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HERBS AND THEIR USES ive the shiny green, spreading succulent plant known as Portulaca oleracea to an ethnobotanist and he or she will talk about its many different uses: how the Aboriginal tribes of inland Australia - use its tiny seeds to make a damper-style bread; how, in some regions of Europe, farmwives use the stems and leaves as a salad vegetable or else cook them like spinach to serve in soups; and how, in China, the same plant is used principally for its medicinal properties- to treat problems like dysentery and appendicitis. Ethnobotany observes and records the uses made of plants by different cultures. The plants found on our own kitchen shelves and in our own back gardens, along roadsides and on waste land, as well as in well-tended parks and on cultivated farm land. GINGER Once considered a simple culinary ingredient that you pur- chased from the spice rack in a health food store or supermarket, it is now being repackaged in capsules and sold as medicine. Why? Largely because one piece of simple research, published in The Lancet in 1982, found it to be more effective in controlling motions sickness than both the proprietary drug Dramamine and a placebo. To use it as an anti-emetic (ie to reduce gastric discomfort and vomiting in travel sickness, morning sickness, post-operative nau- sea etc), you take from a half to one teaspoon or so of powdered ginger root every few hours. The mode of administration doesn’t matter all that much. It can be dissolved in a cup of boiling water and drunk like tea. It can be mixed with a similar amount of honey and then swallowed. The fresh root can also be used, as can dried ginger flakes and even candied ginger. In these cases, you simply use much the same amount (slightly more with the fresh item). Needless to say, with prepackaged capsules, all you have to do is follow the instructions printed on the pack or bottle. There are other significant uses for ginger as a medicinal plant. Some of these come from long-established uses in traditional cul- tures; others are based on more modern investigations of its prop- erties. (1) A traditional Chinese remedy, often prepared at home, for simple case of colds and flu: 15 grams Fresh Ginger 75 grams Spring Onions Boil both ingredients together in 500ml of water until the vol- ume is reduced by half, then strain and drink the liquid while it’s hot. Repeat 2-3 times per day. Sweeten with sugar or honey if desired. Reduce amounts (e.g to half or quarter dosage) for use with children. (2) To relieve period pain, take | teaspoon of ginger, fresh or dried, every few hours. (Its antispasmodic properties are par- ticularly effective not only for the gastro-intestinal system but for the uterine region as well.) (3) Ginger is also useful for cardiovascular problems. Like onions, garlic and chilli (cayenne pepper), it has fibrinolytic Portulaca and Ginger by Gregory Ah Ket, Herbalist Ginger Zingiber officinale properties (it breaks down fibrin in the blood). this helps to reduce thrombus formation (it “thins the blood”) and fibrin build-up (those hard, lumpy deposits of fat and fibrin often seen in more severe cases of varicose veins). Consequently fre- quent (eg daily) consumption of these spices - ginger, onions, garlic and chilli - in food is now being recommended by med- ical authorities in some countries for those with any sort of ten- dency towards cardiovascular disorders. Portulaca, also known by its common name of Purslane, is widespread in temperate and sub-tropical regions of the world. As a naturalised or indigenous plant, it occurs in Europe, the Middle East, India, south-east Asia, Australia, China, Japan, and the Americas; as a cultivated plant or vegetable, it is also grown in several of these regions. As Jennifer Isaacs notes in Bush Food, the plant is widespread in Australia “from the coast to the inland desert, where it grows along sandy riverbanks.” Botanically speaking, it is a succulent, prostrate plant with a distinct taproot and reddish or brownish stems up to 40cm long. Its fleshy, oval shaped leaves grow up to 2.5cm long and its small yellow flowers are without stalks. The fruit (seed pod) is a capsule up to 4mm long with a pointed cap that falls off to reveal numerous tiny black seeds. NEXUS - 15 FEBRUARY 1991 *- YEAR BOOK by Gregory Ah Ket, Herbalist PORTULACA