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CHERVIL   (MYRRHIS ODORATA)

Family: Umbelliferae

---Synonyms---British Myrrh. Anise. Great (Sweet) Chervil. Sweet Chervil. Smooth Cicely. Sweet Bracken. Sweet-fern. Sweet-Cus. Sweet-Humlock. Sweets. The Roman Plant. Shepherd's Needle. Smoother Cicely. Cow Chervil.
---Parts Used---The whole plant and seeds.
 

---Medicinal Actions and Uses---: Aromatic, stomachic, carminative and expectorant. Useful in coughs and flatulence, and as a gentle stimulant for debilitated stomachs. The fresh root may be eaten freely or used in infusion with brandy or water. A valuable tonic for girls from 15 to 18 years of age. The roots are antiseptic, and a decoction is used for the bites of vipers and mad dogs The distilled water is said to be diuretic, and helpful in pleurisy, and the essence to be aphrodisiac.

The decoction of roots in wine is also said to be effective for consumption, while the balsam and ointment cure green wounds, stinking ulcers, and ease the pain of gout.

The roots boiled and eaten with oil and vinegar, or without oil, warms old and cold stomachs oppressed with wind and phlegm, or those that have the phthisis or consumption of the lungs. It provokes women's courses and expelled the afterbirth, procures an appetite and expelled wind. The juice is good to heal ulcers of the head and face and the candied roots are held as effectual as Angelica to preserve from infection in the time of a plague and to warm and comfort a cold weak stomach.