Augaherb Botanical Extracts - Monographs
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Augustus
Oils Ltd is registered in England and Wales at
Augustus House
Mill Lane
Alton, Hants, UK
Reg No 1950177
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- bay leaf
- beetroot
- burdock root
- elderflower
- ginkgo biloba
- horsetail
- white willow bark
- wild cherry bark
Bay
Leaf Extract
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Beetroot
Extract |
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Beetroot is a native of South Europe and extensively cultivated as an article of food and especially for the production of sugar, and presents many varieties. It is derived from the Sea Beet (B. maritima, Linn.), which grows wild on the coasts of Europe, North Africa and Asia, as far as India, and is found in muddy maritime marshes in many parts of England, a tall, succulent plant, about 2 feet high, with large, fleshy, glossy leaves, angular stems and numerous leafy spikes of green flowers.foot. The root contains about a 10% fructose and about 30% by weight of starch and gum. The juice of the red beetroot was traditionally used for its astringent and antiseptic properties. Primary
chemical constituents of Beet Root include saponiside, phytosterol,
betaine, leucine, tyrosine, betacyanin, beta carotene, manganese,
potassium, and iron. Augaherb
Beetroot AG: Preserved: contains Sodium benzoate, methylparaben, sorbic acid. |
Burdock
Root Extract
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The plant varies considerably in appearance, and various subspecies, or even separate species, have been described, the variations being according to the size of the flower-heads and of the whole plant, the abundance of the whitish cotton-like substance that is sometimes found on the involucres, or the absence of it, the length of the flower-stalks, etc.
The flower-heads are found expanded during the latter part of the summer and well into the autumn: all the florets are tubular, the stamens dark purple and the styles whitish. The plant owes its dissemination greatly to the little hooked prickles of its involucre, which adhere to coats of animals and may be carried considerable distances.
The plant gets its name of 'Dock' from its large leaves; the 'Bur' is supposed to be a contraction of the French bourre, from the Latin burra, a lock of wool, such is often found entangled with it when sheep have passed by the growing plants.
An old English name for the Burdock was 'Herrif,' 'Aireve,' or 'Airup,' from the Anglo-Saxon hoeg, a hedge, and reafe, a robber - or from the Anglo-Saxon verb reafian, to seize. Culpepper gives as popular names in his time: Personata, Happy Major and Clot-Bur.
Though
growing in its wild state hardly any animal browses on this plant, the
stalks, cut before the flower is open and stripped of their rind, form
a delicate vegetable when boiled, similar to Asparagus in flavour. Formerly
they were candied with sugar, as Angelica is now.
Augaherb
Burdock Root AG :
In personal care products the root extract is useful for hair, scalp and
anti-acne products. Some research indicates that this plant may be effective
as an anti-inflammatory agent and antioxidant.
Carrier:
Monopropylene
Glycol/ Water.
Preserved: contains sodium benzoate, methylparaben, sorbic
acid.
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Elderflower
Extract
Botanical name: Sambucus nigra
The Elder, with its flat-topped masses of creamy-white, fragrant blossoms, followed by large drooping bunches of purplish-black, juicy berries, is a familiar object in English countryside and gardens. It has been said, with some truth, that the English summer has not arrived until the Elder is fully in flower, and that it ends when the berries are ripe.
| The word 'Elder' comes from the Anglo-Saxon word aeld. In Anglo-Saxon days we find the tree called Eldrun, which becomes Hyldor and Hyllantree in the fourteenth century. One of its names in modern German - Hollunder - is clearly derived from the same origin. In Low-Saxon, the name appears as Ellhorn. Æld meant 'fire,' the hollow stems of the young branches having been used for blowing up a fire: the soft pith pushes out easily and the tubes thus formed were used as pipes - hence it was often called Pipe-Tree, or Bore-tree and Bour-tree, the latter name remaining in Scotland and being traceable to the Anglo-Saxon form, Burtre. The generic name Sambucus occurs in the writings of Pliny and other ancient writers and is evidently adapted from the Greek word Sambuca, the Sackbut, an ancient musical instrument in much use among the Romans, in the construction of which, it is surmised, the wood of this tree, on account of its hardness, was used.
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The most important constituent of Elder Flowers is a trace of semisolid volatile oil, present to the extent only of 0.32, per cent possessing the odour of the flowers. Elder Flower Water (Aqua Sambuci) was an official preparation of the British Pharmacopoeia.
Elderflower Water was a traditional remedy for clearing the complexion of freckles and sunburn, and keeping it in a good condition. Every lady's toilet table possessed a bottle of the liquid, and she relied on this to keep her skin fair and white and free from blemishes.
Augaherb Elderflower AG: Suitable for use in toners and soothing preparations.
Carrier:
Monopropylene Glycol/ Water.
Preserved: contains sodium benzoate, methylparaben, sorbic
acid.
Ginkgo
Biloba Leaf Extract
Botanical name: Ginkgo biloba
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A tree up to 30 m in height. Crown somewhat ovoid to obovoid, tending to be asymmetric, primary branches ascending at ca. 45° from trunk. Long shoots faintly striate; spurs thick, knoblike or to 3 cm, gray, covered with bud-scale scars. Buds brown, globose, scales imbricate, margins scarious. Leaves fan-shaped, glabrous except for tuft of hairs in axils, blades 2-9.5 × 2-12 cm, mostly 1.5 times wider than long, apices cleft to truncate; venation dichotomous, appearing parallel; leaf scars semicircular; petioles channeled on adaxial surface, 2.5-8.5 cm. Seeds obovoid to ellipsoid, yellow to orange, 2.3-2.7 × 1.9-2.3 cm, mostly 1.1-1.2 times longer than broad, glaucous, rugose, with apical scar, maturing in single season, usually 1 per peduncle, occasionally polyembryonic, outer coat foul-smelling; peduncles orange, glaucous, ridged, 3-9.5 cm, collar broadly elliptic, 7.2-8.6 mm broad. |
Although Ginkgo biloba is generally agreed to be native to China, it is
not clear that the species currently occurs there in the wild. The species
is reported to occur naturally in remote mountain valleys in China's Zhejiang
province, where a stand has been preserved in the Tian Mu Shan Reserve.
This area has supported human activities for approximately 1500 years
and it is thus plausible, given the long history of ginkgo as an ornamental
species in the area, that its persistence at this site has been facilitated
by human actions. Regardless of its origin, the "population is biologically
significant by virtue of its long survival in a semi-natural state under
conditions of intense interspecific competition. Many of the trees grow
on disturbance-generated microsites, such as stream banks, steep rocky
slopes, and the edges of exposed cliffs. Many individuals are multitrunked,
consisting of at least two trunks greater than 10 cm in diameter at breast
height. Most of these secondary trunks originated from root-like 'basal
chichi,' that are produced at the base of trees that have experienced
damage from soil erosion or other factors.
The leaves are very rich in major antioxidants which block the formation
of the free radicals.
Augaherb
Ginkgo Biloba Leaf AG:
May be used in all types of formulations where anti-oxidant properties
are required.
Carrier:
Monopropylene glycol/ water.
Preserved: contains Sodium benzoate, methylparaben, sorbic acid.
Horsetail
Botanical name: Equisetum arvense
The Horsetails belong to a class of plants, the Equisetaceae, that has no direct affinity with any other group of British plants. Their closest relations are the ferns. The class includes only a single genus, Equisetum, the name derived from the Latin words equus (a horse) and seta (a bristle), from the peculiar bristly appearance of the jointed stems of the plants, which have also earned them their popular names of Horsetail, Bottle-brush and Paddock-pipes.
Large plants of this order probably formed a great proportion of the vegetation during the carboniferous period, the well-known fossils Calamites being the stems of gigantic fossil Equisetaceae, which in this period attained their maximum development. The Equisetaceae have an external resemblance in habit to Casuarina or Ephedra, and as regards the heads of fructification to Zamia (a genus of Cycadaceae). The Casuarina have the appearance of gigantic Horsetails, being trees with threadlike, jointed, furrowed, pendent branches without leaves, but with small toothed sheaths at the joints. They are most abundant in tropical Australia and less frequently in the Indian Islands, New Caledonia, etc. The stems spring from a creeping rhizome, or root-stock, which produces at its joints a number of roots. Two kinds of stems are produced fertile and sterile: they are erect, jointed, brittle and grooved, hollow except at the joints and with air-cells in their walls under the grooves. There are no leaves, the joints terminating in toothed sheathes, the teeth corresponding with the ridges and representing leaves. Branches, if present, arise from the sheath bases and are solid. In most cases, the fertile or fruiting stem is unbranched and withers in spring, almost before the barren fronds appear. It bears a terminal cone-like a catkin, consisting of numerous closely-packed peltae, upon the under margins of which are the sporanges, containing microscopic spores, attached to elastic threads, which are coiled round the spore when moist and uncoil when dry. |
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The development of young Horsetails from the spores is similar to that of Ferns, germination and impregnation being effected in the same manner. The Equisitaceae are also propagated in a vegetative non-sexual manner by means of subterranean stolons and by tubers.
The sterile summer fronds give off numerous, slender, jointed branches in whorls of about a dozen; in some British species, the fruiting and barren stems are often both unbranched. A quantity of silica is deposited in the stems, especially in the epidermis or outer skin. In one species, E. hyemale (Linn.), the epidermis contains so much silica that bunches of the stem have been sold for polishing metal and used to be imported from Holland for the purpose, hence the popular name of Dutch Rushes. It is also called Scouring Rush, and by old writers Shavegrass, and was formerly much used by cabinet-makers. It has also been employed for scouring pewter and wooden kitchen utensils, and thence called Pewterwort.
The Field Horsetail (E. arvense), the species of British Horsetail most commonly met with, is the one now generally used in herbal medicines . It is common in cornfields and wet meadows, its presence can indicate the presence of subterranean water or springs.
In this species, the fruiting stems are simple, very rarely branched, appearing early in spring and soon decaying. The sterile stems which appear later are branched, six to nineteen grooved, the angles rough and sharp, and terminate generally in a long, naked point; the joints are about 25mm long and 3mm in diameter, the teeth of the sheaths long and acute.
Augaherb Horsetail AG: Suitable for use in a wide range of bath and shower products, particularly where a natural conditioning effect is required. It also finds applications in skin toners.
Carrier: Monopropylene Glycol/ Water.
Preserved: contains sodium benzoate, methylparaben, sorbic
acid.
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Rosemary Leaf:
Botanical name: Rosmarinus officianalis
The
evergreen leaves of this shrubby herb are about 25mm long, linear,
revolute, dark green above and paler and glandular beneath, with
an odour pungently aromatic and somewhat camphoraceous. The flowers
are small and pale blue. Much of the active volatile principle resides
in their calyces.
The Ancients were well acquainted with the shrub, which had a reputation for strengthening the memory. On this account it became the emblem of fidelity for lovers. It holds a special position among herbs from the symbolism attached to it. Not only was it used at weddings, but also at funerals, for decking churches and banqueting halls at festivals, as incense in religious ceremonies, and in magical spells. At weddings, it was entwined in the wreath worn by the bride, being first dipped into scented water. Anne of Cleves wore a Rosemary wreath at her wedding. A Rosemary branch, richly gilded and tied with coloured silk ribbons was also presented to wedding guests, as a symbol of love and loyalty. Together with an orange stuck with cloves it was given as a New Year's gift. The plant contains some tannic acid, together with a resin and a bitter principle and a volatile oil. The chief constituents of the oil are borneol, bornyl acetate and other esters, camphor, cineol, pinene and camphene. Augaherb Rosemary Leaf AG: Suitable for use in all formulations where astringent, toning, antiseptic and cleansing properties are required. Carrier:
Monopropylene glycol/ water. |
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White
Willow Bark
Botanical name: Salix alba
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A
large tree with a rough greyish bark, the twigs being brittle at
the base; the leaves are pubescent on both surfaces and finely serrulate;
it hybridizes with other species of Salix, it flowers in April and
May and the bark is easily separable throughout the summer; flowers
and leaves appear coincidently from March to June. Augaherb White Willow AG: Suitable for use in preparations designed to enhance skin turnover and improve the health and appearance of photoaged skin. It shows some activity against P. acnes and makes it useful in skin cleansers. Carrier:
Monopropylene Glycol/ Water. |
Wild
Cherry Bark Extract
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