Friday, February 10, 2012

PRICKLY PEAR CACTUS FOR RESEARCH PURPOSES








The two young men above came to see me yesterday morning with the purpose of obtaining the prickly pear cactus. The boys, Adib and Tso Koon (I think that is how his name is spelt) are students at the Sabak Bernam Polytechnic. For their final project, they are researching the feasibility of producing fuel (if I am not mistaken) from this particular species of cactus.
As a matter of fact, Adib had been trying to source for this cactus for sometime and he googled the Li Na Herbs blog that I also maintain. Luckily for the boys, the prickly pear cactus can be found in the cactus garden of the college. Adib contacted me through email and told me that he wanted to buy the cactus from me. I told him that the plant was not for sale but I would gladly give it to him if he were to come to the college. 
In the above pictures, you can see Puan Kamariah and me with the two boys at the Cactus Garden. They were hesitant to take more of the cactus as they were afraid that not much of the plant would be left. I assured them that the more they take, the more will grow back.
I am so glad that the boys managed to get the cactus for their research. They told me that they were even contemplating on importing the Prickly Pear Cactus from China in order to carry out their project. So here is one happy ending!

IN SEARCH OF KUNYIT HITAM (BLACK TURMERIC PLANT)






A couple of weeks before the Chinese New Year, I had a visitor who came all the way from Teluk Intan to the college to get some Kunyit Hitam (Curcuma Caesia) from the Herb Garden. His name was Mr Chew. He needed the plant for spiritual healing purposes. According to him, he became unwell as a result of something mystical and a Siamese Sifu whom he consulted told him to get hold of the Kunyit Hitam as a cure. He happened to visit my Li Na Herbs blog and saw the post on the Black Turmeric and contacted me. He came to get the herb from me after giving me a call in the morning.
According to information that I sourced from the Internet, the Kunyit Hitam is said to have mystical properties. This type of Kunyit can be used to 'seal' a house against negative elements. One plant each has to be planted in each of the four corners of the house in order to ward off evil. The Kunyit Hitam is said to be able to cure santau (hexes).