How do I start my Herbal Medicine Assignment???

_____1. Pick your plant.

    a. Use the 3 books on reserve at the library (see below).

    b. Use the tour of campus done by your instructor.

    c. Talk to friends and family who are familiar with herbal remedies.

_____2.  Be sure your plant is available

    Part of the assignment is to find the plant and make a preparation.  There is no point researching the plant if it is not available. (see below for possible sources).

_____3.  Print out or photocopy 3 articles on medicinal use of the plant.  You will need to turn these in.  For long articles, turn in only the first 3 pages.

_____4.  Read and follow the format below.  This is also in Appendix C of your lab manual.

Medicinal Plant Preparation & Essay

INTRODUCTION

Investigate a medicinal plant of your choice.  Make a medicinal plant preparation after finding out some background on this plant.  Write an essay detailing your preparation experience and what you have learned about the plant.  Follow the format under "Format and Grading".

 

PROCEDURE

1. Prepare an infusion, decoction or tincture of a medicinal plant. See the reference by Ody for more information on how to make your preparation. Start with fresh or dry plant material.  No tea bags, powders, or pills allowed.
Please note that I am NOT requiring you to actually use your preparation, only to prepare it and discuss your experience. 

• An infusion is pouring boiling water over fresh or dried leaves of the herb like making tea.  
• A decoction is boiling the roots or bark of herb in water to more vigorously extract the active ingredients.
• Other forms of preparation also exist and may be used as appropriate (e.g., mix with petroleum jelly to make salve).

2.  Attach a small sample of the dried plant prior to preparation in a plastic bag to your finished essay. 

3. Possible places to buy[1] or pick medicinal herbs: 

• Desert Sage Herbs.  See www.desertsageherbs.com (1728 N. Alma School, 1 block south of Warner)
• Whole foods market (Baseline and Rural Road, NW corner or other locations)
• Pick on the MCC campus
• Buy at a grocery store
   

4.  NO CREDIT will be given for illegal plants. Although I recognize that some illegal plants have medicinal value, these papers will be returned to you with a grade of zero.

5.  DO NOT COPY DIRECTLY FROM A TEXT (unless you use quotation marks to indicate you are quoting a small portion of the work). Take notes, reorganize and synthesize your information. 

5.  Minimum of 3 references. Attach a photocopy or printout of these at the end of your assignment.  For long references, the first 3 pages will be fine. 

6.  You may obtain information from the World Wide Web.  The correct format for web references is as follows: 

    Author’s name (if any), Title of work,
    Online. Internet. Available: Web address. Month and Year you read it.

7. The following books are on reserve in the MCC Library.  Ask at the reserve desk, on the right as you enter the library. The Michael Moore book has Sonoran desert plants.  The other books have more general herbs.

Kowalchik, C. and W.H. Hylton eds. 1987. Rodale’s illustrated encyclopedia of herbs.
Rodale Press. Emmaus, PA.

Ody, Penelope. 1993. The Complete Medicinal Herbal. DK Publishing, New York.

Moore, Michael. 1989. Medicinal plants of the Desert and Canyon West. Museum of
New Mexico Press. Santa Fe, NM.

 

8.  This assignment must be typed 
Length: About 3 pages, double-spaced 
I will return it to you ungraded, if you do not attach a photocopy of your references. 
I will return it to you ungraded, if you do not attach a small amount of dried plant material in a plastic bag. 

10.  The following plants are NOT permitted simply because the instructor is tired of reading about them.

Format and Grading[2]

Your Name

Biology 108

Current date

Plant common name- 1 point 
Genus species- 1 point
Family name- 1 point 

1.  Preparation experience  5 points

Describe your preparation experience.

         a.  Where did you get your herb?

         b.  How did you prepare it?

        c.   How did it smell and look before and after preparation? 

(Note: Tasting or use of your preparation is NOT required).

2. Use of plant  12 points

Describe the historical and current uses of this plant. You may wish to include cultivation (where and how it grows), but this should NOT be the focus of your paper.

3. Side effects 2 points

Describe any side effects or problems associated with the use of this plant.

4. Scientific studies 3 points

Do any scientific studies support the claims associated with this plant? Search Pubmed, the government database of scientific articles at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi

 If no scientific studies were found, how would you design a scientific study to test a claim about these plants? 

5. Literature citation 3 points

Literature cited in standard bibliographic format  (including online references).

6. Grammar and spelling.  I will deduct points for grammar and spelling problems.

7. You must attach a small amount of dried herb in a plastic bag or I will return the paper to you without a grade.

8. You must attach photocopies or printouts of 3 of your references or I will return the paper to you without a grade. For long references, the first 3 pages will be fine.