The #Medicinal Plant #Clues #Chair.

03-09-2019 Lasst update 04-30-2019 The purpose of this Chair (subject specific thread) is to explore what is the relationship of certain Plant characteristics like #Pungent, #Aromatic, #Bitter, or Sweet, that gave or give valuable clues to these plants being of Medicinal value. Has Nature encoded easy access clues for us? If so what are they? Let us list the know ones and explore this avenue of discovery, past, and present.

Clues and Plants: 1) White Saps: often indicate a poisonous plant but not in the case of the Miracle Blessings of 'Lacuca virosa' (Bitter Lettuce, a most excellent nervine).

2) Invasive status

A factor that I have found a primary indicator of strong medicinal action — the invasive status of the plant. For, interestingly enough, many of the strongest antibacterial and antiviral plants are invasives. 2

(2) >>Curiously enough, many of the strongest antibacterial and antiviral plants are invasives. The dynamics of this are complex, not nearly so simple as one might think. Yes, invasives are tremendously potent simply by virtue of their capacity to take over ecosystems into which they are introduced. But this ignores the homeodynamis factors and deeply interwoven feedback systems that exist in the Earth ecosystem. Plants move throughout ecosystems in response to multiple complex factors, not simply because a seed hitchhiked on someone’s shoe. Their impacts as they move are extremely complex and often highly sophisticated. And the question must always be asked, “What are they doing here?” To give a very simple view outside contemporary perspectives: Amur honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii) is a shrub native to Japan, Korea, China, and Russia. It is an escaped cultivar in the United States and is invasive nearly everywhere it gets established. It is labeled invasive/banned in Connecticut, prohibited in Massachusettes, a noxious weed in Vermont, and invasive in Wisconsin and Tennessee. According to contemporary orientations regarding invasive species, the plant is considered to be a serious threat to ecosystem diversity and health and it is to be eradicated with extreme prejudice. However, the plant strongly affects the numbers of eggs laid by the mosquito Aedes triseriatus, a primary vector of La Crosse encephalitis virus (named after La Crosse, Wisconsin), reducing egg numbers considerably. The more honeysuckle there is, the fewer mosquitoes, the less the incidence of the viral disease in those areas. The plant also contains compounds that are specific for reducing inflammation, especially in the brain, during infection. They protect neurons and microglial cells from damage. This particular mosquito is also a vector for dengue fever (and other viruses), which is an emerging virus in the southern United States in such states as Texas and Georgia. Amur honeysuckle is also invasive in both those states. After 30 years of this work, I have continually seen that invasives show up in the regions where they are needed for the exact diseases that are emerging there. I can no longer discount it just because the mechanism for that process can’t be seen with reductionist eyes.<<

Ref. Herbal Antivirals : Natural Remedies for Emerging and Resistant Viral Infections 

by Buhner, Stephen Harrod

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Ref. 1 The mysteries of astrology, and the wonders of magic: (1854)

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