Wild Chamomile

(Matricaria recutita L. - M. chamomilla auct., Compositae)

Also Called: German Chamomile, Single Chamomile. Matricaria.

Description: The annual form of chamomile is also called German chamomile.
It grows to 20 inches and has feathery foliage with daisy-like flowers like it's cousin.
Stems erect, branched, up to 60cm (2ft) high.
Leaves 2-3 pinnate, the ultimate segments needle-like, more or less glabrous.
Capitula, terminating slender peduncles, 1-1.5cm (0.4-0.6in) in diameter with single row of white ligulate florets and, in the centre, numerous yellow tubular florets arranged on a markedly conical receptacle.
The flowers are scented, but the foliage is not.
Flowering: May-September.

Parts Used: Dried flowerheads: rarely also the dried flowering plant.

Habitat and Collection Widespread in southern Europe in fields, waste places and as a garden plant.
Native and locally abundant in England and Wales as a weed of cultivation or in waste places.
Cultivated at times from seed sown in late autumn (frost aids germination) or in early spring.
The drug is collected when the capitula are fully expanded and is dried in the shade at less than 35° C (95° F).
Commercial cultivation is economically practicable only if cheap labour is available.

Constituents and Action: Volatile oil, mucilage and an antispasmodic substance.
Wild chamomile is used mainly as an anti-inflammatory and anti0septic; it is also antispasmodic mildly sudorific.
Indigestion, nausea, insomnia, inflammation, wound healing.
German Chamomile is most often used for medicinal purposes, and is usually administered as a tea.
It can also be administered as a compress for external healing and as a bath for babies.
Here are a few uses:
* Soothes and relaxes at bedtime.
* Relieves restlessness, teething problems, and colic in children.
* Relieves allergies, much as an antihistamine would.
* Aids digestion when taken as a tea after meals.
* Relieves morning sickness during pregnancy.
* Speeds healing of skin ulcers, wounds, or burns.
* Treats gastritis and ulcerative colitis.

Forms available: Tea, salves, tinctures, essential oils; ingredient in bath and body-care products.
Some products are standardised to 1.2% apigenin/0.5% essential oil.

Usage: Internally mainly as a tisane (infuse 1 tablespoonful of drug in 1 litre (1.75pt) of cold water-do not heat) for disturbances of the stomach associated with pain, for sluggish digestion, for diarrhoea and nausea.
More rarely and not very effectively, for inflammations of the urinary tract and for painful menstruation.
Externally the infusion is used in compresses, or the drug in powder form may be applied to wounds slow to heal and for skin eruptions and infections such as shingles, boils.
A lso for haemorrhoids and for inflammations of the mouth, the throat and the eyes.

Caution: High doses produce vomiting and vertigo.
People allergic to other members of the aster family, such as ragweed, may be allergic to camomile. Camomile is associated with rare contact dermatitis. It also may interact with anticoagulant drugs.