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As the editorial baton passes, Catherine Conway-Payne echoes all our thoughts in a message to the outgoing Editor: On behalf of all our dedicated Herbology News contributors and readers, I would like to say such a very BIG thankyou to the lovely Ann Crosthwaite, who has been our wonderful and ever so diligent Editor over the last couple of years. During her time with us, Ann has fully embraced the spirit of the original publication (so cleverly initiated by former RBGE Dip. Herb graduate Catherine Sanderson) and infused its ensuing design, structure, and content development (such as the delightfully conceived ‘Herbology Twiglets’) with her own particular artistic style and aesthetic. Herbology News has become a thing of beauty under her editorial hand and has gained a wide following of enthused herbologists as a result.

In the August edition of Herbology News, the Japanese herb Dokudami was mis-spelled as Dukodami. We apologize for this error. The eagle-eyed Duncan Ross further points out that the specimen in the herbology beds at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh was supplied by Poyntzfield Herb Nursery, having been collected beside a Shinto shrine next to Lake Biwa, the largest lake in Japan. For those keen to learn more, Dokudami features in the booklet Herbs of Japan available from www.poyntzfieldherbs.co.uk. . Ann (who, as with all RBGE Herbology graduates remains very much in the herbology fold) will now be taking more time to develop her own business online. She has already been busy creating virtual herb walks and workshops. No doubt she will share here all her latest herbal endeavours and keep us posted on things in which we might be able to participate. Please do, Ann. Thank you so much for all that you have done for Herbology News.

With fondest and best wishes from all your herbology chums. x

Editor’s note: Of course, we couldn’t let Ann escape entirely and she has kindly agreed to take time out of her busy practice to contribute a monthly herbal recipe, in Notes from the Brew Room. .

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Chris Drury chrisdrury.co.uk

Chris is an environmental artist making sitespecific, nature-based sculpture— sometimes known as Land Art, or Art in Nature. Combining art and science, Chris is interested in making connections between phenomena; specifically between nature and culture, inner and outer, microcosm and macrocosm. He works on paper, with maps, with digital and video forms, and with mushrooms. For more than a decade, Chris has been making links between systems in the body and systems on the planet and considers his art political, in that it draws attention to the way we abuse our environments. Featured in key Land Art surveys in both the UK and America, his past projects include a residency at the Nirox Foundation in The Cradle of Humankind— a World Heritage site in South Africa; a British Antarctic Survey residency; a work for the Australian National University in Canberra; and an exhibition (Mushroom/ Clouds) at the Nevada Museum of Art.

Chris writes: I first became interested in mushrooms when I was a student and was reading John Cage. His interest both in chance and in fungi, prompted me to go to Epping Forest in the autumn and join some Italian restaurant owners in a search for edible fungi. With a book in hand to identify what I was finding, I soon found this was certainly a chance affair. Although some fungi have a relationship to particular trees, like Ceps and Chanterelles, you had to be in the right place at the right time and there was no saying when and where that was. Nevertheless, the sheer number and complexity of fungi in the forest was totally absorbing. I was lost for hours in this alternative world.

I didn’t use mushrooms to make art until I began making Medicine Wheel, in 1982. The simple spore print at the centre of this great wheel of a work seemed to be a microcosm, not just visually, but metaphorically: fungi recycle dead matter back in to soil and new life. Through fungi our world is transformed and renewed. As such, they represent the cycle of life, death and regeneration. Mushrooms feed you, kill you, heal you and alter your mind. They are the largest organism on earth and without them life would cease to be.

If you take the fruiting body of a mushroom, cut off the stem and leave the head overnight on a piece of paper— black for white spores, white for all the rest— and put a bowl over it to stop the air moving, then the head will drop its spores in the pattern of the gills. Remove the head in the morning and you are left with this utterly astounding image. It is so beautiful, it seems to stop the world— it is a mandala, a medicine wheel. It focuses the attention, stops the wandering mind.

I very soon found the act of searching for fungi was a stilling of the world in itself and it ceased to be about finding species to eat, becoming an opportunity to explore diversity. I also realised that the most poisonous of fungi had a certain aura, so I began collecting those too; identifying them and making a library of spore prints, carefully secured with fixative spray, then scanning them as images to be printed from a computer.

We are very grateful to Chris for permission to feature the following works: Cover image: Mushroom Cloud Commissioned for the Schlossmediale Festival, Werdenberg, Switzerland. Installed in a windowless, stone room in the basement of the castle, the work is 5m tall x 2.3m wide. The umbrella of the mushroom cloud is composed of around 18,000 dried mushroom slices.

Dust to Dust, Ashes to Ashes –page 6 This work is painted in dust and ashes from the same castle and so contains some of its invisible history.

Log Pile Spore Print –page 17 This piece was burned onto the ends of a log pile in the village, using a cook’s blow lamp. Werdenberg is the oldest wooden village in Europe.

Arte Sella, Mushroom Cloud (detail) –page 22 An installation in The Malga Costa barn, Arte Sella, in the Sella Valley, Borgo Valsugana, Italy. A mushroom cloud of over 6000 pieces of dried fungi slices, sealed in acrylic and suspended on nylon thread between a steel frame and the floor, lit from beneath. 230 x 500cm

Spore Grid Web –page 30 35 R type prints on 2mm aluminium from 2cm spore prints on glass slides. Each 39 x 39cm. Overall grid 194 x 273cm.

Any combination and number available as digital prints mounted on 2mm aluminium.

Medicine Wheel –page 36 16th August 1982 –15th August 1983. One natural object for each day of the year. Twelve segments of paper; one for each month, made during that month from the pulp of particular plants. A mushroom spore print. 230cm diam. x 8cm deep. Held in the collection of Leeds City Art Gallery.

Ink Cap II –page 38 1996. Ink Cap spore print and handwritten text in Ink Cap ink on card. 56 x 76cm. “I used ink splurges to make Ink Cap I, II, III (these fungi have so much water that a spore print becomes a splurge), just writing Ink Cap in ink cap ink with a reed pen.” Available for sale.

Chris is happy to entertain requests for exhibitions, collaborations, interior installations and exterior, site-specific works.

Reishi (Ganoderma lucidum)— the tree of life mushroom Marianne Hughes, with illustration by Hazel Brady

Reishi and other fungi have been used by humans as medicine for the last 5000 years. In China, Korea, Japan and other Asian countries, Reishi can be seen in a variety of art— on temple walls, in tapestries, in statues, and in paintings. The Chinese word for Reishi, Ling zhi, translates as ‘tree of life mushroom’, ‘spirit plant’ or ‘mushroom/herb of immortality’. In the Japanese tradition, Reishi has the meaning ‘divine or spiritual mushroom’.

So, why is Reishi associated with immortality? This seems to be because it has a wide range of health benefits; anti-inflammatory, antihistamine, sedative, anti-hypertensive, anti-cancer and, through a special affinity with the lungs, offers particular benefits for people with bronchitis and bronchial asthma (Rogers, 2011). Reishi’s action in addressing any underlying immune imbalance— which can predispose the body to overreact to, say, pollen —helps to both prevent and alleviate allergic symptoms. This combination of immunomodulatory and antiinflammatory actions makes Reishi useful in autoimmune conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and ulcerative colitis.

Wild Reishi is rare. Most Reishi is cultivated— growing well on elm, alder, oak, and husks of sunflower seeds. It is cultivated in 15 countries worldwide, with an annual production of around 15,000 tons (this compares with 200 tons 25 years ago).

The chemistry of mushrooms is complex, but Martin Powell’s Medicinal Mushrooms: A Clinical Guide is recommended for those wanting to delve deeper. For this article, I have drawn on Monica Wilde’s recent How to make Medicine from Mushrooms: Part 1. Monica explains how mushrooms come from two broad groups of chemicals; beta-glucan polysaccharides, and triterpenes. It would appear that it is the high polysaccharide content of Reishi that provides the noted immune-modulatory effect in humans, whilst the triterpenes stimulate cytotoxic activity against cancer cells.

Beta-glucan polysaccharides form chitin, Wilde tells us, which is a vital part of the cell walls of all mushrooms, from the lowly white button mushroom to the mighty Reishi …. you just can’t be a mushroom without having chitin made from these polysaccharides. It is these beta-glucan polysaccharides that serve as important medicine for our immune systems, both strengthening and maintaining balance. This issue of balance, or immune modulation, is topical as, in some people, Covid-19 stimulates an over-reaction of the immune system (known as a cytokine storm), resulting in severe organ damage. Cytokines are ‘small, soluble proteins that act as intracellular mediators in an immune response’ (Guggenheim, 2014) and mushrooms have an ability to modulate cytokine production.

Since our digestive systems are not used to breaking down chitin, the beta-glucan polysaccharides found in Reishi must be extracted using hot water; “the tough cell walls of mushrooms tend to hang on to their betaglucan polysaccharides”. Wilde recommends a decoction of powdered, dried mushroom. To decoct, boil the substance in water, and simmer gently for an hour. The powdered form exposes more of the mushroom to water.

An increasing amount of clinical research confirms many of the health benefits of mushrooms. Much of the research quoted by Powell (2013, 2014) and others originates in Japan and China, however the Western journals seem to be catching-up.

Now that gentle and balanced support for our immune systems has gained critical importance, perhaps the 5000-year history of the benefits of mushrooms will again become more widely valued. References Guggenheim, A.G. et al (2014) Immune Modulation From Five Major Mushrooms: Application to Integrative Oncology, www.nim.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4684115/ (accessed 07.09.2020) Kew Gardens (2018) State of the World’s Fungi www.stateoftheworldsfungi.org (accessed 31.08.2020) Powell, M. (2013) Medicinal Mushrooms: The Essential Guide, Mycology Press Powell, M. (2014) Medicinal Mushrooms: A Clinical Guide, Mycology Press Rogers, R. (2011) The Fungal Pharmacy: The Complete Guide to Medicinal Mushrooms & Lichens of North America, North Atlantic Books Berkeley, California Wilde, M. (2020) Wild Food, Wild Medicine, Wild You www.monicawilde.com (accessed 27.08.2020) of the World’s Plants and Fungi 2020

Autumn Immunity Joseph Nolan

As a professional herbalist with a speciality in paediatrics, I often see children whose immune systems are not quite up to scratch. Maybe the child had croup as a baby, or is dairy intolerant, or was born by C-section; or maybe there is no obvious reason this child should be prone to illness when three siblings are not. These things happen. Most often, children with underperforming immune systems come to see me with either chronically runny noses and coughs (because the one begets the other); ear, tonsil, or adenoid issues; or molluscum contagiosum. So, how do I know a child’s immune system needs some help? There are a few things to look for. While all children get sick sometimes, if any or all of the following persist, a little immune help will certainly not go amiss.

Signs of Poor Immunity 1) Frequent illness; major (tonsillitis, ‘flu, high fevers), or minor (runny noses, coughs). These children get sick a lot and may miss a lot of school. 2) Energy and stamina are lower than other children. I look for unusual daily napping, or an unusual need for serious rest. 3) Pallor. I see some pale and listless children in clinic. You can bet your bottom dollar these kids will need immune support, as well as a diet rethink, and more sleep. Take note of the peelywally child.Having identified a weak immune system, what do I do about it? Herbal Immune Helpers Well, as it happens, this month’s featured herb, Ganoderma lucidum (Reishi Mushroom) is my ace in the hole. I’ve found it second to none as an immune strengthener. It works fairly quickly, suits most everyone, is very safe and very reliable. I use it a lot, mostly in tincture form. Dried Reishi slices are hard to come by, and the powdered extract, although wonderfully potent, tastes diabolical. Foragers can check out Ganoderma applanatum (Artist’s Conk, Artist’s Bracket) as an alternative, bearing in mind that it is unusual in Britain as a whole. It is, however, locally common in our damp dark Scottish woods. If you wish to gather it, be 100% certain of your ID, and most of all forage sustainably.

Next, of course, we have Sambucus nigra (Elderberry, Elderflower). Elder is reliable and safe, with the distinct advantage of being delicious. For coughs and chest complaints, you really can’t do better than Elderberry. Use the berries with anti-infectives like thyme, cloves, and ginger, and immune builders like echinacea. My preferred form is a glycerite, a sweet and (sugarfree!) syrup-like extract in vegetable glycerine. You can use dried Elderberries to make syrup, glycerite, and tincture, but admittedly fresh/frozen are tastier, so foraging your own might be the way to go.

Dried Elderberries are great in broths and soups, crushed and used in herbal tea blends, chutneys, and in baking. NB: Do not use Elderberries raw. A few off the tree is fine, but they are mildly toxic, causing nausea, vomiting, and diarrhoea if consumed raw in any quantity. Early in my herbal career, I made the mistake of juicing them, drinking about a shot glassful of dark purple juice. All I can say is don’t.

Elderflower is at its best with upper respiratory infections: runny noses, throaty coughs, sore throat, and achy shivery cold and ‘flu. It helps with chills, and very gently aids sleep in feverish children. Use it in tea, tincture, or glycerite. One of my favourite herbs for strengthening immunity is Galium aperine (Cleavers). With illness, if all you do is use anti-infectives like thyme and sage, you are essentially fighting the infection directly, the equivalent of cutting a fire line. You might stop the progression, but you have done nothing about the 1000 acres of tinder-dry forest behind you, so while you have stopped this fire, there will surely be another. Cleavers brings rain. Lots and lots of rain. Cleavers is a lymphatic; bringing immune cells, clearing products of inflammation and the detritus of infection fighting, and soothing sore swollen nodes by improving the flow of lymph through the body. In clinic, while I do use it in tincture, tea is my preferred form. If you are moving water, you need water to move— so the liquid in tea is part of the medicine. For general immunity, and more specifically sore throats, ear problems, tonsillitis, swellings, and in children prone to swollen glands, you can get a very long way on.

Lastly, there is the most excellent children’s herb Calendula officinalis (Pot Marigold). It is more anti-infective than Cleavers, but less powerfully lymphatic. They work very well together. Calendula has the added benefits of tightening and helping tissue to heal— rather like Elderflower, with which it also combines well— so sore throats, badly inflamed nasal tissues, and skin infections, get Calendula. Tea, again, is my preferred form, but a 25% tincture also works admirably. Lastly, here is an indispensable home remedy for colds, coughs, and infections, suitable for children of any age (it works on adults, too!).

Garlic Socks Allium sativum (Garlic) is a wonderful anti-septic. The pungent essential oil is released via the lungs, hence the smell, and it is an exceptional anti-infective and expectorant. Think of Garlic especially for chesty coughs, with deep rattly phlegm and green or yellow gunge, as well as flu and streaming colds. Here is a great way to use it: Crush a clove or two. Put an old pair of socks on the wee feet. Spread the crushed garlic on the soles of the socked feet. Put a second pair of old socks on over the garlic. Put the sick little person to bed, bearing in mind that the whole bed will stink from garlic by the morning. In the morning, remove the socks, and carry on with your day. Repeat the whole process for three nights running. Little person will be (99% guaranteed!) fit as a fiddle by the end. NB: Do not apply Garlic directly to the skin, it will burn. Children’s feet, with their thin soft skin, will readily absorb the Garlic fumes (you’ll smell it on the breath pretty quickly) and it will work its magic.

Healthy herbing!

Photos: Joseph Nolan