Medical Herbs

[bina]

hi all,

im starting an botanics/medicine class this coming week given by one of israel's leading herbalists, botanist,specialist in micro biolgy and chemistry , anyhow, she is giving her course in the botanical gardens here in jerusalem. ..im. finally doing something other then work, herbs have always been a love of mine, since i was a young girl trying to make rose oil and concocting herbal thingys with my mortar and pestle.

at any rate, ive always been reading up on all sorts of herbs/chinese meds etc and have tried to glean info on thai folklore/herbal rememdies etc. Here in israel we have a wealth of medical folklore/remedies from the yemenites, beduins, morrocans, various other arab countries and their herbal remedies; persia, etc... although hubby is reluctant to try them since they arent thai (he believes that thai acamol is better then israeli acamol even if the chemistry is the same, but thats his problem).

hubby mentions certain plants to me but is very vague and unclear about what they are and their names, since it seem sthat like most countries, it is the women who deal with herbal concoctions. apart from galangal, ginger , kfir lime leaves, lemon grass and the various peppers and basils, anybody know of the names and latin names and uses (with pics) of the medicinal herbs (i forgot betel)

for instance, he mentioned some plant that is horribly bitter and makes u vomit but is supposed to strenghten you, among others that his father would use. his parents mostly use things they find in the fields and forests rather then buy meds, but he never bothered to learn about them, like most kids of 'backwards' parents.

any sites in thai with the botanic /latin name? or anyone out there that has first hand knowlege? this doctor apparently is well travelled and collects info from around the world but people tend to skip thailand and go to more 'exotic' places like tibet, or the amazons and i like to bring new or different info to courses, it gives a different perspective especially here where people prefer 'mystic' sources (india, tibet) for their medical knowlege.

im not interested in chinese medicine but in the thai /lao/khmer folklore/herbalist plants from upcountry thailand. the things that a rice farmer in issaan would go out and gather as a tea to drink for upset stomach, etc.

any ideas?

bina

[astanhope]

Unfortunately my notebook computer was stolen so I must surf via iPhone which means it's a pain in the ass to collect URLs.

What I can give you is a list of latin names to check out.

butea superba

mytragyna speciosa

clitorea ternatea

nymphaea carulea

Check out a friend's website, too..,

Google Atison's Essential Oils

[davidchung]

The herbal supplement section of larger supermarkets or health food shops will usually have some thai herbal medicine in some cheapish looking white bottles. Can't remember if they have any english descriptions, but u can always swing by for a look

Oh sorry just read more closely and saw u r not in thailand. Maybe someone can swing by a supermarket and see for u

Edited February 8, 2012 by davidchung