When the laraha tree (Citrus aurantium) is in bloom, the flowers that open smell wonderful. The laraha tree can grow very tall and you can harvest a lot of fruit from a tree. People who had a lahara, in Curaçao, took good care of the tree. If there were any fruits, people would cut them in half, remove the pulp, let the peel dry and sell them to make liqueur. Due to a certain disease that affected the larah trees, many trees on our island died. In our botanical garden, our larah trees were so far damaged, that we were unable to save them. We are now very happy with a new laraha tree in the garden, because often tourists want to see this tree in reality.
The use of herbs and their medicinal effect goes back to the very beginning of our history.
The earliest civilizations already used plants instinctively for both nutrition and healing. Also, the ancient Egyptians practiced herbal medicine - at a particularly high level. The Jewish people know clergymen who heal people with herbs. Around 460 BC, the father of medicine, Hypocrates, works in Greece. The Romans use herbs and flowers in various ways. In China, herbal systems have traditionally been developed for therapies. Native American Shamans and indigenous African cultures use herbs for healing and rituals.
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