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Gladwyn, Stinking | | Name : | Gladwyn, Stinking | | Botanical : | Iris foetidissima | | Synonyms : | Gladwin. Spurge Plant. Roast Beef Plant. | | Family : | Iridaceae | | Parts Used : | Root. | | Description : | The creeping rhizomes are thick, tufted and fibrous. The leaves are firm, deep green, sword-shaped, shorter, narrower and less rigid and of a darker green than those of the Yellow Flag, and are evergreen in winter. When bruised or crushed, they emit a strong odour, at a distance not unlike that of hot, roast beef, hence its country name of 'Roast Beef Plant.' On closer acquaintance, the scent becomes disagreeable, hence the more usual common name 'Stinking Gladwyn,' and the Latin specific name.
It flowers from June to August, but sparingly, and the corollas, of a dull, livid purple colour, rarely bluish or yellowish, are smaller than those of the other flags and not fragrant at night.
The flowers are followed by triangular seed-vessels, which, when ripe, open, disclosing beautiful orange-red coloured seeds. | | Uses : | Antispasmodic, cathartic, anodyne. Iris foetidissima has been employed for the same medicinal purposes as the Yellow Flag and is equally violent in its action. A decoction of the roots acts as a strong purge. It has also been used as an emmenagogue and for cleansing eruptions. The dried root, in powder or as an infusion, is good in hysterical disorders, fainting, nervous complaints and to relieve pains and cramps.
Taken inwardly and applied outwardly to the affected part, it is an excellent remedy for scrofula.
The use of this Iris was well known to the Ancients and is referred to by Theophrastus, in the fourth century before Christ.
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