Description: A tall tree with leathery leaves on long petioles, usually with stipules. The fragrant flowers are arranged in elongated clusters. The fruit is a nut covered with a leathery rind, and has elongated points on the calyx which aid the dissemination of the seeds by air.

Origin and Distribution: Native to Malaysia where it is cultivated for its volatile oil containing camphor. According to place of origin this is known as Sumatra or Borneo camphor; in Malaysian it is called `kajoe kapur’. Read the rest of this entry »

Description: A small, deciduous tree 4 —6 m high, with a spherical crown, twisted branches and dark bark. Leaves, on short petioles, are broadly oval, 50-100 mm long, smooth above and downy underneath. Showy, white or light pink flowers, 50-70 mm across, grow singly, usually at the ends of shoots, and the trees in blossom are very decorative. Fruit is a yellow, pleasant-smelling, acid-tasting, pear-shaped pome, about 70-100 mm long, with a downy surface. Read the rest of this entry »

Description: A robust perennial plant forming massive underground roots and reaching an average height of 1.5 m. Leaves are pinnately divided, greyish on the reverse. The branched stems bear large decorative, violet-blue thistle-like flowers in terminal heads, in July and August.

Distribution: Probably native to northern Africa, and brought to Europe by Arabs, to France and Spain. Now cultivated throughout Europe.

Constituents: Globe artichokes, like cardoons (Cynara cardunculus L.) to which they are related, contain the pleasantly bitter cynarine, a derivative of caffeic acid. It is reliable gall-bladder drug, and is often successful in treating colic. It also has a diuretic effect. It is also used for jaundice and other liver disorders.

Cosmetic Uses: As with carrots, tomatoes and other vegetables, the vitamins and trace elements (minerals, organic acids, pigments, etc.) in artichokes make them a useful addition to skin cleansers, tonics and lotions, regenerative creams and face packs.

Other Uses: Globe artichokes are popular as a vegetable, especially in France and other Mediterranean countries. The edible parts of the flower- heads, which are eaten at the bud stage, are the pulpy base of each scale and the heart at the base of the flower. They were eaten in ancient Greek and Roman times, when they were served as a delicacy at noblemen’s feasts.

Description: A perennial plant with a string-like, jointed rootstock growing deep in the ground. From it rise shoots of two very different kinds. In spring, fertile sh000ts about 15 cm high appear; these are unbranched, beige to red-brown, terminating with a cylindrical, cone-like spike within which spores are formed. These shoots grow in March and April. After releasing the spores the spring shoots die and are replaced by sterile, green summer shoots about 20 cm high, with whorls of thin, rough, grooved branches.

Distribution: Common in most of the temperate zone in the northern hemisphere, and also found in northern and southern Africa and the Canary Islands. Likes moist clay and sandy soil. Can be a troublesome weed. Read the rest of this entry »

Description: A perennial plant with a short, vertical rootstock; from it rises a basal rosette of long, lanceolate, often hairy leaves with parallel veins, narrowed to form a long petiole. Several leafless stems longer than the leaves (10-50 cm high) rise from the leaf rosette, and terminate in a short, cylindrical spike composed of tiny, yellowish-white flowers and brown bracts. Plantain flowers from May till September. The fruit is an ovoid capsule containing two relatively large seeds. Read the rest of this entry »