Goldenseal

One of the first known medicinal uses of goldenseal was by Native Americans, who used the indigenous plant's roots and underground stem as a treatment for eye infections, diarrhea, fever, wounds, sore throats and coughs. The herb became popular in the 19th century, when it was touted as a cure-all used in various medical tonics. Today, goldenseal is one of the top-selling herbs in the U.S. It's also one of the most expensive.

One of the first known medicinal uses of goldenseal was by Native Americans, who used the indigenous plant's roots and underground stem as a treatment for eye infections, diarrhea, fever, wounds, sore throats and coughs. The herb became popular in the 19th century, when it was touted as a cure-all used in various medical tonics. Today, goldenseal is one of the top-selling herbs in the U.S. It's also one of the most expensive.

Sylvia O'Brion, 76, sat beside an oil lamp and wood-burning stove in her clapboard cabin on the sub-zero night, strumming her banjo and singing: "This is my home where the bobcats holler and the wild deer roam." She has lived in the primitive dwelling without running water or electricity on the slopes of Dead Fall Mountain her entire life. She shuns modern conveniences. She lives alone in one of the isolated pockets beyond the power lines in West Virginia.

As much as I hated to admit it, the timing was perfect. For two days, I'd been interviewing people about echinacea and goldenseal, an herbal cold remedy that some called "miraculous." Suddenly, 36 hours into my reporting, it hit me. My throat scratched. My eyes itched. It was the moment everyone had told me about--that first hint of sickness, that grim feeling of impending doom--when echinacea and goldenseal was supposed to do its best work. And I had a bottle sitting right on my desk.

I'm writing to thank you for the Los Angeles Times coverage. We started noting the California postmarks and after awhile began to sit up and take note--and I noted $100 worth of subscriptions attributable to Hillinger's story in one day. Most of the folks seem to be displaced West Virginians. We've always had a few hundred of those (254 California subscriptions, as of the last count) and are glad to welcome more into the fold. KEN SULLIVAN, Editor Goldenseal West Virginia Department of Culture and History

It's cold season. You'd have to live in a cave not to know it. The sneezing. The coughing. The ads that promise relief from sneezing and coughing. But not everybody in town is snorting nasal spray and popping decongestants. In certain circles--and not necessarily the ones you might expect--a vile-smelling brown liquid is making the rounds, passed from friend to friend, even recommended by some physicians.

If you're prone to allergies, then watery eyes, itchy nose and scratchy throat can soon snuff out the pleasures of a springtime trip. Here's some advice on how to manage your sensitive senses while traveling: Dr. Bernard Geller, Santa Monica allergist and USC professor of pediatrics: "Stuff some plastic dry-cleaning bags into your suitcase. When you get to your hotel, take off the pillowcase and wrap the pillow in the bag, then replace the pillowcase.

Common Name, Botanic Name Aconite (wolfsbane, monkshood), Aconitum Anemone (windflower), Anemone Anthurium Atamasco lily, Zephyranthes Autumn crocus, Colchicum autumnale Azalea, Rhododendron Baneberry, Actaea Black locust, Robinia pseudoacacia Burning bush (strawberry bush, spindle tree, wahoo), Euonymus Buttercup, Ranunculus Butterfly weed, Asclepias Caladium, Caladium Calla (calla lily), Calla palustris (Zantedeschia aethiopica), Carolina jessamine (yellow jessamine), Gelsemium sempervirens

Got a headache? There are pills for it. Too much stress and anxiety? Numerous pills and capsules for those problems, too. Sex life not up to par? A pill can take care of it. High blood pressure? Good medication for that as well. Pharmaceutical companies have done a fantastic job of making our lives healthier and more comfortable. Why, then, is the natural and herbal remedies business going so strong? More than 1,000 Web sites are dedicated to herbs.

When doctors suggest taking along a travel-medicine kit, the emphasis is often on prescription drugs such as antibiotics to quell diarrhea or sleeping pills to ease jet lag. Other remedies, however, are worth considering. Some of the following are herbal, and all are available without a prescription. Check with your primary doctor first, especially if you take medications for chronic conditions such as high blood pressure.

There's more to America's forests than trees, a fact well appreciated by entrepreneurs cashing in on woodland products once overlooked or regarded as weeds. In Georgia's pine forests, needles are scraped from the ground and bagged for landscaping mulch. The evergreen woods of northern New England yield a bounty of Christmas greens. And the harvest of medicinal herbs, from goldenseal in Indiana to ginseng in West Virginia, is riding a wave of interest in natural remedies.