Winter cleaning

Moving stuff from the PC to the new Mac (which is very cool, btw) and came across a bunch of images from this summer. One is of our local hardy Stinging Nettles (Urtica dioica.)

I was surprised to find a healthy and striving stand of Nettles here in the Sonoran desert. These individuals have adapted nicely, taking on some of the characteristics of other plants around them. That's a nice way of saying there stinging hairs are more like cactus spines. OUCH! But boy do they make a taste Nettles-Ginger Beer!

Knowing the plants

Words of wisdom from Joyce recently posted on an herbal discussion group we both belong to:

I remember in my early stages of plant ID becoming very proud of myself for remembering many of the latin names and use info I was accumulating. Walking through a swamp one day, saw a patch of Iris versicolor. Named itin my head parts to use, application, etc and walked right by.

Caught myself about 50 feet later. Had I stopped to smell the flower? examine the unopened buds? Was midday and muggy - did that effect the quality of the flower, make the leaves more - or less - upright? Was anyone pollinating the plant, what where the other plants growing nearby? any animal track or sign on or nearby... and what might it indicate? etc. How much did I miss by naming the plant and continuing on? I my have known the name and identity of the species - bit I knew NOTHING about that particular individual plant in its particular environment.

I'll keep that in mind as I take my herb walk this morning!

Tell us something we didn't know

Thanks to Bernie for this news tidbit:

One of the movies showing at the Sundance Festival is a documentary called Super Size Me. The film maker ate three meals a day at McDonald's for thirty days. The results were not pretty.

After bingeing on everything Ronald's menu has to offer at least once -- and supersizing when offered -- the previously trim and healthy Spurlock had spent about $850, gained 24 pounds, raised his once-normal cholesterol levels by 65 points, sent his blood-fat levels out of the Playland roof and, in one of his doctor's words, turned his liver into pate.

Plus, he became emotionally and physically addicted to the grub despite repercussions of headaches, chest pain, mood swings, exhaustion, depression, etc. "I felt depressed constantly when I was eating this food," he said. "I was a horrible person to be around most of the time."

I hope America will pay attention.

Me too, Bernie. But I'm not holding my breath...

Science says garlic is good for you

There's a shocker. People have known for centuries of the curative powers of garlic (Allium sativa), and it seems the reductionists have picked up on the clue. From the BBC:

The chemical which gives garlic its flavour could be used in a "smart bomb" to fight cancer, scientists say.

Welcome to our world, fellas. It's also an excellent agent to fight bacterial and viral infections, as well as doing wonders for hypertension and high cholesterol.

Gee... maybe you should eat a clove. Or twelve.

New online herb store

Fellow blogger and herbalist Sarah Hasler has just opened up her herb store to online shoppers. Sahra and crew specialize in high quality custom crafted 1:1 solid liquid extracts, which are very tough to make. But she's got the knack and is now offering her talents to those who aren't fortunate enough to live near her shop in Oregon.

Best of luck in your venture, Sarah!

Plantlife International, a UK-based botanical conservation group, is making some dire predictions about the future of plant life world wide. According to the group, nearly 1/5th of all plant species could be wiped out by the growing herbal remedy industry:

"With demand and commercialisation growing fast, the future of the wild plants that have helped most of humanity for centuries is now more uncertain than it has ever been."

"It is time for the industry to join forces with environmental organisations to ensure herbal harvests have a sustainable future."

I don't know much (anything, really) about this group, but what they say seems true enough to me. Many people are in the herbal medicine business to make a quick buck, and have little or no ethics when it comes to harvesting wild populations. Europe has all but lost Arnica, while we in the states nearly said goodbye to Hydrastis canadensis (Goldenseal).

Sadly, there is no need for this. Gaia provides us with a plethora of herbs with similar actions. Knowledgeable and caring herbalists only gather what they can use, and avoid endangered or at-risk plants. When buying our medicines, we make sure the suppliers are ethical in their harvesting, shunning cheaper but more reckless companies. Sure, it may cost a few more bucks a pound, but we should be in this for the long haul.

If you're not sure about where your medicines are coming from...

Thanks to Julius for the link.

FDA warns of mercury in fish. Still OK with vaccines...

Warning from the FDA on The Washington Times:

The Food and Drug Administration just issued a new warning to pregnant women about mercury in seafood.

They're still turning a blind eye to the addition of mercury in vaccinations. From the Ft. Wayne News Sentinal:

Pediarix, a diphtheria/tetanus/pertussis/hepatitis B/poliovirus vaccine, uses thimerosal during its manufacture, but is then purified to reduce thimerosal below detectable levels (12.5 nanograms of mercury per dose) and well below the safe limit for mercury set by the Environmental Protection Agency.

The FDA set limits for mercury levels found in our food supplies based on contamination. But the drug supply isn't contaminated with mercury, it's put there intentionally as a preservative. Thanks, but no thanks.

An exception on the Ephedra ban?

From what certainly appears to be most (read:only) fair and balanced reporting on Ephedra sinica and the recent "ban" by the FDA:

When U.S. regulators said they would ban the use of ephedra in weight-loss supplements on Tuesday they allowed an exemption for practitioners of Chinese medicine who have been using the herb for thousands of years to treat ailments ranging from asthma to fevers.

... when taken properly under a health practitioners supervision, the herb -- also known as ma huang -- is good medicine, according to several trained Chinese herbalists.

Ephedra can help people overcome asthma attacks, colds and other health problems, practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine said on Tuesday after U.S. health officials banned ephreda-based weight-loss pills citing risks of stroke and heart-attack.

Ephedra "should not be in dietary weight loss products. That's not the proper use of it," said Robert Wright, a licensed acupuncturist who has a private practice in Napa, California.

Hooray for a voice of sanity in the din. And hooray to Bernie for the link.

iChat is uber:cool

While definitely not herbal in nature, iChat AV is one of the coolest applications I've found. I know I'm going to regret this, but for those fellow Mac users out there... "herbalevo".