There are other plants carrying the force of iron: Echinacea, Celandine (Chelidonium), Prunus spinosa (a wild-growing bush of the plum family), and certainly the oak tree, just to name a few. If we would consider them only to be fighters against infection or other illness, they would be misunderstood. They are fighting to bring about balance in our lives. Their message is: "Find yourself in your inner equilibrium, then you will understand us, and you will be healed."
Additional Reading:
Wilhelm Pelikan, The Secrets of Metals, Anthroposophic Press, Hudson, N.Y.
W. Pelikan, Heilpflanzenkunde, Philosophisch-Anthroposophischer Verlag, Dornach (Switzerland).
Samuel Hahnemann, The Organon of Medicine Kalewala, Rune Eight and Nine