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Before antibiotics, painkillers, bug spray, or Band-Aids, we had plants.
Through the ages, people have used plants to meet all kinds of needs. We still do.
Nature’s Cough Medicine ▶
Mullein plants grow in pastures and on rocky slopes in North America. Their flowers contain an oil used to treat coughs and earaches. Their large soft leaves may have served as an early toilet paper!
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▲ Healing Plant
If you cut into an aloe vera leaf, a clear gel oozes out. It contains aloectin B, which helps the immune system. Rub it over a sunburn, burn, or wound. It’ll soothe the pain.
▼ Multipurpose
In addition to finding their way into recipes, lemons have many other uses. They remove ink stains from clothes. They shine up aluminum and copper. They can dry facial blemishes and stop motion sickness. They’re even used in perfumes.
◀ Flavor, Housekeeping, and Glue
Onions and garlic flavor a lot of the food we eat. They can also be used to polish copper and glass. Garlic juice is sticky and it works as a glue.
Natural Painkiller ▶
Native Americans mashed and soaked cow parsnip root. Then they used it as a medicine. It eases toothache pain. The root also helps with arthritis pain.
Thirsty Plant ▶
Imagine a powder so thirsty that one teaspoon can absorb a gallon of water. That’s super slurper. It’s made from corn. The USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) says it can absorb more than 2,000 times its weight. That makes it great for diapers, bandages, and cleaning cloths.
Green Fuel
Corn, grain, and sugarcane are being used to make fuel for cars and trucks. The fuel is called ethanol. It’s a renewable source of energy. It’s also less expensive and pollutes less than petroleum-based fuels.
▲ Antibacterial Plus
Native South Americans use bark from the Brazilian pepper-tree as a medicine. They use it to make a liquid that kills bacteria and viruses. It also heals wounds. People in Africa also use the tree’s leaves. It makes a tea that treats colds, hypertension, and depression.
Bug Repellent ▼
Seeds from the columbine plant keep bugs away. People used to mash the seeds and mix them with water. Then they’d rub the paste onto their heads to drive away lice.
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◀ Ways Ants Have Used Plants
Leafcutter ants can carry loads that are ten times their own weight. That’s like a 200-pound person lifting a 2,000-pound car! The ants carry the leaf pieces to their underground nests, where they chew the leaves into a pulp. The pulp is used as compost. It fertilizes a kind of fungus that the ants eat. They don’t eat the leaves.
Tomorrow
Future Fuel ▶
Plant-based fuels won’t always be made of just corn, cane, and grain. Some day, trucks and cars may run on fuel made from other plants. Soybeans and algae are two possible fuel sources.
◀ Limonene
You know that citrus smell in many household products? It comes from limonene. That’s the oil in the peel of any citrus fruit. Scientists are now using limonene from oranges, plus carbon dioxide, to make a new kind of plastic. Unlike current plastics, it’s not based on petroleum.
