Herbal Epicure Growing, Harvesting, and Cooking Healing Herbs

Healing Plants for Use or for Delight Aloe Aloe Vera Botanical name: Aloe vera, Liliaceae. Common name: Aloe. Description: Perennial, evergreen succulent. Height: To 2 feet. Flowers: Yellow, on long stems. Leaves: Fleshy, pale green, sometimes spotted white, with spines. Harvest: Cut leaves for gel as needed. Culture: Zones 9 and 10. Aloe will live contentedly in a container, requires fast-draining soil, and will survive in light shade. Use: Gel from aloe leaves is soothing for burns, psoriasis, and itchy scalp. Comments: When taken internally, aloe gel is a dangerously potent purgative. Nearly thirty years ago, I bought an aloe plant at a roadside stand in Florida. Despite benign neglect, that plant grew into a great strapping specimen, eventually producing a necklace of young plants at its base. Then, one fatal fall, I left the aloe family outside too long. The mother plant froze and seemed to melt away, but in the shelter of the big plant some of the babies survived--including one that lives in my sunniest window today. Aloe is an easy-to-grow, forgiving plant. Aloe has been used medicinally since pharaonic times to treat burns, to reduce excess mucus, and to embalm. It is said that Cleopatra was massaged with aloe gel to make her skin beautiful. Later, Pliny, the Roman naturalist, recommended that aloe be taken internally as a laxative. Modern scientific studies show that these traditional uses are valid. According to Dr. James Duke's database, aloe gel is anti-inflammatory and antiseptic, and is a moisturizer and a tissue restorative. It is safe and effective for external use. Aloe is superb for burns, itching, and sunburn and has been used to treat radiation burns. The leaves contain a clear gel that is tremendously soothing and speeds healing. When the gel dries, it forms a natural, see-through bandage. Mixed with almond, olive, or coconut oil, the gel is effective in healing psoriasis. The German Commission E placed aloe on its approved list as effective for constipation. However, taken internally, aloe is a powerful purgative; it is all too easy to overdose. I strongly recommend you stick to external applications with this plant. Using Aloe 1. Cut an outer leaf from the base of the plant. 2. With a sharp knife, make a slit on the flat side of the leaf from the base to the tip. Be careful not to cut all the way through. 3. Fold back the outer skin of the leaf to expose the inside. 4. Scrape out the gel with a spoon. 5. Apply the gel to burned skin, mix it into shampoo, or add it to suntan lotion.Ottesen, Carole is the author of 'Herbal Epicure Growing, Harvesting, and Cooking Healing Herbs', published 2001 under ISBN 9780345434029 and ISBN 0345434021.