They say the witches are combed... But what do you do with your comb, polish or straighten your hair? For both the Bruja Comb (Dipsacus fullonum) is alagala. Straighten hair from top to bottom, lift it from bottom to top. The authentic comb is the dried fruit of the witch comb. It is a thistle, one of the largest and most robust cards, and its fruit has been used for carding, polishing or sponging. Hence the last name Fullonum means that of the cardinals. The whole plant is thorny, but that's the set of flowers it has at the end of the long stems. The plant has also been called a hawthorn, and the place where this thistle is abundant has been called elordi. It is still used, especially to load the wool, as the crines of the witch comb create a chamber in hair fibers, an oven or a blanket to keep the heat. Never has a machine ever been invented capable of making that magnificent greening, if you don’t ask the British that in wool they are the whites of the foals, as Archibald William Smith says in his 1963 edition A Gardener’s Book of Plant Names.

Kardaberatx, astacarts, shrubs, gardantx, gardantxuri, thistle, astrakals, etc... there are many names that this thistle has. Kardu's name comes from the pubic or Amazonian language through the Latina bridge, from its root of "puncture" them. By pinching with thorns the thistle is defended. He also knows how to abandon the simple self-care guard to attack: his leaves cross from two in two and are joined in the foot, with a kind of mimic or chalice holding the stem. In this mythical one, they collect the water from the rain or dew. Hence the name of Dipsacus, which comes from the Greek word “dipsa” (thirst). But it's not just thirsty for water. Many insects are drowned in the water it accumulates. Apparently, in the history of plants it is one of the beginnings of the route of insect capture and consumption and it is called protocarnivore the sorcerer comb. They say that the water it collects is good for strengthening the hair that will then comb.

Charlemagne forced the cultivation of 94 plants in the territories of his mandate at the end of the 8th century or the beginning of URL 0, including the peine sorcerer. It is necessary to load the tissues of the arropathies, but medicinal herb is also known. It is a very good herb for the care of the mare rear, so abundant in those times and not long ago. The root is cured with wine, the break until it takes the form of wax, and the cracks and fistulas are cured, placed in a poultice or poultice, as well as the wounds. Also, Andrés de Laguna, Spanish physician of Pope Julius III, describes a beautiful way to urinate easily. It says: in each mature seed of the head of the witch comb lives a worm or nematode (Ditylenchus dipsaci). Take them and penetrate alive through the penis. François-Joseph Cazin, a physician and great promoter of phytotherapy, wrote in 1850 about the same nematode, saying that he took some to remove the toothache and chewed in front of him.