Dilutions
Aconitum
The lofty Monkshood belongs to the most poisonous plants in Europe. Its dangerous poison can even penetrate the skin. It grows in mountainous regions and prefers nutrient-rich, damp places. The entire plant is dug up in summer, when its beautiful inflorescence consisting of multiple helmet-shaped flowers appears. The dark-brown to black, carrot-shaped roots are processed together with the aerial parts.
Allium cepa
We are all familiar with the pungent taste of onions and the sharp aroma that stings the eyes. Our eyes water immediately even if we cut them. The fresh bulbs, which are actually a storage body consisting of compressed leaves growing underground, are dug up in autumn and processed immediately.
Arnica
Leopard’s Bane grows in mountainous regions only, it avoids fertilized soils and prefers nutrient-poor, damp meadows. The plant’s rhizome is carefully dug up in autumn. The arched to S-shaped rootstock with its aromatic odour and pungent, sharp, and also bitter taste is washed and dried before it is processed.
Belladonna
Deadly Nightshade grows up to 1.50 m tall and is found in light places in forests. The all-poisonous plant with its nodding, brownish violet flowers and the seductive, glossy black berries is dug out at the end of the flowering season. The entire plant including its thick, cylindrical rhizome is used.
Berberis
The thorny Barberry with its scarlet red and very sour berries is harvested in autumn. Merely the dried root bark, which is brown on the outside and yellow on the inside and has a tangy odour, is used for the tincture. Barberry’s enormous rootstock is carefully dug up; then the root bark is stripped off in selected places.
Chamomilla
The aromatic and fragrant German Chamomile is harvested in summer. It differs from other species mainly due to its hollow receptacle. When the weather is dry and sunny, and as soon as the white ray florets bend downwards and the receptacle has swollen, the time is ideal. The flowering plant is then gathered around midday.
Chelidonium
Greater Celandine flowers from spring to autumn, it has yellow petals that easily fall off. In autumn, after the flowering period, the underground parts of the plant, which hold the yellow milky sap, are dug up. They are orange to dark brown and emanate a mild odour of soil. The roots are processed immediately.
Cimicifuga
The underground parts of Bugbane are dug up in spring, long before the frail looking, long and upright inflorescence can produce its small white florets. The flowers emanate an unpleasant odour and are processed immediately. We only pick plants that are already several years old. The plant is native to North America.
Colchicum
The Autumn Crocus produces striking, pink, star-shaped flowers late in summer or in autumn. After bloom, the plant retreats back into the ground until its leaves and the oval infructescence shoot out of the ground again in the following spring. In spring the poisonous, unpleasantly radish-like smelling underground bulb is also dug out and processed.
Convallaria
Lily of the Valley has white, bell-shaped flowers that emanate a sweet and pleasant fragrance. In the blooming period, the flowers are harvested together with the slim, green leaves and processed immediately. The all-poisonous Lily of the Valley is found in warm regions and loves forests and forest edges; it occurs predominately in lower altitudes.
Hypericum
St. John’s Wort with its wide open inflorescence flowers when the sun is at its highest point. The inflorescence consists of five-petalled yellow flowers with the petals slightly slanted and at the most some black dots on their edge, as well as three ray-like fascicles of stamens arising from the centre of the flower. Another particularly striking feature of this species is its double-edged stem and the perforated appearance of the leaves which is due to oil glands. We use the plant’s fresh, flowering herbage, which features a very spicy smell and a bitter flavour. Only the top 30 cm are harvested.
Mercurialis
Dog’s Mercury is a plant that grows densely in deciduous forests, especially in spring. The plant has a tangy odour and a salty-bitter taste and is gathered in spring when it flowers. It is processed immediately. When gathered, the plant displays a special feature: after handling the fresh herbage for a while, it stains the hands with a bluish-black metal shine.
Petasites
Common Butterbur emanates a slightly unpleasant odour and flowers in spring. Towards the end of the blooming period, its fresh flowers and leaves are picked and processed. The plant’s leaves appear only when the bloom is already coming to an end. They can grow extremely large in the course of the year. Common Butterbur can be told apart from other butterbur types by its hollow and grooved leaf stalk.
Vitex agnus-castus
Monk’s pepper, also referred to as Chaste Tree, is a typical Mediterranean plant. The fast growing shrub forms light blue flower clusters in summer. Later this is where the plant’s peppercorn-sized black or brownish, slightly spicy-hot tasting seeds form. The plant is cultivated in Ticino, where the climate is ideally suited to the plant’s needs. The fully ripened seeds are collected and used to manufacture the Agnus Castus mother tincture. This is the basis of Agnus-Castus D2.