Book Review: Asteraceae

“Those radiant flowers of the sun, plant of our central star: daisies, marigolds and chamomile have become vital remedies in homeoapthy. … The Asteraceae are remedies for ruptures of the mind and body, when boundaries have been broken by accident, violence, abuse or invasion. Invasion can take many forms, such as blood poisoning, parasitical worms, insect-borne diseases, viruses, bacterial infections or hay fever. But it can also mean injuries, surgery, physical and emotional abuse, or malevolent psychic invasion. … They are remedies for restoring a sense of wholeness and integrity to lives fragmented by trauma, and include some of the oldest plant medicines known to humanity.” ​

​Asteracea by Jo Evans is a beautiful book full of stunning full-page color photos and illustrations of the various plants that make up this very large plant family including more than 23,000 species found everywhere except Antarctica (Funk et al. 2004).

This nicely sized tome is divided into two parts. Part 1 is Plant Portraits: 35 photographic portraits opposite full-page descriptions of plants as homeopathic remedies, along with a small box at the top of each page with some key notes as well as botanical details and its traditional uses.

The quick overview of Echinacea angustifolia describes this pink coneflower as a good homeopathic remedy for “Post-viral fatigue syndrome. Coughs, cold, flu. Blood poisoning. Bites, stings, boils. Acute illness that becomes chronic.” [gosh. This sounds like it could be a useful remedy these days!] Echinacea was “originally known as a medicine for blood poisoning and septic states” and primarily acts "on the blood, lymph and lungs" and "has become known as the herbal antibiotic.” Noting various other plants containing cichoric acid “which has been found to have strong anti-viral properties”  (Evans 2020, p. 29). 

Every page is simply stunning and the descriptions are short enough to keep the interest level high and full of enough information so that the reader gets an excellent understanding of each plant’s homeopathic benefits.

Part 2 provides us with a comparison of remedies, beginning with The Anthemideae, the aromatic herbs which are “some of the oldest medicines known” (Evans 2020, p. 75). Remedy themes and history are interwoven with differentiations and case studies.

A deeper dive into Millefolium comes next, followed by “Bitter Foods: Thistles and Lettuces,” a chapter which follows much the same structure as the Anthemideae section.

“Earthing the Sun: the alchemy of sunflowers.” Similar to the earlier sections, Evans gives us a comparison of remedies within themes. For instance: spleen and wound healing and fevers.

Calendula, Bellis perennis and Arnica each get their own well-deserved separate chapters. The final chapter is The Sundial, based on the remedy Espeletia grandiflora and is followed by a one-page overview of the Asteraceae themes.

This gorgeous book is well researched and heavily cited and worthy of many repeat readings. Though it is presented in a highly readable format, there is so much information contained in these pages it is impossible to absorb it all and thus deserves a prime spot on your shelf for the many return visits you will want to make to it.

Did I mention how beautiful this book is?

For more information, visit: Asteraceae.
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Evans, J., 2020. Asteraceae: remedies of the sunflower family. Harlem, NL: Emryss.

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Reference list
Funk, V. A., Chan, R., and Keeley, S. C., 2004. Insights into the evolution of the tribe Arctoteae (Compositae: subfamily Cichorioideae s.s.) using trnL-F , ndhF , and ITS. TAXON [online], 53 (3), 637–655.

Plant Portraits, 2021. Plant Portraits [online]. Plant Portraits. ​