Plants

Wednesday, 24 June 2026
21 facts about olives
21 facts about olives
"Where the olive refuses to grow, there the Mediterranean world ends"
It is not known exactly when and where the first olive tree, characteristic of the Mediterranean region, grew. Paleobotanists claim that wild olives g ...

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Chia seeds
The name "chia" comes from the word "chian" in the Nahuatl language and means oily.
The current name of the Mexican state of Chiapas, located in the southern part of Mexico, is derived ...
Olives
Olive fruits contain oleuropein, which gives them a bitter taste.
Oleuropein belongs to the coumarin derivatives. It is present in every part of the plant, although i ...
Mayflower
Its blooms are pink or white and spread a sweet and spicy fragrance.
The smell intensifies as the plant ages.
Rapeseed
Rapeseed comes in two forms: spring and winter.
Spring rapeseed is an annual crop and winter is a biennial.
Watercress
For medicinal purposes, watercress is harvested just before flowering.
It is then dried in the shade, separated from other herbs due to the strong odor given off by the cress. A decoction of the cut herbs can be used, or fresh juice diluted with water can be drunk.
Dragon blood tree
For people interested in magic and alchemy, the dragon blood tree resin is, in fact, the blood of a dragon, and is used in various mystical rituals.
For instance, it is popularly used as incense.
Vanilla
Just as Mexican Indians once used vanilla for medicinal purposes, nowadays, in the form of a tincture, it is used for febrile seizures or digestive disorders.
It is also used auxiliary in treating hypochromic anemia.
Sycamore maple tree
It is native to central Europe and western Asia (from France eastward to Ukraine, northern Turkey, and the Caucasus, and in the mountains of northern Spain and Italy).
In other areas where it occurs, it has been introduced (other parts of Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand) and can become an invasive species.
Baobab tree
Most baobab species are pollinated by bats or lemurs.
Others are pollinated by moths of the Sphingidae family.
Cinnamon
Bark about 0.5 mm thick from the entire cinnamon tree stem is used, the rest is intended for disposal.
The collected bark is left to dry, during which it takes on the shape characteristic of a cinnamon stick.