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The Black Currant is often found wild in damp woods as far north
as the middle of Scotland, but is considered to be a true native
only in Yorkshire and the Lake District - when found apparently wild
in other parts of the country, it usually a result of birds eating
its berry and depositing its seed where the plant is now growing.
This shrub shows the only instance of a process by which double
flowers may become single, by changing petals into stamina. It has a
solitary, one-flowered peduncle at the base of the raceme, and its
leaves are dotted underneath.
The valuabe oil of the Black
Currant plant comes from the its seeds. Black currant seed oil
contains gamma linolenic acid a fatty acid that the body converts to
a hormone-like substance called prostaglandin.
Prostaglandin
offers anti-inflammatory properties and is believed to also have
blood thinning and blood vessel dilation properties. It has also
been reported that black currant oil supplementation provides
significant benefit to people with rheumatoid
arthritis.
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