Self-heal.

Botanical name: 

Plate 43. Prunella.

A little wild plant common about way sides, with dark green leaves, and short tufts of blue flowers. It grows six inches high; the stalk is square, and a little hairy; the leaves stand in pairs upon it, but there are seldom more than two or three pair, the great quantity of them rise immediately from the root; they are oblong, broad, blunt at the point, and not at all indented at the edges. The flowers are small; they stand in a kind of short spikes or heads: the cups of them are often purplish. The root is small and creeping and full of fibres. The juice of self-heal is astringent: it is good against purgings, with very sharp or bloody stools, and against overflowings of the menses. The dried herb made into an infusion and sweatened with honey, is good against a sore throat, and ulcers of the mouth.


The Family Herbal, 1812, was written by John Hill.