originally posted: September 24, 2001 | by chelsie

Most cultures of the Northern Hemisphere hold a special reverence for roses (Rosa spp.). They have been handed down through generations and are probably the longest continually cultivated flower in the world. It is believed that the Persians and Chinese were the first rose gardeners and that emperors themselves tended their shrubs. Persian roses were said to have been planted in the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Roses have been used in cuisine, medicine, and worship. [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: September 17, 2001 | by chelsie

The red kidney bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) contains phytohemagglutinin (PHA), a protein that binds to white blood cells. PHA triggers the T-lymphocytes in the immune system to undergo mitosis (cell division) and interferes with cellular metabolism. The body gears up as if invaded by an infectious agent. When raw or undercooked kidney beans are consumed, this toxin causes nausea, vomiting, and severe diarrhea. But PHA is a toxin easily destroyed. [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: September 10, 2001 | by chelsie

During the Middle Ages (350 A.D. to 1450 A.D.), rye (Secale cereale) [see cay' lee ser ee al' ee] was grown to feed the serfs. It was a weedy grass that did well on poor soils and produced enough food to keep the peasants alive and working. But the bread made from rye was dark and hid the color of a horrific disease. [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: September 3, 2001 | by chelsie

In Chinese tradition, the precious things are not pearls and jade, but the five grains. The first of these grains is said to be a gift from the animals. Chinese legend says that a very long time ago, heavy rains began to fall until the land was covered under a great flood. The people survived by taking refuge on the hilltops. When the waters finally receded, the people found that all the plants were destroyed or washed away. [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: August 27, 2001 | by chelsie

The Green Corn Ceremony is a ritual festival held when flour corn is in the roasting-ear stage. This celebration of life is held by many of the Native American tribes; it is a time of atonement, forgiveness, and a way of thanking the "Master of Life", animals, and plants for their generosity to mankind. It is respect for the gift of life. [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: August 20, 2001 | by chelsie

The opium poppy has been used and misused for thousands of years. Its botanical name, Papaver somniferum, literally means, poppy bringing sleep. Six thousand years ago in ancient Sumeria, it was called the "joy plant". Greeks and Romans used it to ease pain and aid sleep. Arabian traders took it to China about 1,000 years ago to trade for silk and spices. [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: August 13, 2001 | by chelsie

Emmuska Orczy was a baroness by birth and a mystery novelist by choice. She wrote a tale of the horrors perpetrated by Committee of Public Safety during the French Revolution--the mock trials and beheading (Madame la Guillotine) of hundreds of French aristocrats, even babies and children. But, in Baroness Orczy's tale, someone was smuggling aristocrats out of France. As an insult to the Committee, a note was sent bragging of each rescue from the Committee's "cleansing" efforts. The note was always signed by a small red drawing of a five-petaled flower. [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: August 6, 2001 | by chelsie

The seeds of the castor bean (Ricinus communis) [ris' in us com mun' is] are the source of castor oil. Castor oil was an ingredient in a totally disagreeable ritual perpetrated upon children--spring tonic. Right about the time that school let out in the spring, some insidious relative would descend upon a household and wreak havoc with the newly found freedom of children. And some children were even stupid enough to go to the grocery store for the ingredients of Auntie's recipe. Once! [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: July 30, 2001 | by chelsie

The huntsman's cup, Sarracenia purpurea, [sar a cin' ee a pur pur ee' a] is an insectivorous bog plant native to the North American continent. [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: July 23, 2001 | by chelsie

Myrrh trees (Commiphora myrrha, C. erythraea and others) [com mif' er a mur' a; e rith' ra ee] grow on arid, rocky hills of the deserts of Arabia, Ethiopia, and Somalia. These are trees that survive in a scrub wilderness. Myrrh trees produce a fragrant, yellow to brown resin. The resin seeps from where the bark has split and hardens into globules called 'tears'. For thousands of years, these tears have been collected and placed over coals to produce a fragrant smoke.[Click here to read more...]

originally posted: July 16, 2001 | by chelsie

The ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) [gink' o bi lo' ba] is a survivor, the last of its line. These trees are unique in a number of ways. No ginkgo trees exist in the wild. They have no living relatives. The plants are dioecious, that is, either male or female. The sperm are flagellated and swim down the pollen tube to the ovule. The ovules are often not fertilized until after they've been shed from the parent tree. (After an ovule and sperm cell are united, then it is considered a seed.) And ginkgoes have no known insect pests or diseases. [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: July 15, 2001 | by chelsie

Belladonna (Atropa belladonna) gets its name from a fad in fashion. Fashion dictated that a beautiful woman (bella donna) must have large eyes or at the very least, enlarged pupils. A tincture of belladonna put into the eyes caused the pupils to dilate. Of course, the beautiful woman could not see very well, bright light was a pain, and she would very likely lose much of her vision from its constant use, but she looked good! And the loss of vision may have made a lot of sense; after all, her marriage would probably be arranged. [Click here to read more...]