Day 6: Green alkanet flower tea
- Sarah-Jane Cobley
- Apr 7
- 2 min read
Pentaglottis sempervirens
I took a wander around a little community managed woodland with narrow winding paths, little ponds dotted about and dappled sunlight making its way through the leaves.
When I came to a patch of green alkanet I knew nothing was going to outshine it today. I sat down marvelling at the piercing blue flowers, knowing that it was an unusual choice in terms of herbal medicine, and yet eager to get them into my cup.
ID features
The intensely blue flowers are small and 5 petalled. The flower buds are pinkish. They look a lot like forget-me-not flowers. If you know borage you will see the family resemblance, except borage flowers are bigger and starshaped with pointed black stamen. Green alkanet flowers have a white centre without stamen and the petals are rounded.
The leaves are pointed and very hairy, as is the stem and each cluster of flower buds. The leaves also have deep veins like borage and comfrey with irritant hairs which makes it unsuitable for eating.
The plants I spent time with were 30-60cm high and enjoying the sunshine.
Medicinal uses
Green alkanet is no longer used in herbal medicine, and it is only the flowers that can be consumed. The leaves can be used to make a skin wash that is soothing and healing for skin burns.
How to make a cuppa
Take care to avoid the surrounding hairs when picking the flowers. The flowers themselves are soft without hairs. I picked around 10 for my tea. More to do with aesthetics than anything else.
Taste
It reminded me of comfrey leaves. A bit cucumbery and slightly water-melony. A kind of green refreshing flavour and not at all strong.
Cautions
I would imagine the same cautions exist for this plant as for comfrey. Some sources recommend not ingesting comfrey and to reserve it only for external healing needs for which it is very effective. This is due to concern over its liver toxicity in long term high doses.
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For those Local to me:
My next herb walk is at 6.30pm on Tuesday 15th April. Meet in Peel Park, (on the Community Centre side), in Long Ashton, North Somerset, BS41 9DP. Bring a flask of hot water for a foraged tea.
There will also be a walk in Ashton Court on Tuesday 22nd April. Meet at the entrance to the rose garden with a flask of hot water. We must be mindful that the gates to the grounds are shut at sunset, (8pm), and so we will finish promptly at 7.40pm.
£10 cash on arrival, or pre-pay option via: https://www.healthneedsthyme.co.uk/services
Herbal Medicine Consultations
I am a qualified medical herbalist, trained in much the same way as a GP. However, my medicines are from nature's larder. They nourish and strengthen so that your body can heal itself. I offer consultations via video call and send tonics out in the post. Email me to book an appointment: sarah-janecobley@healthneedsthyme.co.uk
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