Plants Of Yiddera

One of my characters, Amalie, is a botanist. She loves finding new plants that can help her people prosper on the new world of Yiddera. She has discovered many that can help heal wounds and treat sickness and many that can be used in cooking and other aspects of daily life. 

Many of the characters that I write about use different plants. Micksie uses them to cook. The Prophetess uses them in teas and in healing tisanes. In the three other books I have written for this series, we learn that some of the characters use them to ward off bad dreams, prevent pregnancy, to heal, and others to kill. 

In researching these characters, I have learned of many plants here on Earth that can do all of the above. 

Amalie is looking for plants that can help heal wounds. I have come across many plants that can help heal in my research. I combined some of the properties of these plants to 'invent' the ones that Amalie uses on Yiddera.

The first ones I will talk about are yarrow, clove and comfrey. This information is not intended for any type of medical use. It is intended to be fun and informative only.

These three combined plants make up the one that Tam shows her when he projects the image of him rubbing an ointment on an animal to heal it. 

Yarrow can aid in wound healing by reducing inflammation and it can help stop bleeding. It is antimicrobial, so it can help fight infections. It has been called devil's nettle, devil's plaything, and yarrow, though its scientific name is Achillea millefolium,

It is associated with the myth of Achilles. As an infant, Achilles' mother dipped him in yarrow and water, which was believed to promote eternal life. His heel, where his mother held him, was the only part that wasn't dipped. This made his heel vulnerable, and it is from this story that we get the term "Achilles' heel." It is also said that he used yarrow to heal his soldiers on the battlefield. 

Comfrey is also called Symphytum and "knit bone," among many other names I will not recount here. It can treat wounds by reducing inflammation and can help stop bleeding. It also increases the regeneration of new skin cells. 

It is considered an antiaging plant because it revives tired, aged, and wrinkled skin. It is said that adding the rootstock to your bath regularly can help promote more youthful skin.

Clove contains eugenol, which has anesthetic properties. It can help reduce pain and it has a numbing effect on the skin. It works by blocking pain signals from reaching the brain. It has anti-inflammatory properties, improves blood circulation, and removes dead skin cells.

Clove is also called Syzygium aromaticum and comes from a tree. 

As a child my mother would put clove oil on our gums when we had a sore tooth or were teething. At Christmas, we would also put whole cloves in the skin of oranges to create pomanders that smelled wonderful. I still do this with my family now. 

The plant that Amalie finds has never been given a name in my books, but someday, I may name it. I based it on these three plants because I liked the combination of healing properties and imagined it would smell good. Most medicine does not smell good, and I wanted the medication on Yiddera to be pleasant. 

Amalie also discovers the coffee orchid on Yiddera. When dried, it tastes like coffee with a hint of vanilla. While coffee beans come from a small evergreen shrub, vanilla actually does come from an orchid. The orchid on Yiddera is green, and here on Earth, it is a pale greenish yellow. The vanilla orchid's flowers only last for one day; however, the plant blooms for about two months. 

Coffee contains caffeine, and it is safe for us to consume only 400 mg or less caffeine per day. Moderate consumption is said to increase life span. 

When added to chocolate, it can enhance the chocolate flavor. If added to pure ethanol such as Everclear, though vodka works well too, it is not bitter. 

Vanilla beans added to Everclear or vodka becomes pure vanilla extract. 

On Yiddera, I combine the coffee bean and the vanilla bean into one plant – the green coffee orchid,

Amalie finds a plant that she cannot figure out what it could be used for if anything, but soon learns that it is a plant that is used for birth control. 

Silphium is an extinct plant here on Earth, but ancient Romans once used it as birth control. It is often cited as the first human-induced species extinction.

It was used as a contraceptive and an abortive. The heart-shaped leaves were ground up and ingested for this use. It was used as a decoction along with pepper and myrrh to induce menstrual flow.

Silphium was also thought to be an aphrodisiac, though primarily by males. 

On Yiddera, the birth control plant is called opfrodij but often called op for short. It stands for 'obstruct pregnancy,’' which means to halt or get in the way of becoming pregnant. This plant is very important to Amalie and Diem. Diem is a strong-willed, intelligent, and beautiful woman you will meet in "A Demon's Fascination."

I enjoyed learning of the herbs so much that I had to stop myself from going into their details in the actual book. I hope you love Amalie, Tam, and all the other characters in "A Demon's Fascination" as much as I do. 

                                                                                    Louella Ranes