Peucedanum galbanum vvbb = Blister Bush/= Bergseldery/= Wildeseldery/= Wild celery

[Abbey Wagner]

Surface covered with a mix of chemicals (psoralen/xanthotoxin/bergapten) causing a phototoxic reaction resulting in blistering 2 - 3 days after exposure. The moment of exposure is innocuous, without any untoward sensations to the unwary. Exposure of the affected skin to ultra violet light, such as contained in sunlight, triggers the effects of the plant's toxins, leading to severe itching

and blistering. The welts and resulting blisters can be as small as the size of a coin to covering as much exposed skin as came into contact with the plant. Where more than 5% of the body is afflicted, the scarring can be a serious matter. Washing the affected area immediately after exposure may help but preventing any further exposure to ultra violet light such as the sun or many artificial light sources will reduce and /or eliminate blistering.

Treatment

Preventing the blister from forming is the best way to deal with the affliction. Apart from covering the area and preventing any exposure to sunlight, it is useful to directly apply suntan lotion as

well, employing as high as possible a screen factor such as factor 50 or 100. Reapply the lotion as soon as the itching starts again. While the red itchy welt is best treated before the blister

appears, all is not lost if you are late. Direct application of the spray-on types of sunscreen, particularly those high in alcohol, tends to both dry the welt and reduce the irritation with immediate effect. If sun tan lotion is applied soon enough, the process can be interrupted in its entirety.

If untreated the welt should stop itching and weeping after the first 5 - 7 days. Once this has happened, it should be left exposed to allow the affected area to breathe. Blisters sometimes subside

into a tender scab or scar that can take many months to disappear altogether

mind, skin, extremities and gastrointestinal system.

Vergleich: Siehe: Apiales

Allerlei: known by hikers and botanists for its photodermatitis. The shrub contains furanocoumarins (bergapten, psoralen, xanthotoxin, isopimpinellin and imperatorin).

These furanocoumarins are known to be photosensitisers when activated by ultraviolet light. They interact readily with DNA, forming light-induced mono- or diaducts. They are thus phototoxic, mutagenic and photocarcinogenic (Campbell, Mathee and Wewers, 1993:27-28).

Within 24 - 48 hours after contact with the plant and subsequent exposure to sunlight a reaction involving blistering, red-purple pigmentation and intense irritation of the skin will manifest (Campbell, Mathee and Wewers, 1993:27-28).

Phytologie:

Leaf decoction used as a diuretic for treatment of oedema, bladder ailments, kidney stones and gravel.

- Leaf infusion taken orally, used as a steambath, or as a douche as a remedy for miscarriage or to aid expulsion of retained placenta.

- Leaf infusions have also been used to treat glandular swellings, as well as rheumatism, gout and the common cold.

- Preparations combined with Pelargonium grossularioides and Mentha longifolia to suppress menses.

- Preparations combined with Diosma vulgaris are used as a diuretic.

- The plant has also been used as a diaphoretic.

- Obesity in men as well as hypertension have been treated using this plant (Campbell, Mathee and Wewers, 1993:28).

The compounds of the plant are carcinogenic but have been used medicinally in a treatment called phytochemotherapy krebs anhang 2 to treat skin diseases such as psoriasis (Van Wyk, Oudtshoorn and Gericke, 1997:190).

Preparations containing bergapten (5-methoxypsoralen), one of the active components of Peucadanum galbanum, are commercially available at present for the treatment of psoriasis (Martindale, 1993:43).

Due to the potentially carcinogenic nature of the compounds of this plant, its use is contra-indicated during pregnancy (Campbell, 1993: 586-587).

Repertory:

Mind: Absentminded (conversing/dreamy/when spoken to/when at work)

Absorbed

Accident prone

Activity with physical weakness

Anger - morning on waking/# sadness/easily

Anxiety (about own children/of conscience/about future/about money matters)

Change for desire

Cheerful

Company - aversed to/desires solitude/cannot bear anybody

Concentration difficult, cannot fix attention

Confusion – driving/talking/with vertigo

> Consolation

Contemptuous - of everything/of humankind

Content - feeling content with the world

Cursing in rage

Delusions - were confused by a cloud head/is criticized/illusions of hearing/is misunderstood/all she said is a lie/things happen in slow motion/expecting joyful news/hearing

Noise/friends appear as strangers/thieves in house/visions are real/hears own voice as if talking next to him/someone walks behind him/is doing something wrong/is young again

Detached (“As if detached”)

Discontented

Efficient organized

Fastidious

Fear - of poverty/of robbers/on waking

Fire, thinks and talks about it

Forgetful

Forsaken feeling

Heedless

Hysteria

Impatient - with others/about trifles

Inactivity

Indifferent, apathy

Industrious, mania for work

Intolerance

Irresolute – in acting/in choosing things

Irritable (towards children/to own family/during heat/with self/towards husband/on waking)

Lazy intellectual

< before menses

Mental exertion aversed to

Mistakes in speaking, using wrong words using

Mood changeable, sudden

Morose

Obstinate, headstrong in the execution of plans/Taciturn

Positiveness. 1. S. 202.

Prostration (with sleepiness)

Quarrelsome

Rage followed by repentance

Reproaching the doctor

Responsibility aversed to

Restless (busy/on waking)

Sadness (with heaviness of body/with weeping)

Sensitive

Senses dull

Sensitive - to music/to (loud) noise/to opinion of others

Serious, earnest

Slowness

Staring thoughtless

Tranquility, serenity, calm (# sadness)

Unreal, everything seems

Weeping (causeless/about everything/involuntary/from music/at sad thoughts/in sleep/at trifles)

Vertigo: Driving

With tendency to fall

With sensation of heat in head

“As if intoxicated”

Head: Congestion in forehead

Pain – constriction

Constriction “As from band or hoop”/”As if cotton wool”

Dandruff

Eruptions, desquamating

Hair – desires to cut hair/greasy

Heat – flushes/painful

Heaviness - on holding head erect/desires to lean on something

Itching of scalp

Noises during headache

Pain – periodic/morning on waking/noon/afternoon/evening/at night on waking/daytime/+ pain in neck/+ eye complaints/+ vomiting/> cold water/> washing in cold water/during heat/> lying on (r.) side/< motion/> resting head quietly on a cushion/awaked from sleep by headache/in forehead (r./l./at night/intermittent)/temples (from noise)/in occiput [>/< pressure/pulsating/ext. eyes (l.)/ext. r. temple]/scalp/vertex (ext. eyes)/sides (small spot/> lying/ext. forward)/pulsating/blinding/burning/bursting/cutting/dull/pressing (“As from a band”/”As from a weight”/> motion)/sharp/sore

Eye: Dry

Heaviness in eyebrows

Irritation

Itching (< rubbing)

Lachrymation from itching nose

Opening difficult; hard to keep the eyes open

Pain - < cold air cold/aching l./burning (afternoon)/dull in eyeballs/pressing, pressure, etc, (l./between)/sore (r./in eyeball)/stinging

Photophobia

Sensitive to heat

Tired sensation

Vision: Blurred

Illusions

Ear: Eruptions desquamating

Itching in Eustachian tube

Pain - in mastoid/stitching r. on touch.

“As if stopped” (l.)

Nose: Catarrh post nasal

Congestion to nose

Desquamation

Discharge (in open air/bland/blood-streaked/clear/viscid, tough/watery r./from posterior nares

Bbreath seems hot

Itching (root)

Numb

Obstruction in morning (on waking/+ discharge)

Burning – r./smarting

Sinuses, complaints of

Sneezing (afternoon/in cold air/constant/dry/ineffectual efforts/with itching/from odors)

Smell: acute (for meat)

Face: Dry (lips)

Eruptions [desquamating/pimples (chin/white)/popular (cheeks/painful)]

Greasy

Heavy feeling, jaws/articulation.

Itching in eyebrows

Pain – joints of jaw/trigeminal neuralgia l.

Perspiration.

Tingling [l./cheeks/(upper) lips]

Mouth: Abscess of gums of. 1. S. 623.

Bleeding, gums when cleaning them

Tongue cracked – fissured/tip/tingling/lacerated

Brown

Dry (lips)

Eruptions – pimples tip of tongue/vesicles on palate

Mucous membrane excoriated

Mucous

Pain in tongue - > warmth/burning on top of tongue/stinging

Taste metallic

Ulcers - cheeks inside/gums/painful

Teeth: Pain during eating/aching/”As from dentition”/in wisdom teeth

Throat: Choking (at night/on coughing) on. 1. S. 700.

“As if constricted”/constriction – l./swallowing difficult

Red – tonsils/uvula

Dry (l./painful/on waking)

“As if foreign body” (of a apple core)

Disposition to hawk/hawking ineffectual

Heat

Inflamed tonsils (painless)

Irritation

Itching

“As if a lump” (during sadness)/“As if narrow”

Mucous (morning/after eating/like false membrane/must be swallowed)

Numbness

Obstruction

Pain – r. ext. to l./in morning on waking/+ dryness/> cold drinks/on empty swallowing/burning must swallow/rawness (swallowing)/scratching (on swallowing)/sore (afternoon/> air/on waking/when yawning)

Tickling

External throat: “As if enlarged”

Pain – in cervical glands/drawing r./on motion/in sternocleidomastoid muscle/pinched (turning head r.)/sore

. 1. S. 731.

Stiff (sides)

Tingling

Stomach: Appetite – constant/easy satiety/increased morning/after eating/increased/insatiable/ravenous

Bubbling

Distension (after eating small quantities)

Emptiness - after eating/during nausea

Fullness (morning/after eating/”As if full after eating ever so little”)

Heartburn (after eating)

Nausea [after drinking water/after eating (fats)/from smell of meat/with hunger]

Pain - after fruit/in epigastrium/burning/cramping (after eating/in epigastrium)

Thirst (in morning)/thirstless

Uneasiness

Vomiting after drinking

Nausea > vomiting

Vomiting - with nausea/before stool

Abdomen: Distended

Empty

“As if full”

Pain - < breathing deep/ext. bladder/in hypogastrium during menses/in on exertion/l. (breathing/after eating)/in umbilicus region “As if menses would appear”/cramping, griping (l./morning/in hypogastrium/during stool)/sore (l./< pressure)

Swelling in l. side

Rectum: Constipation (ineffectual urging and straining)

Diarrhea (morning/afternoon/painless/sudden)

Flatus

Stool: Frequent/hard/watery, yellow

Bladder: “As if full”

Inflamed (urine burning)

Burning urinating

Kidneys: Pain – r./< motion/aching/< pressure

Urine: yellow/copious

Female organs: Leucorrhea brown. 1. S. 1037.

Menses – copious/dark/too early too (2 weeks)/intermittent for 2 -3 days/scanty/2 days short

Pain – ovaries (> bending double)/in uterus (during menses/on touch)/cramping before menses/cramping in uterus/stitching l. ovary

Sexual desire – increased/diminished

Expectoration: Bloody streaked/thick/transparent/yellow

Cough: Morning/noon/night

Cold, drinks. 1. S. 1121.

Dry. 1 S. 1123.

Hacking

Loose

< Lying/> standing

Respiration: Difficult – ascending/during palpitation during

Wheezing

Chest: Oppression (> hawking/with wheezing)
Pain – mammae [l./nipples (r./< touch)]

Pain - in mammae wandering/in the middle of the motion/in l. side (moving l. arm)/aching (sternum)

Palpitation

Perspiration

Swollen mammae

Back: Cervical region – pimples/heat (+ tingling)/pain (l./ breathing deeply/moving head/> warmth)/spasmodic drawing/stiffness/tension ext. to shoulder

Itching > scratching (between scapulae)

Pain in dorsal region l./in lumbar region (standing/walking)/sacroiliac

Extremities: Constriction, knee. 1. S. 1313.

Sole of foot red

“As if electrical current” in arms

Eruptions [on hand desquamating/lower limbs (rash/itching)/thigh rash/on sole of foot (blisters)/on foot (burning/itching)]

Heat - hand l./shoulder/in upper limbs prickly/in knee

Heaviness in lower limbs

Itching - in upper limbs (< scratching/in spots)/on lower limbs < scratching

Lameness – of upper limbs/of lower limbs

“As if lead” in leg

Pain – rheumatic with stiffness/wandering/shoulder (r./rheumatic)/forearm like “Electric shocks”/hand (on motion/> pressure/rheumatic)/fingers ext. elbow/lower limbs < pressure/r. hip/thigh ext. upwards/knee (r. < motion/> lying/> warmth)/in leg < elevation of feet/foot (> warm bathing/< pressure/> rubbing/sole)/aching (back of foot/outer hip)/drawing (in hip sitting/in hip > standing)/shooting [in upper limbs/in thigh (ext. inguinal/walking)/”As if foot sprained”]

Perspiration upper limbs

Restlessness (> motion/leg at night in bed)

Sensitive thigh

Shocks in upper limbs

Swollen foot painful

Tension in r. shoulder

Tingling (upper limbs/lower limbs)

Weakness in leg

Sleep: Deep unrefreshing

Dozing sitting

Refreshing

Restless. 2. S. 1574.

Sleepiness (morning/in afternoon after eating/overpowering/reading/sitting/on waking)

Sleepless- at midnight from activity of thoughts/+ sleepiness/# sleepiness)

Unrefreshing in morning

Waking - after midnight (4h./5 h.)/difficult in morning/”As from fright”/frequent.

Yawning – frequent/during sleepiness

Dreams: Amorous/animals (injured/wild)/anger/Ants (crawling inside her body/eating her flesh)/bicycle riding/blood/ buildings (neglected)/being caught/coition/dancing/danger (impending)/dead/difficulties on journeys/dogs/drowning/embarrassment/fire/(old) friends/helping friends/horse (theft of a/wounded/is invisible/journeys/killing a mad dog/laughing/nakedness/nightmares/people, parties/picnics/religious/robbers/smoking/snakes/swimming/unpleasant/unremembered/vivid/being watched/swimming in water/work

Fever: noon

Perspiration: clammy/musty

Skin: Eruptions – desquamating/pimples/rash itching

Itchiness > scratching

Prickling (from cold drinks/”As from pins”)

Sensitive – to cold (water)

Generals: l. sided

Energy excess of (morning/on waking)

Food and drinks: Desires: apples/biscuits/carbonated drinks/chocolate/coffee/cold drinks/fruit/licorice/meat (without being able to eat it)/(ice cold) milk/rich food/salt/sweets/warm drinks;

<: smell of cooking meat/salt; Aversion to: meat;

Heat flushes (# coldness)/sensation of internal heat/sensation of heat in blood vessels/sensation of heat on waking)

Heaviness

Injuries

Lame feeling

Lassitude in morning

Numbness in whole body

Stiffness

Tingling (in body during urination)

Weakness (morning on waking/> eating/with vertigo)

Yawning frequent

Itching/tingling.

Mind: heightened emotional sensitivity. overly emotional (causeless) weeping. Very sad, often without reason, sense of despondency felt. Absentminded, careless and clumsy. Feelings of indifference and aversion to company with a desire for solitude. Large element of irritability and a resultant disproportional anger.

Delusions: of hearing noises/thieves in the home.

Head: noises experienced within the head.

Eyes: Dryness/itching.

Ears: Itching in the eustachian tubes/stopped sensation of the ears.

Nose: Post nasal drip. Itching in the nose/a clear nasal discharge.

„Flu-like‟: discharge and congestion, itching, sneezing and catarrh.

Face: Contact produced: Within 24 - 48 hours after contact with the plant and subsequent exposure to sunlight a reaction on skin involving blistering, red-purple pigmentation and irritatION

Interesting how the skin of the provers taking this plant in homoeopathic form was affected during the proving.

Mouth: 20 different mouth symptoms were noted by the proving participants. The most common symptom being mouth ulcers (inner sides of the cheeks)/some of these ulcers resulted in pain. Excoriation of the mucous membranes of the mouth was noted and vesicular eruptions within the mouth also occurred.

Throat: Sensation of constriction of the throat (made swallowing very difficult). Different pain.

Painful dryness. “As if a foreign body or lump” in the throat made swallowing difficult.

Stomach: Appetite changed (constant ravenous hunger but easy satiety)/fullness of the stomach

Female organs: Early onset of their menses: Ovarian and uterine pain was commonly experienced during menstruation and seemed to occur more frequently on the left side.

Cough: The most common cough symptom was that of a „loose cough‟.

Chest: The chest area produced a total of 15 different symptoms throughout the proving, with the most commonly experienced one being an oppression of the chest. Many proving participants

noted a pain or tenderness of the mammae, whilst others experienced an aching pain in the sternum. Chest pain l. < motion was also a common theme running through the proving, and a few participants were aware of heart palpitations.

Back: Cervical area (heat, pain, stiffness, and tension). Back pain isolated to the lumbar region.

Extremities: Tingling in the upper and lower limbs, and a lameness or weakness of the lower limbs (shooting/sensation of heat and prickling in the upper limbs). „Shocks‟ in the arms and

“As if an electric current”, as well as rheumatic pain in the shoulders. Wandering pain upper or lower limbs, or both.

Sleep: Sleepiness („overpowering sleepiness‟)

Skin: Prickling sensation of the skin. Some described this sensation as being like the prickling of pins. Itchiness. Sensitivity to cold, and some noted a sensitivity to cold water in particular.

Generals: Excess of energy (in morning)/sensitivity (<) to cold weather.

Weakness of the body (morning on waking)/feeling of lassitude in the morning. Heaviness of the body, numbness and a general lame feeling. General tingling.

L. sided

Belongs to the Apiaceae / Umbelliferae botanical family. The shrub is confined to the mid – upper mountain slopes of the Western Cape in South Africa. This is the only natural habitat of Peucedanum galbanum. It grows up to 2.5 meters in height, and is covered in compound leaves about 20 cm in length (Campbell, 1993:586-587).

Due to the cold, windy climate of the Cape it can be assumed that this is the preferred climate for Peucedanum galbanum, and the fact that the plant begins to flower at the start of the winter

months gives us even further reason to believe that it enjoys the cold weather.

Peucedanum galbanum grows only on the slopes of Table Mountain, and in a sense is alone as it is isolated to this area and does not grow indigenously in other areas of South Africa. It would therefore appear that this is not a „social plant‟ that takes root in any type of soil! It remains solitary and confined to its indigenous habitat.

For eight months of each year (July to February) Peucedanum galbanum produces very small flowers that are yellow in colour (Campbell, 1993:586-587). I feel that due to the fact that this plant does not produce large, bold, noticeable flowers this demonstrates its preference for solitude by not attracting attention to itself.

On closer observation it is evident that the plant has many long stems and these can be compared to extremities. It can also be noted that the size of the leaves are quite large in relation to the diameter of the stems and it would appear as if there were an element of disproportion. The plant seems to be a bit „top heavy‟! It has a thin stem and thin branches with clumps of flowers that are quite large in relation to the diameter of the stem, and long leaves that grow to a length of 20cm.

As mentioned before the doctrine of signatures states that by observation one can determine from the colour of the flowers or leaves, the place of growth, or other signatures just what the plant‟s purpose was intended to be (Pujol, 1990:24).

According to colour therapy and the use of colour in assisting with the treatment of different ailments, yellow is the colour of detachment and if used or exposed to in excess a person may experience detachment from others and the environment (Wills, 1998: 101). The main mental themes identified in this proving were an aversion to company, a desire for solitude, sadness and irritability. The provers were better for being alone. This could be related to the yellow colour of the flowers found on the Peucedanum galbanum plant.

Provers experienced flushes of heat to the head whilst being on the remedy. This may somehow be related to the fact that the symptoms produced by Peucedanum galbanum in nature are only initiated and further aggravated by sun and heat. Therefore heat appears to be an integral part of the manifestation of symptoms.

With regards to mouth symptoms produced, some provers experienced strange tastes in their mouths. This could possibly correlate with the taste of the plant. Two provers developed ulcers and blisters of the mucous membranes within the mouth. vvbb schiebegruppe: Interesting because Peucedanum galbanum produces blisters which can become ulcers in areas of skin that are touched by the plant and then exposed to sunlight, however the inside of the mouths of these two provers were not exposed to sunlight!

The stomach symptoms produced during this proving were analysed in relation to the yellow colour of the flowers produced by this plant. Once again in terms of colour therapy and the use of colour to aid healing, yellow is often associated with complaints of the liver, gall bladder and stomach (Wills, 1998:120). Provers participating in this study experienced symptoms relating to these areas, such as increased appetite with easy satiety, fullness, bloating, nausea after eating, vomiting, and abdominal pain. In comparison to other anatomical areas influenced by this remedy the gastrointestinal tract was an area that was greatly affected.

A few of the female participants of this study noticed that their menses were earlier than usual. There seemed to be a few other mild changes to normal menstrual symptoms but a disruption of usual timing was most commonly noted. With regards to anthroposophy this may be due to a disruption of the rhythmic system in response to the proving remedy. According to

anthroposophical philosophy a remedy produced from a plant with large leaves will affect mainly the rhythmic system of the person (Steiner, 1861 – 1925). The rhythmic system encompasses both the male and female reproductive organs.

Again with regards to colour therapy yellow is a colour which activates motor nerves and therefore generates energy within the muscles. If any part of our physical body lacks the energy of this vibrant colour, partial or complete paralysis may manifest. Yellow is therefore a colour used in the treatment of paralytic conditions (Wills, 1998:101). A connection between the colour of this plant’s flowers and the paralytic-like symptoms experienced by the provers is that many of them complained of a feeling of lameness and weakness of the limbs during the proving period. Yellow is also the colour used in the treatment of rheumatic conditions (Wills, 1998:101), and some provers experienced rheumatic like pains during this time.

Provers experienced a number of different symptoms relating to the whether it was upper extremities or lower and this was one of the sections that produced the greatest number of symptoms. As mentioned before the Peucedanum galbanum plant in its indigenous habitat is one that has a long thin stem and relatively long branches. It appears as if it has long extremities! This could possibly indicate that the remedy produced from this plant may have a disposition to affect the extremities of the person taking the remedy. During the proving period many of the individuals taking this remedy also made note of lightning like pains in the arms and legs.

A large number of provers experienced skin symptoms whilst being on the remedy, namely itching and tingling. In nature, once contact between the skin and the plant has occurred followed by exposure to sunlight, the first symptoms of reaction would be itching and tingling (Campbell, 1993:586-587). Other symptoms of the skin were eruptions, ulcers and small vesicles. Taking into consideration the name of the plant from which the remedy was prepared (blister bush); it seems likely that these may be symptoms experienced by healthy individuals taking a homoeopathic remedy prepared from this substance. Apart from that however, the rash caused by contact with the plant in its natural habitat will be followed by eruptions and vesicles of the skin in the exposed area.

In general many provers complained of feeling very hot throughout the proving period, and I think that this ties into the fact that sun and heat are the aggravating factors that produce the characteristic symptoms of Peucedanum galbanum in nature.

People who make contact with the plant only produce symptoms if that area of contact is exposed to light, so the sun plays a vital role in the manifestation of symptoms. In nature the plant produces flowers which grow together in clumps that produce a fairly large surface. This surface area will give rise to a shaded area beneath it giving shelter from the sun and heat. Interestingly, many provers mentioned that they experienced a decreased tolerance to the heat during the proving.

With regards to disproportion of the plant parts it was interesting to hear how some provers felt a heaviness of their bodies. Some described being unusually clumsy, and a few provers even experienced episodes of losing their balance and falling over to the side.

So in light of everything just mentioned it would appear that there is definitely a correlation between the symptoms produced by Peucedanum galbanum 30CH and the doctrine of signatures of the plant in nature.

Vorwort/Suchen Zeichen/Abkürzungen Impressum