Feverfew: Medicinal and Ornamental

Feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium L.), also known as the Chrysanthemum parthenium, is a perennial plant belonging to the aster family of plants. It is related to, but not as well known, as Tanacetum vulgare, better known as tansy. 

Feverfew. Tanacetum parthenium. Often mistaken with chamomile also from same family of plants.

     The name speaks for itself.  Since the time of the Middle Ages, it was an herb used in treating fevers.
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     Feverfew is known as Złocień maruna in Poland. According to Remigiusz Ładowski  in his Historia Naturalna Krolestwo Polskiego (Natural History of the Kingdom of Poland  published in 1793), the flower and greenery of feverfew has “cleansing properties, awakened monthlies, cleansed after childbirth, dispelled the placenta and dead fetus.” Polish websites currently seem to promote it for the treatment of migraines.

     The plant self-seeds intensively. I don’t remember planting it and yet it’s growing profusely all over the various gardens around the house. I suspect it was most likely carried and sown by the wind. 

Feverfew in different parts of the garden.

     In previous years I would pull out any young emerging plants (they were everywhere!) but this year I got to the garden late and decided I liked its reproductive exuberance by growing wherever it found fertile soil, so I let them go. They grew well in the sun but also in shadier spots, their white petals brightening what would otherwise be a dark spot in the garden. I felt rewarded for my restraint!  
   
     I’m always looking to bring some of my garden indoors to enjoy in a floral arrangement. The long, erect stems and tiny daisy-like flowers makes feverfew a nice addition to a floral bouquet or as a bouquet on its own but it’s down side is it has a pungent, almost medicinal, odor.

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So instead of bringing it into the house, I placed it on the back porch where the open space dispersed the scent and I could still enjoy the flowers and remind myself of its medicinal use over the centuries. 

Photos by author.

References: Polish Herbs, Flowers and Folk Medicine. Hippocrene Books. 2020.

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