How to recognize it ?
Fumitory has the Latin name of Fumaria officinalis It is also called earth smoke, earth gall, jaundice herb, and widow's weed.
The fumitory has small very cut leaves of gray color. The flowers, in the shape of tubes, are grouped in ears and are of white color to pink. They appear very early in spring, from March, and sometimes in autumn. The fruit is a globular green capsule.
How to grow it ?
A small annual herbaceous plant with more or less creeping stems up to 50 cm (20 inches), fumitory is a fragile and delicate plant that should be grown preferably in semi-shade (in the sun if the climate remains temperate). Its roots are not very extensive and can be easily pulled out. The fumitory likes any type of not too wet ground.
- Sowing : in cup, the seeds need cold stratification;
- Planting : in spring, except for frost;
- Sowing : in the fall, germination at the end of winter;
- Emergence : 1 to 2 weeks;
- Distance between plants : plant the plants close together to ensure a better support;
- Maintenance : it can be pruned to reinforce the lower shoots;
- Multiplication : seedling ;
- Soil : all types well drained, sheltered from wind;
- Compost requirements : occasional;
- Water requirements : low, regular and in case of prolonged drought.
How to harvest it ?
The flowering part of the plant is harvested between March and August, by cutting it off at ground level to dry it. One can use fumitory in infusion.
The medicinal virtues
The fumitory is able to exert effects according to the needs of the organization :
- it increases an insufficient biliary secretion;
- it decreases an excessive secretion of the bile ducts;
- it accompanies the drainage of the pancreas;
- it allows to relieve disorders coming from the liver (dyspepsia, dyskinesias, lithiasis and migraines)
- of hepatic origin;
- it allows to fight against the stress and the anxiety;
- it has a spasmolytic action of the bronchi, antihistamine and antiasthmatic;
- it allows to clean deeply the skin and the pores what allows to solve the cutaneous problems of the type eczema.
Updated on 10 February 2023 at 17:49
