Abstract

Alm, T. 2003: Sabadille Schoenocaulon officinale i folketradisjonen i Norge. Blyttia 61:99-104.
Schoenocaulon officinale in Norwegian folk tradition.

The seeds of Schoenocaulon officinale (Melanthiaceae) were formerly sold in Norwegian drugstores, mainly as a remedy for lice. Like many other imported plant substances, the seeds have found a role in Norwegian ethnobotany, and were incorporated e.g. in the allegedly magical cures of at least one black book. Most literature records are prosaic accounts of the seeds used to kill lice, by application on the skin (mixed in butter, or as an extract in acetic acid), or simply by placing the seeds in the bed-clothes. In Sámi tradition, a decoction of the seeds mixed with tar, camphor, alcohol and anise was used as a cure for pneumonia.

Torbjørn Alm, Fagenhet for botanikk, Tromsø museum, Universitetet i Tromsø, N-9037 Tromsø e-post: torbjorn@tmu.uit.no

Blyttia 61 (2)
Blyttias hjemmeside
Lagt ut 24.10.2003 JW