Once again, I will be co-leading the American Botanical Council (ABC) and Amazon Center for Environmental Education and Research (ACEER) trip to Peru. ABC and ACEER two nonprofit educational organizations, have announced their 2008 annual Botanical Medicines from the Amazon and the Andes workshop tour. This year’s trip will take place September 26th through October 5th, 2008, in various locations in the Peruvian Amazon rainforest and the Andes mountains, including the famous, ancient Incan city of Machu Picchu. Continuing education credit is available for certain healthcare providers.

Amazon activities will focus on the edible and medicinal plants of the Peruvian Amazon, including visits to markets where local herbs are sold, explorations of the Inkaterra Field Reserve, the Useful Plants Trail, and the Garden of Medicinal Plants. A highpoint of the Amazon portion of the trip includes traversing the Inkaterra Canopy Walkway that soars 100 feet above the forest floor, allowing people to view plants and animals that dwell in the upper treetop canopy. See photos of last year’s trip at the Amazon, Andes, and Puerto Maldonado links at this page.
Andean activities include a workshop by a traditional Incan shaman in the sacred Urubamba Valley, the Pisac traditional crafts market, and the inspiring “lost” mountaintop ruins of Machu Picchu. Each stop of this trip will focus on the native ethnobotany of the area and ways the indigenous Inca people traditionally used and still currently use local medicinal plants.

Tour leaders include internationally-known author, photographer and lecturer, Steven Foster; neuropsychopharmacologist, author and educator, Jerry Cott, Ph.D.; and ecologist and educator, Joseph Bishop, Ph.D. Presentations include History of Herbs in Medicine and Pharmacy, Medicinal Plants of the Amazon, Plants of Economic and Health Value, Amazonian Food Farmacy Diet, Herb-Drug Interactions, and Herbs and Aging.

“We are incredibly passionate about helping people live healthier lives worldwide through the responsible and sustainable use of herbs and medicinal plants,” emphasized Mark Blumenthal, founder and executive director of the ABC.

“For twenty years, the American Botanical Council has dedicated itself to providing accurate and reliable information and education about the use of herbs and medicinal plants,” added Blumenthal. “Onsite educational programs such as our Amazon and Andes Ethnobotany Ecotour provide compelling information through applied education and a hands-on opportunity to immerse oneself in the actual environment with leading herbal and environmental experts. It is often a life-changing experience!”

“This will be a fabulous trip, particularly the amazing Andean city of Machu Picchu,” said veteran ethnobotanical expert and tourleader Steven Foster. “The greatest culture shock I’ve ever experienced is going from the primary rainforest in the Peruvian Amazon up to the ancient Inca capital, Cusco, on the way to Machu Picchu. Believe me, it doesn’t get better than this!” A brochure, the full itinerary and registration form can be found at this link.

TWO DAYS - THREE EVENTS
April 26 & 27
at Fire Om Earth Retreat Center - Eureka Springs, Arkansas with STEVEN FOSTER
Medicinal & Aromatic Plant Specialist, writer, lecturer, photographer and international consultant, MELISSA CLARE, Plant Spirit Medicine practitioner, and LORNA TRIGG HIRSCH, multi-media artist and co-founder of Fire Om Earth Retreat Center

Human Relationships with Plants
with Steven Foster

Saturday April 26th
10 am - 2 pm

An informational walk in the woods with Steven Foster, author and photographer of Medicinal Plants and Herbs. (Co-author of three Peterson Field Guides and the award-winning National Geographic Book “A Desk Reference to Nature’s Medicine”).

“Our mission is to serve the human-plant relationship. Recognizing that plants are vital for food, wellness, medicine, flavor and fragrance, we offer information and imagery on the source of plants of human experience. In doing so we strive to introduce you to the plants in a way that inspires growth”. For more visit Steven’s home page and links.

What to bring: Bag lunch, journal, camera. Wear hiking shoes. Rain gear if inclement.

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Plant Spirit Communications
with Melissa Clare

Sunday April 27th
10 am-1 pm

We will enter into a respectful relationship with the plant world, exploring both a meditative and shamanic approach. We will invite friendly input as well as artistic inspiration from the plant spirits, offering our gratitude. This session will include dream journeying as well as group sharing. Participants should bring color pencils, notebooks a blanket/pad to lie on. We will be sitting in nature so bring a groundsheet or cushion to sit on, and if the weather is inclement bring raingear.

Melissa Clare is a Plant Spirit Medicine practitioner and Fire keeper in the sacred Fire Community. She trained with Eliot Cowan, author of “Plant Spirit Medicine “ and a Shaman in the Huichol tradition. Melissa is also influenced by the work of Dorothy McLean (“To Hear the Angels Sing” and “The Findhorn Garden Book”) who she met through their mutual Sufi connections in the 1980’s.

* Bring a bag lunch.

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Watercolor illustration
with Lorna Trigg-Hirsch

Sunday April 27th
2 pm - 5 pm
How to paint your Paint Spirit Guide
Cellular level expression in Abstract.

Working with information gained during your journey with Melissa Clare, you will be guided in the use of watercolor to express the images that have come to you through communication with the plant world.

Lorna Trigg Hirsch is a multi media artist who has worked in both the holistic and medical field using art and music as an expression of self.

Retreat fee: $125 for both days (three workshops)
or $70 one day workshop
Materials included in workshop fee
Pre-registration required with full payment by April 21st. No refunds - Rain or shine

Call 479-363-9402 or email info@fireomearth.com
www.fireomearth.com

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The American Herbal Products Association bestowed its annual awards at it member’s meeting in Anaheim, California, March 13th. Steven Foster was the recipient of an HERBAL INSIGHT award. According to AHPA’s, Director of Communication, Katia Fowler:

“Acclaimed photographer Steven Foster was presented with the Herbal Insight award for furthering the knowledge and understanding of medicinal and aromatic plants through his excellent work as a photographer, author and consultant. Mr. Foster’s ability to capture the elegance and intimacy of the ‘human-plant relationship’ continues to astound.”

Anthony Young, Partner, Kleinfeld, Kaplan & Beckler, was given the Herbal Hero award for his outstanding contributions to AHPA committees and initiatives. The Herbal Industry Leader award given to a company with outstanding business practices went to Sara Katz and Ed Smith of Herb Pharm in Williams, Oregon. The late Dr. Stephen Strauss, the first director of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, National Institutes of Health, was posthumously honored with an Herbal Insight Award.

“For the third year, we have been honored to recognize top-notch representatives of the herbal industry with AHPA Awards,” said Michael McGuffin, the association’s president. “This is a very impressive slate of winners, and AHPA is pleased to know we will have an impressive slate next year. Our awards have only begun to honor the outstanding members of the herbal world.”

We are pleased to offer a variety of prints and related products of herbs, scenics, nature, and other subjects at our new Printroom store front. New galleries going up everyday. Currently we offer prints from our recent Amazon trip, Chinese Medicinal Herbs, dozens of scenics from Montenegro, and a growing number of herb images. You can buy prints directly for your home, gallery, business display, or clinic. Check it out!

The strawberry that is available commercially and commonly grown in gardens is a hybrid known as Fragaria x annanassa Duchesne (a cross between Fragaria chiloensis and Fragaria virginiana). The former originates from Chile, and the latter, obviously first described from Virginia. In the northeastern U.S. there are two wild species, Fragaria virginiana (easily distinguished by the fact that the seeds are imbedded in the fruit), and Fragaria vesca (the wild European strawberry, but a northern temperate species, whose range includes northeastern N. America). It is easily differentiated from F. virginiana in that F. vesca’s seeds are on the surface of the fruit. See: Foster and Duke A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants: Eastern and Central North America, Houghton Mifflin, 2002.
There’s a compelling story behind the development of the modern strawberry. It was first described in the 1759 edition of Philip Miller’s Gardener’s Dictionary (London). This hybrid was further developed in the garden of Antoine Nicolas Duchesne, son of the superintendent of buildings of King Louis XIV, and Louis XV. On July 6, 1764 Antoine Nicolas Duchesne presented a large-fruited strawberry hybrid he produced to King Louis XV. What’s remarkable is Duchesne was only 17 years old at the time. At age 19 he published the modern scientific names and descriptions of the genus Fragaria in L’Historie Naturelle des Fraisiers. His designations and descriptions are still in use today. Duchesne also made important early observations on plant breeding such as the separation of sexes in strawberries, and recorded the first observation of a spontaneous mutation in plants.

The definitive modern work on strawberries is George McMillan Darrow’s The Strawberry: History, Breeding and Physiology. New York: Holt, Reinhart & Winston (1966). Fortunately, this rather obscure title has been reprinted in entirety in an on line edition from the National Agricultural Library.

See our strawberry images at the following links:

Fragaria x annanassa

Fragaria vesca

Fragaria virginiana

Producer Jacqueline Froelich of KUAF, the Fayetteville, Arkansas, NPR affiliate, recently interviewed Steven Foster for a feature on the radio magazine program Ozarks at Large. To hear the interview, click here or go to www.kuaf.com and navigate to the Ozarks at Large archives.

Our main business is licensing stock photos from our collections of over 150,000 images of medicinal and aromatic plants, herbs, wildflowers and other botanicals from every continent except Antarctica. All images are “rights protected” rather than “royalty free.” Licensing of stock photos is usually on a one-time, non-exclusive basis per image. Licensing fees depend upon the type of use, such as web, print, editorial or commerical; size of use and/or frequency of use. Other factors may also apply. Licensing fees may be as little as $50.00 for a minor use or up to $10,000 for major ad placement. New images go up at our Flash Galleries everyday. Click on “Photography” at our home page, and go to the links under “Scientific Names” of plants to view images. Remember to clean your browser cache when you come back for a return visit. For example yesterday you may have seen three images of the Apothecary Rose, Rosa gallica. Today we have 25 new images up at the same gallery. You can see the new Apothecary Rose images shot on 16-17 May at Roses. Enjoy! And if we can help you, we would be happy to preview images.

On July 15th I will be leading “Focus on Herbs” a four-hour photo workshop on improving your plant photography. This workshop is held in conjunction with United Plant Savers’ Planting the Future Conference (14 July, see www.unitedplantsavers.org for more information). The Workshop subjects will be the fabulous gardens at Herb Pharm in Williams, Oregon. See: pdf brochure. I look forward to seeing you there!

On April 27, 2007, The New York Public Library named A Desk Reference to Nature’s Medicine by Steven Foster and Rebecca Johnson among the best reference works for 2007. According to the New York Public Library:

“Best of Reference is an annual list of books, websites, and electronic resources selected by a committee of librarians for their usefulness in branch references collections. Selection criteria include value and appropriateness of material, style of presentation, and authority of authors and editors.”

This year’s announcement of the distinguished list of references was held on 27 April at the NYPL’s Donnell Library Center in midtown Manhattan. See the New York Public Library’s website for more information.

It states: “More than the familiar guide to herbal remedies, this is illustrated with botanical drawings and color photographs. It gives the cultural, historical, and scientific background of hundreds of plants used for healing by people the world over. ”

Here’s information on the book:

Desk Reference to Nature’s Medicine. By Steven Foster and Rebecca L. Johnson. 2006. National Geographic, Washington, D.C.Hardcover. 416 pp. 200 photographs, 150 botanical drawings and 159 maps. ISBN: 0-7922-3666-1. $40.00. Order at your favorite independent book store, Amazon.com, or via the National Geographic Society’s website.

Thanks to all of you who have signed-up for Botanical Medicines from the Rainforest. We will see you in the  primary rainforest in the Peruvian Amazon in late July!  Thanks to ACEER and the American Botanical Council for making the trip possible. Here’s a pdf file of the itinerary for Botanical Medicines from the Rainforest.

See you soon!