MEDICINAL PLANTS IN AUSTRALIA

Volume 1 BUSH PHARMACY

by CHERYLL WILLIAMS

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New hardcover book, 328 pages, lots of full-colour photos. Published August 2010.

The discovery of the pharmacy of the Australian bush began when humankind first set foot on the continent. Later, the first European visitors found a plethora of plants new to science, with a resultant fervour for unique and unusual finds that erupted into botanical circles. From the time of the First Fleet, botanising physicians and explorers relied on the local flora to provide vital medicines that were in short supply from traditional sources.

The records of those pioneers, combined with Aboriginal experience, led to the formation of an extensive, if informal, Australian materia medica with widespread practical and clinical appeal. The most famous of these medicines, the distilled oil of the Eucalypt, quickly achieved international recognition for its decongestant and antibacterial properties. In many instances, the value of the medicinal discoveries of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries has been enhanced by contemporary research, summarised in each chapter, which lends increasing support to their traditional uses.

Medicinal Plants in Australia is designed to enhance our appreciation of the medicinal history of Australia's flora, its unique contributions to everyday life, and its extraordinary future potential.

Chapters include:

1. Plants of the Poineers: first impressions and early visitors
2. Herbal Inspiration: remedies from the bush
3. Sarsparilla and Sassafras: old remedies in a new colony
4. Xanthorrhoea: grass-tree medicine
5. Floral Emissaries
6. Bush Beverages
7. Bush Tucker Bugs
8. A Sweet Surprise: medicinal and toxic honeys
9. Uniquely Australian: flowers, flavours and fragrance
10. Sandalwood: the aromatic export
11. The Famous Australian Gum-tree

Medicinal Plants in Australia Volume 1: Bush Pharmacy is the first of a four-volume series. The second book, Medicinal Plants in Australia Volume 2 : Gums, Resins, Tannin and Essential Oils looks in greater detail at the main products of commercial and medicinal value from the Australian flora. Volume 3 deals with toxic plants and medicines. Volume 4 moves to a unique aspect of the flora - ancient species from the rainforests and tropical regions.

About the author

Cheryll Williams has over 25 years of clinical experience in herbal and nutritional medicine, homeopathy and acupuncture. She holds a diploma in Herbal Medicine and post-graduate diploma in Nutritional Medicine, two diplomas in Homoeopathy, and a Bachelor's degree in Acupuncture. She has previously published a series of articles on medicinal plants in Australian Wellbeing magazine, and is currently working with Wildlife Rescue in the tropical rainforest. Cheryll's other books in the Medicinal Plants in Australia series are also available - click on each title below for more information

Medicinal Plants in Australia Volume 2 : Gums, Resins, Tannin and Essential Oils

Medicinal Plants in Australia Volume 3 : Plants, Potions and Poisons

See other Australian books click here

Medicinal Plants in Australia Vol 1: Bush Pharmacy by Cheryll Williams