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Herbal Garden
The Herbal Garden (Taman Obat) near the entrance gate, contains about 300 types of medicinal herbs, mostly local. These are being planted in four main groups:
- Small plants, of which there are about 160 types.
- Tall plants, of which there are 86 types.
- Plants that love shade, of which there are 28 types.
- Climbers, of which there are 19 types.
In addition, another 50 or so types are not planted here, but grow elsewhere as vegetables found in the organic garden or tall trees found in the arboretum, etc.
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The 350 types were identified mostly as ones that could be found in the environment of VB, or other environments accessible to the staff, and were compiled mainly from three sources. These are: The catalogue of 240 types for the Sri Nganis herbal garden in Bogor, the list of medicinal plants found on the Plantamor website, and a collection of local plants identified by Pk Acep of the VB staff. Some of the plants are not, however, available from the local environment and must be purchased. A directory to these 350 types is organized in four ways:
- By local name
- By scientific name
- By family
- By location and family
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Within each location group, the major breakout is by family. For example, among the small plants:
- Zingeberaceae, the ginger family, has 20 species;
- Euphorbiaceae, the spurge family, has 18 species;
- Asteraceae, the daisy or composite family, has 19 species, and
- Aconthaceae, one of many mint families, has 12 species.
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The directory also shows the illnesses that can be treated with each plant. For example:
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High blood pressure can be treated with antanan, tapak dara, sambung nyawa, jombrang, meniran, kumis kucing, bungur, cingcau, poncosudo, pule pandak, ceremai, besaran/murbei, salam, binahong, camcau rambat, seladri, mentimun, tomat, leuncah, ketumbar, lame, buni, tempuyung, belimbing, mengkudu, mahkota dewa, dan bawang merah.
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Insomnia can be treated with adas, melati, daun wati, bunga pagoda, mahkota dewa, lapender, leng-lengan, dan kayu putih.
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Instead of scanning the entire directory, however, you may prefer simply to consult with Pk Acep, 42 years old, a lifelong believer in traditional medicine who appears to be in fine health. Pk Acep brags that he’s never taken medicine from a doctor.
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[Copyright ©by Alex Korns]
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