Jean Baptiste Duhalde (1674-1742) is the plant name of Duhaldea. It bears this name a whole genus, composed of thirteen plants. Mostly Asians, between Iran and the Himalayas, and just one from East Africa. The African is Duhaldea stuhlmannii, where locals call it “uwutupwa”, “isasami” and “ikusi”. He lives in the mountains of Umalila, Usambara and Uluguru, in Tanzania, about 2,000 meters high. It's climbing and loving bees, and also Tanzanians, its sweet bitterness. The plant is also used to poison fish. Botanists have serious doubts, along with Asians, about whether or not they deserve the name of Azkaindarra, but at the moment they have not taken away that honor. The last name “Stuhlmannii”, like many other plants and animals, is due to the German naturalist Franz Ludwig Stuhlmann, in honor of the rich result of the expeditions made at the end of the 19th century to learn about African biodiversity. It's a scarce plant, and I don't know if you use it as a grass. Her dozen Asian sisters, yes, take advantage of her. For example, in India Duhaldea cuspidata is used to cure gout and bronchitis.

Not in the Himalayas, at the other end of the world, in the Andes, there are many medicinal herbs. Many of them, like the azkaindarra, have a Basque name: Aristeguieta. The scientific name of “asmachilca” for natives is Aristeguieta gayana. In Inca culture, bronchus and vocal cord heal and soothe asthma. It is becoming known worldwide and demand is sweltering. It lives over 4,000 meters, adapted to the shortage of oxygen, and so is it going to solve the problems of the respiratory system?

The plant genus Aristeguieta lives in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Chile. His name is due to the Venezuelan dendrologist Leandro Aristeguieta (1923-2012). He made great efforts to deepen and spread the knowledge of plants. He was a landscaper and worked in this work with one of the most well-known in the world, the Brazilian Roberto Burle Marx.

The genera Duhaldea and Aristeguieta belong to the same family: Asteraceae. From the same family, Basques...