Bitterroot Restoration

Weeping Fig (Ficus benjamina) is native to south and southeast Asia and Australia. It is a topiary tree reaching 30 metres tall in natural conditions, with gracefully drooping branchlets and glossy leaves 6–13 cm long, oval with an acuminate tip. The leaves are very sensitive to small changes in light. When it is turned around or re-located it reacts by dropping many of its leaves and replacing them with new leaves adapted to the new light intensity.

Creeping Fig (Ficus pumila) is a beautiful, evergreen vine. It is native to East Asia and is found on Japan's southern islands, eastern China, and Vietnam. This vine is a popular landscape item in many warm climate areas. The seeds and other portions of the creeping fig are poisonous. Keep them away from pets and children. If ingested, contact poison control authorities immediately.

Andrographis paniculata is an erect annual herb (Family: Acanthaceae), chiefly found throughout the Indian plains from Himachal Pradesh to Assam and Mizoram and all over South India. This herb is the well-known drug kalmegh or 'green chiretta', and forms the principal ingredient of a reputed household medicine, used as a bitter tonic and febrifuge. The herb is reported to possess astringent, anodyne, tonic and alexipharmic properties and is helpful in dysentery, cholera, diabetes, consumption, influenza, bronchitis, swellings and itches, piles and gonorrhea.

Black Pepper (Piper nigrum) is native to southwest India; major producers of black pepper essential oil are India, Malaysia, China, Indonesia and Madagascar. It is one of the most common spices  added to food. It has been used as a spice in food since prehistoric times. Black pepper was beleved to treat and cure constipation, diarrhoea, earache, gangrene, heart disease, hernia, indigestion, insect bites, insomnia, joint pain, liver and lung disease, sunburn, toothaches, etc.

Mimosa pudica (pudica= shy) is a creeping annual or perennial herb  often grown for its curiosity value: the compound leaves fold inward and droop when touched or shaken, re-opening minutes later. Common names of Mimosa pudica are sensitive plant, touch-me-not, humble plant, shameful plant, sleeping grass, etc.

Allergies occur when the body has an exaggerated reaction to substances that are not harmful. The symptoms of an allergy tend to vary, but some common symptoms include watery eyes, difficulty breathing and itchy eyes. There are many medical treatments used for allergies, but there are also natural medicines that can be used along with conventional medicine.

The herbal medicinal plant Prunella vulgaris is known as common self-heal, heal-all, heart-of-the-earth. It has long been used in herbal medicine by European, Chinese, and North American native healers. But now, scientific interest in this plant is growing as research shows that it has anti-tumor and anti-viral properties. This plant can be used as an anti-cancer and anti-HIV (this virus can lead to AIDS) treatment.

Neem (Azadirachta indica) is a fascinating and versatile plant and using neem has many benefits. All parts of the neem tree are useful. The most widely used parts of the neem tree are the seed kernels, the leaves and the bark. Neem oil is very popular with organic gardeners.

A wide array of phenolic substances, particularly those present in dietary and medicinal plants, possess substantial anticarcinogenic and antimutagenic activities. The majority of these naturally occurring phenolics retain antioxidative and anti-inflammatory properties which appear to contribute to their chemopreventive or chemoprotective activity.

All parts of the Graviola (Annona muricata L.) are used in natural medicine in the tropics, including the bark, leaves, roots, fruit, and fruit seeds. Different properties and uses are attributed to the different parts of the tree. Generally, the fruit and fruit juice are taken for worms and parasites, to cool fevers, to increase mother's milk after childbirth, and as an astringent for diarrhoea and dysentery.