Calendula: Calendula officinalis
Plant Family: Asteraceae
Habitat & Ecological role: Calendula is native to the Mediterranean, Southwest Asia, and Western Europe. They grow well in our bioregion, and can be easily grown in a beginner's garden. They flower abundantly providing food for pollinators. Medicine makers like to grow the dark orange varietal as it makes a darker orange infused oil, but the lighter colors are also high in resins.
Herbal Actions: Anti-inflammatory, vulnerary, astringent, lymphatic, antifungal, emmenagogue, cholagogue, hemostatic.
Parts used: Flowers, harvested in summertime. The flowers can be dried and then made into infused oil, which extracts their resins well. They can also be tinctured fresh or dried for topical or internal use. Dried calendula flowers can be integrated into teas or soups where they will provide lymphatic and mild bitter stimulation.
Season: Late spring through summer.
Taste: Astringent, bitter.
Energetic Qualities: Light, clearing, warming.
Indications: Sprains, inflammation, bruises, wounds (both superficial and deep), depression, inflamed mucous membranes, liver stagnation.
Body system affinities: Integumentary, lymphatic, digestive.
Key Points: Calendula is sunshine medicine, carrying the brightness of the sun in her beautiful color and resins. Calendula provides warmth and healing to wounds that are slow to heal, whether they are on the outside of the body or deeper in the muscles. Energetically, this plant is uplifting and centering.
Experience:
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