Saturday, February 07, 2004

By Karen Daubmann, Phipps Conservatory , and Botanical Gardens

Not long ago, the stove room at Phipps Conservatory held chrysalis hatching cases for the butterfly forest. Today those niches hold glimpses of an ancient art, the healing gardens of India.

The exhibit, which continues through April 4, focuses on medicinal plants that are used in the Ayurvedic system in India. Ayurveda, which means "science of life," was developed more than 5,000 years ago. This healing science is concerned with prevention of disease by balancing the mind, body and spirit through diet, lifestyle change and the use of herbs.

	Plant sources Companion Plants -- Athens, Ohio; 1-740-592-4643 or www.companionplants.com. Crimson Sage Nursery -- Colton, Ore.; 1-503-824-4721 or www.crimson-sage.com. Goodwin Creek Gardens -- Willams, Ore.; 1-800-846-7359 or www.goodwincreekgardens.com. Logee's Greenhouses -- Danielson, Conn.; 1-888-330-8038 or www.logees.com. Plant It Herbs -- Athens, Ohio; 1-740-662-3413 or www.plantitherbs.com. Richters Herb Specialists -- Goodwood, Ontario, Canada; 1-905-640-6677 or www.richters.com. Top Tropicals -- Davie, Fla.; www.toptropicals.com.

Within this exhibit, visitors learn about the elements and body types that influence the selection of healing herbs used in Ayurveda. Signs allow visitors to determine which body type they represent -- vata, pitta or kapha (slender, medium and stocky physiques, respectively).

More than 20 plants are displayed and have been used to alleviate such common conditions as nausea, sinus pain and headaches. Familiar plants include cinnamon, licorice and pepper, but wait until you see how they are used in the Ayurvedic system.

The medicinal plants exhibit, now in its third year, is sponsored by the Garden Club of Allegheny County. Paula Scully, chair of the club's medicinal plant committee, said Pittsburgh's international reputation for medical expertise was the reason for the changing exhibits focused on healing plants. Past exhibits have focused on medicinal plants native to Pennsylvania and China. In addition to supporting the exhibit, the garden club has installed a permanent medicinal garden in Phipps' outdoor garden.

Focusing on medicinal plants also draws attention to a global problem: Therapeutic plants are often over-harvested and their habitats are being destroyed.

"Nearly 80 percent of the world's people (mostly in developing countries) still rely on medicinal plants for treatment of diseases and illnesses," according to Dan Wagner of the Green Medicine Newsletter, a publication of The Student Rainforest Fund in Wildwood, Hampton.

Wagner, a pharmacist, says 20 percent to 25 percent of all pharmaceuticals and drugs carried in pharmacies are natural products or come from natural sources.

"Nearly half of the pharmaceutical manufacturers in the world are making efforts to go back to nature to possibly find new blockbuster drugs. They are risking research dollars for that one-in-10-million chance that a plant or tuber from the rain forest might produce a drug that can someday cure AIDS, cancer, diabetes or many other diseases that modern medicine has no cure for," he writes.

"It is our fear that continued destruction of precious and bio-diverse rain forests may eliminate any chance that tomorrow's miracle drugs could be discovered."

To create the exhibit, Phipps staff members worked with students and practitioners in the area to develop the educational materials. Each plant was researched and its medicinal qualities described. Plants for the exhibit were started from seed more than a year ago and other plant materials were purchased more recently and grown on site. Obtaining many of the plants was a challenge because many are very hard to find in the nursery trade.

This is one of a series of periodic columns by staff members of Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. Karen Daubmann is Phipps' director of horticulture.

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