Friday, July 31, 2009

Have you seen...

Selfheal or Heal-all, Prunella vulgaris


Beside your path,
beneath your boot,
the small flowers barely seen,
upon each spike, in turn, to bloom,
‘round each whorl, exactly six,
tucked below each purple bonnet--
ivory cheeks, and trembling lip.

Who thinks the mighty must be tall,
when one so small is heal-all.


Heal-all, or Selfheal, Prunella vulgaris is found on almost every continent and has been used in herbal medicine for almost every ailment known to man. It is presently showing promise in research for herpes, diabetes, cancer and AIDS.
Read more about Heal-all here.


"Have you seen...." is an effort to discover the unusual beauty in things not usually appreciated for their beauty.

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3 comments:

Deborah Godin said...

This has always been a fave of mine, both to have in my lawn, and for its two pretty names.

Heather said...

Always love your "Have you seen..." posts, Nina. We have this stuff all over the place. Looks like it makes a refreshing cool beverage. I'll have to give it a try!

bill said...

I have never seen as many healalls as I have this year. Perhaps the extremely wetl weather in the northeast has made the flourish-errant seeds germinating where they otherwise might not.

Nice post of a small beautiful flower that often gets overlooked.

Thanks

bill;www.wildramblings.com