Ginseng in Appalachia

Believe it or not there has been a steady demand In China for American ginseng for well over two hundred years.

In fact, for a brief time, ginseng was America’s #1 export in terms of dollars and it’s still in demand n China. American ginseng is believed to have a different effect (“yin”) vs. Chinese ginseng (“yang”)

– Ken McCarthy
PlantWisdom.org

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Dr. James Duke’s Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases

Dr. James A. Duke, PhD, Ethnobotanist, PhD in Botany (UNC, Chapel Hill; Phi Beta Kappa; Distinguished Alumnus), served  3 years with Missouri Botanical Garden,  7 years with Battelle Memorial Institute in Panama, Colombia and Columbus Ohio, as an ecologist; and 27 years as economic botanist, with USDA in Beltsville, Md.

On Sept. 30, 1995, he retired from the USDA.  Before retiring, Dr. Duke brought his ethnobotanical and phytochemical database online … Read more

Catskils Mushroom Walk


John Michelotti of Catskill Fungi

John leads guided mushroom walks throughout the Catskill Mountain region. Learn about mushrooms in the woods and their functions in the ecosystem and our lives.

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Click here to see the schedule for future walks

– Ken McCarthy
PlantWisdom.org

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Peter Webster – Psychoactive Plants and Human Evolution

Psychoactive plants have been omnipresent during all the stages of hominid evolution – but is there any evidence that they may have had an important influence or been the evolutionary catalyst for the emergence of modern humans?

Mythological tales of a “forbidden fruit” acting to awaken humankind from their “natural” or protohuman state are not uncommon, but some recent findings of science now seem to give new meaning to such … Read more

Herb walk with Rosita Arvigo in Chicago

224Site of Herb Walk in Chicago on Milwaukee and Kedzie Avenues in Logan Square

219Amaranth — Amaranthus retroflexus — Ancient food of the Americas; very high mineral and protein content. Excellent for anemia

226Sheep  Sorrel — Rumex acetosella — Good food for salads, kidney aid

243Milkweed — Asclepias syriaca — white milky sap for warts, edible flowers and very young pods

250Prairie Dock — Silphium terebinthinaceum — decorative prairie plant… Read more