Medicine Trees

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  • Autumnal leaves and herbs to rebalance the Yin and Yang of a stressful life

    #TorontoOnFire #TCM #TraditionalChineseMedicine #MedicinalPlants #MedicineTrees #Botanicals #TreeTherapy #NaturesMedicines #Herbal #Purveyorsofdreams #Natural #Botanicals #Placebo #ChineseHerbs #Perfumes #NaturalOils #FrangranceOils #VolatileOils @MedicineTrees2023 To paraphrase Albert Camus. autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower, and every tree is on fire. That was Toronto when I visited in early November 2022. On the banks of Lake…

  • The Yew Tree Source of the anticancer drug paclitaxel (Taxol) Part 1

    The yew tree, the source of the potent anti-cancer drug paclitaxel (sold under the brand name Taxol) and an iconic plant in grand British gardens, parks, and churchyards, is immortalised by William Wordsworth. .                                     There is a Yew-tree, pride of Lorton Vale, Which to this day stands single, in the midst Of its…

  • Daffodils are not good for Michelin-starred stir-fries

    Sadly, each year there are occasional reports of daffodil poisoning from around the world, usually of people mistaking the plant for onions or chives. This post is prompted by a recent self-report of poisoning in the British press. Michelle Collins, a star in a British television series, seemingly mistook a bunch of daffodils for spring…

  • Digitalis lanata – The source of the drug digoxin Part I

    The delights of nature. Famous herbal medicine. The purple foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) kissed by the English summer rain. From the white foxglove (Digitalis lanata) came digoxin, once the most widely used medicines for the failing heart. Blooming beautiful to make the heart miss a beat. #MedicinalPlants #Herbal #Natural #Botanical #Digitalis

  • Medicine Trees – The Beginning

    I do remember an apothecary … And in his needy shop a tortoise hung. An alligator stuff’d and other skins. Of oil-shaped fishes, and about his shelves … Green earthen pots and musty seeds. Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet The first medicines came from the natural world. Metals and gemstones from the soil, various animals, and…

  • The snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis) Part I

    What better way to welcome spring early in February than with the beautiful snowdrop which the French call Perce neige (snow borer) because it is often seen piercing through a bed of snow at the end of winter. To the poet Alfred Tennyson, the snowdrop was February’s fair maid. To Wordsworth it was the            …