If you tuned into Saturday's blog, you will know that a lot of our medications come from the plants found in rainforests. But did you know that many of the drugs that keep people well also come from more common places, such as backyards, fields, and riversides in North America? Many Aboriginal peoples have been using these plants to heal for hundred of years, and now, scientists have caught onto their knowledge as well.

Let’s take a walk in a suburban neighborhood and see what kind of medications we stumble on. So, it’s out the back door and off we go.  Do you have the snacks? Excellent! First on our list of places to visit is the backyard. We’re in luck! This particular backyard has a willow tree in it. The bark of the willow tree has been used for thousands of years to treat headaches. What common drug was first made from willow tree bark? If you guessed aspirin, you are right! Now over in this flowerbed is a common flower some of you may identify. It has a long, tall spike that flowers in spring and is usually pink. Its common name is foxglove, and bees love it! But it is also helpful to humans, as it is used to make an important heart medication called digitalin. This drug saves many lives each year. There are also some poppies blooming near by. These make a drug that helps fight pain. It is called codeine and is often found mixed with headache medication or cough syrup.

Right. So much for the back yard. How about a walk down to the river? Here we’ve got a lot more willows. Good news if we have a headache. But there are also tons of birches, sweeping their long branches in the water. Birches are the source of a chemical that is used to make a drug that fights cancer, an often-deadly disease. This medication is known as betulinic acid. Next autumn, when the ground is covered with autumn crocuses, you’ll see the small pink flowers that also produce another anticancer medication, colchicine. Pretty amazing what you can discover on a walk through a common neighborhood isn’t it?