Toxic
Effect:
expectorant, antispasmodic
Areas of application:
Stubborn, severe cough, catarrh of the upper respiratory tract, whooping cough, asthma, old ulcers, corns, inflammation and nasty wounds, nerve inflammation and pain of all kinds.
Plant parts used:
Young leaves and shoots
Collection time:
all year round
To find:
On trees, walls, rocks, in parks, in cemeteries.
Ingredients:
Saponins, hederasaponin, glycosides, phenolcarboxylic acids, minerals, iodine, caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid
Other:
☕ Tea: Pour 1/4 liter of boiling water over 1 teaspoon of ivy leaves (dried), let it steep for 10 minutes, then strain and sweeten with honey. This tea can also be used externally to wash skin imperfections. An overdose must be avoided urgently.
🛑 The fruits and leaves are poisonous. Some people react to the sap of fresh ivy leaves with a skin rash, which can occur when picking the leaves or pruning the plant (contact dermatitis), in which case you simply put on gloves.
Ivy is considered an oracle plant for the grape harvest: if the ivy blooms beautifully, there will be plenty of wine. Ivy is the symbol of everlasting love and loyalty, which is why it has become one of the classic grave plants of today. The liana is said to indicate eternal life and immortality.
Incense using ivy resin and tiny wood particles has been passed down since ancient times. The resin, like that of spruce and fir trees, can be processed into ointments.
Some ivy plants have two different types of leaves. They only emerge when they are around 10 years old, because that is how old a plant has to be before it flowers.
Hildegard von Bingen: The ivy is useless for humans to eat, but a person with jaundice should stew it in fat and place the fat warm on the stomach, and the jaundice passes into that herb that even human skin will appear yellowish.