Ramsons

(Allium ursinum L., Liliaceae)

Also called: Broad-leaved Garlic, Wild Garlic, Bear's garlic (US and Canada).

Description: Perennial plant 25-50cm (10-20in) high with elongated yellowish-white, onion-like bulb and two or three large large, petioled, shiny, lanceolate leaves.
The stout, more or less triangular, flowering stem is terminated by an umbel of 15-25 flowers, each 1.5cm (0.6in) wide with 6 white or pink petals and characterized by a garlicky smell.
Flowering: AprilJune.
The plant's blackseeds are spread mostly by ants.

Part Used: Usually the fresh plant. Rarely the dried plant or the expressed juice.

Habitat and Collection: A perennial plant that grows in moist woods, forests, woody ravines, and damp shady places, congregating in large patches of growth. Not found in dry places. Throughout central and southern Europe. In Britain, abundant in some places. The fresh plant may be collected in the summer and autumn. For drying, the plants should be collected when in flower and dried as rapidly as possible at not greater than 40°C (104"F).

Constituents and Action: Volatile oil containing sulphur compounds, in combination in the intact fresh plant.
Astringent, expectorant, said to be helpful in arteriosclerosis, including advanced conditions, for liver problems, and for pinworms.
It is also good for diarrhea, colic, and lack of appetite.
It has been used to treat gastro-intestinal catarrh with both diarrhea and constipation, as well as emphysema with bronchitis.
It has been found to effect a slow, long-lasting lowering of blood pressure.
It can be used like garlic, especially as an intestinal antiseptic stimulating bile secretion.
As a mild dilator of blood vessels it causes reduction of blood pressure (weak action).
Applied to the skin it is rubefacient.

Usage: Best taken internally as aas a salad green, as a vegetable, or in a soup.
As an infusion it is less efficacious and is only rarely used.
Must be used fresh (the bulb can be dried but not the rest of the plant).
It is used principally as a depurative for springtime ailments.
It is also used for hypertension (arteriosclerosis), for diarrhoea and for distension.
Externally the bruised leaves may be applied to abscesses 'and boils.