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St john's Wort Info & help pls?

I am writing an article on this plant for the next newsletter.
i am abit puzzled by its origins
this is waht i have written so far
Any comments queries criticisms?
Thaks
Michael
St. John's Wort
St. John's Wort had been around since pre Christian times Dioscorides in
one of the first written accounts of Hypericum says that it is good for the
sciaticas, choleric excrements and ambusta; diseases that are today hard to
marry with their 20th century equivalents  Its Greek name was "Askuron" or
"Ascyroides".  Hypericum is derived from the Greek and Maude Grieve says it
means "'over an apparition' a reference to the belief that the herb was so
obnoxious to evil spirits that a whiff of it would cause them to fly."
Maude however doesn't tell us who first gave it this name.  Interestingly
St. John's Wort does not have a lot of old British common names.  Usually
plants of this age have hundreds.  "Wort" is the old English or Old Saxon
word for any medicinal or sometimes edible plant.  Perhaps St. John's Wort
did not grow to well in British climates.  Interestingly Mrs Leyel (1920)
says that it was not introduced to England until late in the sixteenth
centry.  While this can't be true as Gerard (1633) mentions it growing  it
may not have been common in England.  Perhaps it needed the dry hills of
Greece. I find it facinating that such an effective, usefull and unusual
wound herb doesen't appear in earlier Egyptian, Ayurvedic or Chinese
traditions.  In fact no one seems to know where hypericums are native to or
when or where it first appeared.  (It is quite often not mentioned in even
the most modern herbals and pharmacy texts) It certainly seems to thrive in
country N.S.W. where it is a proclaimed noxious weed.  My self sown plant
died many years ago, the humid coastal clime may not agree with it.  A few
of the old British names include Rosin Rose (its seed pods have a resin
like fragrance), Balm of the Warriors Wound' and 'Touch and Heal' (the oil
expressed from the leaves is antiseptic.) In France St. John's Wort is
called 'Chass-Diable' the devil chaser.
Is the similarity of St. John's Wort's botanical name Hypericum to the
Hyperion of Greek Mythology just a coincidence?  Hyperion, a Titan, was the
father by Thea of Helios, the sun-god; of Selene, the moon-goddess; and of
Eos goddess of the dawn.

Michael Bailes.
The Fragrant Garden, Portsmouth Road, Erina. N.S.W. 2250 Australia. (OZ)
 Int fax 61 243 651979  Phone 61 243 677322
 EMAIL: frgntgar@ozemail.com.au
  Web page at: http://www.ozemail.com.au/~frgntgar/
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