Mistletoe (Part Two): Druids And German Cancer Patients Swear By It
Modern interest in mistletoe as a possible treatment for cancer began in the 1920s. For centuries, it had been used as something of a cure-all, but wh...
Plant Detective, The
Share:
Listens: 13
About
Each week Flora Delaterre a.k.a. The Plant Detective investigates a new medicinal plant somewhere around the globe--and it could be in your backyard. Beth Judy writes and voices this minute-and-a-half program in consult with Bastyr University, Tai Sophia Institute, and the Vermont School of Integrative Herbalism. Produced by MTPR. The Plant Detective podcast
Mistletoe (Part One): A Parasite That Can Hurt Or Heal
Mistletoe, a parasitic plant that grows on a wide range of host trees, shows up on every continent but Antarctica - and on each continent, it's been u...
Relax, It's Passionflower
Passionflower is a beautiful climbing vine native to the Americas whose corona reminded people of the crown of thorns worn by Jesus during his crucifi...
Calabar Beans: Pre-History's Lie Detectors
The Efik people of the region that is now Nigeria used to force people accused of crimes to suffer a trial by ordeal: they'd be fed calabar beans, a k...
Usnea: Bearded Medicine
You might have brushed by it in the forest, where this hairy-looking symbiosis between algea and fungi perches on tree limbs. The look of the lichen u...
Cranberry: North America's Ruby-Red Superfruit
It's not an old wive's tale: cranberry helps prevent and treat urinary tract infections. And it's not just the acidity: a compound in cranberries and ...
Garlic II: "Don't Leave This Life Without It"
Among the artifacts discovered in the tomb of Egypt's Tutankhamen - objects meant to ease the boy king into the afterlife - were 3,000-year-old bulbs ...
Garlic I: Asia's Gift To The Future
Ever since nomadic tribes helped spread wild garlic from Central Asia to far-flung parts of the globe, garlic has helped humans fight microbes. Louis ...
Demand For Slippery Elm's Gummy Bark Tempts Poachers
In 1905, author Harriet Keeler wrote about the inner bark of the slippery elm tree: “It is thick, fragrant, mucilaginous, demulcent, and nutritious. T...
Datura: Delirium, Broomsticks, And Divination
Medicinal use of datura - also known as moonflower - is so ancient, no one is sure where the plant originated. Two important nervous system depressor ...