Effect:
heart strengthening, warming, migraine-relieving, diuretic, stomach strengthening
Areas of application:
Stomach pressure, heart problems, leucorrhea, menstrual problems, kidney problems, bladder diseases, poisoning, mucus in the lungs, old age, skin rashes, gout, jaundice, migraines, digestive disorders, nervous disorders, facilitates childbirth, stimulates metabolism
Plant parts used:
root and seeds
Collection time:
spring and autumn
To find:
On mountain meadows, poor grasslands, low-lime, moderately acidic soils in higher low mountain ranges.
Ingredients:
Oil, essential oil, ligustilide, monoterpenes, gum, resin, sugar, starch, caffeic acid derivatives
Miscellaneous:
☕ Tea: 1 teaspoon of crushed root is added to 1/4 liter of cold water, heated to boiling, left to stand for a few minutes and strained. 2 cups a day are enough.
Spignel is a perennial plant and can grow to a height of between 15 and 60 cm. It forms a rhizome that is cylindrical, long and thick and has a tuft of fibers at the top. The rhizome can root up to 1 meter deep. The stems are upright to ascending, bare, angularly grooved and only have one or two leaves in the upper part. The basal leaves are divided into a long petiole and leaf blade. The outline of the leaf blade is elongated or egg-shaped and it is pinnately divided two to four times. The sections of the last order are hair-thin and almost whorled. The upper leaves are often only pinnately divided once and sit on the leaf sheaths. The leaf sheaths of the basal leaves are short, very broad and egg-shaped. Many flowers are arranged in a double umbel inflorescence. The umbels have 6 to 15 rays; with or without bracts from one to eight. Its rays are smooth and almost bare, but unevenly elongated when the fruit is in season. There are three to eight bracts. The five petals are white or yellowish-white. It blooms from May to August.
Spignel can be used as a spice in the kitchen and goes well with quark dishes, salads, herb butter, soups, sauces, vegetable dishes and for making herb cheese. It has a strong, hearty taste. In the Ore Mountains it is used in the "Köppernickel soup". The flowers are an edible decoration. The "Spignel" schnapps, which is well known in Bavaria, especially in the Bavarian Forest, and is sold in cylindrical, brown earthenware bottles, is made either from the Spignel plant (root) or from the Motherwort (Ligusticum mutellina).
Spignel (Meum athamanticum) has been grown in monastery gardens since the Middle Ages. All plants that contain the word "bär" are very special herbs that have the power and strength of their big brother and have strong, renewing mechanisms of action.
Spignel is similar to fennel, but differs in the root. It is also called alpine fennel.
To protect the native flora, Spignel is grown in Germany by specialized farmers. They cultivate Spignel under high environmental standards and requirements for the distilleries in the Bavarian Forest as well as for other purposes such as herbal medicine or herbal liqueurs. (Wikipedia)
Hildegard von Bingen: The Spignel fennel is warm and has dry green power. Whoever has gout, let him eat the powder with bread, and whoever has jaundice, crush the root in vinegar and eat it that way. Then let him also make a soup with this vinegar and he will be healed.