In My Mother’s Garden: Neem Tree; Miracle Herb from India
Neem Tree in My Mother's Garden in Hawaii
Dot’s Thots: I love plants as sources of health, nutrition, sustenance, beauty, awe, and a faith in a higher states of existence. Sometimes I feel one should aspire for the purity of return that a plant gives you for nurturing, feeding, and loving it.
Close Up Look at Neem Leaves, Honolulu, 31 August 2009
Neem, Herb from India: My Husband’s Toothbrush and Tongue Cleaner
Just a short note — when I got back to California, I found that I had not posted about the neem tree in my mother’s garden. For years I have heard about the miracle of neem as a powerful antiseptic aid and had heard about how my husband used to use neem twigs for dental hygiene. He used to chew on the bitter stems of this herb from India until he got the fiber softened, rubbed his gums and teeth clean and split the twig to get a slender tongue cleaner with which he scraped the gunk off his tongue. All his life he had told me that teeth were like stones to him — toothaches were an unfamiliar and therefore frightening concept.
I have also seen neem shampoo, soap, and ointments in the Indian shops.
Scene in Hawaii: Neem at a Nursery
One day I found this plant in a nursery in Hawaii and since I could not have it shipped back to me in California, I bought it for my mother. She is infinitely curious about plants and has fostered this in her garden. When I can get the hubby over there, I am going to ask for a demo on the neem toothbrush and tongue cleaner. Hope you enjoy the photos.
Aloha, DoT
Related Articles and References:
- Neem (in Wikipedia)
- Temperature Affects Pakalana Blooming
- Wikipedia: Alpinia zerumbet
- Flowers of American Samoa
- Wikipedia: Prosopis pallida
- Growing Bougainvilleas
- Prosopis pallida: kiawe, keawe, algaroba, mesquite by Kim and Forest Starr
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