Substances & Homeopatic Remedies

Peganum harmala

Requests: If you need specific information on this remedy - e.g. a proving or a case info on toxicology or whatsoever, please post a message in the Request area www.homeovision.org/forum/ so that all users may contribute.


peganum harmala

Etymology

Family

Traditional name

Used parts

Classification

Kingdom Plantae – Plants  
       Subkingdom Tracheobionta – Vascular plants  
          Superdivision Spermatophyta – Seed plants  
             Division Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants  
                Class Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons  
                   Subclass Rosidae –  
                      Order Sapindales –  
                         Family Zygophyllaceae – Creosote-bush        
                                                                       family  
                            Genus Peganum L. – peganum  
                               Species Peganum harmala L. –
                                                              harmal peganum

Keywords

Original proving

A homeopathic proving was conducted by:

Ilia Tiraspolski and Tatiana Timofeeva, published in Homeopathic Links, 2000,Vol 13: pages 54-57

Description of the substance

Habit: perennial, succulent herb, up to 0.5m high, 1 to 1.5 m across. It generally appears round and bushy  (pict 3).

Foliage: Succulent and finely branched leaves, irregularly 3 to 5 segments, bright green, 2.5-5 cm long. Stems zig-zagging and woody, many branches.

Flowers: each year between June and August, P. harmala produces many single white conspicuous flowers. These relatively large and showy blooms (2.5-3 cm across) have five oblong-elptic petals as well as five narrow sepals of slightly longer length. Each flower has the potential to develop into a fruit.

Fruit: a leathery three-celled capsule, 10-15 mm spherical, turning from green to brown/ orange when ripe, opening at the top in 3 valves, each cell having more than fifty dark-brown, angular seeds.

Seeds (pict. 6): angular, dark brown with distinctive smell. 3-4 mm x 2 mm each. Have a bitter taste and are harvested in summer.

Peganum harmala reproduces primarily by seed, but roots can produce new shoots, especially when severed. Most seed falls near the parent plant, but some seed dispersed by water, human activities and machinery, or by adhering to the feet, fur, or feathers of animals. Seeds can germinate under fairly saline conditions. Germination starts in early spring and is sporadic throughout the growing season when adequate moisture is available. Seedlings emerge from soil depths to 3 cm, but most emergence occurs from the upper 0.5 cm.

Habitat:  
Native to arid parts of
* Europe: Spain, east Russian steppes, Hungary,
* North Africa and the Mediterranian: oriental Morocco, west Sahara, Algerian plateaus, Tunesia, Lybian steppes and Egyptian deserts),
* the Middle East and
* across to the steppes of Persia, Pakistan, Turkestan, Tibet, Siberia and India.
Introduced and naturalized in parts of the Southwest USA, and a few areas of South Africa and New South Wales in Australia.