretic, emmenagogue, febrifuge
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Uses

Fresh juice of the herb is mildly diuretic. Older herbals recommend it for intestinal disorders and anemia. Once prized, it is little used today. Used as a blood purifier, helps scurvy, increase urination, help break up kidney stones, bring on menstruation. Fried with butter and vinegar, and applied warm, it helps tumors, swellings, and inflammations.
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Formulas or Dosages

Juice: take 1 tsp. to 3 tbsp., 3 times a day. Take in milk if the stomach is sensitive.
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Nutrient Content

Vitamin C
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Bibliography

Buy It! Culpeper’s Complete Herbal & English Physician: Updated With 117 Modern Herbs, by Nicholas Culpeper, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, 1990, (reprint of 1814)

Buy It! The Herb Book, by John Lust, Bantam Books, 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY. copyright 1974.

Buy It! Webster’s New World Dictionary, Third College Edition, Victoria Neufeldt, Editor in Chief, New World Dictionaries: A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc., 15 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10023

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