BLOSSOMING TREASURES OF BIODIVERSITY: 25. Sweet Gale-new products from an ancient beer plant

摘要

The chemical diversity of plants is huge, and much of it is useful. People in the Western World often expect valuable compounds to originate from rare exotic species, but we are sometimes surprised to find that a familiar neighbourhood plant is a.storehouse of useful chemicals. Just recently an uninspiring and inconspicuous wetland shrub, common in parts of North America and Europe, has taken the spotlight.