Everlasting Gardener

  Joanie Lapic Herb Specialist
 

Hyssop
Hyssopus officinalis

This Herb is a semi-evergreen 2-foot-high shrub. It has narrow dark green leaves and spikes of clusters of bluish-purple flowers. It is native to southern Europe and Mediterranean countries, and enjoys a sunny, dry site in the garden. The above-ground parts are harvested when in bloom during the summer.

USES:

MEDICINAL ~          

Hyssop is both calming and tonic, mainly an anti-spasmodic. It is used for coughs, bronchitis and chronic catarrh, but because its tonic action encourages general recovery. It is also a nervine, used for anxiety, hysteria and petit mal seizures. Hyssop’s strong volatile oil soothes the digestive tract and is helpful in indigestion, gas, bloating and colic. It can be used as a tea or in tincture form.

CULINARY ~

The pungent leaves may be used  add a savory flavor to soups and stew, and in herb bread.

(some information obtained from "Holistic Herbal" by David Hoffmann, and from “The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants” by Andrew Chevallier)

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