News of May 2023!

Hello everyone 🌿

If you pick your own plants, watch out for fake twins. I tell you this because the other day I found myself nude before what I thought was a black elderberry; the trunk and leaves looked like two drops of water, only the flowers in bud were different. Actually, it was a mountain elder (Sambucus racemosa) that I didn’t know existed until now… it’s never too late to learn, is it?

While black elderberry (Sambucus nigra) has black berries, mountain elderberry (Sambucus racemosa) has coral-red berries. While one has plant properties and is edible, the other would be used to make alcohol and cause vomiting if the raw berries were ingested.

All this to say that June is a good time for black elder and if you are not 200% sure you recognize the plant, don’t pick it. Natural does not mean safe!

Black elder will soon be in the spotlight in our Phyto-info search tool… Last month, we focused our efforts on brambles and plantains and we made some modifications to our tool… we’ll tell you more down.

Added plants 👏

• Bramble (Rubus fruticosus)
• Hoary plantain (Plantago media)
• Broadleaf major (Plantago Major)

If there is only one thing to remember for each plant mentioned above, it is that the bramble is, according to specialists, the plant suitable for gingivitis and our two plantains are the kings of insect bites.

Review 👏

Because we now have two new books in our library, we have begun to review plants made before these acquisitions. The rosehip (Rosa canina) has benefited from an update, which confirms its strong point => a great wealth of vitamin C.

Here are our two new books:

• Luu, C., & Fournier, A. (2020). 300 plantes médicinales de France et d’ailleurs : identification, principes actifs, modes d’utilisation. Terre Vivante. 💡 Dr. Claudine Luu is a doctor in pharmacy and natural sciences; her co-author, Dr. Annie Fournier, is a doctor of pharmacy, specializing in herbal medicine.

• Mulot, M.-A. (1987). Secrets d’une herboriste : 250 plantes médicinales. Edition of the Club France Loisirs. 💡 Marie-Antoinette Mulot was a French herbalist who trained at the Faculty of Pharmacy in Montpellier, and was the last to graduate in 1941.

New feature 👏

For the sake of transparency, we have added some figures concerning the content of the database of our plant search tool.

The database currently includes 16 plants for 284 traditional uses. We plan to add 3 to 4 plants per month 💕

If you are interested in our search tool, more info at phyto-info.com.

Discover our Plant Search Tool

And if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us 🤗

Next newsletter in a month! Stay tuned!