BASIL    OGYMUM BASILICUM
This is the herb which all authors are together by the ears about, and rail at one another, like lawyers. Galen and Dioscorides hold it not fitting to be taken inwardly, and Chesippus rails at it with downright Billingsgate rhetoric.. Pliny and the Arabian physicians defend it.
This is the Garden or Sweet Basil. It has one upright stalk, branching on all sides with two leaves at every joint, a little snipped about the edges. The flowers are small and whitish.
Where to find it: It grows in gardens.

Flowering time: Mid to late summer.
Astrology: A herb of Mars and under the Scorpion, and therefore called Basilicon. It is no marvel if it carry a kind of virulent quality with it.
Medicinal virtues: Applied to the place bitten by venomous beasts, or stung by a wasp or hornet, it speedily draws the poison to it. Every like draws its like. This herb and Rue will never grow together, nor near one another; and we know Rue is as great an enemy to poison as any that grows. It expelleth both birth and afterbirth and as it helps the deficiency of Venus in one kind, so it spoils all her actions in another. 1 dare write no more of it.
Modern uses: Basil is a popular culinary herb. It is aromatic, and carminative. It will expel flatulence and help to ease griping pains in the abdomen. The essential oil obtained from the plant contains camphor. As a medicine Basil is taken in the form of an infusion.

BIRCH TREE   BETULA PENDULA (=B. ALBA)

T he juice of the leaves is good to wash sore mouths.
The Silver Birch or European Birch is a largish tree with many boughs and slender branches which bend downward. The leaves are like Beech leaves but smaller and dented about the edges. It bears catkins like those of the Hazel Nut tree.
Where to find it: It grows in woods.
Flowering time: Spring.
Astrology: It is a tree of Venus.
Medicinal virtues: The juice of the leaves, or the distilled water of them, breaks the stone in the kidneys or bladder, and is good for sore mouths.
Modern uses: The bark and leaves are used in preparations for skin diseases. Distillation of the bark yields Birch tar oil, an astringent ingredient of ointments for eczema and psoriasis. Birch tea is an infusion of the leaves. It is bitter tasting but helpful in gout and rheumatic complaints.

BITTER SWEET   SOLANUM DULCAMARA
It is good to remove witchcraft both in men and beast, and all sudden diseases whatsoever.
A climbing plant, it grows to a man's height, or even higher. Also known as Mortal, Woody Nightshade, Felon-wort and Amara Dulcis, it bears many longish and pointed leaves which fall off at the approach of winter. It produces berries which are toxic.
Where to find it: Moist and shady places. It twines itself around hedgerow plants.
Flowering time: Midsummer. The berries ripen towards the end of the summer.
Astrology: I t is under the planet of Mercury.
Medicinal virtues: Being tied about the neck it is a remedy for vertigo or dizziness of the head. The Germans hang it about the necks of their cattle when they fear any evil bath betided them. Country people bruised the berries and applied them to felons, thereby ridding their fingers of such troublesome guests.
Modern uses: This is a narcotic, diuretic, expectorant and depurative. The plant contains toxic alkaloids and in overdosage it will paralyse the central nervous system. It is, therefore, not recommended for domestic use and it is not widely used professionally. The herb was an official medicine until 1907, the twigs and root-bark being the parts used. The action of the medicine is to increase skin and kidney function. It has, therefore, been used for obstinate skin diseases and rheumatism. A decoction is made from the fluid extract. Ten teaspoonfuls of extract are added to 2 pt (1.1 1)of water which is boiled down to 1 Pt (568 ml). The dosage is 1/2.-2 flOz (14-56 ml) in milk two to three times a day. Homoeopathic physicians prepare their own medicine from the leaves, flowers and berries of other species of Solanum.  

BLACKBERRY    RUBUS FRUCTICOSUS
The berries area powerful remedy against the poison of the most venomous serpents.   
Blackberries are so well known that they need no description.
Where to find it: The Blackberry or Bramble when not being trained to grow up walls and fences in gardens will be found in hedgerows.
Flowering time: The blossoms and the fruits may be seen together in the late summer.
Astrology. It is a plant of Venus in Aries. If any ask why Venus is so prickly,   tell them 'tis because she is in the house of Mars.
Medicinal virtues: The buds, leaves and branches, while green, are of good use in ulcers and putrid sores of the mouth and throat and for quinsy, and likewise to heal other fresh wounds and sores. The unripe flowers and fruits are very binding and so profitable for the bloody flux, laxes and for spitting of blood. The decoction or powder of the root is good to break or drive forth gravel and the stone in the reins and kidneys. The leaves and brambles can be used as a lotion for sores in the mouth or secret parts. The juice of the berries mixed with the juice of Mulberries bind more effectually and help all fretting and eating sores and ulcers. The distilled water of the branches, leaves and flowers, or of the fruit, is pleasant and effectual in fevers and hot distempers.
Modern uses: The root and leaves are astringent and toning. The root is more potent. An infusion of 1 oz (28 g) of leaves or root to 1 Pt (568 ml) of boiling water is taken in doses of 2 fl oz (56 ml) for simple diarrhoea. The American Blackberry (Rubus villosus) has similar properties.

BLUE-BOTTLE   CENTAUREA CYANUS
It is a remedy against the poison of the scorpion.
We know it now as the Cornflower, a most attractive wild plant, but it was called Cyanus because of its blue colour and also Hurtsickle because its tough stems blunted the edges of the farmer's sickle as he reaped the corn. Another name is Blue-blow. Its leaves spread upon the ground, being of whitish-green colour. The flowers are an innumerable company set in a scaly head.
Where to find it. In cornfields.

Flowering time: From late spring until the corn is harvested.
Astrology: Under the dominion of Saturn ... cold, dry and binding. Medicinal virtues: The powder or dried leaves is given with good success to those that are bruised by a fall, or have broken a vein inwardly, and void much blood at the mouth. Taken in the water of Plantain, Horsetail or the Greater Co m frey, it is a remedy against the poison of the scorpion and resisteth all venoms and poison. The seed or leaves taken in wine is good against the plague and all infectious diseases and in pestilential fevers. T h e juice put into wounds doth quickly solder up the lips of them together and heals ulcers and sores in the mouth. Thejuice dropped into the eyes takes away heat and inflammation.
Modern uses: The flowers are occasionally used for their tonic and stimulant properties, but the Blessed Thistle (Carbenia benedicta) which has similar properties is now more popular with today's herbalists. The Cornflower gives an infusion a bluish colour. Its main uses are in the treatment of dyspepsia and as an eye lotion.

BORAGE     BORAGO OFFICINALIS
The leaves, flowers and seeds are good to expel pensiveness and melancholy.
A hardy annual with prickly hairs, oval leaves and blue flowers. The stems grow to about 18 inches (46 cm) high.
Where to find it: It is grown in gardens to attract bees and may be found wild on rubbish dumps and near houses.
Flowering time: Early to midsummer.
Astrology: Jupiter and Leo, great strengtheners of nature.
Medicinal virtues: The leaves and roots are used to good purpose in putrid and pestilential fevers to defend the heart and to resist and to expel the poison or venom of other creatures. The seed and leaves are good to increase the milk in women's breasts.   The juice made into a syrup is put with other cooling, opening and cleansing herbs to open obstructions and help the yellow jaundice. Mixed with Fumitory it helpeth the itch, ringworms and tetters, or other spreading scabs and sores. The distilled water helpeth the redness and inflammations of the eyes. The dried herb is never used, always the green.
Modern uses. It is now classified as a diuretic with demulcent and emollient properties. French herbalists use it for colds, fevers and lung complaints such as bronchitis and pneumonia. An infusion of the leaves - 1 oz (28 g) to 1 pt (568 m l ) of boiling water - is taken in doses Of 2 fl OZ (56 ml). A poultice is made from the leaves to reduce inflammatory swellings. The diuretic property of the infusion makes Borage useful in rheumatism. Recently, the oil from the seeds has been found to be a rich source of gamma linolenic acid (GLA), the same substance as in evening primrose oil, which is popularly used for a number of conditions including skin diseases such as eczema, and also for pre-menstrual tension and painful breasts, and migraine. Borage is also available as a homoeopathic medicine.