Eyebright Euphrasia officinalis, Euphrasia

Eyebright, as its name indicates, is one of the primary herbal sources of eye care. Eyebright has been depended upon for at least 2000 years in the treatment of various eye problems.

Since the Middle Ages, Eyebright (Euphrasia officinalis) has been used as a tonic and an astringent. It is especially useful for eyestrain, eye inflammations, and other eye ailments. In addition, Eyebright can greatly relieve other symptoms that often accompany runny, sore, itchy eyes due to colds or allergies.

From July to September, eyebright displays many small, white or purplish flowers variegated with yellow. The various spots and stripes on the flowers cause them to resemble bloodshot, or similarly afflicted, eyes. This, in turn, has caused the plant to be used since the Middle Ages to treat such conditions. The usage was obviously based on the so-called "Doctrine of Signatures."

Euphrasia is a native British and European plant. It is a small downy annual herb which grows in meadows, pastures and other grassy areas. Its square leafy stem, up to 15cm long, is often branched near the base, bears leaves opposite near the base and alternate above, about 1cm long and 0.5cm broad, lanceolate, with four or five teeth on each side. The flowers are small, white or red, occasionally yellow, and often tinged with purple streaks with a yellow spot in the throat; axillary, two-lipped, with four yellow stamens. 

In the wild, European eyebright grows in meadows, pastures, and grassy places in Bulgaria, Hungary, and the former Yugoslavia. Eyebright is also grown commercially in Europe. The plant flowers in late summer and autumn. The whole herb is used in herbal medicine.

Growing:Eyebright is adaptable to many soil types in full sun. It is a small annual, growing 2 - 8 inches high. It attaches itself by underground suckers to the roots of neighboring grass plants and takes its nutrients from them. To be cultivated, it must be given nurse plants on whose roots it can feed.

 Range and Cultivation: Native to the Mediterranean. Cultivated in Asia, Africa, Morocco and Egypt.
 Eyebright (Euphrasia officinalis) Eyebright is also known by the name Euphrasia derived from the Greek word meaning gladness. But the name Eyebright indicates its use since the 14th century as an eye medicine. It is slightly tonic and astringent with a great application for eye conditions such as irritation, redness, infection and inflammation, particularly blepharitis and conjunctivitis. It is also used where there is extensive watery discharge, such as for sinusitis, chronic sneezing, hayfever and middle ear problems. Because of its aucubin content, it may even be useful in the treatment of bacterial infections and liver toxicity.
 
 Eyebright is a small, annual plant with deeply cut leaves, native to the heaths and pastures of Britain, the European continent, and subarctic regions of North America. Similar to several genera of the Scrophulariaceae, Euphrasia is hemiparasitic; the roots have foodgathering nodules that attach to the roots of surrounding plants in order to obtain food. Therefore, eyebright is difficult to cultivate, and virtually the entire supply is harvested from the wild, with little attention to species differences.