Taraxacum sect. Ruderalia

The Common Dandelion (Taraxacum sect. Ruderalia) represents a group of very similar and closely related plant species in the genus dandelion (Taraxacum) of the family Asteraceae (Asteraceae) dar. Most of these plants are referred to simply as dandelions.

The dandelion is a perennial herbaceous plant, the plant height reaches 10-30 cm, and contains a white latex in all parts. He is up to 1 m (rarely to 2 m) long, fleshy tap root out dark brown to black. She goes into a short, strong swaged rung axis over where the leaves are dense in a basal rosette. After an injury to the growing point, the plant will regenerate from the root and is then usually several leaf rosettes. The 10-30 cm long leaves are ovate to eilanzettlich, irregularly lobed and deeply incised and heavily serrated. Notches and teeth are of the strong base to about two thirds of the length, on to the leaf tip often less pronounced.

The leaf axils arise usually several, up to 60 cm long peduncles. Everyone is a leafless, low-felted outside, hollow tube. At its upper end, there are densely distributed spirally 30-40 protruding bracts, which dry out soon. In a whorl of bracts at first a complete coverage forms around the inflorescence bud. The bracts open and close with protecting the inflorescence and remain up to fruit ripening green. The inflorescence is a fake flower in which many yellow ray florets are grouped into a plate-shaped basket of about 3-5 cm in diameter. In it, the single ring-shaped flowers open from the outside to the inside. In the several days-long flowering period, the inflorescence closes each night, rain or drought, and finally while fading. After several days, the bracts open the last time at fruit maturity and at first dismissed the dried flowers and shells cast off the ray florets. The fruits, slim barrel, with a hairy flight screens (Pappus) equipped achenes, are spread by the wind (screen plane). The head occupied with the fruits of the inflorescence, the famous "Dandelion" is.

In Central Europe is the main flowering period from April to May At a significantly lower number of flowers even appear until the autumn.

Because some features are very plastic, the individual plants can greatly customize the specific sites. Sun plants produce long in undisturbed sites, held obliquely erect leaves and up to 50 cm long, erect Blütenstandstiele. Crops on paths or committed other hand, have frequently mown meadows much shorter, dense leaves and the ground lying prostrate, sometimes only a few millimeters long Blütenstandstiele.

Source: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gew%C3%B6hnlicher_L%C3%B6wenzahn
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Leonotis nepetifolia Uses

Recreational uses
L. nepetifolia is often smoked due entheogenic properties, or psychoactive. Some say the effects are similar to those of marijuana (cannabis). But those who hope to have all the effects of marijuana smoking are disappointed to L. nepetifolia. A common effect that many users report is a relaxation of muscles and a more gentle things.

Medicinal Uses
In Trinidad the leaves of L. nepetifolia are prepared as a tea for fever, cough, and malaria.


Source: http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonotis_nepetifolia
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The white dead nettle

The white dead nettle (Lamium album) belongs to the family of the mint family (Lamiaceae). It has, in contrast to no nettle stinging hairs and is not directly related to her. The similarity of leaf shape to the nettle, however, the genus name of the German part of "nettle" introduced.

The white dead nettle is a perennial, herbaceous plant, 20-70 centimeters in height achieved. On the square stem kreuzgegenständig are sawn and stalked leaves.

The white dead nettle flowers from April to October. The white flowers have two lips, the upper lip is covered with hair. As with all Lamiaceae is the lower petal of an ideal landing place for pollinating insects dar. in the corolla tube, you can see a hair ring, which protects the nectar.

Distribution and habitat
The White Dead Nettle is distributed throughout Europe and North Asia. The hardy nettles growing on the road and meadow edge and in ditches, hedges and dumps. It grows especially on stickstoffreichem ground.

After Ellen Berg is the way a Halblichtpflanze, a Frischezeiger, increasing to over nitrogen-rich sites and a Velcro Verbandscharakterart the corridors (Arction lappa).

Like the Red Dead Nettle, Spotted Dead Nettle, and the gold basin, the White Dead Nettle is considered an important nectar and pollen for honey bees. The pollination takes place, but mainly by bumblebees, which take better account of their long proboscis to the low-lying nectar of the flower.

Source: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wei%C3%9Fe_Taubnessel
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Jatropha

Jatropha is a genus in the family of the spurge family (Euphorbiaceae). Your points from the Greek words for doctor (iatros) and nutrition (trophies) derived botanical name on the medical use of seeds of some species and to the edible tubers of the previously submitted to this genre cassava (Manihot esculenta out).

Jatropha species are evergreen or deciduous trees, shrubs or perennial herbaceous plants, often with thick, tuberous roots. One third to one half of the approximately 175 species is native or wurzelsukkulent, a large proportion of other species is at least xerophytic. When the tribes often tree-like species are softwood and swollen at the base. Herbaceous species are geophytes with only short-lived, however often branches. In almost all types of branches and leaves are hairy, but the hair is never burning. They contain a milky sap, which is reddish in many species.

The alternate and spirally arranged or zweilig leaves are evergreen, lobed simple and ordinary. The leaf margins are smooth. The almost always present Stipules are usually shared, often with succulent species drüsenhaarig, sometimes thorny.

Jatropha species are mostly monoecious (monoecious), rarely dioecious (dioecious), unisexual plants. The terminal or axillary inflorescences are branched dichotomously and have a special arrangement of flowers: is terminally in the middle of an inflorescence a female flower (sometimes even a few female flowers), which is surrounded by the subject on the ramifications male flowers. All flowers are equipped with five Kron and sepals. The nectar glands at the base of the flower can stand freely or be merged into a ring-shaped disc. Male flowers, six to ten stamens in two circles. In the female flowers are usually two or three (or five) carpels fused to a oberständigen ovary usually with three free pencils, each with a bilobed stigma. Pollination is mostly by insects (entomophily).

It is developing three-lobed fruit capsules, which burst open when ripe and the seeds hurl several meters wide. The oily seeds are approximately oval and marked with an appendage called caruncle.

Source: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jatropha
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Guaiacum Uses

The genus is famous as the supplier of Lignum vitae, which is the heartwood of several species in the genus. It is the hardest wood that is measured using the Janka hardness test, requiring a force of 4,500 lbf (20,000 N) to embed a steel ball 0.444 in (1.13 cm) in diameter a distance half of that into the wood.
Among many other applications, gum from the wood was once used to treat syphilis. For example, Benvenuto Cellini records this use of it in his memoirs. See also the quote by Nashe in the article Honorificabilitudinitatibus (there spelled 'guiacum'). Guaiacum resin has been used to treat a variety of medicinal conditions from coughs to arthritis. Wood chips can also be used to brew a tea.
The artist Jan van der Straet (also known as Johannes Stradanus) painted a scene of a wealthy man receiving treatment of syphilis with Guaiacum wood sometime around 1580. The title of the work is "Preparation and Use of Guayaco for Treating Syphilis." Epidemic syphilis had been raging through Europe for nearly a century at the time of the painting, and hopes were high that this plant from the New World would provide a cure. The richly colored and detailed work depicts four servants preparing the concoction while a physician looks on, hiding something behind his back while the hapless patient drinks.
A phenolic compound derived from the resin of Guaiacum trees is used in a common test for blood in human stool samples. The presence of haem in the blood causes the formation of a coloured product in the presence of hydrogen peroxide. The effect of peroxidases in horseradish on guiacum was first noted in 1810 by Planche.
As a food additive Guaiacum has the E number of E314 and is classified as an antioxidant.
A widely used derivative drug is the expectorant known as guaifenesin.
The soap fragrance oil of guaiac comes from Bulnesia sarmientoi, a South American tree from the same family.
Members of the genus are grown in Florida and California as ornamental plants.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guaiacum
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Guaiacum

Guaiacum, sometimes spelled Guajacum, is a genus of flowering plants in the caltrop family Zygophyllaceae. It contains five species of slow-growing shrubs and trees, reaching a height of approximately 20 m (66 ft) but are usually less than half of that. All are native to subtropical and tropical regions of the Americas. The word guaiacum originated in Maipurean, the language spoken by the native Taínos of the Bahamas; it was adopted by English in 1533, the first word in that language of American origin.

Members of the genus have a variety of uses, including as lumber, for medicinal purposes, and as ornamentals. The trade of all species of Guaiacum is controlled under CITES Appendix II.

Guaiacum officinale is the national flower of Jamaica, while Guaiacum sanctum is the national tree of The Bahamas.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guaiacum
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Eryngium foetidum

Eryngium foetidum is a tropical perennial and annual herb in the family Apiaceae. It is native to Mexico and South America but is cultivated worldwide. In the United States, where it is not well known, the name culantro sometimes causes confusion with Coriandrum sativum (also in Apiaceae), the leaves of which are known as cilantro, and which culantro is even said to taste like.

Eryngium foetidum is also known as culantro; culantro coyote (Costa Rica); alcapate (El Salvador); long, wild, or Mexican coriander; culantro burrero (Venezuela); fitweed; spiritweed; duck-tongue herb; sawtooth or saw-leaf herb; cilantro cimarron; chardon benit (French chardon béni); shado, shadon, or shadow beni (English-speaking Caribbean); recao (Puerto Rico); sachaculantro (Peru); bhandhanya (Hindi); donnia; Sinhala: ngò gai (Vietnam); Txuj Lom Muas Loob los yog Nplooj Hniav Kaw (Hmong); and pak chi farang (Thai: ผักชีฝรั่ง).

In the United States, Eryngium foetidum grows naturally in Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. In Broward and Miami-Dade counties, Florida, it is sold in grocery stores as a culinary herb. It is sold under the common name "culantro" (pronounced koo-lawn-tro).

Eryngium foetidum is also known as Eryngium antihystericum. The name Eryngium antihystericum reflects the fact that this plant has traditionally been used as a treatment for epilepsy. The plant is said to calm a person's spirit and thus prevents epileptic fits (seizures). The plant is therefore known by the common names spiritweed and fitweed. The anticonvulsant properties of this plant have been scientifically investigated.

Usage
E. foetidum is widely used in seasoning and marinating in the Caribbean. In the Caribean it is also referred to as "shadow benny" or "bandanya" and "recao", these are the most common names throughout Trinidad and Puerto Rico. It is also used extensively in Thailand, India, Vietnam, and other parts of Asia as a culinary herb. This variety of coriander dries well, retaining good color and flavor, making it valuable in the dried herb industry. It is sometimes used as a substitute for cilantro, but it has a much stronger taste.

Medicinally, the leaves and roots are used in tea to stimulate appetite, improve digestion, combat colic, soothe stomach pains, and eliminate gas. A decoction of the leaves has been shown to exhibit anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects.

Eryngial is a patented extract of Eryngium foetidum Dr. Ralph Robinson, a Professor of Parasitology at the University of the West Indies at Mona, Jamaica, has investigated the use of Enyngial as a treatment for human Strongyloides stercoralis infection (strongyloidiasis).

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eryngium_foetidum
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Eclipta alba

Eclipta alba (L.) Hassk. (syn. Eclipta prostrata L.), commonly known as False Daisy , yerba de tago, and bhringraj, is a plant belonging to the family Asteraceae. Root well developed, cylindrical, greyish. Floral heads 6-8 mm in diameter, solitary, white, achene compressed and narrowly winged. It grows commonly in moist places as a weed all over the world. It is widely distributed throughout India, China, Thailand, and Brazil. In ayurvedic medicine, the leaf extract is considered a powerful liver tonic, rejuvenative, and especially good for the hair. A black dye obtained from Eclipta alba is used for dyeing hair and tattooing. Eclipta alba also has traditional external uses, like athlete foot, eczema and dermatitis, on the scalp to address hair loss and the leaves have been used in the treatment of scorpion stings. It is used as anti-venom against snakebite in China and Brazil (Mors, 1991). It is reported to improve hair growth and colour (Kritikar and Basu 1975 and Chopra et al. 1955)

The herb Eclipta alba contains mainly coumestans i.e. wedelolactone (I) and demethylwedelolactone (II), polypeptides, polyacetylenes, thiophene-derivatives, steroids, triterpenes and flavonoids. Coumestans are known to possess estrogenic activity (Bickoff et al. 1969) Wedelolactone possesses a wide range of biological activities and is used for the treatment of hepatitis and cirrhosis (Wagner et al. 1986), as an antibacterial, anti-hemorrhagic (Kosuge et al. 1985). and for direct inhibition of IKK complex resulting in suppression of LPS-induced caspase-11 expression (Kobori et al. 2004)

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eclipta_alba
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Catharanthus

Catharanthus (Madagascar Periwinkle) is a genus of eight species of herbaceous perennial plants, seven endemic to the island of Madagascar, the eighth native to the Indian subcontinent in southern Asia . C. roseus goes by its common name "sadaphuli" (perennially flowering) in parts of Western India.

Uses and cultivation
The species are self-propagating from seed; the seeds require a period of total darkness to germinate. Cuttings from mature plants will also root readily.
One species, C. roseus, has been widely cultivated and introduced, becoming an invasive species in some areas.

Pharmacological uses
C. roseus has gained interest from the pharmaceutical industry; the alkaloids vincristine and vinblastine from its sap have been shown to be an effective treatment for leukaemia and lymphoma. Although the sap is poisonous if ingested, some 70 useful alkaloids have been identified from it. In Madagascar, extracts have been used for hundreds of years in herbal medicine for the treatment of diabetes, as hemostatics and tranquilizers, to lower blood pressure, and as disinfectants. The extracts are not without their side effects, however, which include hair loss.

Vinca alkaloids
Vinca alkaloids are anti-mitotic and anti-microtubule agents. They are now produced synthetically and used as drugs in cancer therapy and as immunosuppressive drugs. These compounds are vinblastine, vincristine, vindesine and vinorelbine. Periwinkle extracts and derivatives, such as vinpocetine, are also used as nootropic drugs.

Catharanthus lanceus contains up to 6% yohimbine in its leaves.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catharanthus
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Quince

The quince (pronounced /ˈkwɪns/), or Cydonia oblonga, is the sole member of the genus Cydonia and native to warm-temperate southwest Asia in the Caucasus region. It is a small deciduous tree, growing 5–8 m tall and 4–6 m wide, related to apples and pears, and like them has a pome fruit, which is bright golden yellow when mature, pear-shaped, 7–12 cm long and 6–9 cm broad.

The immature fruit is green with dense grey-white pubescence, most of which rubs off before maturity in late autumn when the fruit changes colour to yellow with hard, strongly-perfumed flesh. The leaves are alternately arranged, simple, 6–11 cm long, with an entire margin and densely pubescent with fine white hairs. The flowers, produced in spring after the leaves, are white or pink, 5 cm across, with five petals.

Quince is used as a food plant by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Brown-tail, Bucculatrix bechsteinella, Bucculatrix pomifoliella, Coleophora cerasivorella, Coleophora malivorella, Green Pug and Winter Moth.

Four other species previously included in the genus Cydonia are now treated in separate genera. These are the Chinese Quince Pseudocydonia sinensis, a native of China, and the three flowering quinces of eastern Asia in the genus Chaenomeles. Another unrelated fruit, the Bael, is sometimes called the "Bengal Quince".

Turkey ranks first in world quince production by producing a quarter of the total world production.

The fruit was known to the Akkadians, who called it supurgillu; Arabic سفرجل safarjal "quinces" (collective plural). The modern name originated in the 14th century as a plural of quoyn, via Old French cooin from Latin cotoneum malum / cydonium malum, ultimately from Greek κυδώνιον μῆλον, kydonion melon "Kydonian apple". The quince tree is native to Iran, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Pakistan and was introduced to Syria, Croatia, Bosnia, Turkey, Serbia, Republic of Macedonia, Albania, Greece, Romania, Ukraine and Bulgaria.

Cultivation of quince may have preceded apple culture, and many references translated to "apple", such as the fruit in Song of Solomon, may have been to a quince. Among the ancient Greeks, the quince was a ritual offering at weddings, for it had come from the Levant with Aphrodite and remained sacred to her. Plutarch reports that a Greek bride would nibble a quince to perfume her kiss before entering the bridal chamber, "in order that the first greeting may not be disagreeable nor unpleasant" (Roman Questions 3.65). It was a quince that Paris awarded Aphrodite. It was for a golden quince that Atalanta paused in her race. The Romans also used quinces; the Roman cookbook of Apicius gives recipes for stewing quince with honey, and even combining them, unexpectedly, with leeks. Pliny the Elder mentioned the one variety, Mulvian quince, that could be eaten raw. Columella mentioned three, one of which, the "golden apple" that may have been the paradisal fruit in the Garden of the Hesperides, has donated its name in Italian to the tomato, pomodoro.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quince
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Monstera deliciosa

Monstera deliciosa is a creeping vine native to tropical rainforests from southern Mexico south to Panama. It is also called Ceriman, Swiss Cheese Plant (or just Cheese Plant), Fruit Salad Plant, Monster fruit, Monsterio Delicio, Monstereo, Mexican Breadfruit, Monstera, split-leaf philodendron, Locust and Wild Honey, Windowleaf and Delicious Monster.
It has a thick stem growing up to 20 m height and large, leathery, glossy, heart-shaped leaves 25-90 cm long by 25-75 cm broad. On young plants the leaves start out smaller and entire with no lobes or holes, but older plants soon produce lobed and holed leaves. The fruit is up to 25 cm long and 3-4 cm diameter, looking like a green ear of maize lined with hexagonal scales. When it first flowers, the fruit contains so much oxalic acid that it is poisonous, causing immediate and painful blistering and irritation, swelling, itching, and loss of voice. It takes a year for the fruit to ripen, at which point it is safe to eat.

The seedlings grow towards the darkest area they can find until they find a tree to latch onto, at which point they start to grow up towards the light, creeping up the tree.

Cultivation
The fruit may be ripened by cutting the fruit when the first scales begin to lift up and the fruit begins to exude a pungent odor, then wrapping in a paper bag and setting aside until the kernels begin popping off. The kernels are then brushed off; they fall away to reveal the edible flesh underneath. The flesh, which is approximately like that of pineapple in texture, is then cut away from the core and eaten. It has a fruity taste similar to jackfruit and pineapple. Eating fruit which has not matured and still has the kernels firmly attached, exposes the throat to the oxalic acid and is dangerous.

Uses
Monstera deliciosa is commonly grown as a houseplant for decoration, typically in hotels, restaurants and offices, as well as in private homes. It grows best at a temperatures of 20 °C to 30 °C, requires high humidity, and needs shade. Growth ceases below 10 °C and frost will kill it. It's often cultivated in open air in the coastal zones of Sicily, especially in Palermo area, where is called "Zampa di leone" ("Lion's paw"). It flowers around 3 years after it is planted in ideal conditions, and takes 1 year longer for the fruit to ripen. Flowering is rare when grown indoors. The plant can be transplanted by taking cuttings of a mature plant or by air layering.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monstera_deliciosa
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Mammee apple

Mammea americana, commonly known as Mammee, mammee apple, Mamey, mamey apple, Santo Domingo apricot or South American apricot, is an evergreen tree of the family Clusiaceae, whose fruit is edible. The species is a close relative of the mangosteen.

Mammea americana is often confused with the Mamey sapote tree (Pouteria sapota), whose fruit is also called mammee or mamey.

The mammee tree is 18–21 m high and is similar in appearance to the southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora). Its trunk is short and reaches 1.9-1.2 m in diameter. The tree's upright branches form an oval head. Its dark-green foliage is quite dense, with opposite, leathery, elliptic leaves. The leaf can reach 10 cm wide and twice as long.

The mammee flower is fragrant, has 4 or 6 white petals, reaches 2.5–4 cm wide when fully blossomed. The flowers are borne either singly, or in clusters of 2 or 3 on short stalks. There can be in one flower pistils, stamens or both, so there can be male, female or hermaphrodite flowers on one tree or separately.

The mammee apple is a berry, though it is often misinterpreted to be a drupe. It is round or slightly irregular, with a brown or grey-brown 3-mm thick rind. In fact, the rind consists of the exocarp and mesocarp of the fruit while the pulp is formed from the endocarp. The stem is thick, short. The mammee apple has more or less visible floral remnant at the apex.

Mammee apples' diameter ranges from 10 to 20 cm. When unripe, the fruit is hard and heavy, but its flesh slightly softens when fully ripe. Beneath the skin, there is a white, dry membrane, whose taste is astringent, that adheres to the flesh. The flesh is orange or yellow, not fibrous, and can have various textures (crispy or juicy, firm or tender). Generally the flesh smell is pleasant and appetizing.

Small fruits contain a single seed, while larger ones might have up to four. The seeds are brown, rough, oval and around 6 cm long. The juice of the seed leaves an indelible stain.

The tree comes from tropical South America. In 1529 it was included by Oviedo in his Review of the Fruits of the New World. It was then introduced to various regions in the Old World: West Africa, particularly Sierra Leone, Zanzibar, Southeast Asia and Hawaii. In the United States, the species is uniquely found in Hawaii and Florida. In the latter state, mammee apples were probably introduced from the Bahamas.

The Mammea apple tree is confined to tropical or subtropical climates. In Central America the species is found to grow up to an altitude of 1,000 m. It thrives best in rich, deep and well-drained soil but is very adaptive: it also grows on limestone in Jamaica, in the oolithic limestone of the Bahamas or on coral keys off the coast of Florida.

The tree is very sensitive to low temperatures, but seems remarkably resistant to pests and diseases.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammee_Apple
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Spondias purpurea

Spondias purpurea is a species of flowering plant in the cashew family, Anacardiaceae, that is native to tropical regions of the Americas. It is most commonly known as Jocote, which derives from the Nahuatl word xocotl, meaning "fruit." [1] Other common names include Red Mombin, Purple Mombin, Hog Plum, and Sineguela.

It is a small to medium-sized tree up to 25 m tall. The leaves are deciduous in the short dry season, but only fall shortly before the new leaves develop; they are pinnate, with 7-23 leaflets, each leaflet 3-5 cm long and 1.5-2 cm broad. The flowers are small, reddish-purple, produced in large panicles. The fruit is an edible oval drupe, 3-5 cm long and 2-3.5 cm broad, ripening red (occasionally yellow) and containing a single large seed.

It is now widely cultivated in tropical regions throughout the world for its edible fruit, and is also naturalised in some areas, including the Philippines and Nigeria. Numerous cultivars have been selected for fruit quality. It is also abundant in Central America.

PACTO DEL JOCOTE In Costa Rica a peace treaty was signed on April 11, 1842 under a Jocote tree in Alajuela between Francisco Morazan and Vicente Villaseñor overturning the government of Braulio Carrillo.

Uses
The fruits are often eaten ripe, with or without the skin. It is sometimes eaten unripe with salt and vinegar or lime juice.

In Haiti, it is known under the name of 'siwèl' and spread throughout the mountains lands of the country, mostly in the northern and southern mountain ranges.

The single large seed, which takes up most of the fruit, is not eaten.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jocote
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Coffea

offea is a large genus (containing more than 90 species) of flowering plants in the madder family, Rubiaceae. They are shrubs or small trees, native to subtropical Africa and southern Asia. Seeds of several species are the source of the popular beverage coffee. After their outer hull is removed, the seeds are commonly called "beans". Coffee beans are widely cultivated in tropical and sub-tropical countries on plantations, for both local consumption and export to probably every other country in the world. Coffee ranks as one of the world's most valuable and widely traded commodity crops and is an important export of a number of countries.

Chemistry of green coffee beans
The term “green coffee bean” refers to un-roasted mature or immature coffee beans. These have been processed by wet or dry method for removing the outer pulp and mucilage, and have an intact wax layer on the outer surface. When immature, they are green. When mature, they have a brown to yellow or reddish color, and typically weigh 300 to 330 mg per dried coffee bean. Non-volatile and volatile compounds in green coffee beans, such as caffeine, deter many insects and animals from eating them. Further, both non-volatile and volatile compounds contribute to the flavor of the coffee bean when it is roasted. Non-volatile nitrogenous compounds (including alkaloids, trigonelline, proteins and free amino acids) and carbohydrates are of major importance in producing the full aroma of roasted coffee, and for its biological action.

Shade-grown coffee
In its natural environment, coffee most often grows in the shade(Paypa). However, most cultivated coffee is produced on full-sun, monocropping plantations, as are most commercial crops, in order to maximize production per unit of land. This practice is, however, detrimental to the natural environment since the natural habitats which existed prior to the establishment of the plantations are destroyed, and all non-Coffea flora and fauna are suppressed - often with chemical pesticides and herbicides. Shade-grown coffee is favored by conservationists, since it permits a much more natural, complex ecosystem to survive on the land occupied by the plantation. Also, it naturally mulches the soil it grows in, lives twice as long as sun-grown varieties, and depletes less of the soil's resources - hence less fertilizer is needed. In addition, shade-grown coffee is considered by some to be of higher quality than sun-grown varieties, as the cherries produced by the Coffea plants in the shade are not as large as commercial varieties; some believe that this smaller cherry concentrates the flavors of the cherry into the seed (bean) itself. Shade-grown coffee is also associated with environmentally friendly ecosystems that provide a wider variety and number of migratory birds than those of sun-grown coffee farms.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffea
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Sweet granadilla

Sweet granadilla (or sometimes called or spelled Grenadia) is one common name for Passiflora ligularis. The epithet ligularis comes from the plant's ligulate corollae. It is native to the Andes Mountains between Bolivia and Venezuela. It grows as far south as northern Argentina and as far north as Mexico. Outside of its native range it grows in the tropical mountains of Africa and Australia (where they are known as passionfruit), and is now common in local markets of Papua New Guinea, where it is known as 'sugar fruit'. It likes climates ranging from 15° to 18° C and between 600 and 1000 mm of annual rain. It lives at altitudes ranging from 1700 to 2600 meters above sea level.

The fruit is orange to yellow colored with small light markings. It has a round shape with a tip ending in the stem. The fruit is between 6.5 and 8 cm long and between 5.1 and 7 cm in diameter. The outer shell is hard and slippery, and has soft padding on the interior to protect the seeds. The seeds, which are hard and black, are surrounded by a gelatinous sphere of transparent pulp. The pulp is the edible part of the fruit and has a soft sweet taste. It is very aromatic and contains vitamins A, C, and K, phosphorus, iron, and calcium.
P.ligularis whole,sliced,flowers and unripe fruits.
Sliced P.ligularis fruit.

The main producers are Peru, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil, South Africa, and Kenya. The main importers are the United States, Canada, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, and Spain.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_granadilla
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Goldenseal

Goldenseal (Orange-root, Orangeroot; Hydrastis canadensis) is a perennial herb in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae, native to southeastern Canada and the northeastern United States. It may be distinguished by its thick, yellow knotted rootstock.

The stem is purplish and hairy above ground and yellow below ground where it connects to the yellow rhizome. The plant bears 2 palmate, hairy leaves with 5-7 double-toothed lobes and single, small, inconspicuous flowers with greenish white stamens in the late spring. It bears a single berry like a large raspberry with 10-30 seeds in the summer.

Goldenseal has been ascribed the following herbal properties (whole herb): bitter, hepatic, alterative, anticatarrhal, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, laxative, emmenagogue, and oxytocic.

Goldenseal is often used as a multi-purpose remedy, and is thought to possess many different medicinal properties. In addition to being used as a topical antimicrobial, it is also taken internally as a digestion aid, and may remove canker sores when gargled.

Goldenseal may be purchased in salve, tablet, tincture form, or as a bulk powder. Goldenseal is often used to boost the medicinal effects of other herbs it is blended or formulated with.

A second species from Japan, previously listed as Hydrastis palmatum, is sufficiently distinct that it is now usually treated in a separate genus, as Glaucidium palmatum.

At the time of the European conquest of the Americas, goldenseal was in extensive use among certain Native American tribes of North America, both as a medicine and as a coloring material.

Prof. Benjamin Smith Barton in his first edition of "Collections for an Essay Toward a Materia Medica of the United States" (1798), refers to the Cherokee use of goldenseal as a cure for cancer. Later, he calls attention to its properties as a bitter tonic, and as a local wash for ophthalmia. It became a favorite of the Eclectics from the time of Constantine Raffinesque in the 1830s.

Goldenseal was extensively used for cancers and swellings of the breasts by the Eclectics, although it was not considered sufficient for cancer alone. Hale recommended its use in hard swellings of the breast, while conium was used for smaller painless lumps. The two herbs alone or with phytoplankton Americana were used for cancers, along with alteratives like red clover.



Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldenseal



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Berberis

Berberis (pronounced /ˈbɜrbərɪs/ Bér-be-ris), the barberries or pepperidge bushes, is a genus of about 450-500 species of deciduous and evergreen shrubs from 1-5 m tall with thorny shoots, native to the temperate and subtropical regions of Europe, Asia, Africa, North America and South America. They are closely related to the genus Mahonia, which is included within Berberis by some botanists.

The genus is characterised by dimorphic shoots, with long shoots which form the structure of the plant, and short shoots only 1-2 mm long. The leaves on long shoots are non-photosynthetic, developed into three-spined thorns 3-30 mm long; the bud in the axil of each thorn-leaf then develops a short shoot with several normal, photosynthetic leaves. These leaves are 1-10 cm long, simple, and either entire, or with spiny margins. Only on young seedlings do leaves develop on the long shoots, with the adult foliage style developing after the young plant is 1-2 years old.

The deciduous species (e.g. Berberis thunbergii, B. vulgaris) are noted for good autumn colour, the leaves turning pink or red before falling. In some evergreen species from China (e.g. B. candidula, B. verruculosa), the leaves are brilliant white beneath, making them particularly attractive.

The flowers are produced singly or in racemes of up to 20 on a single flower-head. They are yellow or orange, 3-6 mm long, with six sepals and six petals in alternating whorls of three, the sepals usually coloured like the petals. The fruit is a small berry 5-15 mm long, ripening red or dark blue, often with a pink or violet waxy surface bloom; they may be either long and narrow (like a bar, hence 'barberry') or in other species, spherical.

Berberis species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Mottled Pug.

Several are popular garden shrubs, grown for their ornamental leaves, yellow flowers, and red or blue-black berries. They are also valued for crime prevention; being very dense, viciously spiny shrubs, they make very effective barriers impenetrable to burglars. For this reason they are often planted below potentially vulnerable windows, and used as hedges and other barriers.

Historically, yellow dye was extracted from the stem, root, and bark.

Berberis vulgaris (European barberry) is the alternate host species of the wheat rust Puccinia graminis, a serious fungal disease of wheat. For this reason, cultivation of this species is prohibited in many areas.

Some Berberis have become invasive species when planted outside of their native ranges, including B. glaucocarpa and B. darwinii in New Zealand (where it is now banned from sale and propagation), and B. thunbergii in some parts of North America.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barberry
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Canadian whisky

Canadian whisky is whisky produced in Canada.

According to the laws of Canada, a Canadian whisky must be mashed, distilled and aged in Canada. All whiskies sold in Canada must be aged for at least three years in a wooden barrel of not greater than 700 L capacity.

Most Canadian whiskies are blended multi-grain liquors containing a large percentage of rye, typically lighter and smoother than other whisky styles. While the use of rye is not dictated by law they are often generically referred to and may legally be labeled as "rye whisky" in Canada.

Alternatively, the U.S. definition of "rye whisky" prevents low rye content whiskies from being labeled "rye." Since the U.S. definition does not have an aging requirement, younger U.S. versions, even those qualifying as "straight rye" in the U.S., may not legally be labeled "rye whisky" in Canada unless they meet Canadian aging standards.

Canadian whisky featured prominently in rum-running into the U.S. during Prohibition. Hiram Walker's distillery in Windsor, Ontario, directly across the Detroit River from Detroit, Michigan, easily served bootleggers using small, fast smuggling boats.

Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_whisky

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Freisa

Freisa is a red Italian wine grape variety grown in the Piedmont region of north-west Italy, primarily in Monferrato and in the Langhe, but also further north in the provinces of Turin and Biella.

Freisa is a vigorous and productive vine whose round, blue-black grapes are harvested in early October. The three-lobed leaves are relatively small and the bunches are elongated in form.

By the 1880s it had become one of the major Piedmontese grapes, and in that period its cultivation was stimulated by the vine’s resistance to the downy mildew caused by the Plasmopara viticola fungus.

Wines made from the Freisa grape are red and usually somewhat sweet and lightly sparkling, or foaming. Still and fully sparkling versions are also produced, however, as are dry and more decidedly sweet styles.

In the Canavese there is also a rosé which can be made primarily from Freisa according to Denominazione di origine controllata (DOC) regulations.

Plantings of Freisa in the Piedmont region date back to at least the 18th century and ampelographers believe that the grape likely originated there in the hills between Asti and Turin. Recent DNA profiling by the University of California, Davis revealed that Freisa has a parent-offspring relationship with Nebbiolo.

There are two major clonal varieties of Freisa-a small berried clone known as Freisa Piccolo which is more widely planted and a larger berry Freisa Grossa or Freisa di Nizza that tends to be planted on flatter, fertile terrain and produced less distinguished wine.

Freisa di Chieri is potentially its own sub-variety of Freisa Piccolo grown in the Chieri region and distinguished by its own DOC. It creates a very perfumed, deep colored and tannic wine.



Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freisa



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Chianti

Chianti is a red Italian wine produced in Tuscany. It was historically associated with a squat bottle enclosed in a straw basket, called a fiasco ("flask"; pl. fiaschi); however, the fiasco is only used by a few makers of the wine now; most Chianti is bottled in traditionally shaped wine bottles.

Baron Bettino Ricasoli (later Prime Minister in the Kingdom of Italy) created the Chianti recipe of 70% Sangiovese, 15% Canaiolo and 15% Malvasia bianca in the middle of the 19th century.

The first definition of a wine-area called Chianti was made in 1716. It described the area near the villages of Gaiole, Castellina and Radda; the so-called Lega del Chianti and later Provincia del Chianti (Chianti province).

In 1932 the Chianti area was completely re-drawn and divided in seven sub-areas: Classico, Colli Aretini, Colli Fiorentini, Colline Pisane, Colli Senesi, Montalbano and Rùfina. Most of the villages that in 1932 were suddenly included in the new Chianti Classico area added in Chianti to their name-such as Greve in Chianti which amended its name in 1972.

Wines labeled Chianti Classico come from the biggest sub-area of Chianti, that sub-area that includes the old Chianti area.

The other variants, with the exception of Rufina from the north-east side of Florence and Montalbano in the south of Pistoia, originate in the respective named provinces: Siena for the Colli Senesi, Florence for the Colli Fiorentini, Arezzo for the Colli Aretini and Pisa for the Colline Pisane. In 1996 part of the Colli Fiorentini sub-area was renamed Montespertoli.



Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chianti



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