Hi to Phylla, Gynostemma pentaphyllum contains similar structures to the ginsenosides. They are technically called gypenosides, I believe. We can get a few varieties of herbal teas in bags in our Chinatown here in LA. The one from Japan is the one that tastes best. I think the biological effect is pretty much the same. If I remember correctly, the number of gypenosides identified is fairly high, maybe around 80. Content in leaves is significant, so the leaves are harvested for tea. It is sometimes called seven leaf ginseng. It is reported that Chinese people will drink it before going to work and at the end of work as well. I have tried it many times. I find it to have a gentle lift, not unlike chewing on a ginseng root piece. Of course, the taste is a little better as a tea. Usually priced moderately, you will find it in asian markets. Online, it might be a little higher. I think it is also available in powder or extract form, sometimes for a high price. I am not sure of heavy metal content, but I don't expect it to be high. Also the tea form is pretty cheap, so switching species is not likely. Two papers were published on it last year in Journal of Natural Products. So it is still being investigated. I see quite a few in Chinese as well. I do not know the growing conditions for it, but I think it grows in warmer climates than does the Panax ginseng because it is sometimes called southern ginseng. I also don't know the pattern of gypenoside content in terms of age of the plant. So I don't know if you would need to harvest it from a mature plant or a young one. I do see one paper noting a peak in gypenosides in July. Another paper notes the high Germanium content. This is also noted for Panax ginseng and Ganoderma lucidum. Herbalists usually believe that this has a positive effect on the available oxygen in the tissues. They sometimes report increased mental clarity from Germanium ingestion. Of course, it is important to note that inorganic Germanium is toxic. We must be sure to use only plant based Germanium in supplementation. Richard

Update: I finished building the the new hive Saturday morning, then put it in place with the escape cone and started clearing branches around the tree. I actually had to clear a couple just to set the hive up under the trunk. Between cutting branches I kept sealing off more spots where they were escaping aorund the cone. Eventually I realized that was a losing battle, and decided that since I was suited up to work bees anyway, I might as well try to locate the hollow they were in and move them. I took a small bit and a dowel to fit and probed around the trunk to find spots where I knew a hollow was near the surface. When I went to start the neighbors borrowed chainsaw, I realized it was out of gas and that I didn't have any premixed 2-stroke fuel handy either. Tried using a bow saw, but that was no fun. So, I put a crosscut blade in the circular saw and did plunge cuts to carve blocks, then a crowbar to break out chunks. The first hollow had dead wood but no bees, worked on another spot for a while and got nowhere as far as actually removing wood. Found another bulge over what was once an old knot near the entrance hole (the entrance cone was still working to steer hive traffic mainly thorugh it instead of around me) I pried back the square I'd cut and out flew a bee, and I saw a flash of comb behind it. So I topped off the smoker (having already realized that week-dead oak leaves were much better smoker fuel than the smoker fuel that came witht he borrowed smoker) and popped out the inital chunk, then decided to carve out a bit more. At this point I really began to appreciate the smoker. Turns out the comb was aligend edgewide to the direction of hte fall, it had a little new wax on the top edge, and was a little squised looking on the bottom edge, but was in remarkably good shape when I started, and they had a few peices of brand new comb on the new top of the hive. The first couple of peices of comb pretty much had to be torn out to make enough room to work, all honey, mostly old comb. The rest of the comb I had to cut in half to pull out and so it would fit on the bars I was tying it to. I started just using Buck skinning knife, but after the first peice, I got a bread knife to have soem reach to cut the combloose way back in the hollow. Each chunk was between 12-15" long and about 8" in height when tied to the bars. Of the peices, about 3-4 where a mix of uncapped honey and brood, which I put near the main entrance to the new hive, and around 10 were honey. I kept a few chunks of the honeycomb that were too small to tie on after making sure they were free of brood. On the brood comb, I even tied on the little peices. When I headed in for the night, long after dark, I think only one sliver of honey was left back in a hollw I couldn't fish it out of and I'd gotten all of the broodcomb in the main cavity. While I'd been working, many of the bees had clustered in the cone/passage. At one point I was afraid they were jammed so I expanded the opening, but it appears they were just clustering. I think most of the bees were still in the corners of the old hive. There may be another section of hollow yet towards the base of the trunk, and that sliver heading up of honeycomb that I'll need to try to get access to if the hive has not fully moved downstair by Monday. Since thier old home is now wide open and all the food and brood is a walk downstairs, I hope they will find their way down quickly. I didn't see the queen, but I was preoccupied transfering the comb and figured morning light would tell if they had decided to move on down, though by the time I was done, the new hive box had started getting pretty full of bees.

Nj, if I've got it right, you are planning a higher-6" to 8"-mowing just for this coming growing season, and perhaps the one following, to interupt weed seed cycles. IF that is so, it is indeed a normal part of meadow establishment. I guess to answer your question, the only one that will flower despite this early-stage mowing is what you've already identified-Rudbeckia hirta. Not saying none of these others won't also, just that in my experience R. hirta is one that can be dependably counted on to flower despite these early-stage mowings. The thing I'm not getting though is the presence of the tree and shrub species within this mix. Not at all saying I don't like them, just I don't see how you can have a meadow in which woody plants are purposely part of the mix. Are you intending to have these woody species around the perimeter? That could work. Then, once you've got your meadow up and running, fire is the best tool, but timely mowing can and often does suffice, depending on other circumstances. Or, one can purposely let the meadow undergo natural succession. That's what happens in nature, in areas of the country like yours and mine which were formerly primarily forested. Meadows would indeed exist, but as a seral stage following a disturbance of some kind. When we create these things, we have to bring the disturbance to them if we want it to remain as meadow, prairie, etc. Quite an extensive plant list BTW. +oM

I just received an order from Gurney's Plants for 2 native plum trees and I was wondering if these were the ones you were discussing? I am tired of spraying things, so thought I would try natives and see if I could go "spray-free"...plus, I heard they have much higher anti-oxidants than their hybrid counter-parts. does this description sound like what you are talking about? Thanks! Michelle Native Plum Tree Winning Flavor, Huge Yields (2 customer reviews) The Native Plum is covered with yellow-red fruit in late summer. You get 2 plants for pollination, but plant more for an attractive screen- 8-10 feet tall, 2- to -3 ft trees. Many of the fruits are native species that grow wild in various parts of the country. They are very adaptable and generally carefree. May are delicious when eaten fresh, others make excellent desserts and wines. Zones: 3-8.