"A Fir Tree boasted to the Bramble, 'You have no use, while I am used in construction everywhere.' The Bramble answered, 'To be used, you have to be cut down. Think on that and have reason to wish you grew up as a Bramble,'” Aloe told a joke when she met with Wulandari, the moon, before the evening podcast begun.
"Hi, hello and welcome back to my channel!" Wulandari then began her poscast, of course after greeting with Basmalah and Salaam. "Actually, I intended to invite Cacti, but he couldn't make it, and qadarullah, I met Aloe, Cacti's relatives, they are of cactus and succulent. So, before having a little chat with Aloe, let's get to know about the Cactus and Succulent families."
While adjusting her headphones—imagine what the Moon look likes when she was wearing headphones—Wulandari moved on, "It is difficult, if not impossible, to think of any group of plants that compares in versatility to cacti and succulents. What other plant group claims so many intriguing shapes and spectacular blooms, yet still has such a carefree, rugged, unthirsty nature? From striking ornamentals and ferociously spined barrels to clustering rosettes, ground covers, and climbing vines, succulents-cacti and certain 'fleshy' families that store water within themselves—can easily fit into almost any garden environment. And many cacti have the added plus of being able to adapt readily to indoor planting situations.
Darwin's 'Survival of the fittest' is no more accurately shown than by the changes within the succulent world. As the earth evolved, rivers and oceans receded, causing most plant life to weaken and finally succumb. But there were a few survivors. By some chance, they managed to exist in the drying wastelands, adapting and protecting themselves in remarkably ingenious ways.
It is fitting that any discussion of succulents begin with the Cactus family, not only because it is one of the largest and best known, but because it illustrates in a very surprising way the evolution of all succulent plants.
Were it not for a strange coincidence, we might never really know how succulents evolved from the Eocene jungles to their present way of life. Deserts, unlike marshes or lakes, are not very favorable to the preservation of fossil plants. So it is not surprising that the ancient forerunners of the succulents disappeared without a trace millions of years ago. But, as if to compensate for this lack of fossil evidence, nature has given us something infinitely more exciting. In the Cactus family today, there is a remarkably complete set of living forms which illustrate step by step how this group of plants evolved from primitive, leafy jungle plants to highly specialized desert dwellers.
The Cactus family is not clearly related to any other, though some have suggested a kinship with the portulacas, mesembryanthemums, myrtles, or even roses. It contains over two thousand species, virtually all of them full stem succulents. Although they differ widely in form, size, and habitat, all its members can be recognized by five common traits. First, all cacti have a unique cushion-like structure on their stems and branches called an areole (a'-ree-ohl). Each areole has two growing points, or buds, the lower one generally producing spines and the upper one producing new branches or flowers.Second, cacti are perennial: that is, they require more than one season to mature, and they do not die after flowering. Third, cacti usually have wheel- or funnel-shaped flowers with an indefinite number of sepals and petals, and the ovary or fruit is always formed below the flower. Fourth, the cactus fruit is a one-celled berry with the seeds simply scattered through it. Fifth, all cacti belong to that class of flowering plants known as dicotyledons (dy-kot'-i-lee'-dun). Their seeds always produce two embryo leaves, or cotyledons, on germination. Any plant having all these traits is a cactus. If it lacks even one it is something else.
So where did Cacti come from? The Cactus family is native only to the American continent, ranging from the Arctic Circle to Patagonia. But its real home lies somewhere in the middle of that vast stretch, in the great American Southwest and northern Mexico. Here cacti are the outstanding feature of the great deserts and wastelands of California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Sonora. As one moves south, the number and variety of cacti decrease, until in tropical Central America and the Caribbean the desert species give way to curious tree-dwelling cacti. Below the tropics, in South America, the number of desert species rises again through Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina, but never in such bewildering variety as in Mexico and the Southwest. Across the Andes, the deserts of Chile and Peru offer a large and unusual cactus population.
Cacti were unknown in Europe before the discovery of America. When the early Spanish and Portuguese explorers landed in the New World they were amazed to find these strange plants, for they were not only a remarkable feature of the landscape, but were cultivated by the aborigines for food , timber, drugs, and drink.
It is not surprising that they took these plants, particularly the edible Prickly Pears, back with them first to the Canaries, Azores, and Madeira Islands; then Portugal, Spain, and the whole Mediterranean. From there the Prickly Pears spread to Egypt, India, and other parts of southern Asia, becoming an important food in many areas, a serious pest in some, and a remarkable curiosity in others.
The first cacti that reached Europe must indeed have seemed plants from another world.The date of their introduction is not known, though the explorer Coronado mentions them in his account of the New World in 1540. Linnaeus in 1753 then listed twelve of these plants in his Species Plantarum he grouped them all under the name Cactus, derived from the Greek kaktos, which is the ancient name for a prickly Lhistle or cardoon. Thereafter this family of plants has been called the Cactaceae (kak-tay'-see-ee), single plants cactus (kak'-tus), more than one plant cacti (kak'-tie), rather than cactuses.
And what about Succulents? The succulents do not belong to any one family of plants. They get their name from the Latin succulentus, which means juicy or fleshy, because they are all drought-resistant plants especially adapted to taking up and storing great quantities of water in their thick leaves, stems, or branches.
There are one or more succulent species in nearly thirty plant families. Although the cacti are perhaps the best-known family of succulents, it is important to remember that all succulents are not cacti. There are succulent plants in the Lily and Amaryllis families, the Daisy and Milkweed clan Geranium family. Scores of common plants in our—even homes the and gardens have curious succulent relatives the world over. But the story of succulents is not told with a simple definition.
The story of succulents begins nearly fifty million years ago in a time called the Eocene epoch. A great waterway stretched from the Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic then. The Mediterranean lay deep in Asia. A hundred nameless seas covered our great deserts and mountains. Along their shores vast forests teemed with the beginnings of modern plants and animals. Everywhere the climate was subtropical, moist, abundant. Life was easy.
Then gradually the earth began to change. The ancient seas slowly retreated, revealing great new masses ofland. Deep tremors shook the fields and forests, thrusting up great mountain barriers: the Rockies, the Sierra Nevadas, the Cascades—the Alps, Carpathians, and Pyrenees. A hundred volcanos formed the Andes. A new world began to take shape, a different world, the modem world we know today.
As the face of the earth changed, so did its climate. The year-round warmth and rains of the Eocene jungle gradually disappeared. In their place, clearly marked seasons and climatic belts developed. There was a spring and summer now, a fall and winter. There were the Arctic and Antarctic, the tropics and Temperate Zone. Where there had been nothing but endless steaming jungle over much of the world, there were now high mountains, fertile plains, and endless deserts.
As the mountains rose in many pans of the world, they gradually cut off the moisture-laden air blowing in from the seacoasts. And where the rain clouds could no longer cross the mountain barriers, the lands beyond the ranges burned by day and froze by night. What little rain they got reached them by winds coming from other routes, or in brief summer thundershowers formed out of the hot air rising from the desert floor.
At this time, too, a permanent belt of high atmospheric pressure developed extending some thirty or thirty-five degrees on each side of the equator, in this belt erratic winds and frequent calms prevented much rain from forming or falling. And from this lack of rain the world of the desert evolved—a very special world, with its own geography and climate, its own plants and animals, its own rhythm and way of life. In this way the Great Basin of North America formed; the deserts of Mexico, Peru, Chile, and Argentina; the vast hinterlands of Asia and Africa. Gradually, very gradually, much of the Eocene world became a wasteland.
As wind and water eroded the rising mountains, the valleys below filled deep with earth and rock. The deserts stretched from mountainous plateaus to fiat sandy plains.
Where the wind was strong, the moving sand carved fantastic shapes in the rocks or piled high in rolling dunes. Where it sometimes rained, the water dissolved the mineral-rich earth, leaving behind great salt lakes.
Then new rivers rising beyond the desert entered the drying land just as it was lifting from its ancient bed. Filled with sand and rock, the grinding torrents cut through the earth, forming deep canyons, for there was no rain here to wash over the cuts—to widen them gently into broad river valleys. The sheer canyon cliffs, the great salt lakes, the dunes, the cactus—drought made them all.
Before the drought came, the Eocene fields and forests abounded with plants—remarkably modern plants, complete with roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and seeds. They were of many different families, forerunners of our lilies and oaks, gourds and palms. In the warm, moist climate they grew rampant.
Then came the change. It did not happen in a day or a year: It happened gradually. Some say it took twenty million years. At first the year-round warmth and rains were interrupted for only a little while. The plants in the fields and forests took it in their stride, just as they would in our gardens today. They slowed their growth, branches shriveled a little a few leaves wilted and fell. Soon the “bad spell" was over and they flourished again as strong as ever. But when the waters began receding in the ancient lakes and seas, when the rising hill became great ranges shutting off moisture from the coast—the dwindling plants struggled desperately for life, tried to live out a few more weeks of drought, then a few months, then a year. Before the rains came again, most of them died. Only a few survived. By some miracle they kept pace with the drying land, changed themselves endlessly, wailed patiently, and in the end inherited the wastelands of the world.
As a group these plants are called xerophytes (ze'-ro-fites), from the Greek words meaning 'dry plants.' They include not only such curiously adapted desert dwellers as the yucca, ocotillo, palo verde, mesquite, and sagebrush; but that remarkable group of plants we call succulents.
Succulents are found almost anywhere in the world today, where plants have difficulty getting and keeping water. Specifically there are four geographical areas that are the natural habitat of succulents. They might be termed the desert, alpine, jungle, and shore line. The Liliaceae—the vast Lily family, which has given us so many valuable plants, from onions and asparagus to tulips and lilies, should also provide us with a remarkable group of succulents. These are contained in three popular genera, all of them leaf succulents and all natives of Africa: Aloe, Gasteria and Haworthia. Next time, I'll invite one of genus Howarthia in my podcast, Howarthia Retusa, Insha Allah.
Now let's talk about the Genus Aloe. Certainly the most important succulents in the Lily family are found in the genus Aloe (al'-oh ), which is native principally to South Africa. The aloes are all leaf succulents: that is their thick, fleshy, pointed leaves are arranged spirally to form short rosettes—either with or without a stem. This has caused some people to confuse them with the American agaves, or Century Plants. But while there is a superficial resemblance, the agaves belong to the Amaryllis family, and have tough, fibrous leaves quite distinct from the soft, pulpy leaves of the aloes. It is simply another case of parallel development, for the aloes are to the Eastern Hemisphere what the agaves are to the West.
The most widely known species is Aloe vera, or 'true aloe'. It is called this because it is cultivated as the standard source for assorted pharmaceutical purposes. It ws sais that the genus name Aloe is derived from the Arabic word alloeh, meaning 'bitter and shiny substance.' Over the years, this plant has been known by a number of names such as ‘the wand of heaven’, ‘heaven’s blessing’ and ‘the silent healer’. IIn Japan, it is known as 'all-day service' and 'doctor away' plant. It has a vast traditional role in indigenous system of medicine like in India: Ayurveda, siddha, Unani and homoeopathy.
Various regional names for Aloe vera are: Sibr (Arabic and Persian), Ailwa (Urdu), Ghritra Kumari (Sanskrit), Lu Hui (Chinese), Rokai (Japanese), and etc.
Every Aloe vera has a story. In Indonesia, Aloe vera is called 'Lidah Buaya (Crocodile's Tongue).' I don't know why it's called like that, isn't a true crocodile barely able to stick out its tongue because of the membrane in its mouth that holds it in? The crocodile's tongue lies neatly in the jaw muscles, which can barely move, right? Or probably, Aloe vera has thorns leaves that look like crocodiles' tail, who knows?
Aloe has many tales about it suggesting that the Egyptian Queen Nefertiti (1353 BC) advertised as 'the most beautiful woman who ever lived' and Queen Cleopatra VII (69-30 BC) used it as part of their regular beauty regimes and medicines.
Supposedly, Alexander the Great in 333 BC was persuaded by his mentor Aristotle to capture the Island of Socotra in the Indian Ocean for its famed Aloe supplies, needed to treat his wounded soldiers. The ancient Nile Valley civilization of Kemet ('Land of the blacks' now referred to as ancient Egypt) used Aloe for medical treatments, beauty care and embalming.
King Solomon (971-931 B.C.) highly valued the medicinal properties of this plant, he even grew his own Aloe Vera. Aloe Vera had travelled to Persia and India by 600 BC by Arab traders. The Arabs called Aloe the 'Desert Lily' for its internal and external uses. They discovered a way to separate the inner gel and the sap from the outer rind. With their bare feet they crushed the leaves then they put the pulp into the goatskin bags. The bags were then set in the sun to dry and the Aloe would become a powder.
The medicinal use of aloe was already mentioned more than 4000 years ago in a col ection of Sumerian clay tablets dated 2100 BC. Aloe was also mentioned as a laxative in the Egyptian Papyrus Ebers from 1552 BC. Aloe has had a very long historical use as a strong laxative treatment for chronic constipation, and it is stil listed as a laxative in many pharmacopoeias.
Aloe is said to have alliterative, tonic, rejuvenating, purgative and vulnerary actions in Ayurveda. Aloe is also believed to tone all three of the Ayurveda constitutions, Vatta, Pitta, and Kapha. It is used in traditional Indian medicine for constipation, colic, skin diseases, worm infestation and infections. Aloe is used internally as a laxative, antihelminthic, haemorrhoid treatment, and uterine stimulant (menstrual regulator). It is used topically, often in combination with liquorice root, to treat eczema or psoriasis.
The Chinese use of Aloe’s skin and the inner lining of its leaves as a cold and bitter remedy is used to clear constipation due to accumulation of heat (fire). Chinese herbalists recognized aloe's potential as a purgative; they used aloe to expel worms, alleviate constipation and normalize bowel movements Egyptian Medicine System - Ancient Egyptian Papyrus and Mesopotamian described Aloe as being useful in curing infections, treating skin problems and as a laxative. In Arabian medicine, the fresh gel is rubbed on the forehead as a headache remedy or rubbed on the body to cool it in case of fever, as well as being used for healing wound, curing conjunctivitis, and as a disinfectant and laxative.
The Aloe vera plant is described in detail in the Greek Herbal of Dioscorides, and its use is promoted for the treatment of wounds, hair loss, genital ulcers and haemorrhoids. A. vera gel has been used for many purposes since the Roman era or even long before. Aloe was used by Hippocrates and Arab physicians, and was carried to the Western Hemisphere by Spanish explorers to treat the wounded soldiers.
Aloe plants survives for more than 7 years without water. It takes the water it needs for survival and growth from dew collected on the surface of its leaves. Aloe vera probably originated in Northern Africa and believed to be from Sudan. Subsequently it was introduced in the Mediterranean region and other warm areas of the world. The species was introduced to China and various parts of southern Europe in the 17th century. It is widely found in temperate and tropical regions of Australia, Barbados, Belize, Nigeria, Paraguay and the United States.
The plants is also found in India, Mexico, Pacific Rim countries, South America, Central America, the Caribbean, Australia and Africa. It has been widely cultivated throughout the world.
Alas, I've talked at length and wide about Cacti and Succulents, that I almost forgot about Aloe as my guest. OK, as I mentioned, 'every aloe vera has a story,' so, in the following session, let's listen to what Aloe will tell us, bi 'idhnillah."
While waiting for the next session, Wulandari sang a short song,
Mari bicara tentang
[Let's talk about]
harga diri yang tak ada arti
[meaningless self-esteem]
Atau tentang
[Or about]
tanggungjawab yang kini dianggap sepi *)
[a responsibility that is now considered nothing]
