Lamb’s Ear
Stachys Byzantina
Identification:
Stachys Byzantina, also known as lamb's ears, is grown primarily for its thick, soft, velvety, silver-gray leaves which typically form a rapidly spreading mat approximately 4-6" off the ground. Leaves are evergreen in warm climates, but will depreciate considerably in harsh winters. Erect, small-leaved flowering stems with terminal spikes of insignificant, tiny, purplish-pink flowers appear in summer rising above the foliage to 10-15" tall. Many gardeners remove the flowering stems to enhance the ground cover effect. Dense rosettes of woolly, tongue-shaped, gray-green leaves (to 4" long) spread by runners. Leaf shape and texture resemble a lamb's ear.
A Natural Antibacterial Bandage:
Lamb’s Ear, has been used for centuries as a wound dressings. Not only do the soft, fuzzy leaves absorb blood and help it to clot more quickly, they also contain antibacterial, antiseptic, and anti-inflammatory properties. All of these factors make this plant a really great alternative to store-bought bandages.
Other Medicinal Uses:
Lamb’s Ear actually has many medicinal uses. You can heat a few bruised leaves in a pot of simmering water, and use the cooled infusion as an eyewash to treat pinkeye and sties.
Drink a tea made from young, dried Lamb’s Ear leaves to help with fevers, diarrhea, sore mouth and throat, internal bleeding, and weaknesses of the liver and heart.
You can also bruise the leaves so that the juices are released, and put them on bee stings or other insect bites to help reduce the swelling. The same effect can be seen when used for treating hemorrhoids, or for postpartum recovery.
Still More Uses:.
Being soft and super absorbent, Lamb’s Ear leaves can be used as menstrual pads, or in place of cotton balls. It can even be used as toilet paper!
You can eat it as well. Enjoy young, tender leaves fresh in a salad, or gently steamed as greens.
Lamb’s ear flowers in late spring and early summer. The pale pink, violet or lavender flower spikes rise from six to 10 inches above the woolly base. The stalks look great in flower arrangements. The flowers are considered sessile. This means the stalk is firmly attached to the plant base.
After blooming on the plant, it’s a good idea to clip off the dead flower heads. The flowers attract bees and other pollinators, and smells a bit like pineapple. Just before flowering, the stems of the lamb’s ear elongate, and sometimes the plant may begin to look “weedy” or “leggy.” It can be cut back after flowering, if you wish. If you do not enjoy this stage of the plant, look for cultivars that do not flower.
Lamb’s ear is loosely related to Betony (both are Stachys), and is sometimes called woolly betony. Besides the sopping up of blood and use as a dressing, lamb’s ear has also been used as a poultice and has analgesic properties.
It was used either alone, or to help hold in other herbs like comfrey. It was often used after getting bee or wasp stings, to reduce the swelling from both.
It was used for centuries as a “women’s comfort” for hemorrhoids, menstrual flow, birthing, for nervous tension, and as a skin aid. It’s easy to see that with the invention of Tylenol, gauze, feminine hygiene products, cotton packing, and make up removal pads, the knowledge and use of lamb’s ear for this purpose kind of went out the window.
Lamb’s ear has been used as a natural dye for wool. Boiling the leaves in hot water and then adding a mordant (inorganic oxide) such as tannic acid, alum, urine, etc., brings out a creamy, yellowish beige color. Using the bracts (flower spike) instead of the leaves, can give you a light mauve color.
Cleaning Pads:
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I used the leaves to clean some dishes. It works great. The fuzzy texture of the leaves was perfect for wiping away leftover food.
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Note: Larger leaves would be easier to work with.
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Scrubbing dried or baked on messes won’t work.
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The leaves are wipers, not scrubbers.
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Beauty Tip:
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Rolled up leaves are perfect comfy and fragrant spacers for your toes if your giving yourself a pedicure.
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Absorbent:
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Leaves that had been dried overnight soaked up spills on the counter top rather well. I will definitely be exploring this more as a possible alternative to paper towels.
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Bandages:
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I had a cut on my toe. I dressed it with a poultice of
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crushed lamb’s ear and used lambs ear to keep the
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poultice in place.It was an excellent bandage, and I
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wore it comfortably for the rest of the day. It also
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let the wound breathe well, it did the job without
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making the wound a mess.
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Potpourri:
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A few picked leaves brought into the
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house gave off a light pineapple scent.
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A little goes a long way.
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Kid Friendly:
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A great way to engage kids in the garden is
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with lamb’s ear. Who doesn’t love to stroke the
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silvery, fuzzy leaves?Plant some just for them,
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and I’ll bet you find yourselves out there petting
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plants together.
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Toilet Paper:
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Yep, I tried it. It works. Enough said.
Other Uses for Lamb’s Ear
The leaves traditionally have been used in cooking from the
West Indies. A tea can be made from the leaves as well,
tasting a bit like chamomile,
Edible:
Leaves use as a wild spinach substitute, salads, stir fry,
soups, casseroles, grind seeds into dark flour to make gruel
or bread leaves dry well and can be reconstituted – powder
to make flour Dried leaves make a delicious flour, mix with a bit of water to
make a tortilla
Nutrition: (per half cup)
Lambs quarter seeds
Protein 19.6 grams
Fat 4.2 grams
Carbs 57.7 grams
Fiber 27.1 grams
Calcium 1036 mg
Potassium 1687 mg
Niacin 3800 ug
Iron 64 mg
Lambs quarter Shoots
Protein 3.5 g
Carbs 5.5 g
Calcium 324 mg
Potassium 684 mg
Beta Carotene 3800 ug
Niacin 1000 ug
Iron 1.5 mg
Health Benefits:
1. Use all parts as a poultice for swelling, rheumatism and arthritis
2. Chew raw for toothaches
3. Gelatin capsules filled with lambs quarter to make a potent vitamin
FYI:
1. Lambs quarter is the second highest in nutrition of all wild foods. Amaranth is #1
2. The gritty feel is pollen make sure to rinse before eating
3. Dye color: bright yellow
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Recipes:
Since Lambs quarter tastes almost exactly like spinach you can substitute it for spinach in any way you wish. Casseroles, steamed, creamed, in salad, stir fries, quiches, eggs, dips, etc…
Here is a recipe for Lambs quarter:
Lambs quarter Spread:
Ingredients:
2 cloves garlic
1 small red onion
3 cups Lambs 1/4 leaves
1 ripe avocado
1/2 cup toasted nuts (I use walnuts or almonds)
1/3 cup olives
2 T Miso
1 T chili paste or 1 t cayenne pepper or to taste
Directions:
1. chop the garlic in a food processor
2. add the onion chop
3. add the remaining ingredients and process or chop until finely chopped
Makes 2 1/2 cups
Serve with pita chips or as a spread on a healthy sandwich
CAUTION:
1. Lambs quarter can absorb nitrate from contaminated soil so be careful where you harvest this plant
2. Lambs quarter has a poisonous look-a-like (Nettle leaf goose foot) but it’s rank odor reveals it’s identity
3. Lambs quarter is a relative of spinach. Avoid too much raw consumption of plants with heavy oxalic acid content. Cooking will destroy some of the oxalic acid but for salad and smoothies use lemon juice to neutralize the oxalic acid and help prevent kidney stones.
Courtesy of Preppers Are We
