Unknown Search & Rescue Remedies

I have been an herbal adventurer, and I was delighted to nibble on the wonder of Gods' Creation; the Aztec creeping plant is one thousand times sweeter than sugar.
The leaves and odd-shaped button flowers (About 3/4 of an inch long) taste like licorice, sugar and mint in combination.
As an herbal "nip", they are a pleasurable garden snack, which quickly exits garden bugs form your throat and nose.

When hot August arrived, my plant had been visited by the towns' "finest" and probably worst, let alone the revellers of the night!

This low-lying, straggling ground creeper had been secretly watched and tested for its qualities by the local and enthusiastic herb police! Perhaps I was dreaming, that the Doctors thought this little plant was perhaps a forerunner to a type of narcotic, and they unnerved me somewhat, as I remembered the Wild West, snake-oil remedies and the very popular variety of Coca -Cola of the era, namely a beverage that worked its "wonders" because it still contained the narcotic cocanamide in its fermented tea stage.
Albeit it seemed to settle the nerves of hysterics (mostly women with hyterical paralysis, as annotated by psychologist Dr. Sigmund Freud) it was also highly addictive, and the Coca Cola narcotic had to be removed, eventually , by law, to create its present and benign state as a commercially safe beverage.

Had I unwittingly purchased a narcotic? I was unhappy over the idea of forcibly ripping my lovely new herb from its bed, without ever having tried anything but its' florets. The herb police were encouraging. They mentioned that animals were growing runners of this in the caves and canyons of this area. Most probably, this plant was quite good for them, I thought.
If this plant was dangerous, I did not want to support addiction nor to be proviso for slick derelicts or their potential market.
I was told (all intellectually, although I was aware of my visitors) that this herb was OK as a garden ornamental, but that pharmacists working for RCMP or Food and Drug Administration would be concerned about 10 acres of the stuff. I have always been in the dark as to the reality of all these ideas and, especially, the actual medicinal qualities of Aztec Sweet Herb, so I thought I would grow some more this year (if I can find it) and research this elusive herb on the net and otherwise, in older Herbals.

Although my own recipe is a real secret, I found that I could make a great cough syrup, which I called "smokers" cough syrup. One teaspoon radically cleared bugs and mucus from my throat, and it felt very comfortable. My recipe was just delicious, and I discovered that the qualities of Aztec Sweet Herb to be advised about are tranquilizing, and drowsiness. If you feel like nibbling on the herb like Alice, try not to eat too much. Similarly, and more to the point, if you make an herb cough syrup, good ingredients are more than likely to be slightly more potent as fresh herbs. Just as you would not knock back a bottle of cough syrup as street alkies used to, in Toronto, only have a teaspoonful at a time. It's all you need.

When I had made my remedy in wine, I was left with a lot of stewed greens (secret ones). They look a dull khaki in colour, and you would think to throw them out. Just as I recycle with my Motherwort greens, I tried adding plain water to my cooked greens, and I reboiled these with a small head (three inch long bracts) of dried Vervain. This lovely, lustrously purple flower grows on a woody stem next to river banks. It has always been found by rivers, a prevalent herb along with Gravelweed and Willow.
I added 3 cups of water to cover both the dried flower and the cooked greens, and I boiled for twenty more minutes. Then I added three cups of sugar, meaning to boil this into a syrup. Since I boiled my bubbling sugar syrup until the sugar made a ball in cool water, my result was a lovely hard candy, which I poured into the small rectangular tubs of ice cube trays.
My herb "candy" proved to be as excellent and tranquilizing as Diazepam, or even Ativan, as well as delicious. I needed only one sweet for an actual dose. I would never take more than this, because I do not fool around with sedative herbs (no sir!)
So, giving that I have left out one of the essential ingredients, you might want to explore if you are experienced with such medicines. I would not advise you to distribute these to others unless you are licensed, and have not explored further, but look fo Vervain and Aztec Sweet Herb on this site, in a few months. I thought this was quite a discovery, actually.

ps: No, I won't publish my cough remedy, because, for better or worse, I gave it to a Pharmacist. My treat.

Bye for now!