The evening primrose is a wild plant that tends to grow in areas which have few other plants around such as roadsides and waste land. Many parts of the plant can be eaten. The plant tends to be cultivated in the USA and the first plants to arrive in Europe from USA happened in the sixteen hundreds. Some plants can now be grown in Europe due to being naturalized and adapting to the colder climate.
The young roots of the plant have a peppery flavour and can be eaten like a vegetable. The shoots can be eaten as part of a salad. For medicinal use, the whole plant tends to be used. It is often made in to an infusion which is astringent and can act as a sedative. In the past it has been used for various things including asthmatic coughs, pain-killer, whooping cough and gastro-intestinal disorders. It can be prepared to make a poultice which was used to ease bruising and speed up the healing of wounds on the body and is sometimes now used to help eczema.
These days it tends to be better known in the form of evening primrose oil and used to help premenstrual stress as well as the symptoms of the menopause. It is sometimes used to reduce breast tenderness and the rheumatoid arthritis. It is also undergoing testing to see if it can help to fight breast cancer. Clinical trials have not produced fantastic evidence in its favour but no well run tests have been carried out.
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