NIH Earth Day Thursday April 24th, 2008

Join us in front of Bldg 1 from 10am - 2pm for food, fun, activities, and informational displays to celebrate Earth Day. The Earth Day celebration is for all adults and also all children here for Take Your Child to Work Day. Detailed information will be available in April.

Earth Day Name "IT" Contest - NIH Employees, Contractors and Patients Only

The mystery plants in our previous contests were sources of potentially important medicines and were threatened in their native lands because of habitat destruction, over harvesting, poaching and other challenges stemming from human activities. This year our mystery plant also has important medicinal properties but it is not endangered. In fact, perhaps like no other single species this plant has the potential to help reverse multiple major environmental problems and provide for many unmet human needs. At the risk of sounding boastful, IT offers a few more clues for our contestants:

1. Unlike the plants in previous contests that came from Africa, I originally came from Tamil Nadu. But you can now find me grown in many tropical areas of the world.

2. I come from a small family, but many of my closest relatives have very, very big trunks. Mine is only big when I’m very young as in the photo. At that stage it is called a caudex.

3. Like the Jathropa (a member of another much bigger family) I can easily be grown in drought, on poor, damaged soils and help to reclaim them. Our seeds also contain oil that can be used as a source of renewable energy. But Jathropa is toxic and really over rated because I can be:

•Eaten all parts. My high quality oil can be used in cooking and my leaves (see photo) as a tea and a nutritious substitute for milk. They are an excellent source of protein and iron you won’t find that in many other plants. Here’s how I compare with other foods: 7 times the vitamin C of oranges; 4 times the calcium of milk and twice the protein of yogurt! Many other vitamins and minerals are present literally from A to Zinc, and all the essential amino acids.

Grown in all countries of the world that have significant percentages of their population malnourished. I could save millions of lives.

•Used to purify polluted water, working as both a coagulant (for removal of turbidity) and as an anti-microbial. Extracts from my seeds can be used on a small or large scale as a low cost, locally available alternative for water treatment chemicals.

• Used as medicine by native peoples to prevent or treat over 300 diseases. Additional scientific studies are urgently needed to confirm my effectiveness for these traditional uses.

I am known by over 100 names in different languages around the world. NIH’s contest will accept any name commonly used name in English or my scientific name (genus and species). Entries for the plant contest are due by April 16, 2008 and should be submitted to green@mail.nih.gov. Prize winners will be selected randomly from all correct answers submitted.