Herbal Healer: What is turmeric?

Note: This week's column is dedicated to the memory of Jacquie Demaree, dedicated teacher and avid reader of the Herbal Healer.

Herbal Healer: What is kidney vetch?

Commonly seen growing on top of “green roofs” in Switzerland, kidney vetch carries the nickname “woundwort” owing to its marvelous capacity to heal minor cuts and scrapes. Viewed side by side, this botanical medicine and common clover would appear as fraternal twins, the obvious difference b…

Herbal Healer: What is carline thistle?

During the Middle Ages the Emperor Charlemagne—Carl the Great to the German tribes—was losing soldiers to a dreadful plague. Folklore has it that an angel gave the ruler this herb, which was named in his honor, to stem the tide of this deadly epidemic. A natural hygrometer of sorts, carline …

Herbal Healer: What is speedwell?

Owing to its wide variety of healing applications, this herbal panacea was highly regarded by northern Europe’s Germanic tribes. Indeed, an ancient meaning of the word “speed” is “thrive.” Any botanical reputed to offer a toolbox filled with cures would, indeed, be one associated with the co…

Herbal Healer: What is potato?

Today’s promised land overflows not with milk and honey, but with mountains of French fries and chips made from fried oils and the potato, the largest vegetable crop on Earth. Thus, our modern tastes and food choices have turned an otherwise health foods dynamo into a leading contributor to …

Herbal Healer: What is lady’s bedstraw?

Among several herbs carrying the popular name bedstraw, Galium verum—or lady’s bedstraw—wields a coumarin scent that possesses the power to repel fleas. All of these plants were used to stuff mattresses, but the wealthy—the lords and ladies of Merry Olde England—apparently had the privilege …

Herbal Healer: What is ramson?

Upon waking from their annual period of hibernation, Europe’s brown bears would gorge themselves on their freshly uncovered ramson (wild garlic) bulbs. This powerful gusto for ramson moved the scientific community to name this herb Allium ursinum—ursa being the Latin word for bear. The lure …

Herbal Healer: What is njangsa?

As tall as a fifteen-story building, the njangsa tree accentuates the hustle, bustle and color found in West African rainforests. A number of edible caterpillars flock to its chewier portions before themselves becoming a source of protein foods for local human populations.

Herbal Healer: What is potato onion?

Spring gardening is that time of the year when good planning can result in bountiful harvests for months to come. Selecting a variety of edibles assures that many different lessons in the art of raising food will be learned as the days lengthen into the light-filled calendrical gems that sho…

Herbal Healer: What is corchorus?

Also known as jute—when its fibers are used for cloth—and Jew’s mallow—when its nutritious leaves are eaten as a vegetable—corchorus has been raised for food and medicine for countless centuries in its native Africa, as well as in India and parts of southern Asia. Cleopatra’s legendary beaut…

Herbal Healer: What is celosia?

Blessed with vivid colors and showy flowers, celosia is a favorite among gardeners seeking ornamentals that rate high in eye appeal. To the cook and the practitioner of folk medicine, this member of the amaranth family is also reliable in the kitchen as a nutritious food and in the clinic as…

Herbal Healer: What is beechnut?

Black bears love them. Porcupines love them. Even flying foxes love them. The 3-sided nut produced by the stately American beechnut tree is savored by other creatures, as well, including the human forager. Before agriculture—the labor-intensive raising of annual crops—there was arboriculture…

Herbal Healer: What is caralluma?

Out of approximately 120 species belonging to the caralluma genus, one member has managed to graduate with honors from the scientific scrutiny that explored the age-old claims regarding its weight-loss ability.

Herbal Healer: What is carob?

It tastes like chocolate (without the caffeine!), it appears in several important Biblical tales and the weight of its seeds provided the basis for measuring the relative purity of objects made from gold (the carat). Often called the locust tree, carob’s edible pod is often referred to as St…

Herbal Healer: What is white kidney bean?

The “Three Sisters,” namely, beans, maize (corn) and squash, characterize the core of Native American agriculture. Long considered among the simplest of foods, these staples kept a number of farming tribes viable and well fed over many centuries. Grown together, the Three Sisters crops forme…

Herbal Healer: What is shagbark hickory?

If you love pecans—especially in a well-made, mouth-watering pecan pie—then you’ll love the hickory nuts produced by the amazing shagbark hickory tree. Native to Indiana and its neighboring states, this towering giant is unique among its hickory clanmates.

Herbal Healer: What is bupleurum?

Bupleurum (boo-plur-rum) plays a major role in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), where it is referred to as chai hu. Its medical magic resides in the root. Easy to grow from seed, bupleurum brightens up any garden or flower pot with its clusters of dainty greenish-yellow blooms. Florists w…

Herbal Healer: What is argan?

Located in the Western Mediterranean—most notably in an arid stretch of southwest Morocco—the argan tree projects the perfect image for a plant capable of reaching “senior citizen” status. Thorny with gnarled trunks, an argan stand of trees can reach the age of 200 years. Just as interesting…

Herbal Healer: What is wheat grass?

One of the healthiest foods that we can put into our bodies is the sprouted grass—and its juice—raised from the simple wheat berry. Like the air that we breathe, wheat is everywhere. Did you have a bagel, pancakes, French toast, waffles or Wheaties cereal this morning? Then you have wheat co…

Herbal Healer: What is apple mint?

Like the Jolly Green Giant, both the leaf and the height of the apple mint impress with their size. If the Mint Family Reunion committee offered a souvenir T-shirt, apple mint would be the big kid asked to stand in the back, while its cousins—peppermint, spearmint, horehound, lavender and th…