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The Lost Language of Plants: The Ecological Importance of Plant Medicines for Life on Earth

By Stephen Harrod Buhner

Summarized with permission of Chelsea Green.
All rights reserved.

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Plants as Medicines for All Life on Earth

Earth is actually a self-regulating being, as James Lovelock describes in Healing Gaia. Every part of an ecosystem, from the smallest microbe to the largest tree, communicates constantly with all other life-forms present, as well as with other ecosystems. These communications have developed over millions of years, much longer than humans have been around. Imagine trying to understand the complete world of the Tasmanian holly tree that is 43,000 years old or the New Mexican creosote bush that is 18,000 years old. Or try to figure out why a plant moved 15,000 miles and across landmasses. Scientists generally study an acre or two for only a couple years, hardly an adequate space or time to really understand an ecosystem. Here's an example of the development of a desert ecosystem:

An outrider plant like sagebrush sets the stage for this community to develop.
The seed of an ironwood tree arrives and begins to grow.
Its growth immediately changes the soil around it, thus attracting microbes, bacteria, and small plants.
As it grows larger, it provides shade and water so larger plants begin to grow near it; the ironwood tree actually teaches them to become a community.
Over its thousand plus year lifespan, it provides a home for animals, birds, insects and dozens of plants - a true oasis in the desert.

As with all communities, the group is better off than each would be alone. A complex wild ecosystem is healthier than a structured suburban lawn or a mono-crop field. The diverse array of plants, animals, and microbes will naturally adapt to limit the effect of predators. For this reason, Native Americans grew corn, beans and squash together for centuries. Plants can also protect themselves from environmental stresses by changing their genetic structure. However, sometimes they choose not to use the adaptations they have; the ecosystem "sacrifices" a few plants to an infestation so that the pests won't develop a resistance to their protective chemicals. The ecosystem balance is thus maintained. Pollination is another cooperative process.

When pollen is ready, flowers "call" pollinators to their plants with chemical cues.
The cues are picked up by the vomeronasal organs (VNOs) in the pollinators.
The nectar available to the pollinator contains the perfect combination of sugars, amino acids and other components necessary for the specific pollinator's health, reproduction, and protection from predators.

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The Lost Language of Plants: The Ecological Importance of Plant Medicines for Life on Earth

Plants as Medicines for All Life on Earth

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