Plant Detective, The

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 when mistletoe's immunostimulant properties were confirmed, the Druids' reverence for the healing power of this parasite got some scientific validation. Since then, lots of studies have been done in Germany, where many cancer patients augment conventional treatment with mistletoe extracts. In the lab, it kills certain cancer cells, while boosting the number and activity of white blood cells. In 2002, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine in the U.S. began a Phase I clinical trial for a combination of mistletoe extract and cancer drugs in patients with advanced solid tumors. The data are still being analyzed but almost half the patients showed treatment benefit, and the mistletoe exhibited low toxicity. For now, the FDA doesn't allow injectable mistletoe to be imported or used in the U.S... except for clinical

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 used in folk medicine. From ancient Greece into twentieth-century America, it was prescribed for epilepsy. Over the centuries, healers have used mistletoe to treat arthritis, menstrual problems, miscarriage (through controlling bleeding), hypertension, and pain - and that's just the short list. It's prescribed frequently in Europe. But don't try any of these uses without a trained health practitioner, because mistletoe can be toxic. More on mistletoe and cancer next time. ( Podcast : " The Plant Detective ," 12/20/14)

Passionflower is a beautiful climbing vine native to the Americas whose corona reminded people of the crown of thorns worn by Jesus during his crucifixion. It's a sedative, milder than valerian or kava - often, you'll find it used in combination with other calming herbs like lemon balm. Passionflower calms the nervous system, reduces anxiety, and soothes insomnia and muscle spasms. Scientists think it increases levels of gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the brain. Don't use passionflower if you're pregnant or breastfeeding; it's a uterine stimulant that can over-sedate your baby. ( Podcast : " The Plant Detective ," 12/13/14)

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 known poison. If the accused died, they were judged guilty. If they lived, they were "proven" innocent. There's some pharmaceutical basis to this. It turns out that the poison of the calabar bean is absorbed in the mouth, where a guilty person might try to hold the beans, to avoid swallowing. For the guileless who swallowed them whole, the emetic properties of the beans might cause them to throw up the beans and escape poisoning. Calabar beans aren't just poisonous; a compound from them, physostigmine, has been used to treat glaucoma and Alzheimer's disease. ( Podcast : " The Plant Detective ," 12/6/14)

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 usnea explains its nicknames: "old man's beard," "tree's dandruff," "women's long hair," and "beard lichen." For centuries, it's been considered a handy medicinal. People grab some to dress wounds, or take it internally for infections or oral inflammation. But in the 1990s, when manufacturers of weight-loss drugs started adding sodium usniate (usnic acid) to their formulas, several cases of liver damage emerged. Usnic acid was implicated, and people were warned away not just from the drug LipoKinetix, but from internal use of usnea, too. Most traditional uses of usnea are either topical, or short-term, and it's unclear whether usnea itself is risky, or if the problem lies with long-term consumption of large amounts of the isolated chemical constituent instead of the whole plant. ( Podcast : " The Plant Detective ," 11/29/14)

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 blueberries keeps bacteria from sticking to bladder and urinary tract walls. Cranberries are high in several kinds of antioxidants, including proanthocyanidins, which give the ripe berries their vivid red color. In the 1672 book New England Rarities Discovered , author John Josselyn described cranberries: "Sauce for the Pilgrims, cranberry or bearberry, is a small trayling plant that grows in salt marshes that are overgrown with moss. The berries are of a pale yellow color, afterwards red, as big as a cherry, some perfectly round, others oval, all of them hollow with sower [sic] astringent taste; they are ripe in August and September. They are excellent against the Scurvy. They are also good to allay the fervor of hoof diseases. The Indians and English use them mush, boyling [sic] them with sugar for sauce to eat with their meat; and 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 of garlic. Giving as well as receiving, Tut supplied daily rations of garlic to his pyramid-building slaves, for endurance and health. Garlic is a fabulous heart helper: its blood-thinning and anti-clotting abilities may slow down atherosclerosis and lower blood pressure. Raw or cooked garlic strengthens the immune system; The Iowa Women's Health Studies showed that women who regularly ate garlic, fruits and vegetables had a 35% lower risk of developing colon cancer. ( Podcast : " The Plant Detective ," 11/15/14)

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 Pasteur recognized its antimicrobial power, as did doctors in WWI and WWII battlefield hospitals, where injured soldiers were given garlic to prevent infection and gangrene. Today's warnings of a "post-antibiotic" future mean garlic's power may turn out to be handy as drug-resistant bacteria become widespread. ( Podcast : " The Plant Detective ," 11/8/14)

In 1905, author Harriet Keeler wrote about the inner bark of the slippery elm tree: “It is thick, fragrant, mucilaginous, demulcent, and nutritious. The water in which the bark has been soaked is a grateful drink for one suffering from affections of the throat and lungs.” Nutritious and medicinal, slippery elm is native to the eastern half of North America. At Valley Forge, George Washington's hungry troops survived on it for weeks; they also dressed wounds with it. Slippery elm is a gentle cure-all, soothing inflamed membranes of the throat, the digestive and urinary tracts and bowel. When eaten, it's easy to digest. But its modern popularity is also its downfall; for over a century, some people have harvested the inner bark of slippery elms by girdling the trees, which kills them. And since the 1930s, bark beetles carrying the Dutch elm disease fungus have attacked mature slippery elm trees, reducing the population in part of its range. But this is one medicinal plant that can be

Medicinal use of datura - also known as moonflower - is so ancient, no one is sure where the plant originated. Two important nervous system depressor drugs, atropine and scopolamine, are derived from it. Oracles in the Americas and Greece used it for divinations. Witches in medieval Europe applied it to their skin in ointments. And when modern-day researchers experimented (a risky proposition; one of the researchers died) with those old witches' recipes, they reported intense dreams of flying. Broomstick, anyone? ( Podcast : " The Plant Detective ," 10/25/14)

The alkaloid atropine occurs naturally in plants like deadly nightshade, datura, and henbane. It can keep your heart rate steady after a heart attack, dilate your eyes - think belladonna - or dry up secretions during surgery. Soldiers carry atropine injectors because it's an antidote to nerve gas. But in high doses, it's hallucinogenic and poisonous. Remember the three fates of Greek mythology? One of them, Atropos, determined the mechanism of death for mortals. Atropine is named for her. ( Podcast : " The Plant Detective ," 10/18/14)

The powerful anti-inflammatory action of harpagoside, a compound in the roots of devil's claw, relieves the pain of osteoarthritis, and many herbalists recommend it for digestive problems. The San of the Kalahari have used it medicinally for centuries. But because devil's claw is gathered wild from the deserts of Southern Africa, where the tubers are an important source of income , there is pressure on the population. In some regions, the current rate of harvest might not be sustainable. Good alternatives to devil's claw include turmeric, yucca, willow, or meadowsweet. ( Podcast : " The Plant Detective ," 10/11/14)

This feathery plant from the deserts of Afghanistan and the mountains of Iran stinks - until you cook it, that is, when its pleasant flavor and active antiflatulent and digestive properties emerge. You can find it in Worcestershire sauce and throughout South Indian cuisine as a flavor enhancer and digestive aid. Devil's Dung is also antimicrobial. ( Podcast : " The Plant Detective ") Antiflatulent, helps digestion.

The gigantic leaves of devil's club barely hide its sharp thorns - if you're ever sliding down a mountain slope, this is not a plant to grab. But inside the roots' bark lies medicine for all sorts of evils: native coastal North Americans treated as many as 34 types of ailments with it. From its antifungal, antibacterial and antiviral properties to its use for fish hooks, lures, and charcoal, or its role in purification and attainment of supernatural powers, devil's club has been a staple for centuries to people from Alaska to California. Today, there's evidence that it might act as a blood-sugar stabilizer for people with type-2 diabetes. ( Podcast : " The Plant Detective ," 9/27/14

The causes of migraine aren't well understood. Neither is the mechanism behind feverfew's proven ability to stop or prevent a migraine headache. Feverfew supplements used in clinical studies to treat migraine contain a standardized dose of 0.2 to 0.35% parthenolide, so if you research this herb, pay attention to dosage details. Pregnant women and children under the age of two shouldn't use it, and people with allergies to ragweed, chamomile and yarrow are sometimes allergic to feverfew. ( Podcast : The Plant Detective , 9/20/14)

Goldenseal ( Hydrastis canadensis) grows in eastern North America, where it's now threatened in the wild. An alkaloid in goldenseal, berberine, shows powerful antimicrobial effects against a wide range of bacteria, yeasts, and parasites. Herbalists prescribed goldenseal to stimulate the immune system, fight infection, and treat diarrhea. (Podcast: The Plant Detective , 9/13/14)

There's a persistent urban legend concerning the herb, goldenseal: take it before a urine test and you'll get false-negative results for a variety of recreational drugs. Disappointingly for those who try, goldenseal won't mask drug residues in the blood. The idea came from Stringtown on the Pike, a novel published in 1900 by plant pharmacist John Uri Lloyd. In the book, goldenseal causes a false-positive result for strychnine poisoning. (Podcast: The Plant Detective , 9/6/14)

In the 1930s, scientists trying to synthesize estrogen and progesterone for therapeutic uses - and possibly to create a new kind of contraceptive - faced an obstacle: they needed an abundant, cheap source of the hormones for mass production. Chemist Russell Marker discovered a way to extract progesterone from plants, and began searching for one that could yield enough of the hormone. After searching for a decade, he found it: the wild Mexican yam. (Podcast: The Plant Detective , 8/30/14)

Indigenous Australians use the twigs and leaves of the melaleuca (tea tree) medicinally, and science has confirmed the tree's antimicrobial, antifungal, and antiviral properties. Tea tree oil is used topically to treat a range of skin infections, cuts, burns, insect bites and stings. A 2012 review by the National Institutes of Health found that "a 5% tea tree oil gel appears to be as effective as 5% benzoyl peroxide" for treating mild to moderate acne. (Podcast: The Plant Detective , 8/23/14)

In southern China, where Camptotheca acuminata is native, people call these big-leafed trees "Happy Trees." Chinese herbalists have been prescribing medicine from the leaves for centuries to treat various ailments, including leukemia. In the 1950s, National Cancer Institute researchers in the U.S. isolated the alkaloid camptothecin from the leaves, and today, several drugs derived from camptothecin help treat ovarian and colon cancer. (Podcast: The Plant Detective , 8/16/14)