BUYING REQUIREMENTS (THIS IS INTENDED TO QUALITY CONTROL: NON-TIMBER PROVIDE GENERAL STANDARDS. REQUIREMENTS FOREST MAY VARY FROM BUYER TO BUYER. PLEASE CON- Handling: PRODUCTS FIRM WITH YOUR BUYER BEFORE HARVESTING): • Wash hands before harvesting or handling INFORMATION • Green senega root– must be brought in a roots. BROCHURE clean container, paper bag, paper box or Harvesting: new poly-woven rice bag. (FROM HARVESTING PRACTICES) • Harvesting senega root can be done as • Do not store green or dry senega root in soon as the frost leaves the ground and a plastic bag. the plant is recognizable • Producers must have a Wild Harvesters SENEGA • The best quality senega root can be Association Membership Card. SNAKEROOT harvested in the fall • General harvest area. • No foreign smell (ex: gas, oil) Drying process: • No foreign material (ex: Different kinds of • Producer must have a drying shed or a bark, dirt, rocks) place that can be inspected • No mould. • Spread senega root on screens in layers All bags, boxes and containers will be • Room must have heat source inspected to determine if product • Use a fan to move air around senega root meets NFDC specifications. • Drying process takes 5 to 8 days in a well PRICING: ventilated dryer. • Call NFDC prior to shipping or traveling to buying depot. Storage Technique: • Product should be stored in a clean poly woven rice bag, paper bag, paper box, or clean container. • Dirty containers will not be accepted and the product in it maybe rejected • Do not store in a shed that has been used for storing gas and oil. • Dried senega root should be stored in a dry room away from moisture until it is ready to be transported to buying depot 15 Moak Crescent Thompson, MB R8N 2B8 Phone: 204-778-4138 Fax: 204-778-4313 Toll Free: 1-800-561-4315 Plant Reproduction: SPECIES SUSTAINABILITY: HARVESTING • An erect perennial herb growing from a Practice sustainable harvesting, by not thick rhizome up to 50 cm tall usually un- SENEGA SNAKEROOT over harvesting in one area. branched HARVESTER CERTIFICATION: SCIENTIFIC NAME: Habitat: • Fairly common in open dry woods • NFDC is working on providing organic • Polygala senega L • Dry rocky and gravelly areas certification on selective NTFP’S in each community harvest area. CREE NAME: What is harvested: • Buyers may not purchase Senega from • Menisehkes, mesisikas, ominisihkes, • The root and crown producers who does not follow the HAR- sikotakanisikan VESTERS CODE OF ETHICS (Copy PRODUCT USES: available at the NFDC Centre). COMMON NAMES: • The root contains triterpenoid saponins, • Senega root these promote the clearing of phlegm • Snake root from bronchial tubes • The root is used for respiratory problems PLANT SPECIES IDENTIFICATION: • To control bronchitis, bronchial asthma and whooping cough Flowers • Can overdose, so care has to be taken on • Greenish white flowers dosage 4-5 mm wide • The Flower is irregularly shaped with five Aboriginal Uses: sepals (sepals enclose the petals and other parts) • The Cree chewed the root for toothaches, The two inner ones are almost round and sore throats and mouths, irregular heart are larger than the rest. beats, coughs, nervousness. • Three petals are joined at there base, the • A tea was made to gargle for sore throats. middle one of which is boat-shaped and has a fringed crest. Leaves • Fuzzy stems and alternate and oval leaves are small, lanced shaped with rough edg- es. .