TANACETUM VULGARE
TANSY
Description: Natural Order, Compositae. This is the strong and bitter tansy of gardens, in some places escaped into lawns and by-roads. Stem erect, smooth, striated, one to two feet high, leafy. Leaves large, smooth, dark-green, twice pinnatifid, edges cut-toothed. Flower-heads numerous, densely corymbose, many-flowered, deep-yellow, very persistent, all fertile, without rays; involucre imbricated, dry; receptacle convex, naked; pappus a short crown. The variety CRISPUM, called double tansy, has the leaves more cut and crisped. July to September.
The leaves of this herb have a strong odor, especially when bruised; and a bitter, biting taste. Boiling water and alcohol extract its qualities; but it contains a considerable portion of volatile oil, which is much dissipated by age and heat. The oil is greenish-yellow, lighter than water, and very pungent.
Properties and Uses: This herb is stimulating and moderately relaxing, rather diffusive, leaving a biting tonic-stimulating impression. A warm infusion favors perspiration, and stimulates the menstrual function; and is occasionally used in atonic amenorrhea, though a rather harsh remedy. It is a popular agent for all menstrual suppressions; and is often employed to medicate vapor for baths about the pelvis in such obstructions, and for local baths in rheumatism, sprains, etc.; and also as a fomentation for uterine and intestinal rheumatism, for all of which outward purposes it is an efficient article. Sometimes it is added to other agents in cold preparations, but is too harsh and unpleasant an article for internal use except under necessity. The oil is a good stimulating rubefacient, and is sometimes used as an abortive, but it is very dangerous. The seeds, and flowers when nearly ripe, are reputed to be a good remedy for worms.
The Phsiomedical Dispensatory by William Cook, M.D., 1869
Medical Herbalism journal and medherb.com
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Female – Some herbs contraindicated in pregnancy
Every medical herbalist has their own list of herbs they avoid during pregnancy. Here is a list suggested by British Herbalist Simon Mills, on the basis of their emmenogogue or abortifacient effects.
Tanacetum vulgare (Tansy)
Artemesia absinthum (Yarrow)
Berberis vulgaris (Barberry)
Chelidonium majus (Celendine)
Cimicifuga racemosa (Black cohosh)
Cinchona spp. (Cinchona)
Crocus sativa (Saffron)
Dryopteris felix-mas (Male Fern)
Gossypium herbaceum (Cotton Root)
Hydrastis canadensis (Golden Seal)
Juniperus communis (Juniper)
Mentha pulegium (Pennyroyal)
Origanum vulgare (Origano)
Phytolacca decandra (Poke)
Rosmarinus off. (Rosemary)
Ruta graveolens (Rue)
Salvia off. (Sage)
Sanguisorba canadensis (Greater Burnet)
Thuja occidentalis (White Cedar)
Thymus vulgaris (Thyme)
All anthraquinone laxatives (Cascara Sagrada, Yellow Dock, Senna, Rhubarb, Aloe)
Reference
Mills, S. “Are Herbs Safe?” Brit J Phyto, (1991)2:(2);82.
Copyright 2001 Paul Bergner 99
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TANSY
Tanacetum vulgare (L.)–Scented Fern, Stinking Willie
Composite Family–Compositae
A strong-smelling garden favorite, tansy resists frost and cold,a nd its attractive yellow flowerheads are extremely long lasting, both when they are in bloom and after they have been picked and dried. Patches of tansy can survive for decades in the same location. The very name tansy, herbalists declare, is a corruption of the Greek word for immortality–athanasia.
Because of its strong smell, tansy is a natural insect repellent. In the Middle Ages dried tansy was one of the “strewing herbs” scattered across floors to keep pests away. Housewives also hung it from rafters, packed it between bedsheets and mattresses, and rubbed it on meat to discourage lice, flies, and other vermin. In more recent times, they have used it to repel moths and get rid of fleas.
Tansy also has a long history as a seasoning and medicinal plant. In England, the leaves were once used to flavor small tansy cakes eaten during Lent–their biter taste symbolized Christ’s suffering. A tea from the leaves was once commonly taken for colds, stoamchaches, and intestinal worms. Folk healers made a poultice from the leaves to place on cuts and bruises.
Habitat: Roadsides, abandoned land.
Range: Introduced from Europe, tansy has escaped from gardens from Newfoundland to British Columbia and in much of the United States.
Identification: An extremely hardy aromatic perennial with stiff, erect stems up to 3 feet high. Feathery, dark green, narrow, lance-shaped leaves with deeply toothed leaflets grow alternately along the stem, at the top of which bloom many dense clusters of small, buttonlike yellow flowerheads (July-October). Tansy grows in clumps.
Uses: The dried leaves are an effective insect repellent. In folk medicine today, tansy still serves as a vermifuge (to expel worms), an emmenagogue (to bring on menstruation), and an antispasmodic. Pharmacologists studying the plant for its medicinal value find some evidence for its use as an antispasmodic, but little or no evidence for its use as a vermifuge or an emmenagogue.
p. 318, Magic and Medicine of Plants , Reader’s Digest General Books, edt. Inge N. Dobelis, 1986
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*L* For your amusement, searching for “Sansretti” with Google brought me only one result–the approved characters page at wod-nyc.
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NAME ANALYSIS FOR: Tansy Sansretti
Tansy: You are an overly sensitive person, often falling into a savior-martyr role. You are very skeptical and have more than your share of bad luck. You have much enthusiasm with a driving attitude toward achievement in life. You can handle details well. You have a methodical mind. You try to be prudent. You have good business acumen. Your independence and freedom are important to you.
Sansretti: You try to be prudent. You have good business acumen. You have a need to be up front. You must learn to give ‘wise’ service and not be a martyr. You have a need to earn money to prove your success to society and must learn the true value of material gains and status. You enjoy a challenge. You can take thought-directed actions. You can be quite inventive and quite curious. You need to learn faith in place of fear. You need to learn faith in place of fear. You are relatively demonstrative in your affections. You enjoy being stroked verbally and physically.
zodiacal.com
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TANSY Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: TAN-zee
From the name of the flower, which got its name from a shortening of Athanasia.
Usage: Greek, Ancient Greek (Latinized)
From the Greek name Athanasios, which meant “immortal” from Greek a, a negative prefix, combined with thanatos “death”. Saint Athanasius was a 4th-century bishop of Alexandria who strongly opposed Arianism.
behindthename.com
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Tansy Female Greek immortality
parenthood.com
