Seasonal allergies

Sneezing and watering eyes at grass-flowering time were known to the tradition as 'hay chill', and it answered with what it used for every cold: a lukewarm rinse, steam, a mucilaginous infusion for an irritated throat. Allergy as a concept arrived only with the 20th century.

The catalogue lists seven native species here: both plantains, common mallow, elder, wild thyme, lemon balm and rosemary. Plantain and mallow are mucilaginous herbs for the throat and cough, elder and wild thyme the classic 'cold' species — a set for the symptoms, not the cause.

Pollen allergy is a reaction of the immune system, and what documentedly eases it is antihistamines, nasal corticosteroids, a saline nasal rinse and, for selected people, allergen immunotherapy. Avoiding pollen — closed windows, washing the hair in the evening — is dull, but it works.

For the herbs in this set the data are laboratory-based, and the tradition concerns relief of the throat and nose, not the allergic reaction itself. Local honey and 'local pollen' as folk desensitisation have no evidence, and for children under one year honey is outright unsuitable.

Swelling of the lips, tongue or throat, breathlessness, wheezing, hives over the whole body and a feeling of weakness or faintness after food, a sting or a medicine are anaphylaxis — call emergency services and use an adrenaline pen if the person has one. A herb has no role at that moment.

Seasonal symptoms that worsen year on year, a night-time cough or breathlessness on exertion belong with an allergist, because pollen allergy can turn into asthma. A permanently blocked nose on one side only, or bleeding from the nose, belongs with an ear, nose and throat specialist.