Curry plant or Helichrysum italicum is a member of the daisy family. They will eventually turn into a cute little bushy shrub and I cannot wait. Although they smell like curry powder they are not like curry.
This plant does have medicinal properties, although when I bought it I’m not going to lie- I instantly thought about the spice curry. The medicinal properties are: anticoagulant, anti-inflammatory, moisturizer, fungicidal astringent, antibacterial and antiseptic. That’s a lot but that’s what amazed me.
This is not the only things that this is good for. No, that’s not all. It is also good for fevers, burned skin, healing wounds, internal bleeding and coughing. That’s just from the oil.
The flowers allegedly go well in herbal tea. This is also useful as a culinary herb and seems to go paired well with almost any type of dish. I am actually pretty excited knowing that there are so many uses for this herb. I am slightly disappointed that I can’t just throw it in a pot and boom curry, but that was wishful thinking anyway.
They flower from June to September but can be harvested year round and are a perennial. The taste is allegedly bitter and I cannot wait to find that out myself.
The curry spice is a mixture of different spices but this is a plant and allegedly can taste pretty intense. Excessive curry consumption should be avoided because it could cause stomach problems.
Not going to lie when I hear ‘excessive’ curry use, I think that maybe someone ate two spoon fulls of curry every day and it caused issues but they don’t explain further. So, the world may never know.
The leaves loose a lot of their aroma after flowering but is best known for it’s medicinal uses. Some sites even mention that it assists with stress and mild depression, I don’t know if I would use that as a fact though. Who knows what will help someone who is depressed, and I can’t contribute a recovery or even an improvement to one singular herb even if it does have symptom relieving properties.
Some fun facts about curry:
- This plant is primarily used in perfumes. I had no idea that this plant was widely used in perfumes, but it is.
- This plant is technically not a shrub but a subshrub and it doesn’t get more than two feet tall. I mean, sure I’m trying to break records but you know how it is.
- This isn’t typically something you find in a grocery store
- Again another one that is drought tolerant and requires little to no care or watering
- A natural pest repellent
- Deer resistant
I am really excited about this plant and can’t wait until I find more herbs to share with everyone.
Until Next time!
Toad's Permaculture 