Artemisia Absinthiumis the botanical and Latin name for the plant Common Wormwood. The name “Artemisia” was kept from the name of the Greek Goddess Artemis. Artemis is the name of the goddess of forests and hills, of the hunt and also a protector of children. Later Artemis and the moon was corelated. It is thought that the Latin “Absinthium” comes from the Ancient Greek for “unenjoyable” or “without sweetness”, referring to wormwood's bitter taste.
The Common Wormwood plant generally grows in rocky areas and on arid ground in Asia, North Africa and the Mediterranean. After spreading from people's gardens it developed in parts of North America. The different names for common wormwood are armoise, green ginger and grande wormwood.
The silver gray leaves and tiny yellow flowers are attraction of wormwood plants. The tiny glands on the leaves are the production area of Wormwood oil. Tarragon, sagebrush, sweet wormwood, Levant wormwood, silver king artemisia, Roman wormwood and southernwood are other types of plants of the Artemisia family. The Artemisia plants originated from the Aster family of plants.
There are various uses of wormwood as a herbal medicine
- Easing labor pains in women.
- One can check the poisoning from toadstools and hemlock.
- One can use it as an antiseptic.
- Digestive problems are relieved by using it. People lacking sufficient stomach acid can be treated with wormwood.
- As a cardiac stimulant in pharmaceuticals.
- One can use it in reducing fevers.
- To discharge intestinal worms it can act as an anthelmintic.
- As a tonic.
According to the research wormwood can be efficient on healing Alzheimer and Crohn's disease.
Effects of Artemisia Absinthium
Wormwood is a key ingredient in the liquor Absinthe, the Green Fairy, which was banned in many countries in the early 1900s. Absinthe is named after this herb which also gives the drink its characteristic bitter taste,
Absinthe was banned because of its alleged psychedelic effects. People thought that the problems of hallucinations and madness occurred by it. Absinthe was also associated to the Bohemian culture of Parisian Montmartre with its loose morals, courtesans, artists and writers.
The THC in the drug cannabis and the thujone in wormwood are said to be the same. The amount of thujone is so small in Absinthe that it cannot harm a person unless drunk in very large quantity!
One can drink Absinthe as any other strong spirit but in balanced amount.
One is not getting the real Absinthe without Artemisia Absinthium. Other herbs and flavorings are used in the manufacturing of “fake” Absinthes which are not the real Absinthe. If you want the real thing you must check that they contain thujone or Common Wormwood or use essences,such as those from AbsintheKit.One can visit AbsintheKit.com to make his own Absinthe containing Artemisia Absinthium.
Tags: absinthe, Common Wormwood, effects of Artemisia Absinthium