Heather herb and flower (Callunae vulgaris herba/-flos)

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Hei­de­kraut /​Heidekrautblüten

Name of Drug

Call­u­nae vul­ga­ris her­ba, hea­ther herb.
Call­u­nae vul­ga­ris flos, hea­ther flower.

Composition of Drug

Hea­ther herb con­sists of the fresh or dried leaf, flower, and plant top of Callu­na vul­ga­ris (L.) Hull [Fam. Eri­caceae], as well as pre­pa­ra­ti­ons thereof.

Hea­ther flower con­sists main­ly of the flowers of C. vul­ga­ris L., as well as pre­pa­ra­ti­ons thereof.

Uses

Pre­pa­ra­ti­ons of hea­ther and/​or hea­ther flowers are used for dise­a­ses and ailm­ents of the kid­neys and the lower uri­na­ry tract, enlar­ge­ment of the pro­sta­te, as a diure­tic, for pro­phy­la­xis of stone ailm­ents, vagi­nal dischar­ge, dise­a­ses and ailm­ents of the gas­tro­in­testi­nal tract, diar­rhea, spasms of the sto­mach and intesti­nes, colic, dise­a­ses of the liver and gall­blad­der, for gout, arthri­tis, dise­a­ses and dis­or­ders of the respi­ra­to­ry tract, cough, colds, sleep dis­or­ders, rest­less­ness, as eye baths for infla­med eyes, tre­at­ment of wounds, for fever, spleen, and as a diaphoretic.

Com­bi­na­ti­ons with hea­ther and/​or hea­ther flower are addi­tio­nal­ly used as an adju­vant for dia­be­tes, mens­tru­al dis­com­forts, meno­pau­se, for ner­vous exhaus­ti­on, for sti­mu­la­ti­on of diges­ti­on, and for the regu­la­ti­on of the cir­cu­la­to­ry system.

The effec­ti­ve­ness for the clai­med uses is not documented.

Risks

None known.

Evaluation

Sin­ce the effec­ti­ve­ness for the clai­med use­sis not docu­men­ted, a the­ra­peu­tic appli­ca­ti­on can­not be recommended.

The­re are no objec­tions to the use of this herb as a brigh­tening agent or fla­vor corrigent.