Three weeks before the postman caterpillar turns into an adult, it eats 25,000 times its own body weight in passion flower leaves.
Medicinal Plant Resources of the Secwepemc First Nation
Identification of medicinally beneficial plants
The investigation of plants for medicinal properties is important for medical, ecological, and economic reasons. The cultural knowledge of indigenous peoples can greatly assist in this process, as many native societies have maintained direct relationships with plants for nutritional, medicinal, material and spiritual purposes over generations. Researchers from the University of British Columbia and the University of Victoria, British Columbia, are working in collaboration with indigenous peoples to investigate how traditional Secwepemc processing methods alter the chemistry and medicinally beneficial activities of balsamroot when it is prepared as a traditional food and medicine. Results from the study will assist in furthering an understanding and appreciation of the value of indigenous knowledge and in identifying plants that may have widely beneficial medicinal properties.
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GF Research
