LESSER PERIWINKLE - Used to Treat: Tinnitus: 

LETTUCE / Purple Oakleaf  Lactuca sativa. Actions: Astringent, used previously as a Sedative. Constituents: Vitamin A, B1, B6, C & E. Cultivation: Open heart with decorative foliage to 30cm apart and needs generous fertiliser in moist conditions. Sun to part Sun and harvest all year round. Product: Leaf by Leaf. Flavour Partners: Chicory, Cress, Endive, Mizuna, Mustard Greens, Rocket, Salad Burnet, & Sorrel. Food Partners: Anchovies, Asparagus, Cheese, Eggs, Ham, Mesclun and Salads. Used to Treat: Circulation: Used to improve the Circulation of the Blood. Cosmetic: pulped Leaves are soothing and cooling to the Skin on the Face as a Mask or sieved and added to the Bath. Sleep: Lettuce Tea is tasty a natural remedy for Sleep. 

LETTUCE, WILD / Lactuca virosa / Warm parts of Europe. Actions: Anodyne & Sedative with Hypnotic characteristics. Cultivation: A small plant of bushy appearance. Product: the Dried Juice is used. Used to Treat: Coughs: used to ease when of a Nervous origin. 

LICORICE MINT - Agastache rupestris. Lamiaceae. See also Anise Hyssop. Cultivation: A Perennial plant with small liquorice scented Leaves and spikes of nectar rich apricot coloured flowers. 

LIFE ROOT / Senecio aureus / Europe & North America. *A valuable herb. Actions: An Emmenagogue for bringing on Menses. Also a Pectoral with Soothing beneficial properties. Also a Tonic. Cultivation: An erect herb with yellow flowers. Products: Herb & Rhizome.

LILY OF THE VALLEY / Convallaria majalis / Britain. N.B: Do not use if suffering from a history of High Blood Pressure and self medication is not recommended. Actions: Highly recommended Cardiac Tonic with stimulating action on the contraction of the Heart increasing Myocardial efficiency with no after effects and strong doses act as a Purgative. Constituents: contains Cardioactive Glycosides. Cultivation: A Garden plant. Product: the Whole Plant. Also used in Cosmetics, Soaps and Toiletries.

LIME FLOWERS / Blossom / Linden Flowers / Linden Tree / Tilia / Tilleul / Tree of Life / Tilia europoea / cordata / Tiliaceae Europe. *One of the most important Diaphoretic herbs. N.B: Do not use if Pregnant or Breast Feeding. Actions: Calming, Cleansing, Nervine, Relaxing, Sedative, Stimulant and Tonic.

Cultivation: A graceful tall upstanding tree with warm honey - scented blossom that requires a neutral to Alkaline soil in a sunny position and propagated by the fresh ripe seed or stratification - see Echinacea) of stored seed planted in Spring, or suckers, which require removing and pot them and plant elsewhere. Products: the Flowers are used including the pale yellowish bracts and Lime - Blossom Honey with an Infusion "Tilleul" produced in France. Should pick your own flowers as the commercially dried taste like newspaper. The pale, soft wood of the tree is used for delicate carving and artist's charcoal and the fibres are used in basketry and rope making. Harvest the the Flower Clusters together with a few young leaves at the peak of flowering and spread out and dry.

Products: Bracts & Flowers. Dosage: 1 teaspoon of dried herb or 2 teaspoons of fresh to a cup of boiling water 3 x times a day. Massage Oil: 2 handfuls of Dried Lime Flowers, 200ml of Avocado Oil, 100ml of Apple Cider Vinegar. Pack the Flowers into a clean glass jar and cover with Oil and cap tightly and leave in a cool, dark place for 3 weeks and shake occasionally to ensure the Flowers are covered. Pour off the mixture into a non - Aluminium saucepan and heat until medium - warm then remove from the heat, strain off the Flowers and add the Apple Cider Vinegar to the Oil.  Pour into a sterilized jar, cool and cap and shake thoroughly before using and store in the refrigerator. 

Used to Treat: Anxiety: with a Tea to relax especially Children around exams. Atherosclerosis  - Hardening of the Arteries: with 4 - 6gm of the Dried Flowers 3 or more times a day to reduce as a Peripheral Vasodilator. Blood Pressure - High: used to reduce in combination with Hawthorn & Mistletoe. Cardiac Disease: used in combination with Hawthorn & Mistletoe. Circulatory Conditions: Specific. Colic: a Tea made from the Flowers especially Babies. Colds: Fevers: Tea is used especially when combined with Peppermint & Yarrow and encourages sweating to assist the Body. Flu: Head - Aches: A strong but quite safe Nervine for relief. Hypertension: with 4 - 6gm of the Dried Flowers 3 or more times a day and used in combination with Hawthorn & Mistletoe as a Peripheral Vasodilator. Hysteria: A strong but quite safe Nervine for relief. Influenza: Tea is used especially when combined with Peppermint & Yarrow. Migraines: relieves Vascular Head Aches. Nervous - Tension: as a Tea and combines with Lemon Balm to ease or use an Infusion of Blossoms to add to Bath water to sooth. Respiratory Conditions: Restless - Irritable: with a Tea. Sleep: as the Tea to promote especially Children or stuff a pillow with the Dried Flowers. 

LIME TREE / Citrus aurantifolia / 

LINSEED / Flax Seed / Long - Stalked Flax - fabric / Crown Flax - Seed / Linum Usitatissimum - Linaceae. Actions: Demulcent, Emollient, Powerful Mucilage, Pectoral & Soothing used in Cough Medicines & Poultices. N.B: Do not use if Pregnant or Breast Feeding. 

     Cultivation: An erect Annual plant with blue flowers and multiple stems from the base with strong fleshy narrow leaves. In the Summer they bear single, upward facing, sky blue flowers, which become round capsules 1 cm in diameter, filled with glossy, flattened oval seeds. Requires a sunny position and a well drained open soil with seed sown directly into the soil in Spring. Must be maintained Weed free. Product: the Seeds when ripe are stored in the refrigerator or in Oil, and used Medicinally, as is the Cold Compressed Oil, or the Raw Oil is used industrially and the Whole Plant as a source of fabric when mature. Non - Digestible Carbohydrate that is not fibrous but it does absorb water and swells up in the Colon and also contains highly Unsaturated Fatty Acids and must be either chewed or ground to utilize these.

N.B: Can be eaten ground or whole but can easily Oxidize and go rancid - It is better to eat them whole by swallowing. N.B: If ground or chewed, to get the benefit of the Fatty Acid - Omega 3 content then eat straight away and drink a glass of water at the same time. Dosage: 1 x Tablespoon 2 or 3 times a day and drink a large glass of water or a similar liquid with them. Base: for other herbs or Oils. Gel: simmer 1 cup of Seeds with 3 cups of water until thickened and strain the mixture through a non - metallic sieve and thin with distilled water. Oil: is processed into highly Emollient Oil and is also used as a base in natural Cosmetics.

Used to Treat: Angina: Back - Pain: ensure that Calcium, Magnesium, Protein and Vitamin C are readily available in the diet. Use a Hot Seed Poultice by soaking 1 cup of Seeds in cold water and leave overnight and then boil and cook until thickened and apply to the effected area as hot as tolerable as it has a strong drawing, healing and soothing action. Boils: use a Hot Seed Poultice by soaking 1 cup of Seeds in cold water and leave overnight and then boil and cook until thickened and apply to the effected area as hot as tolerable as it has a strong drawing, healing and soothing action. Bronchitis: as a Plaster with 1 teaspoon of Mustard Powder to 3/4 cup of Seed Gel and mix well to form or use the Oil as a Massage to ease the pain. Bruises: as a Gel. Burns: as a Gel. Chronic Pain: as a Massage Oil. Constipation: Digestive System: Diverticulitis: Endometriosis: Haemorrhoids: for the burning & itching as a Gel. Inflammation: as a Gel. Muscles - Aching: combine 1/4 cup of Seed Oil with a 1/4 cup of water and 2 Tablespoons of Witch Hazel in a bottle with a tight lid and shake thoroughly before massaging in. Psoriasis: Skin - Dry: use fatty substances such as Egg yolk as a spreader and mix in the Seed Oil to form a sticky paste and used as a Face Mask will revitalise by stimulating the Pores to secrete more natural Oils. It is also used in Creams & Soaps. Sores: use a hot Seed Poultice by soaking 1 cup of Seeds in cold water and leave overnight and then boil and cook until thickened and apply to the effected area as hot as tolerable as it has a strong drawing, healing and soothing action. Sprains: as a Gel. Swellings: as a Gel. 

    Horses: As a feed it must either be boiled or fed as a Cold Pressed Oil 40 mils daily. Boil 1/2 - 1 x cup for 1 hour especially with 1 - 2 cups White French Millet to remove Sand from the Stomach. Also this herb has valuable uses as an External Raw Oil such as applied sparingly on a daily basis to re - tension contracted Tissue, especially Tendons after trauma or surgery. Good for Ligaments and Tendons contains Omega 3 + 6 Fatty Acids.