Myth or Medicine Miscellaneous Facts

1
Myth or Medicine Miscellaneous Facts Fiction
about Plants from Folklore Films

• Mrs. Schalles
• Botany, RHS

2
Plants Gardens have been used in storytelling
for healing for hundreds of years- here is a
compilation of interesting stories facts
3

• Beginning In Ancient Egypt Africa

4
Queen Hatshepshut
The first known plant hunting expedition recorded
in history was by Queen Hatshepsut of Egypt,
http//www.plantexplorers.com/explorers/history/in
dex.html
5
Queen Hatshepsut (around 1500 BC)

• Eygyptians imported resins from plants Boswellia
  (Frankincense) Commiphora (Myrrh),
• She wanted sustainable supplies
• ordered living specimens of these desert trees be
  brought back planted at the Temple of Karnack.
• Inscriptions on the temple wall show at least 31
  of the transplants survived were established in
  temple grounds.

6
Frankincense Trees

• The word means the true, or frank, incense.
• Pleasing aroma when burned.
• Used for thousands of years for everything form
  colds digestive problems to mental health
  cancer.
• Actually has antibiotic antifungal chemicals
  Modern Medical uses.
• It was traditionally VERY EXPENSIVE.

http//www.naha.org/articles/frankincense20and20
myrrh.htm
http//pangaiastore.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/20
09/09/Incense_100_Frankincense.jpg
7
Frankincense Tree Trade

• Great economic
• significance
• TODAY In Somalia, Africa
• (one of the poorest countries
• in the world)
• New trials to plant new stands
• of frankincense trees.
• Current interest in frankincense
• essential oil in the West has helped
• develop a small but strong market for
• Somali frankincense.

http//www.naha.org/articles/frankincense20and20
myrrh.htm
8
Myrrh -from Commiphora trees.

• name from Hebrew murr or maror, means bitter.
• Historical uses include Embalming the dead.
• Also used for a wide range of conditions medical
  conditions, with virtually no toxicity.
• It is still used in modern medicine.

http//www.naha.org/articles/frankincense20and20
myrrh.htm
http//www.acneresearchlabs.com/v/vspfiles/images/
myr.jpg
9
Frankincense Myrrh

• Many of the therapeutic functions are the same in
  both tree resins.
• myrrh is more astringent, antiseptic,
  disinfectant, bitter, and tonic,
• while frankincense is more anti-inflammatory,
  blood vitalizing, and mentally uplifting.
• The two are often combined.

10
Frankincense Myrrh

• Gold, frankincense, and myrrh were the gifts that
  were given to Jesus by the wise men.
• And they came into the house and saw the Child
  with Mary His mother and they fell down and
  worshiped Him and opening their treasures they
  presented to Him gifts of gold and frankincense
  and myrrh. (NASB) Matt. 211

http//www.catholicsupply.com/CHRISTMAS/_borders/m
yrrh.jpg
11
Beginning in Arabia
12
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon

• History says they were built by King
  Nebuchadnezzar II around 600 BC to please his
  sick wife, Amytis of Media

http//www.all-in-travel.com/hanging-gardens-of-ba
bylon
13
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon

• Did the legendary gardens exist?
• Or was it an embellishment by Greek poets more
  than any real space on earth?

http//www.plantexplorers.com/explorers/history/ba
bylon.htm
14
Another interpretation of the hanging gardens-
one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
http//www.unmuseum.org/hangg.htm
15
Evidence for their existence?

• Many clay tablets from that period in Babylon
  exist but have no records of the Hanging
  Gardens.
• Maybe Alexander the Great's army, upon entering
  the city from the desert, were amazed by the lush
  growth of the date palms, olive trees, and other
  fruit trees, - and later recounted their time in
  the city with increasingly fanciful detail?

16
Archaeological excavations

• In modern Iraq
• Uncovered the foundation of the palace.
• Found the Vaulted Building with thick walls and
  an irrigation well near the southern palace.
• Greek historians said the gardens were situated
  by the River Euphrates some argue that the site
  is too far from the Euphrates to support the
  theory.
• On the river banks, recently discovered massive
  walls 25 m thick may have been stepped to form
  terraces... the ones described in Greek references

17
Here is a photo of an excavation site (with
reconstruction) in Iraq that may be part of the
gardens.(but some say it is too far from the
Euphrates river)
www.superstock.com/stock-photos-images/2102-470
18
Garden Story from ancient Asia
19
Is there an Evergreen Garden Shangri-la paradise?

• Is there an Garden paradise in the Himalayan
  region ?
• 7 such places are described in ancient religious
  Buddhist books,
• with waterfalls gardens
• Nghe-Beyul Khimpalung -a mystical and
  spectacularly beautiful evergreen place where no
  one gets old.
• One is supposedly in the Makalu-Barun region of
  the Himalayas'- shown in this photo..

http//www.flickr.com/photos/dhilung/3904555723/
20
Shangri-La

• Is also a fictional place described in the 1933
  novel Lost Horizon by British author James
  Hilton.
• In the book, "Shangri-La" is a mystical,
  harmonious valley, gently guided from a lamasery,
  enclosed in the western end of the Kunlun
  Mountains.

21
This place in China was actually named Shangri-la
after the book was published,

• This Photo shows a turn of Yangtze River flowing
  into Shangri-la, in Diqing County, southwest
  China's Yunan Province.

http//english.people.com.cn/200506/07/print200506
07_188868.html
22
Asian Mountain View
23

• An now for a plant story that started in Greek
  times continues today

24
Zeus tears

• One version of the story goes like this
• Zeus was carrying on with a water nymph named Io
  his wife- Hera- would not have been pleased to
  find this out!
• so Zeus transformed the nymph into a white heifer
  - for her own safety.
• When she began to cry because she had to eat
  nasty grass, he turned her tears into sweet
  smelling flowers- violets.
• The Greek word for Violets is Ion!

From Identifying and Harvesting Edible and
Medicinal Plants in Wild  by Brill Dean
25
Zeus tears (Violets)

• (Ion is the Greek word for violet)
• Viola species contain
• Ionone -an aromatic compound
• also found in carrots, raspberries, black tea.
• beta-carotene (pro vitamin A)
• vitamin C
• Salicylic acid (compound used in aspirin)
• Anti- oxidants

http//www.minervaclassics.com/HeraZeus.jpg
26
Medicinal Uses of Violets

• have been used medicinally for centuries. 
• extracts have been studied to treat cancers
• have expectorant properties (work well in cases
  of respiratory disorders- bronchitis, colds,
  coughs) 
• Tea made of violet
• leaves is reportedly
• effective as a laxative
• has antiseptic properties
• Can relieve pain.

http//www.gardensablaze.com/HerbVioletMed.htm
27
Desert

• chocolate nest
• Violet flavored ice cream
• carrot filaments
• Blackberries
• Flowers are johny-jump-ups (Viola cornuta)

http//www.playingwithfireandwater.com/foodplay/20
09/04/chocolate-violet-carrot.html
28
Napoleon Violets

• Napoleon shared a devotion to violets
• with the Empress Josephine.
• During his exile at Elba, he promised
• his followers that he would return in
• the spring with the violets.
• This set off a loyalist obsession with the
  flower, immortalizing the violet as the emblem of
  the Imperial party, and earning him the nickname
  "Corporal Violette".
• He is said to have been buried with a lock of
  Josephine's hair and violets in a locket.

http//www.playingwithfireandwater.com/foodplay/20
09/04/chocolate-violet-carrot.html
29

• And now- something from the Vikings

30
Fly Agaric Mushrooms the Vikings

• Not a plant- but the Vikings thought mushrooms
  were plants.
• Mushrooms- not classified as fungi until Carl
  Linnaeus used modern taxonomy.
• Found throughout the Northern Hemisphere
• Genus Species Amanita muscaria
• Its Poisonous properties have had a fascination
  for humans over the centuries.
• .

http//www.biology.ie/article-single.php?a42
31
http//files.shroomery.org/files/08-47/703065548-F
ly_Agaric.jpg
32
Viking Lore

• When the Vikings invaded Ireland they are said to
  have eaten Fly Agaric before battle to make them
  demonic behave in a berserk manner.
• Viking Folklore often refers to Fly Agaric as a
  gift from the gods to provide men with
  fearlessness strength.

http//www.biology.ie/article-single.php?a42
33
Medieval times

• In Europe its use has
• given rise to the idea
• of 'little people' such as fairies
  leprechauns.
• In medieval times the mushroom was used to
  stupefy flies. It was added to milk and left
  around the house in dishes. In fact, in those
  times it was called the Bug Agaric

http//www.biology.ie/article-single.php?a42
34
In Walt Disney films

• Alice in Wonderland
• caterpillar sitting on a mushroom
• (Fly Agaric) smoking a pipe
• Alice is mushroom height.
• She nibbles on the mushroom to
• make herself bigger and smaller
• Fantasia
• a fairy ring of Fly Agaric shimmers in color and
  shapes
• to the music of Tchailkovsky's Nutcracker Suite.

http//www.biology.ie/article-single.php?a42
35
Poisonous Mushrooms

• Agaric poison is not usually deadly, but its
  effects are unpredictable and it may cause death
  in some people.
• Since they are red with white spots- they are
  hard to confuse with the really deadly poisonous
  Amanitas mushrooms -which are white-capped have
  hepatotoxic (liver-destroying) amatoxins.

36
Amanita phalloides

• The death cap
• one of many in the genus Amanita.
• Associates with broadleaf trees
• responsible for the majority of fatal mushroom
  poisonings worldwide.
• It is estimated that 30 grams (1 oz), or half a
  cap, of this mushroom is enough to kill a human

http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_capcite_note-b
enjamin211-37
37
Death Cap
The color of the cap can be white, pale-,
yellowish-, or olive-green,
The smell is sickly sweet the fruiting body
(the cap) is large.
38
Back to Greek also Central American folktales
39
Amaranth the food of the gods

• Plant associated with immortality
• Nutritious grain also cultivated as a leaf
  vegetable in many parts of the world
• Greek meaning "one that does not wither
• Genus Amaranthus
• Approximately
• 60 species

http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amaranth
40
Aesop's Fables (6th century BC)

• compares the Rose to the Amaranth
• to illustrate the difference between
• fleeting everlasting beauty.
• A Rose and an Amaranth blossomed side by side
  in a garden,and the Amaranth said to her
  neighbour,
• "How I envy you your beauty and your sweet
  scent!
• No wonder you are such a universal favourite."
• But the Rose replied with a shade of sadness in
  her voice, "Ah, my dear friend, I bloom but for
  a time my petals soon wither and fall, and then
  I die. But your flowers never fade, even if they
  are cut for they are everlasting

41
From John Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost (1667)

• "Immortal amarant, a flower which once
• In paradise, fast by the tree of life,
• Began to bloom but soon for man's offence
• To heaven removed, where first it grew, there
  grows,
• And flowers aloft, shading the fount of life

42
Amaranth was grown 5000 years ago in Central
America is still cultivated

• used in Aztec ceremonies,
• images of gods were made
• of amaranth mixed with honey.
• The images were eaten.
• Aztecs called it a super food.
• Today- it is known that this grain is very
  nutritious.
• It is also sometimes recommended for people with
  a low blood count

http//www.marintellect.com/portfolio/www.sacredfo
ods.com/amaranth.html
43
Amaranth Today

• There is a renewed interest in this easy to grow,
  nutritious plant- especially in Mexico
• Every February - there is a colorful celebration
  near Mexico City called the Fiesta de Amaranto.
• Today Amaranth treats are called Alegria which
  means "Happy Food."

http//www.marintellect.com/portfolio/www.sacredfo
ods.com/amaranth.html
44
Amaranth snacks
http//www.gastronomiaycia.com/wp-content/uploads/
2008/08/pan_amaranto_sesamo.jpg
45
And now for some USA stories
46
Johnny Appleseed

• Johnny Appleseed was a legendary American who
  planted and supplied apple trees to much of the
  United States of America.
• Many people think that Johnny Appleseed was a
  fictional character, but he was a real person.

http//www.enchantedlearning.com/school/usa/people
/Appleseedindex.shtml
47
Johnny Appleseeds real name was John Chapman

• He grew trees and supplied apple seeds to the
  pioneers in the mid-western USA.
• He owned nurseries in Ohio, Pennsylvania,
  Kentucky, Illinois, and Indiana, where he grew
  his beloved apple trees.
• Although he was a very successful man, Appleseed
  lived a simple life.
• It is said that as Johnny traveled, he wore his
  cooking pot on his head as a hat!
• born in Leominster, Massachusetts, on September
  26, 1774. died at the age of 70.

http//www.enchantedlearning.com/school/usa/people
/Appleseedindex.shtml
48
Apple Facts

• The crabapple is the only apple native to North
  America.
• Apples come in all shades of reds, greens, and
  yellows.
• Apples are grown in all 50 states.
• Apples are fat, sodium, and cholesterol free.
• A medium apple is about 80 calories.
• Apples are a great source of the fiber pectin.
  One apple has five grams of fiber.
• The pilgrims planted the first United States
  apple trees in the Massachusetts Bay Colony

http//urbanext.illinois.edu/apples/facts.cfm
49
More Apple Facts

• The pilgrims planted the first United States
  apple trees in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
• The science of apple growing is called pomology.
• Apples were the favorite fruit of ancient Greeks
  and Romans.
• Apples are a member of the rose family.
• Malus domestica is in the rose family Rosaceae

http//urbanext.illinois.edu/apples/facts.cfm
50
Still more apple facts

• Most apples can be grown farther north than most
  other fruits, because they blossom late in
  spring, minimizing frost damage.
• It takes the energy from 50 leaves to produce one
  apple.
• Apples are the second most valuable fruit grown
  in the United States. Oranges are first.

http//urbanext.illinois.edu/apples/facts.cfm
51
And- even more apple facts!!!!

• Apples have five seed
• pockets or carpels. Each
• pocket contains seeds.
• Different varieties of apples
• will have different number
• of seeds.
• World's top apple producers are China, United
  States, Turkey, Poland and Italy

http//samson.kean.edu/breid/flower_lab/apple1.jp
g
52
An apple a day, keeps the doctor away.

• This saying comes from an old English adage, To
  eat an apple before going to bed, will make the
  doctor beg his bread.
• Don't peel your apple. Two-thirds of the fiber
  and lots of antioxidants are found in the peel.
• Antioxidants help to reduce damage to cells,
  which can trigger some diseases

53

• And now for another nutritious food- but one not
  as popular as apples!!!

54
Popeye and Spinach

• When Popeye was created - Spinach was mistakenly
  believed to contain ten times more iron than it
  does (it was a misprint in a medical journal)
  that's probably why it became the strong man's
  source of strength.
• By the time the truth was known, the character
  was already famous for eating spinach.
• He'd inspired children to give spinach a chance,
  too.
• Now if we could only get them to eat their
  broccoli, too!

55
http//cdn-write.demandstudios.com/upload//6000/70
0/00/4/46704.jpg
56
And what you have been waiting to hear about
Plants in Harry Potter Stories

• Many remedies magical potions are discussed.
• Are any of these real plants?
• Are any based on real medicinal properties?

57
Harry Potter's Magic Plants

• Flowers so deadly a single touch can be fatal,
  fruit that makes you believe you can fly and
  leaves that allow you to conquer the highest
  mountains.
• It might be hard to believe, but some of the
  plants of Harry Potter, in real life, are
  stranger than fiction itself.

58
http//www.student.chula.ac.th/51373177/images/ha
rry-potter.jpg
59
First- Plants that appear to have been invented
entirely by JKR

• Abyssinian shrivelfig When peeled, shrivelfigs
  are used as an ingredient in Shrinking Solution
• Alihotsy Eating the leaves causes hysteria.
• Bouncing bulb Repotted during Herbology class
  one wriggled free from Harry's grasp and banged
  him in the face
• Bubotuber looks like a thick, black, giant
  slug (it even squirms slightly) with a
  yellow-green pus that reacts oddly with human
  skin. Undiluted, it will raise horribly painful
  boils on contact but properly diluted and
  processed can be used to cure acne.
• Devil's Snare a mass of soft, springy tendrils
  and vines that possess some sense of touch uses
  its creepers to ensnare anyone who touches it

60
More plants invented by JKR

• Fanged Geranium plant will bite humans owls.
• Flutterby bush This kind of bush quivers and
  shakes. "Flutterby" is an old name for
  "butterfly"
• Gillyweed this water plant, when eaten, gives
  a person gills to breathe underwater and gives
  them webbed hands and feet for swimming.
• Whomping Willow A species superficially
  resembling the willow, this large, violent tree
  attacks anyone who gets too close

61
A real plant, a newly discovered, rare jungle
flower, has been named after a Harry Potter spell.

• A new species, Macrocarpaea apparata, is named
  after the term, to "apparate", used in J.K.
  Rowling's books. 
• By Lena Struwe, professor Rutgers' Cook College
  is a fan of the Harry Potter series,
• Has been exploring Andes region, Ecuador.
• The flowers on this plant just suddenly appear as
  it gets dark!

http//www.broomsticksandowls.com/
62
Flowers appear quickly after dark
63
And now- Real Plants used by Harry Potter A
comparison of their fictional actual uses(I
didnt find anything that would really cure a
dragon bite, but there are some true medical uses
for these plants.)
64
Mandrake The Myth

• an essential part of most antidotes
• including one for Petrification.
• returns people who have been
• Transfigured or cursed to their original
  state.)
• Seedlings are purplish green with what look like
  tiny babies growing where roots would be.
• The cry of the Mandrake is fatal to humans
• Even as a baby, the Mandrake's howls can knock a
  person out for a couple of hours.
• Special care must be taken when growing them.

www.potter-and-all.com/Portfolio_thirty_one.html
65
Mandrake in Harry Potter
66
What a mandrake really looks like
http//www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/m/mandra10
-l.jpg
http//www.flowersofindia.net/catalog/slides/Mandr
ake.jpg
67
Mandrakes
www.alchemy-works.com/mandrake_experiment.html
68
Mandrake In Reality - Mandragora sp.

• Was once believed to have almost all the
  properties that Harry Potters have
• The plant only sort of looks human-shaped instead
  of having the baby roots
• In the 17th century they even dressed up the
  dried human-shaped roots as amulets to ward off
  evil something like a European version of a
  voodoo doll.
• In 17th century- the belief of the Mandrakes
  deadly scream was so common, that they were
  harvested by tying mad dogs to the stump and
  (while standing far back) waiting for the dog to
  yank the root out of the ground.

69
There are many allusions to the Mandrake in
ancient writers

• From the earliest times people believed that the
  Mandrake would remove sterility.
• There is a reference to this belief in the Bible
  in Genesis 30 where Rachel Leah both are
  desirous of mandrakes leaves because they want to
  have children.

http//www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/m/mandra10
.html
70
In Old Anglo-Saxon writings

• Among the herbals -both Mandrake periwinkle are
  endowed with mysterious powers against demoniacal
  possession.
• in Herbarium of Apuleius is this prescription
• 'For witlessness, that is devil sickness or
  demoniacal possession, take from the body of this
  wort mandrake by the weight of 3 pennies,
  administer to drink in warm water as he may find
  most convenient - soon he will be healed.'

71
Shakespeare also wrote about the mandrake

• From Antony and Cleopatra I.v
• "Shrieks like mandrakes' torn out of the earth."
• From Romeo and Juliet IV.iii
• "Would curses kill, as doth the mandrake's groan"
  
• Wikipedia.com

72
Mandragora officinarum - Mandrake

• named for its resemblance to the human form.
• The name Mandragora is derived from two Greek
  words implying 'hurtful to cattle. '
• Arabs call it Satan's apple.
• http//www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/m/mandra10
  .html
• Image from MEDICINA ANTIQUA LIBRI QUATTUOR
  MEDICINAE, 13TH CENTURY. Codex Vindobonensis 93.
  (Washington University, Becker Library)

73
Mandrake real uses

• Roots fresh or dried
• contains highly poisonous alkaloids
• is cathartic, strongly emetic, hallucinogenic and
  narcotic.
• It can induce a state of oblivion
• Was used as an anesthetic for operations in early
  surgery.
• Used in the past for its pain relieving and
  stupor inducing properties.
• In large doses, it is said to excite delirium
  madness.
• Member of the deadly nightshade plant family.

74
Wolfsbane - In Harry Potter

• Guards against the dementia that would normally
  follow the transformation from human to werewolf
• Scott Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs
  informs us that a folk name for the highly
  poisonous Wolf's Bane is "Dumbledore's Delight".
  

www.werewolves.com/destruction-wolfsbane/
75
Wolfsbane-In Reality Aconitum sp.

• Extremely poisonous
• Was used to bait (poison) wolves in the Middle
  Ages, mixed with honey and powdered glass.
• Actually responsible for the deaths of most of
  Europes wolves.
• For this reason it was thought to protect from
  werewolves.

76
Real Wolfsbane uses

• Used in traditional medicine as an
• anesthetic.
• Before morphine was invented,
• it was extremely important in
• western medicine.
• Still widely used in homeopathy
• traditional Chinese medicine.
• Was used to create the first chemical weapons in
  5th century China (mixed with gunpowder bombs,
  acted like a nerve gas)

http//toptropicals.com/catalog/uid/Aconitum_sp.ht
m
77
Aconitum (Monkshood, wolfsbane)

• Family Ranunculaceae
• Also called monkshood because the shape of the
  flowers resembles a monk's cowl.
• Eye-catching blue, purple, white, yellow or pink
  zygomorphic flowers.
• Grown in gardens for its attractive spike like
  inflorescences and showy flowers.
• All Aconitum plants contain poisonous alkaloids
  that can, in sufficient quantity, be deadly.

78
Holly In Harry Potter

• Qualifies as a "wand tree", in that its wood can
  be used in the making of wands. Harry's wand is
  the only wand in the series to date known to be
  made of holly.
• According to www.botanical.com
• there are several interesting
• magical properties to Holly,
• protection from poison, lightning,
• and witchcraft.
• Harry, of course, has had close
• encounters with poison on several
• occasions in Chamber of Secrets

79
Holly folklore stories

• In winter the druids would advise people to take
  holly into their homes, as they believed it would
  shelter the elves and fairies who could join
  humans at this time without causing them injury.
• An old country saying states that if the
  smooth-leaved holly is brought into the house
  first at yuletide the wife will rule the
  household for the coming year, and if the prickly
  holly enters first, the husband will rule.

80
Prickly smooth leaf Holly
http//possumpatty.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/ima
ges/holly-berry.18091607.jpg
http//www.naturenet.net/blogs/media/blogs/eating/
holly-smooth.jpg
81
Holly in Reality

• Genus Ilex -there are about 600 species
• Some species of South American Holly are used by
  shamans as a powerful stimulant.
• This is the famous Mate de Coca tea you can find
  in trendy health food shops. It stimulates the
  central nervous system, helping fight fatigue and
  altitude sickness.
• It was used by some Incan tribes to conquer the
  highest mountains.

82
Holly In Reality

• Long believed to protect against lightning and
  witchcraft, Holly was often planted near the
  house.
• It has been proved that the spikes of the holly
  leaves act like miniature lightning conductors,
  and so DO protect the tree.

83
Holly

• is a traditional symbol of resurrection, but in a
  much more upbeat sense than yew (being associated
  with Christmas rather than cemeteries helps its
  image considerably).
• To the Celts holly symbolized resurrection, and
  was used during the winter solstice to resurrect
  the sun. Hence why we still use it to decorate
  our homes at Christmas time.

84
Belladonna (Deadly Nightshade)

• In Harry Potter
• The essence of this plant is a standard part of a
  Hogwarts students potion making kit. It appears
  repeatedly throughout the series.
• In reality
• All parts of the plant are analgesic, antidote,
  antispasmodic, diuretic, hallucinogenic,
  mydriatic, narcotic and sedative.

85
Deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna)
www.lookoutnow.com/animal/nite_sh.htm
http//cal.vet.upenn.edu/projects/poison/plants/sl
ides/1061lg.jpg
86
Nightshade- History

• Mixed with Wolfsbane, this was applied in a
  flying ointment used by witches of the middle
  ages. Its powerful hallucinogenic properties,
  very much akin to those of LSD, made them believe
  they could fly.
• Romans used it to poison enemy food supplies.
• Contrarily, it was also developed as an antidote
  to a (never deployed) nerve gas in World War II.

87
Medical uses Atropa belladonna(Deadly
Nightshade)

• Although it is poisonous, deadly nightshade has a
  long history of medicinal use and has a wide
  range of applications, in particular it is used
  in modern medicine to dilate the pupils in eye
  operations, to relieve intestinal colic and to
  treat peptic ulcers.

88
Atropine- from Atropa belladonna

• Atropine
• is a chemical that dilates
• the pupils of the eyes
• In the past Italian renaissance women used to put
  the drops in their eyes in order to make them
  look larger and thus 'more beautiful', hence the
  name Bella Donna (Italian for Beautiful Woman)

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Belladonna (Deadly night shade)modern medical
uses

• The plant can be used to treat the symptoms of
  Parkinson's disease, reducing tremors and
  rigidity whilst improving speech and mobility.
• It has also been used as an antidote in cases of
  mushroom or toadstool poisoning.

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Yew - In Harry Potter

• Tom Riddle's wand is the only wand in the series
  to date known to be made of yew. Yew trees grow
  in the churchyard at Little Hangleton.
• Yew trees grow in parts of the Forbidden Forest.
• In a nice bit of foreshadowing, Harry noticed
  them in the clearing where Hagrid first taught
  the fifth years about thestrals.

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Yew In Reality Taxus sp.

• are symbolic of death and resurrection - the wood
  is particularly resistant to rotting - and were
  once a traditional feature of churchyards.
• The Ancient Celts believed Yew to be a symbol of
  resurrection (as it remained green even in
  winter). It was planted on the graves of their
  dead, and was believed to be sacred.
• When Christianity came along, churches were built
  on top of Celtic sites of worship, where many of
  these celtic yews still live today.

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3000 year old Yew tree in Scotland churchyard
http//www.rampantscotland.com/know/blknow_forting
all.htm
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Pacific Yew- Taxus brevifolia -use in modern
medicine

• Taxol, a chemical extracted from yew, is vital to
  treating breast and ovarian cancer, and makes up
  an important part of chemotherapy.
• Bringing new meaning to the resurrecting
  properties of yew.

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Willow

• In Harry Potter- A species of tree that qualifies
  as a "wand tree", in that its wood can be used in
  the making of wands.
• In reality
• Chemical in the bark identified as
• salicylic acid
• has been used since ancient times for pain
  fevers
• Now is buffered Used in Aspirin,
• Medical uses include many skin treatments for
  acne warts

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Willow Tree
http//en.wikivisual.com/images/b/b8/Willow.jpg
96
Willow- Pain medicine

• Native Americans and early settlers used willow
  bark for toothaches and applied it to the source
  of other pains
• In 1899, a German chemist Felix Hoffmann, worked
  for a German company Bayer, convinced Bayer to
  market a new wonder drug.
• Aspirin was patented on February 27, 1900.
• In the 20th century, over one trillion aspirin,
  the first medicine created by techniques of
  modern chemistry, were consumed globally to
  regulate blood vessel elasticity, reduce fevers
  and aches, prevent cardiovascular ailments,
  affect blood clotting, or ease inflammation.

http//www.bluestem.ca/willow-article1.htm
http//inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blasp
irin.htm
97
Willow- salicylic Acid Aspirin
Willow water
http//inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blasp
irin.htm
http//www.bluestem.ca/willow-article1.htm
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The Daisy

• In Harry Potter
• Chopped daisy roots are used in Shrinking
  Solution
• In Reality
• It was once believed that dressing a child in a
  daisy chain would protect them from being stolen
  by the fairies.
• In the Middle Ages the daisy was often used to
  treat battle wounds bandages containing crushed
  daisies were thought to give relief from pain and
  aid healing.
• Today- The young leaves, flowerbuds and petals
  are edible can be added to salads

http//www.simplesite.com/theapothecary/4732205
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• The end

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References

• http//www.bgci.org/education/1687/
• http//www.hplex.info/magic/herbology.html
• http//www.bgci.org/education/harrypotter/