Chamomile

Description

Common chamomile is an annual plant, while Roman chamomile is a perennial; both prefer light soils, but fertilised and well drained. There is a dwarf variety of chamomile that is very well suited to forming lawns requiring little maintenance: it is called Treneague and does not flower; by planting taller, flowering species instead, fine flowering lawns can be obtained.

Leaves

The pale green leaves are, in all varieties, deeply cut and faintly scented of apple, an aroma they keep even when dried.

Flowers

The flowers are white, yellow or cream and always have at their centre a yellow cone in which the active substances are contained.

Exposure

This herb likes full sun, but tolerates partial shade.

Propagation

Chamomile can be sown; in perennial varieties the clumps can be divided, which should be done in spring.

Harvesting

Chamomile flowers should be picked when they are fully open, towards the end of summer, in the central hours of dry days, to facilitate drying. The leaves can be picked at any time of year.

Storage

The flower heads are normally stored dried.

Properties

IN THE KITCHEN: This old recipe is as simple to prepare as it is effective as a digestive: in a litre of dry white wine (of good quality) leave to steep, for two days, one hundred grams of flowers, then filter the liquid and keep it in a tightly closed bottle. A small glass after the main meal will work wonders.

Beauty

Chamomile is a true beauty product: a decoction of it, added to bathwater, has a relaxing effect, and it is also an excellent soothing remedy to apply as a compress to the skin of the face when it is irritated, or to the eyes when they are tired or reddened. People with fair hair who, after washing it, regularly rinse it with a decoction made by boiling chamomile flowers for about twenty minutes will have shiny, stronger hair with golden highlights.

Health

The calming virtue of this precious herb is so widely recognised that, in young people’s slang, when someone is seen to be nervous and short-tempered, they are advised: “camomillati!” (“have some chamomile!”). Indeed, a cup of steaming chamomile infusion has a mildly sedative, decongestant and sudorific effect, and a flavour that most people find pleasant. Chamomile infusion can also be drunk without any problem by children, for whom it is very helpful in cases of abdominal pain.

Curiosity

The Latin term "matricaria", which derives from "mater", (mother), refers to the fact that this herb was used to cure gynaecological disorders. Chamomile, however, does not only cure our own ailments, but also those of its sister plants: in fact, if it is planted next to an ailing plant, it gives it new vigour!