Lookin’ at Plants: Common Tansy
I intended to begin this feature on the common tansy with the quote:
A weed is a flower growing in the wrong place.
but now I’m unsure who to attribute that observation to. I was taught that it came from George Washington Carver - but it also appears in a poem by Ian Emberson. After reading, I don’t dig the poem - seems a little anti-diversity, you feel me?
This all is to say that quote is how I felt about the common tansy when finding it consuming the yard and back porch of Gram’s house - a big ‘ol weed. Some stalks, unsure if that’s even the appropriate term here, were near 4’ tall - threatening to consume me too.
The Common Tansy
Tanacetum Vulgare
“Note the small golden-yellow heads of disks flowers - arranged in showy flat-topped clusters. Leaves sharply-cut, fernlike, strongly aromatic. Stems hairless. 1-3 ft. Flowers June-Sept.(1)”
On the tail-end of July, Gram’s yard was filled with yellow. As Peterson’s guide to edible plants was segmented by color - I began there. The plant I was staring at looked quite a lot like the illustration in the book but I remained hesitant. Peterson said you are less likely to poison yourself with plants than you think - but I like to keep the capacity for my own amazing error open.
“Strongly Aromatic.” Okay, easy. Just smell it - probably can’t die from smelling it.
A scent as strong as any florist’s bouquet bopped me on the nose. I mentally noted a check for that attribute.
I continued with my appraisal. Fern-like leaves. Hairless Stems. Reading on:
“The fresh young leaves and flowers can be used as seasoning in lieu of sage.(1)”
At that, I vigorously rubbed a leaf between my fingers - extracting the oils. Brining it to my nose was a recognizable smell in a foreign disguise.
I wasn’t brave enough to season any salads with these leaves - particularly due to a warning that Peterson included to say it was “quite safe in tiny amounts but contains an oil that can be fatal when consumed in large quantities.” (1) The guide book I am using is from 1977, so be vigilant dear explorers.
I’ll never eat that many foraged salads anyways, let’s be honest.
The thing that struck me most about this plant was that Peterson said they were found along roadsides and waste ground. Gram’s House, a little paradise, felt far from waste ground.
However, I knew Peterson wasn’t taking a dig at the property. The plant was thriving in the abandoned garden and waning gravel surrounding the back porch. A resilient little yellow submarine, I thought.
I went on to wonder if the leaves could be bundled and burned for cleansing smoke - an alternative to the sacred indigenous medicine of white sage. I sat with this idea for literally a month until we were fortunate enough to make a return trip. It was as the seasons was transitioning into fall, the leaves still just fresh enough, that I harvested a few bundles. I haven’t burned them yet because further research on safety is required but I’ll update here when I do!
The Magical uses of Tansy
Sourced from Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs:
“Folk Name: Buttons
Gender: Feminine
Planet: Venus
Element: Water
Powers: Health, Longevity
Magical Uses: A bit of tansy placed in the shoe helps cure persistent fevers. Since this plant was given to Ganymede to make him immortal, tansy is carried to lengthen the life-span. Ants don’t like tansy.(2)”
Wow wow wow - BUTTONS. I could have called this already adorably named plant… BUTTONS! I also giggle at the thought of ants scoffing their little heads - if they can even scoff - upon encountering these yellow beasts. Pleasant to my nose but maybe not to theirs.
Perhaps next year I will gather some flowers to create a pendant charm for my health? If it’s good enough for Ganymede it’s good enough for the likes of me - better, even.
Tansy in Modern Herbal Medicine
The consensus of those wiser than I and who study the safety of things we ingest and touch seem to all agree - tansy does not have a place in modern herbal medicine. It appears that it is still fine to eat in small amounts, but the large amounts needed for medicine are dangerous. Used historically in folk medicine, the efficacy is not proven and the oil can have harmful side effects. I say this not to rain on this tansy tango but to mind you not to eat a whole garden-full. Just add a few leaves to your salad or fish for seasoning.
Thanks for lookin’ at: Common Tansy
In an effort to appropriately source where I’m finding references, all resources directly quoted or highly paraphrased are in the footnotes below. Until next time my lovely little leaves!
References
(1) Peterson, Lee Allen. Edible Wild Plants. New York, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1977.
(2) Cunningham, Scott. Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs. Woodbury, Llewllyn, 1985.
