Acanthus mollis
Acanthus is linked to architecture, with Vitruvius writing in “On Architecture” that
the plant became a famous feature in Corinthian architecture after a popular young
woman died of an unknown disease and her maid put a basket with her favourite
things by the tomb. The basket was placed on top of the root of an Acanthus plant,
which promptly grew and folded itself around the basket giving the pattern of leaves
that distinguishes the Corinthian columns. The leaf of the plant went through its
own “renaissance” when Renaissance architects and artist copied the Corinthian
motive in their sculptures and architecture. The ancient city of Akanthos, near
today’s Lerissos in the North East of Greece got its name from the abundance of
Acanthus in the area.
As a healing plant, Acanthus was a very important plant from the days of antiquity
right up to the last century, when it still featured heavily in folk-medicine around the
Mediterranean and to a lesser extent England where it had been imported and
successfully grown in the southern parts, mainly Cornwall. It was then called Brank
Ursine, after the bear-claw shape of the leaf. Culpeper sings the praises of the plant
as an excellent medicine to solve digestive problems, regulate the stool, and draw
out urine. It was also used to make a poultice which was applied to burns, piles,
arthritis and rheumatism. Together with Comfrey (Symphytum), Acanthus has a
serious reputation for healing broken bones.
Dioscorides has similar high praise for the plant, and specifies that the roots are
the most effective part in terms of medicine.
In January 2013 the Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine published an
article on the Antioxidant and cytotoxic activity of related Acanthus ilicifolius flower,
which concluded that the flower “can be considered as potential antioxidant and
cytotoxic agents as well as imminent candidate for cancer therapy”