Russell Smart
Title: Kawakawa (Piper excelsum): Whatever we need to heal us, we will find growing close by
Biography
Biography: Russell Smart
Abstract
Kawawkawa is one of New Zealand’s most distinctive native plants lives up to this common dictum as an herbal pharmacopoeia with a wide range of health benefits. The plant is aromatic and is commonly known as the pepper tree. This presentation will depict the use of kawakawa in traditional and modern herbal medicine. It will explore the biochemical nature of the known pharmacologically active compounds to help explain the wide ranging medicinal uses of this small evergreen shrub-like tree with large heart-shaped leaves.