Columnists
Email
Print
Woodland Pharmacy: Horticulturalist to give free workshop on growing of endangered medicinal plants
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: October 16, 2009
Our native flora contain some of the world's most prized medicinal herbs. The woodland forests of the southern Appalachians have plants such as goldenseal, ginseng and black cohosh. Their popularity has put them in danger.
Recognizing the duplicity of this situation, Jeanine Davis and her colleagues at Mountain Horticultural Research Station in Fletcher have been developing cultivation techniques for farmers interested in growing native medicinals.
But this is only one area of Davis' varied and accomplished work, which focuses on "research and development into sustainable and organic production systems for herbs, vegetables and a wide variety of specialty crops." Davis, an associate professor of horticultural science at N.C. State University, has been doing this work for 21 years.
Davis will be coming to Winston-Salem on Thursday to present "The Science and Fun of Growing Woodland Medicinals" at Salem College at 7 p.m. in Shirley Hall at the Fine Arts Center. The presentation is free and open to the public.
Davis has been collaborating with Nita Eskew, an associate professor of chemistry at Salem College, on her research into ginsenosides, the active ingredient in the herb ginseng.
Eskew is trying to determine the concentration of the compound in the leaves of the plant. The plants are grown under wild and cultivated conditions at the Mountain Horticultural Crops Research Station. The compound is extracted with ethanol in the Salem College labs. Traditionally, when the root is harvested, the plant is destroyed. The ability to extract ginsenosides just from the leaves could radically change the fate of ginseng, which is increasingly threatened in the wild.
Davis said in a phone interview that wild ginseng and goldenseal plants have to be monitored.
A permit is required to export ginseng across state lines. The permit requires that the harvest be weighed. The weight of the annual harvest helps determine the health of the wild population.
Ginseng is highly valued in Asia, where the root can fetch exorbitant prices. Ginseng has traditionally been used as a tonic, but research has focused on its application to cancer and diabetes.
The price on the American market fluctuates, but Davis said that the most recent figures are about $350 a pound. They have been as high as $1,000 a pound.
The most desirable roots are those that are old and gnarly. Davis said that in Hong Kong there are more than 500 grades of ginseng.
"It's the only cultivated crop we work with that we try to make look small and gnarly," Davis said with a laugh.
"Cultivated ginseng produced under shade cloth, as is done in Michigan, produces big roots quickly, called slick roots," Davis said.
In North Carolina, Davis has worked on "wild-simulated production." The root is produced with some of the stress of woodland competition, is not fertilized and the soil is not amended. It produces a root that has many of the characteristics of a wild root. Davis said that it's difficult to tell the difference between the two.
"Wild-simulated roots can be produced in five years compared to the 10 to 12 required for a comparable wild root to be harvested," Davis said.
Goldenseal is another threatened wild plant that Davis will discuss. It is listed on the North Carolina endangered-species list.
The plant is traditionally used as an eye wash, mouth wash and to treat infections. It also has antiseptic properties when used on the skin. Goldenseal, a synergistic herb, increases the activity of other herbs when it is combined with them.
Black Cohosh is a native plant that is one of the few herbs discovered to be effective against menopausal symptoms. It produces long wands of white flowers in damp woodland conditions. Bloodroot, a common woodland wildflower with fleeting white flowers in early spring that has been used as a dye, is now being investigated for its efficacy on skin cancers and antibiotic properties.
Another crop that Davis is investigating is the ramp. Sort of a cross between a strong onion and garlic, ramp festivals are popping up all over the mountains.
"The festivals are beginning to put pressure on the wild populations," Davis said. "Years ago when people stored vegetables to make it through the winter, the ramp was the first green to come up. The plant has the reputation that if you eat too much of it the smell will come out of your pores. Children would eat it so that their teachers would send them home from school," Davis said.
Question of the week
Dear David: Recently you wrote about de-thatching and seeding grass. You referred to a combination of grass seeds. We live here in Wilkesboro and would like to do this now. -- M. Barry Ellis
Dear Barry: North Carolinians have a fantastic resource for growing turf. The collaborative efforts of N.C. State University, A&T State University and the N.C. Cooperative Extension have produced the manual Carolina Lawns. The guide covers subjects such as starting a new lawn, renovating an existing lawn, best grasses for the region, insect pests, and lawn maintenance issues. It is available free at http://www.turfgrass.ncsu.edu/guides/CarolinaLawns....
If you have a gardening question or story idea, write to David Bare in care of Features, Winston-Salem Journal, P.O. Box 3159, Winston-Salem, NC 27101-3159, or send e-mail to his attention to gardening@wsjournal.com.
Email
Print
