KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2010 / NEWS
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Kelly Stroda/KANSA Kelly Kindscher, senior scientist for the Kansas Biological Survey, holds up a piece of Sumac in Rockefeller Prairie northeast of Lawrence. Kindscher had a medicinal plant walk as part of the fall open house for the Native Medicinal Plant Research Garden Saturday morning.
PLANTS (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
and medicinal plants native to Kansas.
The use of herbal products to help with sickness or injury is common in countries in Europe and Asia, Kindscher said. With more knowledge and understanding, he said more Americans could use herbal products in this manner as well.
"Most herbs are fairly safe, so why not?" Kindscher said.
Kelly Stroda/KANSAN
He said he doesn't recommend that people go out and cut their own plants for medicinal use without decent knowledge of their properties. Kindscher said a good variety of these herbal products can be bought at stores across town.
To learn more about the program or plants that are native to Kansas, check out www.native-plants.ku.edu.
Edited by Kelsey Nilil
See the photo gallery at kansan.com/photos/galleries
Kelly Strots/KAMSAN
The native plant, Yarrow, grows at the Native Medicinal Plant Research Garden in Douglas County
WHAT CAN SOME NATIVE PLANTS DO FOR YOU?
Yarrow — Achillea millefolium
This plant is found in the prairies, meadows and open woods of all northern continents. Yarrow has been used for its woundhealing properties. If dried powder from the plant is put on a wound, it will heal faster.
Mint — Mentha arvensis
Mint Mental arvensis
Wild mint tends to grow in moist soil of stream banks and prairie ravines. Peppermint (often used in tea) can be used to help digestion.
Purple coneflower — Echinacea angustifolia
Purple coneflower — Echinacea angustifolia Purple coneflower grows in dry upland prairies of the Great Plains, often in rocky areas. Native Americans considered the plant a "cure-all."The medicinal properties of the plants act as an immune-stimulant.
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The group of El Salvadoran immigrants described as "cult-like" by sheriff's officials, was led by Chicas, a 32-year-old woman from Palmdale in northeast Los Angeles county, sheriff's Captain Mike Parker said.
Members left behind cell phones, identifications, deeds to property, and letters indicating they were awaiting the Rapture.
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Chicas was sent to a hospital for mental evaluation Sunday
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The items came from a purse that a member of the group had left with her husband Saturday and asked him to pray over. He eventually looked inside and he and another member's husband called authorities, authorities said.
Reyna Marisol Chicas was placed under a 72-hour mandatory hold after it was determined she was not able to care for herself or others, said Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Thomas Kim.
PALMDALE, Calif. — The leader of a breakaway religious sect was hospitalized Sunday for a mental evaluation, after members of her group went missing and left behind evidence that they were awaiting the rapture or some catastrophic event.
Officers had been searching a wide swath of Southern California since Saturday after family members found letters saying the group was awaiting an apocalyptic event and would soon see Jesus and their dead relatives in heaven.
Chicas gave investigators a false name and was rambling during questioning, Kim said. She told deputies she had no children, even though her two kids were with her.
Ending a frantic search, deputies found Chicas and 12 others just before noon at Jackie Robinson Park near Palmdale after getting a tip from a local resident, said sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore. He said all members are safe.
Chicas used to be a member of Iglesia De Cristo Miel, a Christian congregation in Palmdale, but left about two years ago without much explanation, said Pastor Felipe Vides, who said he had spoken with the sheriff's office.
The 13 adults and children were in three vehicles outside Pete Knight High School, Parker said. The deputy reported everyone appeared safe and he went on his way.
Religious cult leader hospitalized
NATIONAL
When the deputy made contact, adults in the group told him they were praying against violence in schools and against sexual immorality, specifically premarital sex.
A sheriff's deputy had spoken to members of the group at 3 a.m. Saturday while they were praying in their parked vehicles outside of a Palmdale high school, Parker said.
Chicas apparently had formed her own religious group, Parker said. About 12 to 15 people would gather at her home in Palmdale, a high-desert city of 139,000, and one night about a week ago, they didn't leave until 2 a.m., said neighbor Cheri Kofahl.
Others who knew Chicas said she was devout but hardly fanatic in her religious beliefs.
"We've got a group here that's practicing some orthodox and some unorthodox Christianity," Parker said. "Obviously this falls under the unorthodox."
Former neighbor Ricardo Giron told The Los Angeles Times that Chicas became increasingly religious after she separated from her husband four years ago.
The church has about 400 members, mostly immigrants from Latin America, Vides said.
About six months ago, the group had planned to head to Vasquez Rocks, a wilderness area near Palmdale, to await a catastrophic earthquake or similar event, but one member of the group revealed details of the trip to relatives, Parker said. The trip was called off and the member kicked out.
The adults expressed shock at the notion that they might harm themselves, Parker said.
"She appeared normal, calm. We didn't see anything strange."
But Giron's wife, Lisela, said the church she had attended was a typical Christian congregation and Chicas did not have a leadership role.
"Everywhere she was going, she was taking her kids with her," Giron told the newspaper. "You felt like you could trust her."
The couple said Chicas regularly baby-sat for their children and the two families went on outings together.
The men told investigators they believe group members had been "brainwashed" by Chicas, and one expressed worries that they might harm themselves, Parker said. One of the children is 3, and the others range from 12 to 17.
Sheriff's officials said there was no criminal investigation planned.
According to an emergency bulletin put out by the governor's office, in addition to Chicas, the missing include: Norma Isela Serrano, 31, Alma Alicia Miranda Pleitez, 28; Martha Clavel, 39; Jose Clavel, 15; Crystal Clavel, 3; Roberto Tejada, 18; Jonathan Tejada, 17; Hugo Tejada, 3; Ezequel Chicas, 15; Genis Chicas, 12; Bryan Rivera, 17; Stephanie Serrano, 12.
When deputies arrived at the park they found the children playing on swings and the adults on a blanket praying out loud in Spanish.
"These letters read like a will and testament. They read like goodbye letters," said Whitmore. "Coupled with the two husbands that come in and tell us 'Our wives are missing, we believe they are under the spell of this lady,'" deputies had no choice but to treat the matter seriously, he said.
Whitmore said he didn't know if the members had done anything like this before.
Vides told The Associated Press on Sunday.