From: karen@ice.com (Karen L. Endres)
Subject: Re: Questions about medicinal properties of chamomile 
         (from bionet.plants)
Date: Fri, 9 Apr 93 15:59:14 EST

Here is a copy of my Chamomile file. Hope it helps.
Chamomile
 One of the oldest and best studied herb.  Medicinal uses include the
famed tea for Peter Rabbitt.The name chamomile is derived from the
latin:
Chamos - ground : grows close to the ground             
Melos - apple : for the scent of the foliage and flowers
The name is used interchangably to two types of plants:

German Chamomile- Annual- Matricarica recutita
Roman Chamomile- Perennial - Anthemis nobile

Description:
Flower:
German  Flowers up to 1" across. Hollow cone-shaped receptacle with
yellow disk flowers covering the cone. The cone is surrounded by 10-20
down-curving ray petals similar to a daisy.

Roman Same as German except cone is a much flatter cone and it is
solid. 

Plant:
German: Tiny twice divided linear segmented leave growing on a
sweetly scented braching stems to a height of 2.5 feet. Native to
Europe and westren Asia wher it has escaped from cultivation.  Roman-
Fern like leaves of gray green color on ground hugging stems that
reach about 12" in height. Native to Western Europe to Nrothern
Ireland. Stems are slightly hairy and flowers sit singly on top of
the stem.   Seed:The seeds of chamomile are very small and dust like.
 They are three sided and have no thistle down.
Roman: Spreading habit about 1' tall. Same leaf strucutre with theleaflets
being shorter and wider.

Cultivation: Likes sunny dry conditions. Can be grown from seed or
rotted cuttings. Roman chamomile can be divided.

Usage: Chamomile tea is to be good for digestive complaints and given
as a sleep aid to children. Modern uses include hair rinses and
soothing skin washes. The herb has anit-bacterial and anti-viral
qualities. Used for cut lawns in England.

History: Early  gardeners believed that  if you had chamomile in your
garden then the plants would remain healthy. Bacon's writings
describe paths planted in chamomile and there is evidence of mounded
garden benchs covered in this herb.

Medicinal Qualities:
German : Until recently chamazulene was thought to be the primary
componet of the 120 active chemicals in german chamomile. Now researches
belive that the antiinflamatory,antispasmodic,antimircobial,and mildly
sedative effects are caused by bisabolo.
Roman: The effects of roman chamolie are the same as the german but
with greater dosages. This combined with the allergic reation sometimes
caused by this type, it is not as well studied.

Primary Reference :
The Herb Companion Dec92/Jan93

