Tansy

Tansy

by Wanderer MoonChild

🌱 Botanical Basics

1. Common Name(s): Tansy
2. Folk Name(s): Bitter Buttons, Ginger Plant, Golden Buttons, Mugwort (confused with), Parsley Fern, Buttons, Bitterwort
3. Scientific/Latin Name: Tanacetum vulgare
4. Family: Asteraceae (Daisy family)
5. Plant Type: Hardy perennial herb
6. Botanical Description: Upright clumping herb 2–4 feet tall with feathery, fern-like, aromatic leaves; flat-topped clusters of small, button-like yellow flowers with no petals; strong, bitter scent.
7. Growing Zones/Climate: USDA zones 4–8; hardy in temperate climates.
8. Best Zones for Growth: Thrives in cooler, northern temperate zones.
9. Habitat & Range: Native to Europe and Asia; naturalized in North America. Found along roadsides, meadows, and riverbanks.

🌿 Cultivation & Harvest

1. Soil & Sun Requirements: Prefers well-drained, sandy or loamy soil; thrives in full sun but tolerates partial shade.
2. Propagation: By division of root clumps in spring or autumn; also by seed but spreads aggressively and can become invasive.
3. Companion Planting: Repels pests such as ants, flies, moths, and beetles; often planted near roses, fruit trees, and vegetable gardens as a natural insect deterrent.
4. Harvesting Guidelines:
   
5. Leaves & Flowers – Harvest midsummer to early autumn when flowers are vibrant.
6. Cut aerial parts before seed heads form.
   
7. Drying/Preservation: Hang in bunches or dry flat in a ventilated space. Store in airtight containers away from light.

🌸 Traditional & Historical Use

1. Cultural Significance: Used since ancient Greece and medieval Europe for preserving corpses, flavoring food, and as a strewing herb to ward off pests. Associated with Easter feasting in Britain and with funeral rites.
2. Traditional Medicine: Used historically as an anti-parasitic (notably against intestinal worms), digestive bitter, and menstrual stimulant.
3. Symbolism: Immortality (for its preservative use), protection, endurance.

🌼 Medicinal & Practical Properties

1. Active Constituents: Thujone (toxic in high amounts), camphor, borneol, tannins, flavonoids, volatile oils.
2. Medicinal Uses (historical/traditional):
   
3. Vermifuge (worm expelling)
4. Digestive aid and bitter tonic
5. Menstrual regulation (emmenagogue)
6. Externally for bruises, sprains, scabies, lice
   
7. Preparation Methods:
   
8. Infusions and tinctures (low doses, historically used)
9. Poultices or compresses externally
10. Essential oil (extremely potent; external use only and diluted)
    
11. Dosage & Guidelines:
    
12. Internal use is strongly cautioned—modern herbalists rarely recommend due to toxicity of thujone. Historically, very small amounts (few drops tincture or teaspoon of dried herb) were used.
    
13. Safety/Precautions:
    
14. Toxic if taken in excess—may cause convulsions, liver damage, and even death.
15. Avoid in pregnancy, lactation, or with seizure disorders.
16. Not for regular internal use in modern herbal practice.

🌙 Magical & Spiritual Properties

1. Elemental Association: Venus/Water (sometimes linked to Mars for protective energy)
2. Planetary/Deity Correspondence: Venus, Hecate, associated with spirits of the dead due to funerary use.
3. Magical Correspondences: Protection, longevity, spirit communication, warding off illness and evil.
4. Ritual Use: Burned as incense for purification; carried in sachets for protection; used in funerary rites and ancestor work.
5. Symbolism in Divination/Dreams: May represent resilience, endurance, or warnings of excess/toxicity.

🌍 Ecological & Culinary Uses

1. Pollinator Value: Flowers attract bees, hoverflies, and beneficial insects.
2. Wildlife Uses: Bitter oils deter most grazing animals, though insects may use as host plant.
3. Culinary Uses: Historically used to flavor puddings, cakes, and omelets (Easter traditions), but no longer recommended due to toxicity.
4. Household/Practical Uses:
   
5. Used as a strewing herb to deter insects in households.
6. Placed in coffins for preservation.
7. Infused in vinegar for cleaning or pest control.

⚡ Fast Facts

1. Quick Uses: Protection herb, insect repellent, ancestor ritual herb.
2. Notable Traits: Strongly aromatic, insect-repelling, preservative qualities.
3. Special Notes: Once highly valued in Europe but now considered invasive in parts of North America. Internal medicinal use is discouraged today.

📖 Supporting Notes

1. Grieve, M. A Modern Herbal.
2. Chevallier, Andrew. Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine.
3. Foster, Steven & Duke, James. Peterson Field Guide to Medicinal Plants.