So, what are the properties of this tea, now that I have had a cup.

D:So, what are the properties of this tea, now that I have had a cup.

what are the properties of this tea that I drink?

Paul Manski grin emoticon at the dosage that we talked about, ...dipping of the plant in hot boiling water and then removing it immediately....we would have a very light tea it would be useful for arthritic conditions because it deals with the inflammatory process in the sense of cooling it down. Another use would be topical, bath with the branches and water for arthritic conditions. At the same time due to its moderating the inflammatory process it also would be useful in asthmatic conditions. A poultice of the plant leaves would also be effective apply topically for anti-inflammatory arthritic conditions in the joints. Furthermore as far as topical I would describe it in stronger dosage is as we talked in a tincture applied as remedy for fungal infections as in nail fungus. In dilute infusion in water topically would be effective both as an aid in dealing with psoriasis and eczema as a wash and also in its role as an antioxidant in preventing skin damage for instance something for sunburn. 

       The way that I described D , is the way that my teacher often worked with a plant with us in order for us to hang out with the plant and understand the plant intuitively and experientially. The plant is a living being and often times when you approach the plant you want to speak with the plant in terms of describing your condition and your intentions for use. The idea is that we need to understand the plant. So in this sense in that very very light tea you were experiencing the plant and it would be worthwhile if you told me what you experienced with the plant. One of the things that you could answer is how did it taste?

Was it sweet?salty?bitter,? Was it hot or cold? Did you feel it anywhere in your body when you drink the tea? Was it moving from the inside of the body out towards the skin?did it produce sweat or heat? Also was there any place in the body where you felt the herb? This particular herb has affinity for the liver and although the dose you had would be very very light in the way that I described it you may have felt its present somewhere in the body. These are all very important and are part of the ways that we get to know plant. The idea is that the plant is somehow a medicine although true, is in someway beside the point. Yes the plant is medicine, yet the plant is also a life and the plant is also a being, as we talked that has lived in the desert and actually DEFINEs the desert. The plant is called the governess,

meaning the lady who rules like a queen. 

So D I encourage you to continue with this experiential learning about the plants and we can talk about it a little bit later thanks so much for sharing ,Paul

D just to show you the ethnobotanical usage of this plant being so broad, I'm going to focus on one of the desert peoples the Cahuilla who lived & encountered this plant in the desert and how they used it. Their usage pattern is very much descriptive and indicative of the Odom and Apache

and other native peoples of the Southwest with this plant: examples of ethnobotanical use of Larrea:

it would be useful for arthritic conditions because it deals with the inflammatory process in the sense of cooling it down. Another use would be topical, bath with the branches and water for arthritic conditions. At the same time due to its moderating the inflammatory process it also would be useful in asthmatic conditions.

"as a general health tonic before breakfast.
Bean, Lowell John and Katherine Siva Saubel 1972 Temalpakh (From the Earth); Cahuilla Indian Knowledge and Usage of Plants. Banning, CA. Malki Museum Press (p. 83)

Larrea tridentata var. tridentata
Creosotebush; Zygophyllaceae
Cahuilla Drug (Pulmonary Aid)
Infusion of stems and leaves used as a decongestant for clearing lungs.
Bean, Lowell John and Katherine Siva Saubel 1972 Temalpakh (From the Earth); Cahuilla Indian Knowledge and Usage of Plants. Banning, CA. Malki Museum Press (p. 83)

Larrea tridentata var. tridentata
Creosotebush; Zygophyllaceae
Cahuilla Drug (Pulmonary Aid)
Infusion of stems and leaves used as a decongestant 

Larrea tridentata var. tridentata
Creosotebush; Zygophyllaceae
Cahuilla Drug (Gynecological Aid)
Infusion of stems and leaves used for stomach cramps from delayed menstruation.
Bean, Lowell John and Katherine Siva Saubel 1972 Temalpakh (From the Earth); Cahuilla Indian Knowledge and Usage of Plants. Banning, CA. Malki Museum Press (p. 83)

Larrea tridentata var. tridentata
Creosotebush; Zygophyllaceae
Cahuilla Drug (Pulmonary Aid)
Infusion of stems and leaves used for chest infections.
Bean, Lowell John and Katherine Siva Saubel 1972 Temalpakh (From the Earth); Cahuilla Indian Knowledge and Usage of Plants. Banning, CA. Malki Museum Press (p. 83)

Larrea tridentata var. tridentata
Creosotebush; Zygophyllaceae
Cahuilla Drug (Pulmonary Aid)
Infusion of stems and leaves used as a decongestant for clearing lungs.
Bean, Lowell John and Katherine Siva Saubel 1972 Temalpakh (From the Earth); Cahuilla Indian Knowledge and Usage of Plants. Banning, CA. Malki Museum Press (p. 83)

Larrea tridentata var. tridentata
Creosotebush; Zygophyllaceae
Cahuilla Drug (Respiratory Aid)
Leaves boiled or heated and the steam inhaled for congestion.
Bean, Lowell John and Katherine Siva Saubel 1972 Temalpakh (From the Earth); Cahuilla Indian Knowledge and Usage of Plants. Banning, CA. Malki Museum Press (p. 83)

Thanks Paul, I also like the slightly bitter taste of the tea!
How often can I have this tea?

D my teacher Michael, describes plants in this way.

There are 1)food plants, there are 2)food/medicine plants, and then there are 3)medicine plants. The food plants of course we need to take into our bodies every day, and we all know who they are they're food and plants: potato, broccoli Sweet potato, carrots. The food/medicine plants are plants we can take every day, although given our current American situation they're often underused not included in the diet. Some of these plants may be plants that are ancestors ate daily or seasonally but we eat rarely or never, some of these plants may be Tumerick, nettles ginger garlic, a lot of these plants have become what we call now "spices", if we encounter them at all will meet them as spices in our daily food/plant life.

They're really food/medicine plants, These types of plants we can have every day without any issues. Now the third type of plants that we have are medicine plants. These plants are inherently different in that they are used differently and used less frequently than the other two groups. The plant that we met last night is the medicine plant. And the way that we approached it is the way that you approach medicine plant.
Thank you Paul!

You you look at the plant, you you touch the plant, you smell it, you place it in your hands you look at it with your eyes, you may take a small piece of it and taste it and try it, or you may do what you did take a small twig place it in hot water drink it and look at the plant and feel it's effect on your body. There is also an element of reverence because when we need these plants we need them right now. So you get to know the medicine plants when you're healthy and strong but when you need them it may be very different, a very different condition or situation.

Also when you gather plants for medicine you gather them for other people and you also gather them in a different way because you're thinking of the other person who you might not know physically at this time who may need this plant. Because it is a medicine plant it's not a plant that we want to take every day,. Although native peoples especially the people who lived in the desert, living like we do right where the plant grows, wouldn't be hesitant to take a light tea every day or on most days. As an example with the Western medicine plant echinacea, with echinacea you don't want to take it every day you want to take it when you need it and then stop taking it. The plant that we talked about is like this if you had a cold or a flu coming on, or us a skin condition or an arthritic condition that warranted it then you may want to use the plant during that time.

But it's not an every day plant. I'd like to talk to more about this in person and the reasons that I have for explaining it in this way. But to answer your question it's not an every day plant it's the medicine plant. So what we were doing D is meeting the plant for the first time which is something unique and it's how we first meet the plants it's the first step.

D this plant I call a Doorway, entranceway plant something like an entrance way, and in our area you can go from Las Vegas to Las Cruces and you will see this plant everywhere, now when you travel you will see it.

Before maybe you didn't notice it but now you will see it everywhere and you will wonder how could I have not seen it before? And the way you met the plant by touching it, leaves and stems, smelling the leaves, tasting the leaves(in the mild light tea)seeing what it looks like, it's silhouette. Watching how it looks when it blows in the wind. So now when you go to work you'll think about work differently too, because it's growing right outside there in the parking lot on its own without any help from any one. And the people who lived nearby, the

Hohokam, Pima, Odum.. I'm sure they use the same plant just like you did, and I'm sure that they drunk the Tea just like you did. So from now on you I, and the silent ancient ones who are still with us, and all the people who acknowledge the bioregion the plants in the space that we live, we somehow now have something in common, we have this plant that we tasted and smelled and touched. And now when you drive from Las Vegas to Las Cruces you will see the governess along the highway and you will now know where you are in a different way.

This is how my teachers have taught me to know the plants. You begin this way by touching. It's like an introduction at a party and maybe you will make connections and have fun times or play the piano, or maybe you won't. That's how anintroduction is you make some contacts, you look the person over, you hear a few things that he or she has to say and then you pass on because that's all an introduction is. An introduction is the beginning of a relationship. And it's very important when you go to a party to meet the right people and by meeting this plant, you have met the owner of the house where the party is. In other words you've met the party giver, the host, that's the governess. In the Southwest this is one of the most important plants to meet and know and understand because it says who she is but it also tells us where we are.

We live in a bioregion those canals that flow those are canals of the Salt & Gila River, and these are the canals it a flowing for a thousand years. And the mountains where the water falls, with the clouds meet the mountains in the rain happens, the snow and rain falls and flows all the way to Mesa, Arizona. It's important to know those mountains, these sky islands.

So we begin where we are exactly right where we are. This is really the best way to meet herbs and medicine. Of course you could go to a herb shop or go to a medicine store, an herbstore, or go to Walmart and look at the bottles of herbs they have and maybe buy a bottle off the shelf and try it, that's OK. That's also one way to meet the plants. This is another way to meet the plants to meet them directly. That's the way that my teachers use to explain the plants and that's the way that I use too. So de meet the governess governess D

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