![Animal kingdom meets the plant queendom at Expo West Herb Walk Animal kingdom meets the plant queendom at Expo West Herb Walk](https://eu-images.contentstack.com/v3/assets/blt09e5e63517a16184/blt8c88d4ef5b486b03/64ff1c20dbed9cc5d3a723af/XX_20cactus_201.png?width=700&auto=webp&quality=80&disable=upscale)
Herb Walk co-leader Roy Upton strikes an educator's pose next to liriope—often grown for landscaping purposes but also used medicinally as an anti-inflammatory. The plant grows striking blue berries, but the medicinal aspect is found in its tubers.
Eat wild food! Researchers have quantified the body's outsized physiological response when eating wild food over those grown the "pampered life" in row crops.
Herb Walk co-leader Erin Smith explains the many health benefits of yarrow.
The state flower of California is the California poppy. This is not the species processed to make opium. The green grassy hills of California are blooming with poppies at Expo West; so much so that orange splotches could be seen from the airplane descending into the Orange County airport.
The orange sunflowery flower calendula is so named because it blooms every month of the year. It is used topically for skin care.
The walking tour did not officially stop to talk about the barrel cactus, but they are so interesting that we couldn't help but take a picture!
Some plants, such as the East Cape Poker, are available for purchase at the Fullerton Arboretum.
Erin Smith explains the story around chaparral, which is an aromatic herb used to help the liver digest fats properly. It was also the plant responsible for burning much of the area around Malibu at the end of 2018.
Roy Upton talks plants to the group under a valencia orange tree. This is the fruit that made a name for Orange County.
Expo West 2019 herb walk attendee Jen Taylor stands next to the eponymous Orange County valencia orange tree.
Expo West 2019 herb walk attendee Jen Taylor stands next to the eponymous Orange County valencia orange tree.
Herb walks can be informative, fun even. Introduces you to interesting, wild, beautiful plants.
And if you take a walk by yourself, sure you might learn a thing or two by looking at plant names on signs, peruse some of the interpretive signs, and just to be out in the fragrant grounds is satisfying enough.
But attendees of the Natural Products Expo West 2019 Herb Walk got much more than all that.
The Fullerton Arboretum was the site of the annual Expo West Herb Walk, organized by the trio of the American Herbal Products Association, the American Botanical Council and the American Herbal Pharmacopoia. Four herbalists extraordinaire led the walk, and the level of education gave everyone a lot to chew on.
Even more to chew on was things like miner's lettuce, which the herbalists passed around to nibble on.
But better than even hearing about medicinal benefits of various plants was the stories. The art of storytelling is what made the day one to savor—and remember.
The busload of attendees split into two groups. One was led by David Winston and Feather Jones, the other by Roy Upton and Erin Smith.
Winston has been a practiting herbalist for nearly 50 years, a published author, dean of the David Winston Center for Herbal Studies, and owns his own supplements brand, Herbalist & Alchemist.
Jones has been teaching about herbs for 30 years, with a specialized background in Native American (Mandan) tribal teachings. She is also an educator at the Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine.
Upton is executive director and editor of the American Herbal Pharmacopoia, which produces authoritative monographs on a range of plants, telling everything from health benefits to testing protocols, phamacology and history of use. He is also director of the Planetary Herbals supplements brand.
Smith is a clinical herbalist and ethnobotanist for some 30 years, and oversees education and sustainability at WishGarden Herbs in Colorado, which is most famous for its Kick Ass Immune tinctures.
Stories from Upton really brought home the message of the power of the plant queendom. He told one story of being up at night after midnight in his underwear putting together an emergency catnip tea for a neighbor's ailing child. And while it had everyone laughing, it also reminded people that plants have co-evolved with humans on this planet, and we both need each other.
That's community building on a far larger scale than any of the attendees cared to consider at the outset. And—despite the intermittent rain throughout the day—made for one very memorable day.
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