112 THE BRITISH HOM{]~OPATHIC J O U R N A L

Iberis amara, bitter candytuft A coarse weed, though it produces a rich cluster of beautiful flowers at the top of each shoot with its elongated spatulate leaves. I t is an annual, flowering in summer, in fields, vineyards, dry and stony places.

This plant also contains mustard oil glycosides in quantity, and it has been used occasionally to induce inflammation of the skin as a form of derivative therapy: as a rub for anginal pain and for congestion of the lung, liver and kidney. A decoction has also been tried internally, for angina pectoris, and even in endocarditis and pericarditis; the aim here is probably strong stimulation of the lower organs, to draw off the members of being which are held in spasm in the middle system.

Cheiranthus cheiri, common wallflower, gilliflower A robust sub-shrub, a rustic beauty at home in the country-gardens of Europe, the wallflower probably came from the regions around the eastern Mediterranean. A rich abundance of leaves are borne upwards along the woody stem, culminating in the large cluster of flowers. These are handsome flowers, their colour ranging from yellow to a deep orange red, and their scent is like that of violets. They, and the upward-pointing pods (siliquae), represent the region where the wall- flower lives most intensively.

Chalky stone and chalky detritus as well as light, warm, dry soils are what the plant chooses in the wild state. I t flowers in early summer, in southern Europe also in the winter. Like all the Crucifcrae, the wallflower contains mustard oil glycosides, particularly in the seed; volatile oil has been found in the flowers, quereetin and similar compounds in the yellow pigment of the flowers; further- more-- in the seed--cardiac glycosides similar to digitalis.

This plant was known as a medicinal plant in antiquity. I t was considered a female remedy, promoting the menses and parturition. I t has been used in popular medicine for conditions of the liver and heart, for renal gravel and as an emmenagogue. The occurrence of cardiac glycosides in the plant world will be discussed elsewhere. A tendency to produce such glycosides is found in plants which live in particularly marked tension between congestion and resolution, between etheric and astral impulses, and fight to establish their own rhythm between inhibiting and accelerating tendencies.

R E F E R E N C E

Steiner, Rudolf and Wegman, Ira (1925) Grundlegendes fi~r eine Erweiterun9 der Heilkunst nach geisteswissenschaftlichen Erkenntnissen. Arlesheim: Verlag des Kliniseh-Thera- peutischen Insti tutes (for the 1953 edition).

B R I T I S H H O M ( E O P A T H I C C O N G R E S S 1975

The British Homceopathic Congress will be held at Stirling University in Scot- land from the evening of Wednesday, 10 September, to Saturday, 13 September 1975.