Carolyn Smith-Kizer, Clinical Herbalist

As I stood on Adak's runway doing a weather observation so the plane from Anchorage could land with my skirts flapping in the breeze, I looked down one day to see a tiny flower peaking out of the grasses along the edge and I wondered what this tiny, lovely little flower was that had escaped being blown away in Adak's straightline winds as our instruments occassionally were. I had no botany books in my library, so I had to be content with calling the local US Fish & Wildlife office in Homer, AK, and leaving a message asking what that dainty flower might be. It was a few days before I received an answer--Bellis perennis L.

In the meantime it seemed everywhere I looked this ubiquitous little daisy peeked up through the grasses in the surrounding lawns and along the roads on Adak Island, the farthest West one can live in America without a security clearance. Adak has no naturally occuring trees--moving waves of grasses cover the landscape. Servicemen had planted a tiny space with xmas trees, which had since grown into the Adak National Forest, a source of great pride to ex-servicemen and tourists. I learned that this tiny flower was not only edible but packed a powerhouse of medicinal constituents. Bellis p "spoke" something to my soul and I was off and running, learning as much as I could about herbs.

I was lucky enough to find The Herbal Academy online and enrolled in their Clinical Herbalist Path, and through the years have taken advantage of most of their courses like Mushrooms, Herbal Fermentation and even Natural Perfumery. I highly recommend them and they are very good about answering questions.