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NewsAsia 16 Oct 05 Alexandra Hospital garden has plants that heal, thrill or kill By Margaret Perry, Channel NewsAsia Channel NewsAsia 30 Jul 05 Alexandra Hospital opens new garden of medicinal plants By Margaret Perry  SINGAPORE
: Alexandra Hospital has unveiled a new garden stocked with more than 90
species of medicinal plants. Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan opened the 20 hectare garden on Saturday. The aim is to provide a more holistic healing environment for patients and visitors. Volunteers from schools and the Singapore Gardening Society planted the garden. The plant varieties include nutmeg, eucalyptus and castor oil tree. The idea came from botanist Dr Wee Yeow Chin, whose book, "Plants that Heal, Thrill and Kill" was also launched on Saturday. – CNA /ct Channel NewsAsia 16 Oct 05 Alexandra Hospital garden has plants that heal, thrill or kill By Margaret Perry, Channel NewsAsia SINGAPORE: There's a new attraction at Alexandra Hospital - a medicinal garden stocked with plants that heal and thrill but can also kill. As visitors learn about ingredients used to treat illnesses, they're also warned of others that can land them in hospital. The beautiful datura flower masks the plant's shady past. Seeds from its fruit used to be burnt under kampung houses, making the occupants drowsy and the home easy pickings for thieves. It is growing in Alexandra Hospital's medicinal garden, among 100 other plants that heal, thrill or kill. What better example of a plant that thrills than tongkat ali. This is claimed to be a local traditional version of Viagra. And growing right next to it, is Kachip Fatimah which is said to be an aphrodisiac for women. The garden was inspired by a book written by local botanist Wee Yeow Chin. It took an army of volunteers three months to create the garden and finding the plants wasn't easy. "Sourcing for them was a problem because you can't actually buy all of these. Many of them are actually weeds, so we went looking for weeds around the hospital and other areas," said Rosalind Tan, Alexandra Hospital's senior executive and chief gardener. The castor oil tree is among the garden's killer plants. Its prickly fruit contains a deadly natural poison, ricin, for which there is no known antidote. But many of the plants in the garden can also heal and are at the root of many western medicines. "After they discover the chemicals in plants, then they may go to the next step and synthesise them in the lab. But you need the model from the natural products," said Dr Wee Yeow Chin, a botanist and author of the book titled "Plants That Heal, Thrill And Kill". Between 35,000 and 70,000 plants are used in traditional medicines around the world. So far, just 5,000 have been screened by laboratories as possibilities for western treatments. The Madagascar Periwinkle made the grade and its derivatives are used to treat cancer. Who knows which other plants at Alexandra Hospital's medicinal garden will provide the next great cure for Singapore's biggest killer. links Related articles on Singapore: general environmental issues |
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