Know Your Herbs: Echinacea

Echinacea plant with spiny spindle top resembling a hedgehog

Medicinal Uses: Echinacea is a genus of different species of plants that is a drought tolerant perrenial plant that can grow up to four and a half feet tall. They are commonly called purple cornflowers because the receptacles are hemispheric to conical in shape. The genus name is from the Greek word echino meaning "spiny" due to its central spiny disc. They are native to eastern and central North America where they are found growing in moist to dry climates.

Today, echinacea is used to treat the common cold, the flu and to reduce symptoms such as cough (pharyngitis) and fever. Many herbalists recommend it as a way to boost the immune system and help fight infection.

Folklore: Archaeological digs indicate that native Americans may have used it for more than 400 years to treat infections, wounds and a general 'cure-all.' During history, echinacea has been used to treat scarlet fever, syphilis, malaria, blood poisoning and diptheria. Usage reached a peak in the 18th and 19th centuries. However with the introduction of antibiotics in the 1930's and 1940's in the US, it has fallen in popularity.

Plains Indian tribes would eat the dried root as an antidote for snakebites, toothaches and joint pains. It has also been used as aromatic in sweat lodges.

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A Warning: Please consult your physician before taking this herb.

Know your Herbs and fruits: Pomegranate

Medicinal Uses: Pomegranate is a fruit that is native from Iran to the Himalayas in North India. It is widely cultivated throughout India and the drier climates of Southeast Asia, Malaysia, the East Indies and tropical Africa. The Spanish sailors introduced it to California in 1769 and it is now grown in the drier parts of California and Arizona.

Its juice yields citric acid and sodium citrate for pharmaceutical purposes. The juice is used for preparations that treat dyspepsia and leprosy.

The bark of the stem and root has several alkaloids active against tapeworms. Extracts have been helpful in halting diarrhea, dysentery and hemorrhages as well as useful as a remedy for bronchitis and for relief of oral and throat inflammation.

Folklore: The ancient Chinese believed that pomegranate juice contained a 'soul concentrate'

which could confer immortality. Babylonians held that chewing pomegranate seeds before battle made soldiers invincible.

In Greek myth, Persephone, daughter of Demeter, the Greek goddess of Spring, was once frolicking at the entrance to the underworld. Hades, the lord of the underworld, enticed her to come closer. He offered her 3 pomegranate seeds. According to the myth, after eating the seeds, she became permanently betrothed to him.

In Kabala, the "wife" of God is envisioned as a pomegranate. In the talmudic teachings, each pomegranate has 613 seeds, which is the exact number of mitzvos or good deeds a Jew should perform in a lifetime. The pillars of Solomon's temple were decorated with pomegranates and the handles of Torah scrolls are still adorned with them.

Many Christian scholars consider this fruit as a symbol of fertility, resurrection and immortality.

In Islamic legend, each person has one aril (seed) coming directly from heaven. The heavenly gardens have pomegranates and the prophet Muhammad believed the fruit brings both physical and mental contentment.

Buddhists believe it's a blessed fruit. In one legend, Buddha gave a pomegranate to Hariti- a demon who ate her children- to cure her of her evil ways.

The garnet stone-- named after the latin word 'granaton' (meaning pomegranate)-- dates back to 3100 BCE in Egypt and comes in deep reds to purple reds. It's the stone of fidelity, passion, faith, strength and determination. It is the universal symbol for overall renewal.

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John Bartram: Early American Botanist, Explorer and Plant Collector

Rhododendrum Bushes

Discovered and Cultivated by Bertram

Today is the birthday of John Bartram (March 23, 1699- September 22, 1777). Considered America's first botanist, he was born in Darby, Pennsylvania, now a suburb of Philadelphia. Due to family financial circumstances, he had little formal schooling. Yet, he managed to be be self-taught in botany and even hired a tutor to learn Latin and read the writings of Carl Linnaeus, the leading botanic authority of his day. In his twenties he purchased 107 acres near Philadelphis where he developed his botanical gardens; they are still tended and toured today.

His career was advanced via a London Wool Merchant and botanist by the name of Peter Collinson; the latter paid him to collect specimens of new plants to ship to him in England for distribution. This was a time when many wealthy British landowners were doing extensive landscaping and were in search of exotic hearty species of plants not native to England. North American species were thus particularly attractive.

Every fall, Bertram sent Collinson Bertram's Boxes which generally contained 100 or so varieties of seeds and dried plants specimens. Collinson acted as his agent for distribution to a list of clients that included the Duke of Argyll and John Busch a co-founder of the Loddiges Nursery in London that specialized in exotic flora. Perhaps his most noted client was James Petre, 8th Lord Petre of Thorndon, Essex; he was creator of the Great Stove, supposedly the largest hothouse in the world (thirty feet high and 60 feet long) and the foremost collector of North American trees and shrubs in Europe.

Despite the ongoing French-Indian war, Bartram made many excursions into the wilderness collecting specimens with the financial aid of European naturalists. In 1738, he traveled 1100 miles across the Blue Ridge Mountains and then explored the Catskill Mountains in 1755. In his Diary of a Journey Through the Carolinas, Georgia and the Florida (July 1765-April 1766), he wrote of many specimens he collected.

Most of Bartram's plant discoveries were name by botanists in Europe. He is best known for discovering and introducing a wide range of North American flowering trees and shrubs including Kalmia, Rhododendrum and Magnolia species.

Through the lobbying efforts of Benjamin Franklin and Collinson, he was awarded a pension of 50 pounds per year as King George III's Botanist for North America.

Located on the Schuylkil River in Philadelphia, Bartram's Garden is the site of his house and botanical gardens (circa 1728) and is open to the public. It is the oldest surviving botanic garden in North America.

Know Your Herbs: Tumeric

Medicinal Uses: Tumeric is a perennial plant in the ginger family that is native to tropical South Asia (especially India) and is a key ingredient in curries as well as other South Asian and Middle Eastern cuisines. Its active ingredient is curcumin. It has been used in India for medicinal purposes for over 2500 years where it was probably first used as a dye.

Many studies are pointing to Tumeric being a natural wonder drug. Here's why!

There are many benefits to adding this herb to your diet. We will list just a few. First, it is useful in disinfecting cuts and burns because it is an antibacterial agent. When combined with cauliflower, it has been shown to both prevent prostate cancer and stop the growth of existing prostate cancer. It reduces the incidence of childhood leukemia and is also a natural liver detoxifier.

In addition, it may slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease, prevent metastases in different cancers, is a strong anti-inflammatory agent ( it is a natural treatment for arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis), is a natural pain killer, may help in fat metabolism and weight management and has long been used by Chinese medicine to treat depression.

Uses in folk medicine: An Aryuvedic remedy uses tumeric to stop diarrhea within minutes. It has been used in South Asia as an antiseptic for cuts, burns and bruises. In Afghanistan and Northwest Pakistan, tumeric is applied to a piece of burnt cloth and placed over a wound to control inflammation and stimulate recovery.

Teas in Japan and Okinawa feature tumeric as the main ingredient.

Please remember to consult your physician before using the herb.

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Luther Burbank: Botanist, Horticulturist and Pioneer in Agricultural Science

Today is the birthday of Luther Burbank (March 7, 1849- April 11, 1926) who developed more than 800 new varieties of plants and 200 varieties of fruits, and many nuts, grains, grasses and vegetables. He is perhaps best known for developing the Russet Burbank potato which is the most predominant variety used in food processing. He is also the father of the Santa Rosa plum and the July Elberta peach

He grew up on a farm in Massachusetts was the 13th of 15 children and learned much from the plants in his mother's garden. After his dad died when he was 21, he was able to purchase a 17 acre parcel. Here he developed the russet potato, sold the rights for $15o and used the funds to travel to Santa Rosa, California.

On a 4 acre parcel, he soon established a greenhouse, nursery and experimental fields on which he practiced his plant breeding that earned him world-wide fame. He later expanded his research to an 18 acre parcel in nearby Sebastopol.

His objective was to increase the world's food supply through improving the quality of plants

His research on bybridization was aided by grants from the Carnegie Institution and even from Andrew Carnegie himself despite claims that he did not keep records of his research.

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Happy Birthday to Sir Joseph Banks: English Naturalist and Botanist

Joseph Banks as painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds in 1773

Today we celebrate the birthday of Sir Joseph Banks (13 February 1743-19 June 1820). He was born in London to an aristocratic family-his dad was a wealthy Lincolnshire country squire and member of the House of Commons--was educated at the Harrow School, Eton College and then onto Oxford where he focused on natural history.

So strong was his interest in Botany, he even paid a Cambridge botanist to deliver a series of lectures at Oxford in 1764.

At age 21, he inherited his dad's estate and became the local squire and magistrate. Banks was unlike other wealthy young squires, who lived the aristocratic life with the 'grand tour' trip to Europe, marriage to nobility and then 'retirement' to the estate

He kept up a strong interest in science and through his strong social contacts, he became advisor to King George III even urging him to sponsor overseas discovery voyages--probably to foster his own interest in botany.

After being elected to the Royal Society, he was appointed to accompany the first James Cook expedition to the south Pacific Ocean on the HM Endeavor 1768-1771. On his travels to Brazil, Tahiti, Australia, New Zealand, The Great Barrier Reef (located in the Coral Sea off the northeast coast of Australia, where the ship foundered on the reef for two months) Batavia (modern Jakarta, Indonesia) and South Africa, Banks and his associate botanist, Daniel Solander were able to collect a vast quantity of plants never recorded before.

There was a large herbarium on board and Banks despaired that he would not be able to sort it all before it all became dried out and spoiled. To avoid this situation, Sydney Parkinson the noted botanical artist was busy sketching all the specimens and he only had time to make notes on colors to be added later. While some plants dried up, others were wrapt in moist cloths and then stored in moist cloths to preserve them for later study.

The trip was not without sickness and tragedy. 34 crew member died of malaria, dysentery and tuberculosis. Banks and Solander fell deathly ill during the trip, but recovered to write up their findings. While Banks was equally famous as Cook after they arrived in England, the former would not accompany Cook on either of his next two voyages.

In 1781, Joseph Banks became Sir Joseph Banks when he became a Baronet and played an advisory role in establishing the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in London. Today, the Gardens are host to a vast collection of plant species from around the world.

Banks s best known for introducing the Mimosa, Acacia and Eucalyptus species of plant to the Western World.

Know Your Herbs: Milk Thistle

Medicinal Uses: Milk Thistle is a flowering plant that grows along the European Mediterranean regions, North Africa and the Middle East. It derives its name from the fact its stem is streaked with white veins and its sap yields a viscous milky white fluid.

Yet, it is the seeds of the that have been of interest to herbalists; for over 2000 years, these seeds have been used to cure chronic liver disfunctions and prevent various toxins from harming the liver. Indeed, milk thistle is used to treat liver cirrhosis, chronic hepatitis, jaundice and toxin- induced liver damage.

Other treatment claims include: lowering cholesterol, reduction of cancer cells in breast, cervical and prostate cancer, additive to products claiming to reduce hangover and usage by those taking steroids.

The extract is is used in a beverage called Rockstar Energy Drink, one of the top 3 energy drink brands in North America.

Folklore: It was believed that the milk white veins of the leaves came from the milk of the Virgin which fell upon a thistle plant. Thus is was called Our Lady's Thistle (latin name Silybum marianum, or thistle of our blessed Mary)

Westmacott, writing in 1694, says of this Thistle:
'It is a Friend to the Liver and Blood: the prickles cut off, they were formerly used to be boiled in the Spring and eaten with other herbs; but as the World decays, so doth the Use of good old things and others more delicate and less virtuous brought in.'

And in a record of old Saxon remedies we find that 'this wort if hung upon a man's neck it setteth snakes to flight.' The seeds were also formerly thought to cure hydrophobia.

Warning: Be sure to consult your physician before taking.
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