Bertram: Applications, Treatments, Health Benefits

Bertram is a plant that looks similar to chamomile. For a long time it has played little role in herbal medicine, so it is missing from many herbal books. Hildegard von Bingen finally discovered the healing power of this underrated plant, otherwise it might have been forgotten altogether. The scientific name is Anacyclus pyrethrum.

Occurrence and cultivation of bertram

Bertram is a plant that looks similar to chamomile. For a long time it has played little role in herbal medicine, so it is absent from many herbal books. The Bertram plant is native to Arabia, southern Spain, Morocco, Algeria and the Caucasus. In France, the mildly pungent plant is a neophyte, as this genus was not originally native to that country and has become established there solely through human influence. In Central Europe, Bertram occurs exclusively in cultivated stands. It was Hildegard von Bingen, after all, who recommended Bertram as a medicinal plant and for daily nutrition. The German Bertram (Anacyclus officinarum syn. Pyrethrum germanicum) found its origin as a medicinal plant from cultivated stands in Thuringia and was only an annual offshoot of the perennial Bertram. Visually, this plant differed from the natural stands by its narrower root and lighter foliage. Other Bertram species include Roman Bertram (A. pyrethrum var. pyrethrum) and Moroccan Bertram (A. pyrethrum var. depressus). The swamp sharp, tarragon, and valerian are also sometimes called bertram. History distinguishes between the true “bertram of old” and bertram as it is known today as a medicinal plant. The true bertram was called Pyrethrum verum. This was the umbrella plant and the umbelliferous plant of the marsh hair-stem, also known as oelnitz or elsenich, to which similar therapeutic properties were attributed. Historians assume that Hildegard von Bingen in her descriptions meant the true Bertram plant and not the nowadays known Roman and Moroccan Bertram. Experts, in turn, assume that the scholar of the Middle Ages spoke exclusively of the Roman Bertram. They assume that the marsh hair-stem as the “true Bertram” is confused with the Bertram as we know it today.

Effect and application

Although the white plant, which belongs to the genus Compositae (Asteraceae), looks very similar to chamomile at first glance, its taste is not mild, but pungent. While chamomile flowers smell mildly aromatic, bertam spreads a mildly pungent odor according to its ingredients. The stems first grow along the ground before rising and growing in height. Therefore, the plant also records the nickname “creeping bertram”. The bertram plant grows from a taproot that contains several small hairy roots until the root head forms a rosette and the basket flowers gradually rise. Flowering time is from May to August, the plant grows 30 to 40 centimeters high. It is not demanding and prefers sunny areas with lean to moderately nutritious soil. Its natural occurrences propagate by sowing. On each stem grow flowers with a yellow capitulum and white ray florets (ray florets) and regularly a large number of tubular florets (disk florets). The cup-shaped single flower clusters are surrounded by several rows of brownish-green bracts. The reed leaves are predominantly female, and the plants are pollinated by bees. The leaves have an airy surface and are notched to resemble lilac. Roman bertram and several subspecies have mostly blue-green stalked one- to three-pinnately arranged foliage. Initially formed in rosettes, the leaves are spread along the stem. In autumn, only the roots of the plant are collected for further processing. The healing natural constituents of the bertam plant are pyrethrin, pellitorin, essential oils, tannins, inulin, and defense-enhancing sugar compounds. The bertram root is preferably used as powder and tincture. The pungent bertram finds application in ointments and teas. The root is used only in the second growth cycle of the plant, when it already begins to wither. Two knife tips of bertram root powder drunk in a cup of nettle tea is described as helpful in rheumatism and constipation.In folk medicine, Bertram found preferential use in the treatment of strokes and paralysis of the tongue. Bertram tincture in the form of compresses can help with sciatica and lumbago. Hildegard von Bingen recommends the plant for its cleansing and digestive effects. Bertram is nervine, expectorant, astringent, antiseptic, digestive and skin irritant. It is used for lung ailments, anxiety, stomach ailments, heart ailments, toothaches, insomnia, and bedwetting. Its use in diabetes is controversial. Bertram is also suitable as a biological plant protection due to its pungent ingredients. Bertram is equally popular planted in ornamental gardens or sown in bee pastures. Hildegard von Bingen was particularly convinced of the use of the mildly pungent plant in the case of lung ailments. For this purpose, she mixed a tea of juniper flowers, woolly flower and bergram in a pure wine. Because of its pleasantly mild pungency, bertram is also often used as a flavor enhancer. Although the German plant is now considered an extinct species, it is still possible to plant Roman Bertram as an ornamental plant in the garden in open areas. Watered the plants only in case of severe drought, refrain from fertilizing.

Importance for health, treatment and prevention.

In today’s herbal medicine, Bertram does not play a major role compared to other medicinal plants, despite its versatile therapeutic possibilities. The suppliers of bertram herbs are therefore manageable. Nowadays, Bertram is mainly available from herbalists, whereby a distinction is made between Anacyclus officinarum and Anacyclus pyrethrum. Both types of Bertram root are available at a price of €7.50 to €9.50 per one hundred grams. However, Bertram, unlike other medicinal plants, records side effects, so only a sparing dosage is appropriate. Used in excessive amounts, bertram causes vomiting, nausea, stomach upset and diarrhea. The natural ingredient pyrethrum, although useful in the field of pest control, has a neurotoxic effect as a strong neurotoxin and is therefore not harmless even for humans in case of overdose. Skin irritation may occur with prolonged use.