Robin DiPasquale

Gemmotherapy remedies are extracted from the buds, the new shoots, and the new rootlets of a plant. Many of the bud extracts are prepared from trees – some familiar to herbalists, as well as many other trees not generally used in herbal medicine. The new shoots come from the shrubs, Ribes nigrum among them. The rootlet plants are 2 remedies made from the grasses, Secale cereale and Zea mays. To prepare these remedies, the plant parts must be harvested in the spring, just as the buds are about to open, just as the new shoots have emerged, and just as the new rootlets are reaching out from the seed. This is called the “balsamic time,” the time when the plant offers its energy of new growth, containing all the potential of the plant emerging. This is when the enzymes and growth hormones are abundantly present, which is the key to the regenerative properties of gemmo extracts.

Working with allergies, there is a collection of gemmo remedies to be considered. Each has specific actions and organ affinities to be differentiated, and can be taken as a simple (a remedy made from a single plant) or as a complex (combination of 2 or more plants), as well as included in herbal formulations with our well-known herbal remedies for allergies, such as nettles, goldenrod, eyebright, and ephedra.