Magnolias Face Extinction

There was a popular short article on the BBC News site and elsewhere today on the impending extinction of the world's medicinal plants. About 400 medicinal plants were identified by Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI), as being under serious risk of extinction. One of the top plants mentioned was Magnolia. The plant's medicinal use has a tradition about 5,000 years old in China and is known in herbal pharmacies as: Hou Po 厚朴 (Cortex Magnoliae Officinalis; the bark of the tree), Xin Yi Hua 辛夷花 (Flos Magnoliae; flower), and Ye He Hua 夜合花 (Magnoliae coconis Flos). Acupuncturists and herbalists of TCM have had a working relationship with these plants for a long time, but modern science and labs have been benefiting from its use as well.

According to expert research of BGCI, due to deforestation, half the world's species of Magnolia is under serious risk of being lost forever, and with it, valuable natural medicines, both ancient and new. The article mentions the plant's active chemical constituent Honokiol, which has been used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat cancers and slow down the onset of heart disease. Magnolol is another bioactive compound that is found in the bark (or cortex) of the Magnolia officinalis, Hou Po 厚朴.

The BGCI group, which represents botanic gardens across 120 countries, surveyed over 600 of its members as well as leading university experts. They identified 400 plants that were at risk of extinction. To learn more, their site contains a search of the various endangered plants in their database.

They also have their report available in PDF for you to read. As well as outlining the key trade, livelihood and conservation issues surrounding medicinal plants, the report illustrates the many ways in which botanic gardens can and do contribute to protecting the plants that heal us.

Once again, local gardening projects like those with Traditional Chinese Medicine (or Oriental or Asian) Schools run by acupuncturists and herbalists can contribute to a larger and serious goal in conservation and preservation in the world.

BBC Article:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7196702.stm

Other, related articles:
http://news.google.com/news?client=internal-uds&ncl=1126562062&hl=en

Organization:
Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI).

BGCI was founded in 1987 to link botanic gardens as a co-operating global network for effective plant conservation. It now links over 2500 institutions in over 120 countries, all working together to preserve and promote plant diversity for people and the planet. BGCI is a charity registered in England. It is also a registered Company.

Have you heard of Green Health Live?

I spent this evening watching the live show of Marc Ryan's streaming internet-TV show Green Health Live. The show has been running a full season already and has a great focus and diversity. Tonight's guest was Robert Newman, licensed acupuncturist and a favorite teacher in the Chinese medicine/ acupuncture field and international expert in medicinal herbs.
The show is informative and a lot of fun, I recommend that those interested in Rootdown.us, internet video subscribe to the show.

Green Health Live
Episode 202: "The Learning Garden - Curiosity Is Your Ticket In"

Join host, Marc Ryan, L.Ac., as he visits with Robert Newman, L.Ac., one of the world's foremost experts on cultivating with Chinese medicinal herbs. Robert is the former curator of the Chinese herb garden at the Nanjing Institute of Botany in China. Learn about his current project at the Learning Garden in Venice CA. and about some of the herbs and their medicinal uses. We will also discuss how you can integrate herbs into your own diet and life. Also, IM girl Jennifer Anne Wilson, Viewer mail, Free prizes and more!

We got our data entry team in action now. They're cross refencing and adding to all the data in the site at the moment. There are a lot of improvements under way. To get an idea of what was missing and what's being added, check out the Communit Forum, Single Herb Requests.

OK, we're back in action again. The site has been getting more readers and thus, more useful feedback. Thanks to everyone for their constructive criticism. There are going to be a lot of new features and additions to the site in the upcoming months. You can read more about the developments here. We're excited to share this with you.

We've been reworking the site recently to squash some annoying bugz. So,

• If you've had problems seeing your Comments or Suggestions on your posts, or they've been mysteriously cut-off, that will soon be fixed! Please stand-by. Or,
  
• If you've struggled with making a Formula modification because you want to add/ remove more than one herb, OR more importantly, if you just want to swap out one herb for another... we hear you. We're going to make that process easier and faster! This section will be modified soon, as to not torture you while you are adding data to the site. Please stay tuned. We'll post a new blog entry when the changes are made live to the site.
  

We're also adding in some minor but very important data, such as:

• Ingredient dosages to Formulas
  
• Latin Botanical names for Single Herbs (including the Latin Family names)
• Dosages for Single Herbs
• Vasculature, Innervation and Musculature for Acupuncture Points

Naturally, it will take a little while for all this to appear, but we've assembled a data-entry team to organize and post this data faster. The data will be entered daily and we'll post again on this blog when these sections are completed. Managing and entering data will be an ongoing and hopefully, a never-ending process.

So, some new features that we've added is a Forum in the Community section to request any missing Single Herbs or Formulas. If you can't find a Single Herb list it here. And if you can't find a Formula list it here. Be sure to leave at least the pin yin name; leaving only common names are likely to lead nowhere.

This is a much more constructive way to find out what's been missing and then plugging in the data. Once the information has been added, a reply-comment will be made and later, the post removed.

Remember, you must be registered to add a new post. So if you haven't gotten your free account yet, sign up!