An extract made by boiling the berries of the bay tree and flowers of dill marinated in olive oil could be rubbed on to ‘lessen weariness’. Dioscorides’ Materia Medica (circa 80 CE)

Culpeper: ‘Anethum. Dill ... Dioscorides says it breeds milk in nurses, but Galen he denies it, however it stays vomiting, easeth hiccoughs, assuages swellings, provokes urine, helps such as are troubled with the fits of the mother, and digest raw humours.’ ‘Dill seed ... dulls the sight and is an enemy to generation.’

For flatulent colic (1836)

Medicinal uses Uses supported by clinical data None. Uses described in pharmacopoeias and well established documents Treatment of dyspepsia (25), gastritis and fl atulence (1, 26), and stomach ache (27). Uses described in traditional medicine As an aphrodisiac, analgesic, antipyretic, diuretic, emmenagogue, galactagogue, appetite stimulant and vaginal contraceptive. Treatment of diarrhoea, asthma, neuralgia, dysuria, dysmenorrhoea, gallbladder disease, insomnia, hiatus hernia and kidney stones (9, 26–29). Contraindications Traditionally, extracts of fruits (seeds) have been used as a contraceptive and to induce labour (4). Furthermore, extracts of the fruits may have teratogenic effects (39). Therefore, the use of Fructus Anethi during pregnancy and nursing is not recommended.

OTHER COMMON NAMES: ANET;DILL-OIL PLANT;EAST INDIAN DILL;MEETING-SEED;SABBATH DAY POSY

Notes: Contact with the leaves may bring on dermatitis, so care must be taken when handling these plants.