Over 3,000 plants grow in the 16 kilometre long and some 360 metre deep Sićevo gorge, east of the southern Serbian city of Niš. The rugged and beautiful landscape of the Svrljig mountains is an ideal habitat for sage, otherwise a Mediterranean plant, which is a wild, autochthonous species here. Aware of its value, the […]

When we think of lavender, probably the first thing that comes to mind are the wide purple fields of Provence. But the story of this fragrant plant begins much earlier, and much further afield, in the lands of ancient Egyptians, Arabs and Hindus, over two and a half millennia ago. They were the first to […]

Everyone knows that the English are crazy about tea and that the most beloved and famous brand is Earl Gray. It is named after Charles Gray, an aristocrat and British Prime Minister between1830 and 1834, famous for numerous reforms, one of which brought a ban on slavery in the British Empire. And what makes Earl […]

In ancient Greece, students used to wear rosemary wreaths on the head to improve memory and young women used to give it to their boyfriends who were going to war lest they should forget them. Once upon a time, a rosemary bush in the garden in front of the house symbolised the domination by woman, […]

When Sir Abraham Hume, an English floriculturist and member of parliament, brought mandarin samples from China to England in 1805, Europe immediately fell in love with the fragrant fruit. Immediately afterwards, mandarin arrived in Malta, then in the south of Italy, from where it spread to the Mediterranean, where it is still grown in abundance. […]

It opens its flower when everyone goes to sleep. Evening primrose, as its name suggests, is a nocturnal plant. Its nectar attracts moths that pollinate it. Before dawn, the pollinated flowers wither, and by the next evening, new ones sprout. This beautiful plant originates from North America, and was brought to Europe as an ornamental […]

It is widely used as food and as of late there have been heated debates about its usefulness or harmfulness. What is certain is that it has been in use since the time when humans as a species began to make great strides towards progress. We owe a lot to wheat today. When wheat germinates, […]

Medicinal herbs usually have a wide range of effects, but probably the most versatile among them is fenugreek. Also known as the Greek seed, trigonella foenum-graecum, it has been used since prehistoric times in the Mediterranean belt and Asia in the household, industry, cuisine and medicine, and even in the process of mummification by the ancient […]

In springtime, willow is the first to come into bud, children are symbolically beaten with its twigs to help them grow and prosper, on St. George’s Day, girls weave its twigs through their hair to make it lush, while women tread into water and release its wreaths to flow down rivers and streams. Willow has […]

The prostate is a small yet very important organ of the male reproductive system. The basic function of this gland is to create a fluid that protects and nourishes the sperm. It is located under the bladder and around it passes the urethra, the duct by which urine is conveyed out of the body from […]

It is usually seen on St John’s Day when wreaths of its flowers are made and hung on the door. The yellow flowers smell of honey and are a true symbol of a warm and carefree summer. Lady’s bedstraw is not only a decorative plant – it has been used widely throughout history, both in […]

When we say oregano, we usually think of the fragrant Italian cuisine, but this plant is much more than a fragrant spice, especially its wild variant, the one that grows on the cliffs in the wider Mediterranean region. Origanum vulgare has also always thrived in the mountainous areas of the Balkans. Today, it is known as wild […]

If we let this plant tell us about what its ancient roots have witnessed, the stories would read along these lines: imagine the prairies of Nebraska, endless desolate fields and dramatic rocks, as one sees in cowboy movies. Then imagine the Indians, the Sioux and the Pawnee, cruising across those plains on their wild horses, […]

When we think of a palm tree, we probably immediately imagine sitting on a tropical beach with a coconut next to a deck chair in the dappled shade of this exotic tree. The palm is one of the most decorative plants, but its usefulness still exceeds its decorative value: it is known that palm trees […]

Beer and ample breasts are every man’s dream and often go hand in hand – although not as men would like them to. Everyone knows the term “beer belly”, but beer has been proven to lead to the appearance of gynecomastia in men, which in the same vein could be called “beer breasts”. Certainly, every […]

Witches have been flying on brooms since times immemorial, all the way to Harry Potter. The forerunners of “Nimbus 2000” were used by ancient peoples, from northern Europe to the American Indians. It is believed that druids, shamans and sorcerers used various hallucinogenic plants during spiritual rituals, with which they would create the illusion of […]

In our childhood we must have picked it and plucked its heart-shaped leaves while saying “should I, should I not” or “loves me, loves me not”. Shepherd’s purse is another widespread, resistant weed plant, a bit inconspicuous but extremely medicinal. In some languages it is also called “girl’s herb” for a good reason: it has […]

Parsley is probably one of the most common herbs used for cooking all over the world. It is difficult to imagine a soup or a stew without its leaves or roots. It is full of minerals and vitamins: A, C, K, E, folic acid, potassium, copper, zinc, calcium, manganese iron, as well as antioxidants – […]

While picking raspberries, Zeus’ wet nurse Ida accidentally pricked her finger on a thorn. Raspberries were snow-white at the time, and her blood turned them red. That is what Greek mythology says. This plant, which originated in Asia and which was “sowed” by animals all over the place, is often found in archeological excavations, as […]

Hops were given their scientific name – Humulus lupulus – because of the ancient Romans’ belief that this climber tends to strangle other surrounding plants, just as a wolf (lupus) does to its prey. Even though it was used by American Indians and Arabs for centuries, hops were first used  in Europe as a favourite ingredient for beer-brewing […]

One day, the beautiful Princess Eelemani had to set off and leave behind her sweetheart, her Bundjalung people and the wild coasts of Eastern Australia. The journey was long and arduous, through unknown lands, and Eelemani was worried that she would not be able to find her way back home. That is why she pleaded […]

Some 180 million years ago, the supercontinent Gondwana started to break apart. One part of the land mass became today’s Antarctic, Australia, India and Madagascar. Later, some 160 million years ago, Madagascar began to separate from Africa and then from India some 90 million years ago. Since then the island has been isolated from the […]

The Indians who inhabited the semi-deserts of Arizona, Baja California and Mexico have used it for centuries, and passed on knowledge about it from generation to generation. It has always helped them to protect their skin against strong sun exposure, to heal wounds and soothe pain in muscles and bones, but also to soften animal […]

Blueberries, salmon, turmeric, goji berries, coco, chia seeds, spinach, kefir, garlic, avocado… Not a day goes by without us coming across reports about foodstuffs that have extreme nutritional properties, brimming with anti-oxidants, polyphenols, vitamins and minerals. Some research shows that including them in our daily diet reduces the risk of developing chronic diseases, increases our […]

Do you know which fruit has a higher percentage of fat than carbohydrates? We can help you with a few pointers: The Aztecs called it the fruit of fertility. In the Aztec language, it is called ahuacatl which is the word denoting a part of male anatomy which looks like it. When the English encountered […]

Rosa mosqueta, sweetbriar or Chilean rose belongs to the wild rose family which numbers over 100 species. It inhabits wild slopes of the Andes, and is another proof of how something most beautiful can flourish even in the harshest of conditions. In addition to its beauty, this plant has many useful properties. In Chile, it […]

It is year 1665 in London. People live in extremely unhygienic conditions, with rats freely roaming the streets. Even though the Dark Ages had long been over, the darkness persists and is embodied in the Black Death, a bubonic plague. The plague which ravaged China in the 1330s arrived in Europe in October 1347, when […]

(Non est vivere sed valere vita est – a Latin saying) Valere in Latin means “to be well”. And that very same word is the root of valerian’s scientific name – it really does a very good job of describing it. Valerian is a wild plant that loves high altitudes and sunshine. In ancient Rome, it was […]

When we come across nettle in nature and accidentally get stung by it we are usually angry, but this plant is so healthy and beneficial that we should be thankful it even when it leaves blisters on our skin. At the same time, it is available to everyone and everywhere, and if we eat it […]

There is a common weed that we step on almost every day, that grows all around us, but which we normally do not notice. And we are totally unaware of how much it can help us. According to mythology, broadleaf plantain originated from a girl who stood on the road side and waited… for so […]

Rastafarians, members of a religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s who believe that Haile Selassie, the emperor of Ethiopia between 1930 and 1974, was the Second Coming of Jesus and their god Jah incarnate, wear the easily recognisable dreadlocks. The rope-like strands of hair formed by locking or braiding hair are inspired by the Nazarites […]

Dandelion. It grows everywhere, its seed is carried by the wind, it cannot be domesticated, it has a will of its own and it cannot be found in shops. But it is all over the place, all around us. We walk on it, we pick it, we blow its over-ripe flowers and watch as its […]

To speak highly of something, the ancient Romans used to say that it was like veronica, full of virtue and goodness. The Romans came across the plant veronica, known as speedwell in English, while conquering Europe. It was highly regarded by Celtic and Germanic tribes and it soon found its way to the Roman pharmacopoeia where it […]

An old legend recounts the story of a rivulet whose banks were richly overgrown with motherwort. The inhabitants of a township through which this rivulet flowed allegedly lived for at least 130 years and the oldest inhabitant even lived long enough to see his 300th birthday. Leonurus cardiaca, literally translated as lion’s tail, or motherwort […]

“The marigold, that goes to bed wi’ the sun and with him rises weeping”, wrote Shakespeare. In our region, marigold water is used as a facial wash for Đurđevdan (Saint George’s Day). In the West, it was believed that marigold water rubbed into the eyes could make one see fairies. Since time immemorial, girls used to give […]

Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis), balm, common balm or balm mint… It grows everywhere around us and its application is very wide. And what is most important is that this beautiful fragrant plant can restore our faith in life. It has been known in southern Europe and northern Africa for more than two millennia. Lemon balm […]

In his famous work Naturalis Historia Pliny the Elder pays tribute to Gallic druids, even though he was a Roman through and through, and as such a natural enemy of the Celts. These barbarians, uncouth, rough savages – as labelled by the Romans – had special powers and knowledge which were passed from generation to generation. In […]

If we were to draw up a list of the most powerful plants, it would certainly be topped by mistletoe. Our ancestors glorified it since time immemorial and ascribed to it magic powers; modern science has proved that the magic is real. Mistletoe is strange in itself – it grows as a parasite on trees […]

There is an element which is known to have extraordinary powers. Germanium stimulates the body’s immune response, it prevents the effects of free radicals, transmits oxygen – thus nourishing the cells, increases the levels of interferons which stimulate anti-bodies… Germanium is a super-hero which protects our body from bacteria, viruses and tumours. Double Nobel laureate […]

Achilles, an almost invincible hero of the Trojan War, owed his immortality to his mother Thetis, a nereid – a sea nymph – who regularly dipped him in the river Styx; however, he was left vulnerable in one part of the body – that by which his mother held him while dipping him in the […]

The first description of lady’s mantle dates back to 1539, when the German botanist and physician Hieronymus Bock, known also by his Latin name Tragus, kicked off the process of modernisation of medieval botany. Bock laid the foundations of modern science with his catalogue of 700 plants based on observation and detailed description. Kreutterbuch, literally translated as the […]

Do you suffer from acne, memory fog, chronic fatigue, depression, anxiety or sleep disorder? Do you often feel frustrated, extremely emotional and find it difficult to stop binge eating? Do you have tension headaches, IBS, sudden weight gain and experience extreme flatulence? Is loss of libido ruining your relationship or marriage? Do you know that all […]

Menstruation is an ever present phenomenon in every woman’s life, and a foundation of her functioning reproductive system. With small variations from month to month, menstrual bleeding is rather consistent. Thus, it is not difficult to detect sudden abnormalities. First of all, we need to know what ‘normal’ is. Periods should occur 21-35 days apart, […]

Every woman has an idea what represents ‘normal’ menstrual bleeding. Science says that the average amount of blood lost during a period is 35ml, and that anything above 80ml is abnormal, as it could lead to anemia, as well as hint at certain disorders. Young girls usually experience heavier bleeding due to the fact that […]

Hormone imbalance can easily be identified on our face and body. Hormones are an essential piece of the puzzle of our system, and as we enter certain age or situations, like puberty, menopause or pregnancy, the level of hormones changes. However, today we are witnesses of a massive ’hormone rebellion’ that works against the well […]

Premenstrual syndrome makes us all feel bloated, tired, and irritable to a certain extent. But imagine a PMS ten times stronger! Every woman’s nightmare. Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) affects approximately 8% of women, usually from early twenties to early thirties. Just like with PMS, the symptoms occur in the second part of the menstrual cycle, […]

The ancients believed in ’wandering wombs’. Yes, it was the main culprit for all female disorders, from sore throat to poor nerves. Even Hippocrates was convinced that the uterus is the reason women differ so much from men, in every possible way. Aretaeus of Cappadochia, the Greek physician from 1 AD claimed the uterus was […]

Starting in 1950s, a cave in the Zagros Mountains in northern Iraq has been in spotlight of archeologists and anthropologists from all over the world. The spacious Shanidar cave has given shelter to the remains of eight adult and two infant Neanderthals for over 60 000 years, as well as numerous remains of the later […]

During the great hormone surge in puberty the entire body goes through a metamorphosis, and the soft baby skin can begin to look like a battlefield, swarming with red and swollen acne.  Acne during puberty occur due to testosterone fluctuations in both sexes, and this hormone has its role: it shapes a man out of a […]

We, women are all familiar with the moment when all we want is to curl up, press a cushion or a hot water bottle on our tummy and find occasional comfort in a piece of chocolate. Period pain is normal, and probably most women got more or less accustomed to it. The pain is usually […]