Sweet Woodruff as herbal Medicinal And Its Benefits

Plants and life lives a peaceful and clam life on the earth without any propaganda. It never markets its products such as fruits, vegetables and flowers but the demand for the same is growing rapidly throughout the world. Every single home on earth relies on the vegetables and fruits and the life without plants and trees is unthinkable and beyond imagination. Everyone in the world can improve their health only when they eat fresh vegetables and fruits regularly.

This topic will deal with a plant named sweet woodruff. The botanical name of this plant is Galium odoratum. The other common names of this plant are kiss-me-quick, mugwet, rockweed, sweet grass, hay plant, woodruff, wild baby’s breath and master of the woods. This plant is native to Europe and other parts of the world. It is found naturally in Spain, Ireland, Russia, Western Siberia, Turkey, Iran, the Caucasus, China and Japan.

Sweet woodruff is also found in USA and Canada. The farmers cultivate this plant for its fragrant rich foliage and flowers. This herbaceous plant reaches a height of 50 cm long often lying flat on the ground. The fragrance rich smell is due to the presence of odiferous agent coumarin and is used as a flavor. The laceolate glabrous leaves measures 2 to 5 m long and borne in whorls of 6-9. The white starry flowers are generally produced in cymes and measures 7 mm in diameter. The fruit which measures 2-4 mm diameter is covered by small bristles. Woodruff grows well in moist, rich soils. It needs maximum irrigation during dry summers. It is ideals as a ground cover where other shady plants fail to grow. Deer hates this plant and will not eat the leaves.

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The dried plant is used in pot-pourri and as a moth repellent. The flavor is used May wine which is a famous wine in the country of Germany. Germans also use the flavor in brandy, beer, juice, jam, jelly, syrup for beer, soft drink, ice cream and herbal tea. Germans use woodruff to flavor a sherbet powder. The flowers of this plant have both male and female organs. It flowers during the months of May to July and the seeds ripen from Jul to August. The flowers are pollinated by flies, bees and self and are self-fertile. It grows well in light, medium and heavy soils and can also grow in acidic and very alkaline soils. It can grow fantastically in full shade or semi-shade. It prefers dry or moist soil and can tolerate atmospheric pollution.

Herbal tea is made from the plant’s leaves and flowers. This plant is has many curative properties and acts as antispasmodic, diaphoretic, diuretic and sedative. It can also cure cardiac problems and is used in Homeopathy. Sweet woodruff was used in herbal medicine during the middle Ages for curing the wounds and cuts. It was also used internally to cure digestive and liver diseases. These days, it is used as tonic, diuretic and ant-inflammatory diseases. The infusion is used for the treatment of sleeping disorders, nervous problems, liver problems and jaundice. It can also cure varicose veins. Excessive dosage will lead to dizziness and poisoning. Anticoagulant drugs are made out of this plant. Pregnant women should avoid this plant.