Suffolk's wildflower drugs larder

By Andrew Woodger
BBC Suffolk

Feverfew with its daisy-like flowers

We're being urged to look in the Suffolk countryside for wildflowers which can help treat common diseases.

The Suffolk Biological Records Centre (SBRC) says there is a scientific basis for many 'folklore' remedies.

However, they say we should definitely make sure we know what we're picking before using any plants or berries.

"Wise women were, and still are, using wildflowers and people are wanting to take control of their own medication," said Martin Sanford from the centre.

A word from the wise

"I'm 75 now," said Peggy Cole, Suffolk's renowned author, wildflowers expert and star of the 1974 Akenfield film which looked at changing lifestyles in rural Suffolk.

Peggy Cole - Akenfield was filmed in several villages including Charsfield

"We were taught to pick wild plants as children by our parents and grandparents and we knew what to pick and what not to pick.

"Like comfrey - I still think that's good as an ointment for sprains, bruises, leg ulcers and open wounds and we knew that if we got stung we should use a dock leaf.

"We had the countryside to ourselves to roam in but children don't have that today - it's very sad."

But some younger people are saying herbal medicines are making a comeback.

Any witch way you can

The 'bible' of wildflower medicines in the UK is Culpepper's Herbal Complete which was written in the mid-17th century and it's still available.

"Rather than having to use a prescribed medicine from the doctor and pay out large sums of money for a treatment, you can self-medicate," said Martin.

Martin Sanford in his office at Ipswich Museum

"There are obvious warnings about not dosing ourselves with things we don't know, but there are plenty of plants you can use to treat yourself for minor ailments.

"Get to know your plants and make sure you can distinguish potentially poisonous plants from the real thing.

"Pretty much every plant you can find has been used to treat something. Some of them are mythical treatments; some are effective.

"It isn't the SBRC's job to test every medicine out, but there's a good deal of literature out there including modern literature which gives the more realistic treatments."

Berries, flowers, trapped wind and tea

A selection of plants with medicinal properties in Suffolk includes elder, feverfew, fennel and the lime tree.

"There's nothing that will cure a cold because it's a virus and you've just got to go the course," said Martin. "But one of the ways the body gets rid of a cold is by having a fever and raising your temperature.

"Elderberries, usually used as a syrup boiled up with sugar and water, has a very effective way of raising the body's temperature."

The lime tree is another valuable plant - although it's not to be confused with the tropical tree which gives us the citrus lime fruit.

Lime flowers from the lime tree, also known as the linden tree

"The blossom which comes out in June is very sweetly scented, bees love it, and it's a very good sedative or cure for insomnia.

"A tea made from the dried flowers is a very effective treatment."

Feverfew is a plant which is credited with helping with migraines.

"It looks a little like an ox eye daisy. It's often seen as a weed on waste ground or in gardens, but you can easily dry the leaves and make a tea using a bit of hot water.

Fennel grows in the wild, but you won't find the white bulbed variety that you buy in the supermarket vegetable sections.

"The plant we see along the Suffolk coast doesn't have that fleshy white root," said Martin. "But it does have that same feathery green foliage and aniseed scent.

Fennel growing near the martello tower at Felixstowe Ferry Golf Club

"It's great if you've got trapped wind. If you want to relieve the pressure, chew on a bit of fennel.

"In Tudor times, one of the many remedies taken for gallstones was fennel, but that may be a myth!

"And it's a great breath freshener if you're short of mints after a few pints down the pub.

"None of the plants we've talked about are particularly toxic, so you're free to try them out and see if it works on you."

Martin Sanford and Richard Fisk are due to publish their book on the county's wildflowers called A Flora Of Suffolk.