An old plant name is only the beginning of a preparation. To understand what was made, a reader looks for the species or historical name, the part used, whether it was fresh or dried, the liquid or other carrier, the process and the intended route. A leaf tea, root powder, spirit and distilled oil were different things even when they came from the same plant.
This guide accompanies the forty-two plant articles. It explains the forms that appear in the herbals and village records and how each was made. Like the articles, it describes past practice and is not medical advice.
Infusion: water poured over plant material
An infusion begins with flowers, leaves or other material placed in a heat-resistant vessel. Freshly boiled water is poured over it, the vessel is covered for the steeping time and the drink is strained into a cup. It was made for immediate use.
Covering mattered particularly for aromatic material, which otherwise lost its scent to the air. The traditional infusions described in the articles follow the same steps: freshly boiled water, a covered vessel, a measured steeping time and straining.
The chamomile article explains an additional question: older authors may be discussing a different chamomile species. Lemon balm places the covered infusion beside much more complex aromatic spirits.
Decoction: material heated with water
A decoction heats plant material in water rather than simply pouring hot water over it. Roots, bark and other firm materials often appear in this form in old herbals, and the word itself names the method rather than the quantity, time or final volume.
Prolonged boiling did not suit every root. Marshmallow supplies a particularly useful example: Fernie distinguishes cold extraction of mucilage from the additional material drawn out by heat. The historical purpose and the physical character of the plant both shaped the choice.
Old mixed prescriptions combined several plants in one decoction, and the articles keep each compound together with its companions.
Cold macerate: time takes the place of heat
A water macerate leaves material in contact with cold water for a set period. For marshmallow root, the cut root stands in cold water, is stirred, strained at the end and used at once, as the marshmallow article describes. The soft texture of the mucilage was the aim of the method.
Syrup and electuary: sweetness changes the carrier
A syrup combines an aqueous preparation or juice with sugar. An electuary is a thicker mixture in which plant material is carried in honey or another sweet base. Culpeper's balm entry records both a syrup and a honey-based preparation; the lemon balm study explains their historical setting.
The Scots pine article documents the Tuchola Forest tradition of layering young shoots with sugar, a registered traditional preparation used in household cough care and in desserts. Violet, horehound and agrimony appear in syrups and sweets as well, from the Stratford syrup crops to the Victorian cough candy.
Tincture, spirit and extract: what the words record
A tincture generally uses alcohol and water to extract material. Two tinctures are compared through the botanical identity, plant part, fresh or dry state, solvent strength, plant-to-liquid relationship and final form.
A historical spirit may also be distilled, compounded with other aromatics or prepared under a pharmaceutical convention unlike a domestic tincture. Fernie's ordinary and ammoniated valerian tinctures are a good example, described in the valerian study. Village spirits such as piołunkówka or the Dobczyce chicory compound were steeped at home.
An extract can be liquid, soft or dry and may be concentrated; its manufacturing ratio describes how much plant material it represents.
Infused oil, essential oil and salve
An infused fixed oil holds plant material in a fatty carrier. An essential oil is a much more concentrated volatile product obtained by a different process, commonly distillation. A salve combines a fatty preparation with a base that changes its consistency. These are three distinct forms.
The calendula article distinguishes water, alcohol and fatty preparations, and the butter ointment of Dobczyce shows a dairy fat used as the carrier. St John's wort red oil was made by keeping flowering material in oil in the sun.
Pine resin, turpentine and tar also have separate names and origins, as the Scots pine article explains.
External applications have a route of their own
A fomentation uses a cloth moistened with a preparation; a poultice places softened material against the body; a bath brings a decoction to the whole body; smoke carries a burning herb to a person or an animal. The old sources describe each with its own route.
As one concrete example, the calendula article records the traditional adult flower rinse described by the European Medicines Agency: 1–2 g in 150 ml water, strained, used comfortably warm and spat out.
Keep a preparation record
For any historical formula, the original wording is best kept separately from a later interpretation: the actual edition and checked location, the identity of the plant, each ingredient, the process and the purpose given at the time.
The article-level bibliographies supply the sources behind these examples and are the place to check a specific plant. An old recipe's survival is evidence of the people who made it and of the care they took.