Page 16 - Pharmacy History 32 July 2007

A rose by any other name
Submitted by Gregory Haines
C J Dennis, the Bard of Little Lonsdale Street, once said – ‘Argh! Wot’s in er name’
T he stroke of genius by New Zealand producers in the
1960s of renaming the Chinese gooseberry as the kiwi fruit has been an inspiration to marketers
everywhere.
In the 1990s, a little herb called
Borage began to be widely cultivated (if you come across a field in England in summer covered in blue flowers, they’re likely to be borage, if not lavender or lupins).
Its advocates claim that it is diuretic, emollient, demulcent, anti-rheumatic, anti-depressive, diaphoretic, refrigerant, and expectorant, and that its seeds have a high proportion of gamma linolenic acid (GLA), an essential fatty acid.
Its name, however, was thought to be an impediment to sales. A traditional name for plants with similar star-like petals is Starflower.It has been given to Tormentil, Lesser Celandine, the Star of Bethlehem, and others. The fact that borage has never been known by this name didn’t hold marketers back and Starflower Oil is now widely available.
To add to the list of renamed plants, it was announced last week that a firm of British chemists, Boots, is to produce and market what is claimed to be the first essential oil to be developed in the UK for commercial use for more than 40 years. It is said to be four times more effective at killing acne bacteria than tea tree oil.
Myrica gale foliage and immature fruit
The problem for the marketers was that the herb is best known by its Scottish name of Bog Myrtle, not one that was likely to excite the buying public. What luck, then, when it was found to have several alternative names, including Sweet Gale in parts of England.
Note also that Myrica gale is an abortifacient and should not be consumed by women who are, or might be, pregnant. (Shades of ‘Penny Royal’).
Borago officinalis
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The RPSGB is offering this title to Academy members with a discount of 20% until the end of August. 2007
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1 ■ Pharmacy History Australia
volume 3 ■ no 32 ■ JULY 2007