Use and Preparation

After careful inspection and scientific testing I can write with confidence about the nature of many D'ni botanical species, and how they might be used for culinary and medicinal purposes. As with all plants, some are edible and others are poisonous. Some parts of the plant can be used and others can not. There are ways to combine elements of plants from different ages to produce a different produce. I can not assign these alien plants to designated species groups, but I can describe properties of the plants that reflect familiar terrestrial species.

Culinary Use

Those plants described in the following pages as "edible" have all been thoroughly tested, both for safety as well as for nutrition. As with terrestrial vegetables, just because it looks like a cabbage, can be prepared like a cabbage, and has the nutritional benefits of a cabbage, does not mean that your children will eat it. Some people just do not like cabbage. I have identified the edible plants of URU with descriptions of which parts of the plant can be eaten. However I leave the recipes to those who can cook.

Medicinal Use

I am not a physician and do not prescribe any plant preparation for medicinal use. Each reader must take what I have discovered and decide how best to use the knowledge. I can describe how each plant must be prepared, mixed and used to achieve a certain effect, but the desirability of that effect must be left to the reader. Always wear appropriate protective gear when working with those plants marked as poisonous or hallucinogenic. This means wearing surgical gloves, a full face mask with an eye shield, and cover all exposed skin to avoid contact with these substances until ready for use.

Traditionally, the medicinal plants can be used in many ways. Preparation may take several steps. These I will cover in detail with each plant. Please pay heed to cautions about plants identified as poisonous or hallucinogenic. While none of these plants are covered by terrestrial law, that does not make frivolous use either wise or safe. If you do not fully understand how to use these preparations, you should refrain until you have gained the necessary understanding.

Ingestion and Infusions

This is simply a matter of eating the plant, either fresh or dried, or swallowing herbal preparations that have been formed into a pill. When the any part of an herb is placed in boiling water it becomes an infusion, which can be ingested as a tea, or used topically. So while all tea is an infusions, not all infusions are meant to be consumed as tea. To make an infusion, bring fresh water to a full rolling boil and pour it over the specified amount of the plant, which has be previously dried or macerated. Leave the infusion to steep for 5-10 minutes.
Inhalants

There are many forms of inhalant therapy. Most commonly the herbs are dried and smoked in a pipe. As a general rule, we discourage this because of the overall damage to the lungs caused by all forms of smoking. At La Casa pipe smoking is only permitted in the sweatlodge as part of the tribal vision quest ritual.

Suspended in an inert liquid base, an infusion or exudate can be used as a nasal spray. This is especially useful for anti-nausea medications. Taken in this manner the preparation is also very fast-acting.