Consider-the-Lilies Web Gallery
Chamomile
I found this bright-white flowered plant adorning the edge of a field near my house in the Shenandoah Valley.
The common name is ancient in its origin: The Greeks dubbed it chamaimelon for "earth apple," from chamai = "on the ground" + melon = "apple," for its sweet apple scent, and also used it in a number of medical applications.
The ancient Romans also used it for its healing properties, as well for perfuming incense and for flavoring beverages, which may have been carried forward in Spain where it has been known for centuries as Mantazilla or 'little apple' and is used for flavoring the light sherry which bears its name.
Authorities tell us that the Anglo-Saxons used it to add bitterness to beer, and it was not until hops took over that function in beer-making in the 16th century that it ceased to be used for this purpose. (See Gill-over-the-ground for another flowering herb used in beer making.)
Chamomile has been valued for millennia in civilizations throughout the world for its many beneficial properties. The medicinal uses in modern times are too numerous to recount here, but as the Germans put it, this versatile herb is alles zutraut or "capable of anything." For many people in the US the plant will most often be enjoyed as a soothing cup of herbal tea; but this little member of the Aster family has also graced mankind as a beautiful "lily of the field" throughout the world. As the scientific name after Linneaus indicates, it is truly a "noble" plant.
Go to the Main Directory to consider more lilies of the field.