In the months of November and December 2009, Medicinal Plants in Nature celebrates botany and hopes to collect images of natural medicine growing wild in the great outdoors.  Botanical photography is used to depict plants accurately with respect to their form and color. Good examples will provide relevant information to help document plant morphology and function, the environment, plant life histories, diseases, the effects of pollution, and relationships with other lifeforms.

Successful botanical photography is as much art as it is science; it requires a detailed knowledge of plants and their habitats as well as a keen eye for composing balanced pictures.

Here at Lenzr, we’ve always been curious about plants and animals and the history of medicine is a hot topic. We’ve studied the works of early botanists who once walked the woods with Native American guides in the 1800s, sketching and collecting flowers and herbs for the benefit of science. Historical fiction has a fond place for the Benedictine Monks and their apothecaries or the tribal elders that collected herbage for poultices for wounds, and other plants to cure digestive ailments. We want to know, what plants did they collect? and what ailments did they cure, exactly?

Today this practice of herb collecting while hiking is sometimes called wildcrafting and instead of filling burlap bags with leaves and roots and flower blossoms, people are asked to respect the environment and simply photograph the plants. Take only take what you need, when you need it. Its far better to take only pictures and document these medicinal plants growing wild in nature - please help insure a supply remains for anyone and everyone in the future.

Sponsored by Ontario’s premier Natural Medicine Clinic the member that uploads the highest rated photo will take home about $330 worth of Neal’s Yard Remedies.

Wellpath Clinic offers a new approach to health care. Their mission is to empower people to improve the overall quality of their lives.

Their organic approach focuses on understanding and treating each patient’s whole health, rather than just the symptoms. Using state-of-the-art techniques and a scientific approach to natural medicine, Wellpath Clinic provides safe and effective therapies to help patients achieve a sustainable wellness.

At the core of each program is the patient, and this clinic is committed to taking the time to understand the individual, and to formulate a personalized approach to their specific needs. Their goal is to help patients lead healthier lives.

PRIZE - a gift basket of six different Neal’s Yard Remedies, including Orange Flower Facial Wash, Rosewater Toner, Orange Flower Facial Oil, Yarrow & Comfrey Moisturizer, White Tea Eye Gel, Geranium & Orange Body Butter for a Total Retail Value  $330.00

The member that uploaded the highest rated photo when this photo contest ends at 12:01 am EST on the morning January 1st 2009 will win the prize package detailed above.