Featured Conservation Articles

Albania’s mountains and valleys teem with rich botanical bounty. Mountain Rose Herbs and United Plant Savers visited its fecund countryside at the peak of the autumn harvest to meet the farmers and wildharvesters who help bring culinary apothecary herbs and fruits to plant lovers across the world (like the ripe and ready hawthorn berries above). by Jennifer Gerrity United Plant Savers’ Executive Director, Susan Leopold, pauses before a traditional farmstead along a country road used ...
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An Alternative for the pesticide treadmill and a way to reduce use of At-Risk Medicinal Plants by Autumn Arvidson and Kelly Kindscher Introduction: Figure 1. Kudzu (Pueraria montana),trying to cover a house The use of medicinal plants is gaining popularity in the health industry as more individuals are recognizing the risks associated with modern pharmaceuticals and the benefits of many herbal products. While this may be considered a step in the right direction for individuals ...
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by George Lindemann American ginseng (Panax quinquefoius) Toward the end of April 2018, the Chinese Government imposed a tariff on imported wild American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius). This little known wild root has somehow gotten into the middle of a brewing American/ Chinese trade war. I am not sure whether this new tariff is a good thing or a bad thing for ginseng or ginseng lovers. I do know that wild American ginseng grows on my ...
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by Anna Kell & Jonathan Clyde Frey Last June, we collaborated as artists-in-residence at the Lloyd Library, where we worked for the month on a design project titled Posters for the Plant Blind. Digitally collaged with visual elements culled from the library’s extensive collection, the posters are meant to highlight the presence of plants in our world as well as ripe resources like the Lloyd Library. “Plant Blindness” is a term, coined by educator-botanists James ...
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by Jennifer Gerrity United Plant Savers’ Susan Leopold and Mountain Rose Herbs’ Jennifer Gerrity travel into the Balkan mountains at the peak of the autumn harvest to visit our organic farm and harvest partners in the Bulgarian countryside. Amidst the stunning foliage of a golden autumn, I journeyed into the lush valleys and mountains of Bulgaria to seek out the wild plant collection sites where our regional partners harvest an array of our botanicals. Accompanying me on ...
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by Susan Leopold, PhD Tohono O’odham tribal elder Lois Liston uses a saguaro rib to harvest the cactus fruit at Colossal Cave Mountain Park. It is an ancient tradition practiced by the tribe. Photographer: Mike Christy In 2016, the National Park Service enacted a ruling that allows the gathering of certain plants or plant parts by federally recognized Indian Tribes for traditional purposes. This landmark document established a protocol where tribes can formally request a ...
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by Susan Leopold This year’s Journal celebrates 25 years of Medicinal Plant Conservation and is our most extensive publication to date. The theme is Voices from the Land, with intent to share indigenous perspectives in relationship with plants. This perspective is most profound in the article on white sage and the conflict with commercialization and cultural appropriation of a plant sacred to many. These issues have been a part of United Plant Savers discourse since ...
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