Sacred Roots Apothecary

03/05/2026

This plant has its own metabolic process to generate heat?! Thats so cool!!!

Right now, in wet woods across the Eastern US, a plant called Skunk Cabbage is generating its own body heat — up to 70°F above the surrounding air temperature — and MELTING through frozen ground from below.

This isn't photosynthesis. This is thermogenesis. The same process your body uses to stay warm.

- Skunk Cabbage is one of the only plants on Earth that produces metabolic heat
- It burns stored starch at a rate comparable to a small mammal
- Its internal temperature holds steady at 68-77°F even when the outside air is 15°F
- It pushes through snow and frozen soil by literally melting a tunnel from underneath
- The heat volatilizes its chemicals — producing a rotting-meat smell that attracts the first flies of the season

Those early flies crawl inside the hooded spathe, get warm, pick up pollen, and carry it to the next furnace down the creek.

While you're still wearing a winter coat, this plant is running a heated pollination station in a frozen swamp.

March's first bloom doesn't wait for warmth. It makes its own.

03/03/2026

Humanity first 💚🦌🌿✨️

03/03/2026

Some of my favorite sounds

03/03/2026

Great alternatives to popular invasive species

03/03/2026

I think there's so many reasons our native plants are valuable beyond comprehension

A 2025 study out of the Vermont Center for Ecostudies further points toward the importance of native plants for specialist insects.

The study looked at 950 Promethea silkmoth caterpillars (Callosamia promethea), who eat from the Prunus genus (cherries, plums, peaches, nectarines, apricots, and almonds).

Some were fed exotic Prunus species that are closely related to the moths’ native host plants, while others were fed Prunus species native to the same areas as the moths.

Compared to the caterpillars given native Prunus leaves to eat, the cohort that was given exotic Prunus leaves grew smaller, grew more slowly, and had higher overall mortality.

The study's author, Desiree Narango, “believes these results have implications for other specialized caterpillar species.”

Plant native species for your area.

Here are some resources to find which specific species are native to your area:
🌻 Your state’s Native Plant Society
🌻 Your local Wild Ones chapter
🌻 The National Wildlife Federation’s Native Plant Finder tool
🌻 BONAP’s North American Plant Atlas
🌻 The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center’s website
🌻 iNaturalist
🌻 National Audubon Society’s native plant tool

I’ll put the l*nk to the study in the comments of the OP.

03/02/2026

I used to find myself really disliking stinging nettles. They hurt! But im finding they have many benefits.

🌿✨️ Effective at inhibiting growth of gram positive and gram negative bacteria, making it a good candidate for a broad spectrum antibiotic

🌿✨️ Expectorant properties allow nettles to help the body get rid of extra mucous and congestion

🌿✨️ Antiviral properties of nettles are effective against many viruses, including covid-19

Thats just the tip of the iceberg! This plant is truly the diamond in the rough.

I have shared several studies with evidence of all these claims. Feel free to review them! I alwaus encourage doing your own research and backing claims with study based evidence.

03/02/2026

Did you know....

Studies show that many plants show antiviral behavior against HSV1 and HSV2? Some of them may be growing in your back yard, like Garden Spurge, Burdock and Stinging Nettles as well as many polypore mushrooms.

Read the study here!

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7894602/ #:~:text=Extract%20demonstrated%20antiviral%20effects%20against%203%20HSV%2D1,demonstrated%20antiviral%20activity%20against%202%20HSV%2D1%20strains.

Herpes simplex viruses, HSV-1 and HSV-2, are highly contagious and cause lifelong, latent infections with recurrent outbreaks of oral and/or ge***al lesions. No cure exists for HSV-1 or HSV-2 infections, but antiviral medications are commonly used ...

02/25/2026

Its National Invasive Species Awarenss Week.

Invasive plants are plants not native to the area. They often have the upper hand and begin their growing season before our native species. This overtakes the land and inhibits our native species from growing, perpetuating the issue.

Some Invasive plants are noxious, meaning that they are deemed a huge ecological issue.
These are the plants I see most often growing first in our area.

Garlic mustard
Japanese Knotweed

Lucky for us, these are both edible and delicious. Im sure we will see them during our Trail Teaching program and we can teach you how to identify and prepare these delicious wild foods. And the best part, you cant harvest too many invasive plants. The goal is to remove them from the land. So youre helping the environment and getting free wild food!

02/24/2026

Studies show that wild spinach (chenopodium album) is nutrient dense and full protein, antioxidants and lots of medicinal properties.

It has shown promise in helping treat malignant tumors, especially in breast cancer. Wild spinach has many more properties, such as antiviral and antibacterial properties, antifungal, antiparasitic, antispasomadic, and can help with cardiac and digestive issues.

Read it from the source!

Green leafy vegetables have generated interest worldwide as they exhibit multiple benefits for health of human beings. Vegetables can form the cheapest and most readily available sources of important vitamins, minerals, fibres and essential amino ...

11/21/2025

I cant not share this with everyone. For those of us interested in learning about ecology and environmental science, here is a free learning app to help male learning the subject easier. Its called Environmental Ecology. Here's a link to it from Google Play.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=in.softecks.environmentalecology