I want to grow chamomile, there seems to be more than one plant called this; German chamomile, Roman chamomile etc.
I need it for its anti-inflammatory properties, and want to make a tee, can anyone tell me which one to use?

many thanks

[Editted to change Guest to Peter]

German Chamomile (Matricaria recutita) and Roman Chamomile (Anthemis nobilis) are the two most often grown, both get used medicinally but I think that German Chamomile is the preferred one to use, someone will be along to correct me if I'm wrong

German Chamomile also gets called Wild Chamomile and confusingly has additional Latin names to look out for Chamomilla recutita and Matricaria chamomilla.

Roman Chamomile also gets called English Chamomile (its the one we grow a lot over here), Double Chamomile and like its German cousin has an additional Latin name you'll find it referred to in some texts as Chamaemelum nobile, there may be others those more knowledgeable such as Anthony will be able to put me right if I'm wrong or add to the info.

See http://www.herbsociety.org.uk/mh-herbmonger-feb08.htm for some pictures of the two different chamomiles and a recipe for using it. You can get packets of German Chamomile given the Matricaria chamomilla latin name from Nicky's Seeds for £1, http://www.nickys-nursery.co.uk/seeds/pages/herbc.htm#H014 she has Dyers Chamomile (Anthemis tinctoria) and Roman Chamomile as well. There's also Lawn Chamomile (Chamaemelum nobile) most commonly sold as Treneague or another variety called Dwarf.

I'd guess that either german or roman would be fine but hang fire for one of the more knowledgeable medicinal people to confirm this, hope the above helps?

Debs

All this is a convincing argument never to use the popular names of plants, but what is one supposed to do when the scientific names are capriciously swapped around on botanists whims? Sometimes, when dealing with alecost for instance, the popular name is more readily understood than one of a plethora of botanic names. That said, it is imperative to use scientific names in the context of medicinal herbs, how many different plants on either side of the Atlantic share a popular name?
We use the RHS Plantfinder as the standard reference when compiling the catalogue, but often find that a name has been changed behind our backs and I have told more than one customer that I have never heard of a plant that has been sitting here for years under a different name. Then we get ratty notes from the RHS about listing plants that we allegedly dont stock.
The trade is inclined to continue using obsolete names because they are the names the customers have grown up with and understand. I was told that the names Lavandula officinalis , Vera and spica were rendered obsolete in 1929 but we and virtually everybody else still sell Lavandula spica alba because thats what people want and ask for.
I accidentally tripped across rather a good web site on this subject last weekhttp://digital.lib.ecu.edu/exhibits/lawson/nat3.html
Anthony