Artemisia Absinthium
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 was famous goddess of forests and hills, of the hunt and also a defender of children. Artemis and the moon was linked later. 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 is a perennial herb which often grows on arid ground and in rocky areas of Asia, North Africa and the Mediterranean. After spreading from people's gardens it developed in parts of North America. Common wormwood is also known as armoise, green ginger and grande wormwood.
Wormwood plants appear beautiful with their tiny yellow flowers and silver gray leaves. One can get Wormwood oil from the tiny glands on the leaves. The Artemisia group of plants also includes tarragon, sagebrush, sweet wormwood, Levant wormwood, silver king artemisia, Roman wormwood and southernwood. The Artemisia plants are members of the Aster family of plants.
Since ancient times wormwood has been used as a herbal medicine
- Relaxing labor pains in women.
- Counteracting poisoning from toadstools and hemlock.
- One can use it as an antiseptic.
- It is used to ease digestive problems and to stimulate digestion. Wormwood is helpful in dealing with the problem of insufficient stomach acid.
- In pharmaceuticals it is used as a cardiac stimulant.
- Fevers decreases by it's use.
- One can use it as an anthelmintic to expel intestinal worms.
- 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 it was responsible for hallucinations and mental illness. Absinthe was also associated to the Bohemian culture of Parisian Montmartre with its loose morals, courtesans, artists and writers.
The effects of thujone in wormwood and THC in the drug cannabis are said to be the same. There has been an Absinthe revival since the 1990s when studies showed that Absinthe actually only contained very small amounts of thujone and that it would be impossible to drink enough Absinthe, for the thujone to be harmful, because Absinthe is such a strong spirit – you would be comatose first!
As Absinthe is two times more stronger than whisky and vodka so care should be taken while consuming it.
One is not getting the real Absinthe without Artemisia Absinthium. A lot of manufacturers make “fake” Absinthes using other herbs and flavorings. If you want the real thing you must check that they contain thujone or Common Wormwood or use essences,such as those from AbsintheKit.To prepare Absinthe containing Artemisia Absinthium one can take advantage of AbsintheKit.com.
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