GINKGO BILOBA TREE - EXISTED BEFORE THE DINOSAURS: HISTORY, USES AND MEDICINAL BENEFITS OF MAIDENHAIR TREE

THE MAIDENHAIR TREE, GINKGO BILOBA

Darwin called this tree a “living fossil” and it is thought that it bridges the gap between ferns and cone-bearing trees. The leaves of Ginkgo biloba resemble those of the maidenhair fern, which graced many a bathroom in Britain in the late 1970s and early 80s. Fossilized leaves of this tree have been found dating back to 270 million years ago so it was on the planet before the dinosaurs. The oldest specimen recorded is 3,500 years and that’s a great age for a tree. It is the only plant in its genus, just as rock samphire is in its.

  The first Ginkgo biloba tree planted in Britain was in the first Kew Gardens and as people then didn’t know much about these trees, they planted it close to a wall for protection, later the wall was demolished, but the same tree is still standing. In 1773 Sir Joseph Banks oversaw several other ginkgo trees planted at Kew, and the original tree is one of the “Great British Trees” listed by the British Tree Council in a scheme which celebrated Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee.

  The trees are native to a small area in China and were looked after by monks in temple gardens, for a thousand years. No one is sure whether China’s “wild” ginkgo trees are actually wild, or whether they were those planted by those ancient monks. They are highly revered because it is said that Confucius taught under a ginkgo tree. The trees are remnants of the last Ice Age and lived through that as well as the atomic bomb blast in Hiroshima in 1945. After that the ginkgo tree was the first to bud and one tree at Anraku-ji hill has scorch marks way up its trunk, as a result of the blast. The ginkgo is a real survivor. Its now extinct ancestors were Gingko adiantoide and Ginkgo gardneri.

  The tree was first recorded scientifically by Kaempfer in 1690, and prior to that we have its external uses documented by Lan Mao in his work, Dian Nan Ben Cao which dates back to around 1436 and the Ming dynasty. It was used to get rid of freckles and for skin and head sores. In 1505 Liu Wen wrote Tai Ben Cao Pin Hui Jing Yao which describes the internal use of the leaves to treat diarrhoea.

  Modern research has shown that the leaves have properties which can lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels and have some value in the treatment of angina pectoris. In the West the trees have been planted in plantations for use in medicines as Western research (there have been about 500 studies in the last 20-30 years) seems to have proved that the leaves and extracts from them are helpful in macular degeneration, improve the cognitive functions including age-related memory loss associated with Alzheimer’s and age-related dementia. They can also help in cases of depression, attention problems, information-processing and other neuropsychological problems. They also help with relieving PMT/PMS symptoms, tinnitus, vertigo, and in preventing altitude sickness. Studies have also found that they can arrest liver fibrosis associated with chronic hepatitis B and the bioflavonoids protect the cell walls and improve blood circulation. The leaves are also a help in cardio-vascular diseases.

  The trees change colour in autumn and the oldest one in China is 164 feet tall, so it makes for a spectacular sight in autumn. The trees flower and then produce a “nut” in a case which looks rather like a plum or greengage. The Chinese prize the fruit highly, although they have a foetid smell by all accounts. These only grow on female trees and I’m told that gardeners prefer male trees. The fruits are now eaten at weddings and festivals and are known as silver apricots or white nuts which can be found in canned. The Chinese traditional medicine system lays more store in the tree bark and the seeds than does Western medicine but the leaves are used for their aphrodisiac properties. The bark, leaves and seeds are used for a variety of ailments such as to heal wounds and inflammations, to strengthen the memory, for bronchial problems including asthma, for improved blood circulation and digestion. They are also used to halt incontinence and spermatorrhoea.

  The seeds have to be thoroughly cooked before they are eaten as they contain a toxin, but when roasted they are said to taste. Like pinenuts or sweet chestnuts.

  It is thought that the tree population was depleted due to deforestation, but even though there are no conservation projects to protect the ginkgo trees, there are so many planted around the world and their health benefits are widely known, so it is unlikely that they will face extinction at least in the near future.

CARNATIONS - FLOWER OF POETS AND WRITERS: HEALTH BENEFITS AND USES OF CARNATIONS

CARNATIONS, DIANTHUS CAROPHYLLUS

Carnations have been cultivated for at least 2,000 years, making it a little difficult to pinpoint where they originated, but it is probable that they came from the Mediterranean region, perhaps Greece. Theophrastus first gave them the name Dianthus, meaning flowers of the gods. They smell rather like cloves to which they are related, and they are also in the same family, Carophylliaceae, as soapwort, (Saponaria officinalis) and the soapnut, or reetha. If you simmer the carnation leaves in water you will get a solution which can be used to wash delicate clothes or your skin.

  It is thought that the original carnations were a rich dark pink although no one can be sure. The ancient Greeks used them in garlands and probably ate the edible petals too. In fact they can be substituted in preserves and syrups for rose petals. The petals, but not the bitter parts of the flower head are good in salads and used as garnishes They yield an essential oil used in aromatherapy to calm frazzled nerves and have a soothing effect although at one time the flowers were considered aphrodisiacs.

  In the late 17^th century, the countess of Dorset used carnations in her love potion which consisted of these flowers, bay leaves, marjoram, and lavender. Today the flower head can be dried and mixed in pot-pourri along with a few cloves, sandalwood, rose petals and your other favourite herbs and/or spices. They can also, when dried be placed in sachets and put in wardrobes and drawers to scent clothes and linen.

  Culpeper, in his Herball of the 17^th century had this to say of them; carnations “are gallant, fine, temperate flowers…they are great strengtheners of the brain and heart…” In Indian medicine systems they are considered to have anti-spasmodic properties, useful to stop stomach cramps, diaphoretic, promoting sweat in fevers and to reduce other fever symptoms. They are also regarded as a useful heart tonic and as a soothing herb for nervous disorders and stress. They are also thought to counteract the effects of some poisons. However there has been little clinical research to bear out these traditional uses.

  In the Language of Flowers carnations in general symbolize bonds of affection, health and energy, a fascination for another person and the message they sent was “Alas, my poor heart!” Pink carnations mean “I’ll never forget you!” while red ones symbolize admiration, while sending the message, “My heart aches for you.” Carnations are given on first wedding anniversaries and are traditionally worn as buttonholes at weddings. Oscar Wilde famously wore a green carnation and these are associated by the Irish with Saint Patrick’s Day.

 In Europe in traditional medicine carnations were used for nervous complaints and for the heart, while in China they are used to get rid of internal worms.

  The pink carnation is said by Christians to have sprung from the Virgin Mary’s tears, and so they symbolize a mother’s undying love for her child.

  Carnations have been candied and used in a liqueur as well as in cocktails. They are the state flower of Ohio- the red one, and have figured in May Day celebrations worn and thrown by the labour movement in various countries including Austria Italy and some of the countries formerly part of Yugoslavia.

  Shakespeare, Chaucer and Spenser called these flowers both gillyflowers and carnations according to the Encyclopedia Britannica, and Shakespeare coined the verb “incarnadine” from the Italian incarnardino, meaning carnation or flesh-colour, to express the idea of to stain carnation red in Macbeth.

  “Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood

Clean from my hand? No; this my hand will rather

The multitudinous seas incarnardine,

Making the green - one red.”  Macbeth, Act 2 scene ii.

In “A Winter’s Tale” he writes this line:-

  “Of trembling winter, the fairest flowers o' the season are our carnations, and streak'd gillyvors.” – (A Winter's Tale Act 4 scene.iii)

 Pablo Neruda the Chilean writer also uses carnation imagery in one of his 100 Love Sonnets

Sonnet XVII
”I don't love you as if you were the salt-rose, topaz
or arrow of carnations that propagate fire:
I love you as certain dark things are loved,
secretly, between the shadow and the soul.”

 Clearly they are a potent symbol in literature and not just that which is written in English. Here is an extract from a Takis Papatsonis poem taken from his second collection of poetry, Ursa Minor, published in 1944.

  “You have the courage to adorn yourself

    With carnations and I admire you.

    Not only because you are lovely

    And fresh and they become you

    But because you assume the wounds,

    You become the image of a legion new martyrs.”

  Carnations may not have been the subject of clinical research, but poets and writers have more than made up for this lack.

SQUIRTING CUCUMBER - AMUSING GARDEN ORNAMENTAL BUT TOXIC

THE SQUIRTING CUCUMBER, ECBALLIUM ELATERIUM

The squirting cucumber is native to Europe and cultivated in Britain, where it is an annual rather than perennial which it is in its natural environment. It is also native to North Africa and western Asia and it has been introduced to the US, although it is thought that it may be native to Alabama. It gets its name because when the fruit of the plant is ripe it forcefully ejects its seeds, followed by a slimy trail of mucilage. This is how David Attenborough describes it in his film: “The Private Life of Plants”

  "The little Mediterranean squirting cucumber, as it ripens, fills with a slimy juice. Eventually, the pressure within becomes so great that the cucumber bursts off its stalk and shoots through the air for as far as twenty feet. Behind it, streaming from the hole in its base like gases flaring behind a space rocket, comes a trail of slime and with it, seeds." (Attenborough, D. 1995)

  An amusing plant for a garden!

  In the ancient world the plant was used as an abortifacient, although you would have had to be desperate to use it as it can be fatal. It is highly toxic and should not be used in home remedies.

   Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine used this plant as a laxative, and given the description of its action it is akin to jamalgota and more dangerous to use. Writing in is Materia De Medica in the 1^st century A.D., Dioscorides says that it was used for treating gout, toothache, sciatica and oedema. It has a diuretic effect, although it would be much safer to use other plants with diuretic properties.

  It gets its botanical name from the Greek, elatos meaning to drive or strike and ekballein, to cast out, which is pretty descriptive of its action. It is a member of the Cucrbitaceae family, which makes it a relation of the cucumber, courgette and pumpkin.

  The juice has been employed in medicine in more recent times and this is collected by harvesting the squirting cucumber before it has fully matured so that it ejects its mucilage in controlled environments. This is dried and sold in flakes for inclusion in medications for sinusitis, and other ailments. It has been used in Turkey to unblock the sinuses in folk medicine and the juice is applied directly to the nostrils. However, this has caused severe breathing problems in some people who have been treated with antihistamines and corticosteroids, although they were people who had an allergy to other cucurbitae foods.

  Even small doses of this plant can be fatal, as it has a profound effect on the bowels and stomach, so please don’t try to use any part of it at home.

ARJUNA, THE BARK HAS BENEFITS FOR HEART HEALTH; HISTORY,HEALTH BENEFITS AND USES OF ARJUNA

ARJUN, ARJUNA, TERMINALIA ARJUNA

Arjuna is a member of the Combretaceae family of plants and so is closely related to hareer (Terminalia chebula) and the Indian almond tree, Terminalia catappa and like these hardwood trees, arjuna is native to the Indian subcontinent. It has been used for centuries in both the Unani and Ayuvedic systems of medicine in the Indian subcontinent, and modern medical research has so far concurred with many of it uses.

 The tree can grow to height of around 30 metres, and flowers in India between April and July. The small white flowers are followed by fruit which is encased in 5 wings-like segments, in much the same way as the tomatillo or the Chinese lantern fruit is. It grows along river banks and likes moist places. All parts of the tree are used in the medicinal preparations of traditional healers, but it is the bark which is used most often for heart problems.

  It was mentioned in writings of the 6^th or 7^th centuries (AD) by Vagbhata as being useful in the treatment of wounds, haemorrhages and ulcers, being used externally in such cases. In Ayurveda it is used now for a variety of ailments which include the removal of internal parasites, biliousness, a cardiac tonic, anaemia, for fractures (not to mend bones per se, but to repair the damaged tissues around the fractures) and for cancerous tumours. In the Unani (Greek) system of medicine it is an aphrodisiac, diuretic, and expectorant. It is used for spermatorrhea and gonorrhoea and other STDs with the bark being combined with that of Santalum album or sandalwood. It has anti-microbial, antifungal and antioxidant properties and medical research has so far upheld its traditional uses.
  Clinical trials with animals have also shown it to have cardio-protective properties, as well as blood pressure reducing and cholesterol lowering properties. (Dwivadi S. [2007] “Terminalia arjuna Wright and Arn. A useful drug for cardio-vascular disorders” Journal of Ethnopharmacy vol.114 (2): pp 114-129.) Maulik SK and Kaliyar K in “Terminalia arjuna in cardio-vascular diseases-making the transition from traditional to modern medicine in India” (Dec 2010) in the Pharmacology and Biotechnology Journal vol.11 (8): pp 855-860. It should be noted that there are no corroborating studies on Arjuna as yet.

  The flavonoids found in the bark have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and the glycosides contained in it are probably responsible for its cardio-tonic properties. Arjunatin is one glycoside which has been found in the bark of T. arjuna, and the fruit contains arjunone, while other glucosides have also been isolated from the tree, for example, cerasidin, β-sitosterol, friedlin, methyl oleanolate and gallic, ellagic and arjunic acids.

  The tree is also used for its timber in boat-building, for houses and other construction work, for carts and agricultural implements. The leaves are food for the tussar silkworm too so all parts of the tree have their uses.