Tundra Plants Have Medicinal Properties, Too
(Medicinal plants aren't just for the rain forests anymore)

This is Ed. Ed was our Kotzebue tour guide. He's Inupiat, a biologist and works for the Parks Service in Kotzebue. I thought Ed was cold and distant, but after learning more about Inupiat culture, realized this was normal. Ed certainly enjoyed talking about plants on the tundra - this was one of the few times we saw him laugh. The Inupiats and other native peoples used herbs and other flora growing on the tundra for their medicinal properties. While nowhere near as botanically diverse as the rain forests, there are still several hundred plant species used by natives for anything from treating stomach ache to supplementing Vitamin C to...

... psychedelic hallucinations! Yes, the Inupiats even knew where to find the best mushrooms - 'shrooms rule!

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