Medicinal Plants of Singapore?

One of my best takeaways from my Alaska trip was how I learnt from my friend to identify plants around us that could be used to make tea to cure illnesses. Like when I was having a bad flu, she showed me how to make yarrow tea. And it was so easy, just pluck leaves from one of the yarrow (which is a weed growing all over the place), put it in a cup, pour hot water, and let it simmer for 10-15 min. And it worked really fast too. I was in cold sweat just minutes after drinking it.

Now that I'm back in Singapore and having a cold again, I find it sad that I can't do the same here- just coz I don't have the knowledge of my own region's herbs. I can't help looking out at the field of grasses behind my house and think: hmm.. i'm sure there's a cold remedy somewhere out there. yes i know fedac and clarinase are easy to get.. natural living is good la.

So here's asking if anyone knows of any good books that has some common medicinal plants that can be found in Singapore and the region. With good photos of plants and its medicinal uses. So far all i've found online is this book: 'Medicinal Plants of Asia and the Pacific' by Christophe Wiart. Don't you find it ironic that its an Angmohs writing the book. hmm..

Wild, Green and Rouge

Reefwalk @ Changi Beach

Yesterday, under Juan's recommendation, me and H tagged along with Samson (semakau guide) and friends to Changi beach. been to a few reefwalks at southern islands and chek jawa and this was my first walk (other than Labrador- which is a rocky shore, very diff) to a beach on mainland. Pleasantly surprised to see all these lovely critters. see also Samson's blog.

sea star

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some weird frigging HUGE nudibranch! bigger than the size of my palm! *added w credits to sonneblume* kalinga ornata.
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peacock anemone.

we later found one that was dug out of the substratum. so sad. looked like a sea cucumber. we buried it back but i doubt it'll survive. curiosity (of prolly some evil kid) killed the anemone!

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moon crab. (Ashtoret lunaris)

tonnes of them all ard. pretty pretty pretty.

more on moon crabs by a fellow changi RWer here

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brittle star

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button shells.

i love these. used to think they can only be found on chek jawa. then samson told me changi is the only other beach where they can be found. sad thing was that most of these shells were inhabited by hermit crabs. din see many live snails.

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leaf porter crab (Neodorippe callida)

maybe i suaku but i don't usually see this on RWs so was quite excited to see it. and evil H put sand on the top of the leaf (the crab is on the underside) to see how the crab would handle the weight of the sand: the crab skillfully tipped the leaf to clear the sand. smartie pants!
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on the whole a pleasant walk. nice to have just a few reefwalkers for a change. only thing was the collectors of fan shells kinda spoiled the mood. oh well. note to future RWers: only go to changi when low tide <0.3m.>

Welcome to the Blooooooo

Decided to start a new blog to share photos and experiences and my rantings on green (and blue) issues here.

enjoy.