Herbs (Βότανα)

As part of the interesting side of my work, I recently proofread a thesis listing over 350 species of flora, mainly low-lying shrubs that are used in similar ways to herbs, that grow in Palestine. As the study focussed on plants that grew in a Mediterranean country, many of them were recognisable to myself too, as part of the shared nature of Greece with other Mediterranean countries. Apart from food, herbs have always been used as a source of medicine from past times, and are the main basis of medicines in modern times, so the listing of plants used as food and medicinal uses, not to mention for social, animal and other uses, has been important throughout mankind's history:

"The more popular knowledge on the uses of wild plants becomes obsolete, the more indispensable becomes the need to record this information, not only for historical reasons, but also in view of unveiling products and uses, long forsaken in the course of time; this is knowledge to be exploited for rural development and the so-called multiplier effect." (Tamara Saleh, Unpublished MAICh thesis, 2013)

The herbs description contained scientific, common and English names, with information on location, photos, preparation methods and uses of each herb. Local herb specialists were used to collect the data, so the informaiton was gathered first hand from the field, using the knowledge of local shepherds, cooks and shop owners with a family history of herb gathering. Plants as common and mundane as wild grasses were documented in standardised fashion, with numbered references for the sources of the information:

Adiantum capillus-veneris L. Family: Adiantaceae		WAY OF PRESERVATION Leaves are air-dried for 3-4 days and kept in bags [19].
Distribution in the Mediterranean: Palestinian Territories: NATIVE [4] Distribution in PAL T.: Nablus Mountain, Al Quds and Al Khalil Mountains, Jordan Ghour, Shafa al Ghour, Dead Sea Region, Barriyat Al Quds and Barriyat Al Khalil [4]. Occurrence: rocky, humid habitats of Mediterranean woodlands, shrublands, semi-steppe shrublands, shrub-steppes, deserts and extreme deserts [39]. Life form: hemicryptophyte [39]. Abundance: COMMON [4]. Blooming months: [4, 39]  12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
English name(s): Maidenhair fern	Common name(s) in Palestine:  كزبرة البير Kuzbaret al beer
USES Material: Parts used: leaves. COSMETIC. As a hair wash to remove dandruff [21]. Medicinal: Parts used: leaves. A decoction of leaves is an emmenagogue, used to treat cough [8]. Green leaf extraction is placed on affected areas of snakebites [7].

Interest in herbs is growing more and more these days, as people try to source their needs through nature. A friend from the US who knows that I rely on the use of a variety of local herbs in my cooking and use local herbs as teas in the winter sent me a link describing a seed pack containing medicinal herbs. She was wondering whether she should buy something like this to get a herb garden started. Some of the so-called medicinal 'herbs' in that seed pack are also considered common 'weeds', which basically means that they can even be found growing around her.

The seed pack basically represents how seemingly reputable international companies have commercialised the mundane, being, in this case, the health aspect of common plants for everyday use. It's good to see companies/people showing a healthy interest in the all-things-natural sphere, especially in countries whose biodiversity has been negatively affected by mass streamlining, the standardisation of nearly everything and a greatly reduced biodiversity in a more sterile environment. But a deeper look into what those medicinal herb seed packs contain makes me question their integrity. It contains a wide range of seeds that originate from different continents and climates. Plants from such differing environments need their own special conditions to grow appropriately. Acclimatisation to new environments needs time, usually over a long period (years) due to seasonal differences in various places.

Anthemis melampodina Delile                 Family: Compositae Giseke		PRESERVATION Flowers are air-dried for 3-4 days and kept in bags [19]. USES Medicinal: Parts used: flowers. An infusion helps to relieve colds and flu, cough, and all the symptoms of colds [7, 8].
Distribution in the Mediterranean: EGY, ISR, LIB (?), PAL, SYR [38]. Palestinian Territories: NATIVE Distribution in PAL T.: Dead Sea Region, Barriyat Al Quds and Barriyat Al Khalil [4]. Occurrence: dry, sandy habitats of semi-steppe shrublands, shrub-steppes, deserts and extreme deserts [39]. Life form: therophyte/ annual [39]. Abundance: RARE [4].                        Blooming months: [4, 39]  12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
English name(s): Negev Chamomile	Common name(s) in Palestine: Arbian أربيان

The seed pack also contains chamomile which grows wild in our garden every year without being sown; I pick it, dry it, store it and throw what I didn't use away once I can dry the new season's bounty. Nettle seed is also included in the pack, and that too grows wild - so wild that Greek gardens are full of them throughout the cooler season (it has started growing now in my garden - I use it in my spanakopita). For this reason, nettle is considered a weed - you don't really need to pay $59 to buy seeds for it to proliferate your garden with; in short, you are being ripped off. What's more, both chamomile and nettle have one growing season, after whcih they go to seed. The seeds lie dormant in the field where the plants were growing until the next season. Don't be surprised if your potted weeds died after the growing season; you will also need to buy more seeds if the seeds were hybrids.

Urtica pilulifera L.                                    Family: Urticaceae Juss.		PRESERVATION Plant material is air-dried for 3-4 days and kept in bags [19]. USES Food: Parts used: leaves. Eaten as a salad [14]. Material: Parts used: leaves. HYGIENE. The hair is washed with leaf infusion as anti-dandruff treatment. Poisonous: Allergenic [40].
Distribution in the Mediterranean: ALB, ALG, BOS, CRO, CYP, EGY, FRA, GRE, ISR, ITA, LEB, LIB, MAL, MON, MOR, PAL, POR, SLO, SPA, SYR, TN, TUR [38]. Palestinian Territories: NATIVE  Distribution in PAL T.: Nablus Mountain, Al Quds and Al Khalil Mountains, Shafa Al Ghour, Jordan Ghour, Barriyat Al Quds and Barriyat Al Khalil [4]. Occurrence: ruderal, nutrient rich habitats of Mediterranean woodlands and shrublands, semi-steppe shrublands, shrub-steppes, deserts and extreme deserts [39]. Life form: therophyte/ annual [39]. Abundance: COMMON [4]. Blooming months: [4, 39]  12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
English name(s): Roman nettle	Common name(s) in Palestine: قريص نجمي  Kurais najmi
USES Medicinal: Parts used: whole plant, roots, leaves, seeds. A decoction of plant material is used in case of coughing. A decoction of roots is consumed to treat anaemia [43]; a foliage decoction for the stomach, intestinal pain and inflammations, liver disorders and circulatory system [5]; ground, roasted seeds with honey to treat bed wetting [5]; a decoction of leaves in combination to consume in case of urination problems [6]; a decoction of leaves in combination as a bath to treat infections of the genitourinary tracts [6]; a decoction of foliage, externally on a bandage to treat aching, tired feet, legs [6]; dried, milled leaves with olive oil applied on injuries, itches, burns [7].

Herbs are the main basis of a wide variety of modern-day medicines, and thousands of books have been written on the use of different naturally growing wild herbs (often used for animal feed or regarded as weeds these days). While growing up in NZ, I recall being fascinated by these books containing so much information about the common plants found growing around me without any help whatsoever save some rain. But at the time, very few people actually applied this knowledge in their daily life - such information was viewed as interesting but not highly applicable. With almost twice as many people living on the planet as there were back in my youth, and with greater issues surrounding food insecurity, this is changing of course; even so, knowledge and information is still being withheld from most people.

The Western world has commercialised the mundane and common to the point of omitting to inform people about how to recognise and value what we commonly see growing around us. Instead of educating people to have knowledge about what naturally occurs in our environment, we are living in a world which encourages us to buy chemical remedies whose combinations of artificial substances may actually be causing us more harm than the good they write on the packets. People are being encouraged to buy 'stuff' without being educated on how they can acquire the same stuff in a more natural form. We live in a nasty world, where knowledge is now being used as an elite weapon, and people are kept ignorant of truth in many ways. I've noticed this even in some blogs, which feed their readers with so very little information, and on a highly irregular basis, until the blog owner publishes a pricey book that contains 'all the knowledge'.

For more information, click here.

Here in Crete we still use herbs as ancient as our civilisation. We can still gather them in the wild (with restrictions), and many people have transplanted them from the wild into their own gardens, so they still contain their wild properties (they aren't hybrids). Despite world marketing trends, Greece still hasn't worked out an appropriate way to commercialise her indigenous herbs into a marketable profitable business. It is still being done rather haphazardly, and of course, we lose ground in the tight market every single second we delay, despite having some of the most marketable medicinal plant species in the world, in a country that is regarded as having the highest index of biodiversity levels in Europe.

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Kritamos - Rock samphire (Κρίταμος)

Right along the Cretan coastline, kritamos - known as rock samphire in English - continues to flourish, together with caper bushes.

Kritamos in flower

Kritamos - Critmum maritimum - is pickled in the same way as capers; all parts of the plant - stems, leaves and seed pods, except the flower - can be prepared in this way for later use as a flavouring in salads.

The leaves and the most tender stalks are the best for pickling. 

It is used in pretty much the same way as pickled peppers, pickled capers and pickled purslane. In its fresh form, it has an appealing smell, something like a mixture of fennel and peppermint. No surprise that it is also known as sea fennel. When pickled in vinegar, its aroma and taste change, but it still adds an interesting dimension to a potato or tomato salad.

Peppers, purslane, capers and kritamos in the small jar.

As with all foraged greens, you need to be a little picky about where you pick them, by ensuring that the area where you forage is not polluted or contaminated in any way. I picked the kritamos from my local beach, so I don't intend to use it in my cooking. It makes a nice addition to my other more usable pickles - it is very pretty to look at.

The chef at MAICh often uses kritamos to flavour his potato-based salads.

Kritamos is linked to ancient Greece in many ways, in the myths surrounding Prometheus, as well as in Hippocratic medicine. It is also known in Britain and has been mentioned by Shakespeare. Although the Greek islands were once the culinary province of kritamos, it is now becoming more and more well known by restauranteurs all over the world, notably urban centres running top-end Greek restaurants, whose owners get it shipped into their kitchens. No wonder foraged herbs are now in serious decline.

Bonus photo:

The rocky coastline in this photo is full of kritamos. It generally feels unpolluted, but it's probably been contaminated by animals and suntan oil. Such pollution is less visible than car fumes, but at the same time, it's very real.

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Dried herbs

It's that time of year again when I pack away my annually renewable dried herbs:

From top left clockwise, common oregano, bay leaves, basil and throumbi (a Cretan herb that is used in a similar way to oregano, especially good for marinating meat). More on Cretan herbs here: http://www.organicallycooked.com/2013/07/wild-aromatic-cretan-herbs_23.html

All my herbs were harvested from private gardens, except for the throumbi which came from the wild, respectfully picked in a small quantity to allow it to re-grow.

My hands now feel prickly and itchy, and I smell like souvlaki meat.

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Wild aromatic Cretan herbs (Άγρια αρωματικά βότανα της Κρήτης)

A friend from New York who has been holidaying in Crete this summer told me how much she was enjoying the island's aroma, so much that she would rub her skin with the wild herbs found on almost every roadside to keep their perfume on her body. Natural smells of this type are not to be found in her environment, and she simply wants to savour them for as long as she can, before she returns home, where the smells and aromas have little to do with what is growing in the soil.

The wild natural smells that surround me, which are easily encountered almost everywhere on the island, being especially pronounced away from urban spaces, are often taken for granted by the locals, because they are found in plethora. Wherever I walk, I am not far from a bristly bush of bright purple wild thyme or a wild-growing rosemary plant. Then again, everyone has something highly aromatic growing in their garden or among their potted plants. Smells chase you in Crete.

I recently proof-read a Master's thesis based on a detailed profiling of four Cretan herbs that grow in the wild:

Origanum microphyllum, 

Origanum microphyllum - mantzourana in Greek, used dried, for tea (always in combination with Sideritis syriaca/cretica). "Origanum microphyllum (benth.) Vogel, commonly called “Matziorana”, is a perennial dwarf shrub endemic to Crete (Greece), with numerous stems 20-50cm usually branched... It is used as an aromatic and medicinal plant, usually as medicinal tea by infusing leaves and/or inflorescences in boiling water."

Origanum dictamnus, 

Origanum dictamnus - diktamos (also known as erontas) in Greek, used dried, for tea (always in combination with Sideritis syriaca/cretica). "According to ancient mythology the plant was dedicated to the ancient Cretan goddess Diktynna and thus was named dittany, it is well known since Aristotle’s time for its curing abilities and is broadly used in Crete till now as a panacea for every illness. Nowadays, as in the past, dittany is used as a condiment, herbal tea plant to cure cough and sore throats, relieve stomach-ache and several pains (Kouri et al., 2007). It has also many remedial properties such as anti-hemorrhage, healing wounds and gastric ulcers, facilitating childbirth and abortion, stimulating the nervous system (Economakis et al., 2002), spleen problems, against rheumatism and gynecological disorders, diabetes and obesity. Its cutaneous uses are antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, anti-bleeding, and cicatrizing, and since it has been characterized by the U.S.A.CFR (2009) as a safe spice for consumption, it can be applied as a natural food additive, with a flavoring, antioxidant or preservative role (Liolios et al., 2010). It was also largely used in monasteries since the middle age, by the Benedictines and Trappistines monks in the famous liqueurs Benedictine and Trappistine, respectively."

Origanum vulgare,

Origanum vulgare - common oregano, rigani in Greek, the savoury herb, used dried, sometimes fresh, for flavour. "O. vulgare subsp. hirtum is widely used as spice under the name “Greek Oregano” and it is generally accepted that the Greek Oregano has the best quality; it is used in meat products, salads, soups and sauces, but it is also commonly used in traditional medicine to treat various diseases, for instance its essential oil has been recommended against rheumatism, toothache, and was used in the past for the preparation of soaps with antiseptic properties. The infusions of the leaves and flowers are used against cold, cough, and diarrhea. It has also been reported that the inhalation of the essential oils cure chronic pneumonia. These biological properties are reported to be related to the chemical composition of the plant, especially its essential oil (Skoula and Kamenopoulos, 1997)."

and Satureja thymbra.

Satureja thrymba, throumbi in Greek, a kind of savoury herb often call Pink Savoury, which is used in a similar way to Origanum vulgare (oregano - rigani). "S. thymbra has commercial importance as it is used as spice, and its essential oil is used in folk medicine as antiseptic, tonic, gastric sedative and diuretic. It also favors cicatrization of skin sores and wounds (Capone et al., 1989). The aerial parts of the plant have been widely used in traditional medicine, to treat many ailments such as muscle pains, cramps, arthritis, and infectious diseases (Marković et al., 2011). In addition, they are used in pharmaceuticals as anti-bacterials for the treatment of cold and bronchitis and in cosmetics (Gören et al., 2004)."

These herbs are all related, as they belong to the Lamiacease family; in fact, they all sound or look like the savoury herb commonly known as oregano, which they could well be, but they are all used in quite different ways in Crete. They are rich in many substances:

The main constituents for Origanum microphyllum were β-caryophyllene (20.73%), linalool (14.67%), cis-sabinene-hydrate (12.81), juniper-camphor (7.56%), sabinene (4.41 %), γ-terpinene (4.17%), and α-humulene (4.16%). The essential oil of Origanum dictamnus was dominated by carvacrol (22.77%), p-cymene (15.34%), γ-terpinene (11.57%), cis-thujone (9.53%), β-caryophyllene (7.44%), trans-thujone (6.10%), and α-copaene (4.24%). Carvacrol (58.70%), p-cymene (9.23%), γ-terpinene (7.57%), β-caryophyllene (5.67%), β-bisabolene (2.62%) and β-myrcene (2.44%) were the major constituents of Origanum vulgare. The chemical composition of Satureja thymbra was characterized by the presence of γ-terpinene (32.96%), thymol (17.13%), β-caryophyllene (16.04%), p-cymene (14.45%), α-terpinene (2.33%) and carvacrol (2.13%)... Almost all four plant species were rich in rosmarinic acid, apigenin and its derivatives and flavanones. Caffeic acid derivatives were present in O. microphyllum fractions and also in the ethyl acetate fraction of O. dictamnus. Vicenin-2 was found in O. dictamnus fractions, in the butanol fraction of O. vulgare and in S. thymbra. O. vulgare fractions contained luteolin and its derivatives, which have also been found in S. thymbra fractions. Quercetin glucoside, ferulic acid and stachydrine derivative were only present in S. thymbra, whereas yannaneic acid, p-coumaric acid derivative and maleate of homoplantagenine were found only in O. dictamnus... Comparing the results among the plant species, S. thymbra exhibited the highest antiradical activity in all cases. It should be noted that O. dictamnus has shown prooxidant activity in one of the assays. (Asma TAIR, MAICh thesis, 2013)

The further up you walk or drive, the more the aromatic wild plants growing. Some plants acclimatise well to lower ground (my uncle has successfully grown all the above plants in his coastal village garden except for Satureja thymbra, which I chanced upon on a drive through the southern coast); some are much harder to grow away from their habitat, eg Satureja thymbra and Sideritis syriaca/cretica (which my uncle harvested from a mountain side during a recent forage).

Sideritis syriaca/cretica - malotira in Greek, used dried, as a tea, usually in combination with Origanum dictamus - diktamos or erontas - or Origanum microphyllus - mantzourana; the latter two are used in much smaller quantities than malotira, which is the main herb used to make the tea (it can also be used on its own).

Generally speaking, with a little bit of care and attention, it is not hard to grow something useful for your nutrition in Crete.

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