Ok - I'm going first. I'm both enthralled and deeply frightened of the power of the magnificent Bella Donna Lily. Amaryllis Bella Donna
It's known as a powerful anti-malarial agent. And, as someone living in the tropics, I've SEEN an 11 year old girl dead in only 22 hours from malaria. Would I ever think to USE it? I shudder to think. It is known also as the Lady of Death, the stopper of hearts and a potent poison.
Like so many of the GORGEOUS herbs, is she not stunning?? Gracious, seductive, deadly.
Oh these grow everywhere here! I did not know they are a medicine. Scary, yes, beautiful, yes. It is things like this that makes our modern world so poor in terms of lost knowledge regarding natural medicine. If I am not mistaken this flower is native to the Cape region. So much of the fynbos plants have been used for centuries by the locals, but with deforestation and epistemicide (killing of local knowledge) all this knowledge is getting lost. It is really sad to see. Sorry for the long winded ramblings!
It's interesting that deer instinctively know NOT to eat Bella Donna - as if they have evolved with embodied knowledge. I think we humans USED to be like that.
Long winded ramblings? that's exactly what we LOVE to see in a comment challenge!
That is so true right? I am only thinking about how modern humans have evolved to like bitter things, think double espresso black coffee, bitter 90% chocolate, and so on. Normally, as I understand it, bitter things are symbols of poison and we evolved to dislike bitter food. I may have it totally wrong, but it is something I have seen in my own exploration of food. Various plants/greens are bitter, but I love them in a salad.
Interestingly, another green, the herb that scares me, is the cape sorrel (Oxalis pes-caprae (or African wood-sorrel)) because of how delicious it is. It is used in various dishes in traditional South African foods like "waterblommetjie bredie" (water flower stew). But due to the high oxalic acid content, I am always worried about eating too much. It is probably not that dangerous.
Thanks for chiming in so quickly, @fermentedphil We're bringing the Herbal Hive out of her dormancy and preparing for a healthy season.
That is awesome to hear! Thanks for the awesome community. I am myself a little bit dormant in the department of herbs and gardening as I am away from my garden. But in December, I am back in my garden, planting new herbs, and doing new research on local herbal medicine!
Anything called Lady Of Death has gotta be scary!!!