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Nard (flower)
Spikenard, also called nard, nardin, and muskroot, is a class of aromatic amber-colored essential oil derived from ''Nardostachys jatamansi'', a flowering plant in the honeysuckle family which grows in the Himalayas of Nepal, China, and India. The oil has been used over centuries as a perfume, a traditional medicine, or in religious ceremonies across a wide territory from India to Europe. Historically, the name ''nard'' has also referred to essential oils derived from other species including the closely related valerian genus, as well as Spanish lavender; these cheaper, more common plants have been used in perfume-making, and sometimes to adulterate true spikenard. Etymology The name "nard" is derived from Latin ''nardus'', from Ancient Greek νάρδος (''nárdos''). This word may ultimately derive either from Sanskrit नलद (''nálada'', Indian spikenard), or from Naarda, an ancient Assyrian city (possibly the modern town of Dohuk, Iraq). The "spike" in the name r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spike (botany)
A raceme ( or ) or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the shoot grows in height, with no predetermined growth limit. Examples of racemes occur on mustard (genus ''Brassica'') and radish (genus '' Raphanus'') plants. Definition A ''raceme'' or ''racemoid'' is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing pedicellate flowers (flowers having short floral stalks called ''pedicels'') along its axis. In botany, an ''axis'' means a shoot, in this case one bearing the flowers. In indeterminate inflorescence-like racemes, the oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the shoot grows in height, with no predetermined growth limit. A plant that flowers on a showy raceme may have this reflected in its scientific name, e.g. the species ''Cimicifuga racemosa''. A compo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asarum Europaeum
''Asarum europaeum'', commonly known as asarabacca, European wild ginger, hazelwort, and wild spikenard, is a species of flowering plant in the birthwort family Aristolochiaceae, native to large parts of temperate Europe, and also cultivated in gardens. It is a creeping evergreen perennial with glossy green, kidney shaped leaves and solitary dull purple flowers hidden by the leaves. Though its roots have a ginger aroma, it is not closely related to the true culinary ginger ''Zingiber officinale'', which originates in tropical Asian rainforests. It is sometimes harvested for use as a spice or a flavoring. In former days, it was used in snuff and also medicinally as an emetic and cathartic. Description The prostrate stems are long, each bearing two reniform leaves with long petioles. The leaves are about 10 cm wide. The upper surface of the leaves is shiny, and they have a pepper-like taste and smell. There are also 2 to 3 stipules present that occur in two rows opposite e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cymbopogon Nardus
''Cymbopogon nardus'', common name citronella grass, is a species of perennial aromatic plant from the family Poaceae, originating in tropical Asia. It is the source of an essential oil known as citronella oil, which is widely used for its natural insect-repelling properties. ''C. nardus'' cannot be eaten because of its unpalatable nature, and is an invasive species that renders pastureland useless, since cattle will starve even in its abundance. Ethnobotanical uses Essential oils are extracted from the aerial parts and applied topically or slowly burned (e.g. in a "citronella candle") as an insect repellent, particularly to deter haematophagous insects such as mosquito Mosquitoes (or mosquitos) are members of a group of almost 3,600 species of small flies within the family Culicidae (from the Latin ''culex'' meaning " gnat"). The word "mosquito" (formed by ''mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish for "li ...es. References *http://www.fao.org/AG/AGP/AGPC/doc/GBA ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Allium Victorialis
''Allium victorialis'', commonly known as victory onion, Alpine leek, and Alpine broad-leaf allium is a broad-leaved Eurasian species of wild onion. It is a perennial of the Amaryllis family that occurs widely in mountainous regions of Europe and parts of Asia (Caucasus and Himalayas). Some authors consider certain East Asian and Alaskan populations as constituting subspecies ''platyphyllum'' within the species ''Allium victorialis''. Recent sources recognize this group as a distinct species, called ''Allium ochotense.'' General description ''Allium victorialis'' attains a height of and forms a sheathed bulb ("root-stalk") about the thickness of a finger and long.. height; and rootstalk . Leaves are broad elliptical or lanceolate. Flowers (perianths) are whitish green. Distribution ''Allium victorialis'' is found widely across mountain ranges Europe, as well as the Caucasus and the Himalayas. Nomenclature The specific epithet ''victorialis'' comes from the German ''Si ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Valeriana Celtica
''Valeriana celtica'' is a species of plant in the family Caprifoliaceae. It is also known as Alpine valerian and valerian spikenard. It is endemic to the Eastern Alps (''V. celtica'' subsp. ''norica'') and to the Graian and Pennine Alps. It grows as a perennial herb tall. Along with '' Valeriana saxatilis'' and '' Valeriana elongata'', it forms a clade of dioecious plants. Until the 1930s, it was extensively harvested for export to Asia for use in perfumes. The root has been used as a folk remedy Traditional medicine (also known as indigenous medicine or folk medicine) comprises medical aspects of traditional knowledge that developed over generations within the folk beliefs of various societies, including indigenous peoples, before the ... as a nerve tonic. Gallery File:Atlas der Alpenflora (10055664615).jpg, ''V. celtica'' from '' Atlas der Alpenflora'', 1882 File:Valeriana celtica (Echt-Speik) IMG 5631.jpg, ''V. celtica'' in the wild File:Valeriana celtica (Echt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hippocras
Hippocras ( ca, Pimentes de clareya; lat, vīnum Hippocraticum), sometimes spelled hipocras or hypocras, is a drink made from wine mixed with sugar and spices, usually including cinnamon, and possibly heated. After steeping the spices in the sweetened wine for a day, the spices are strained out through a conical cloth filter bag called a ''manicum hippocraticum'' or Hippocratic sleeve (originally devised by the 5th century BC Greek physician Hippocrates to filter water), from which the name of the drink is derived. History Spiced wine was popular in the Roman Empire, as seen in the writings of Pliny the Elder and Apicius. In the 12th century, a spiced wine named "pimen" or "piment" was mentioned by Chrétien de Troyes. During the 13th century, the city of Montpellier had a reputation for trading spiced wines with England. The first recipes for spiced wine appeared at the end of the 13th century (recipes for red wine and piment found in the Tractatus de Modo) or at the begi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Natural History (Pliny)
The ''Natural History'' ( la, Naturalis historia) is a work by Pliny the Elder. The largest single work to have survived from the Roman Empire to the modern day, the ''Natural History'' compiles information gleaned from other ancient authors. Despite the work's title, its subject area is not limited to what is today understood by natural history; Pliny himself defines his scope as "the natural world, or life". It is encyclopedic in scope, but its structure is not like that of a modern encyclopedia. It is the only work by Pliny to have survived, and the last that he published. He published the first 10 books in AD 77, but had not made a final revision of the remainder at the time of his death during the AD 79 eruption of Vesuvius. The rest was published posthumously by Pliny's nephew, Pliny the Younger. The work is divided into 37 books, organised into 10 volumes. These cover topics including astronomy, mathematics, geography, ethnography, anthropology, human physio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pliny The Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic '' Naturalis Historia'' (''Natural History''), which became an editorial model for encyclopedias. He spent most of his spare time studying, writing, and investigating natural and geographic phenomena in the field. His nephew, Pliny the Younger, wrote of him in a letter to the historian Tacitus: Among Pliny's greatest works was the twenty-volume work ''Bella Germaniae'' ("The History of the German Wars"), which is no longer extant. ''Bella Germaniae'', which began where Aufidius Bassus' ''Libri Belli Germanici'' ("The War with the Germans") left off, was used as a source by other prominent Roman historians, including Plutarch, Tacitus and Suetonius. Tacitus—who many scholars agree had never travelled in Germania—used ''Bella Ger ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterranean Sea in Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia, and was ruled by emperors. From the accession of Caesar Augustus as the first Roman emperor to the military anarchy of the 3rd century, it was a Principate with Italia as the metropole of its provinces and the city of Rome as its sole capital. The Empire was later ruled by multiple emperors who shared control over the Western Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire. The city of Rome remained the nominal capital of both parts until AD 476 when the imperial insignia were sent to Constantinople following the capture of the Western capital of Ravenna by the Germanic barbarians. The adoption of Christianity as the state church of the Roman Empire in AD 380 and the fall of the Western ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apicius
''Apicius'', also known as ''De re culinaria'' or ''De re coquinaria'' (''On the Subject of Cooking'') is a collection of Roman cookery recipes. It is thought to have been compiled in the fifth century AD. Its language is in many ways closer to Vulgar than to Classical Latin, with later recipes using Vulgar Latin (such as ''ficatum'', ''bullire'') added to earlier recipes using Classical Latin (such as ''iecur'', ''fervere''). The book has been attributed to an otherwise unknown Caelius Apicius, an invention based on the fact that one of the two manuscripts is headed with the words "API CAE" or rather because a few recipes are attributed to Apicius in the text: Patinam Apicianam sic facies (IV, 14) Ofellas Apicianas (VII, 2). It has also been attributed to Marcus Gavius Apicius, a Roman gourmet who lived sometime in the 1st century AD during the reign of Tiberius. The book also may have been authored by a number of different Roman cooks from the first century AD. Based on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Herbal Medicine
Herbal medicine (also herbalism) is the study of pharmacognosy and the use of medicinal plants, which are a basis of traditional medicine. With worldwide research into pharmacology, some herbal medicines have been translated into modern remedies, such as the anti-malarial group of drugs called artemisinin isolated from ''Artemisia annua'', a herb that was known in Chinese medicine to treat fever. There is limited scientific evidence for the safety and efficacy of plants used in 21st century herbalism, which generally does not provide standards for purity or dosage. The scope of herbal medicine commonly includes fungal and bee products, as well as minerals, shells and certain animal parts. Herbal medicine is also called phytomedicine or phytotherapy. Paraherbalism describes alternative and pseudoscientific practices of using unrefined plant or animal extracts as unproven medicines or health-promoting agents. Paraherbalism relies on the belief that preserving various substance ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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