Cultured Pearl is the birthstone for June. Cultured pearls are the beautiful and affordable alternative to scarce natural pearls. Both are organic in nature and derive their beauty from their iridescent aura. In fact, the only sure way to distinguish cultured pearls from natural pearls is to x-ray them. Nearly all cultured pearls are treated to enhance their colors through bleaching, dyeing or safely irradiating them.

Both are blueberries. The lowbush is grown in Northern Maine and parts of Canada. It is from a different plant, but part of the vacinnium family. Both are blueberries, both fit various needs of the food industry. For our promotions however, we represent only the "highbush" or "cultivated" or "improved" blueberries!

Basically, they are all as good as each other. Cultivated Reishi's good quality and complete active ingredients are guaranteed. Each Reishi is carefully cultured under strictly controlled conditions in Canada. The product has been certified to be 100% pure by the department of Phytomedicinal Analysis in Canada. It's quality, which includes the environment in which Reishi is grown and its nutritional value is better than wild grown Reishi.

A Tahitian Cultured Black Pearl is a pearl that is obtained by means of a grafting operation performed by a skilled technician on the "Pinctada Margaritifera" or "Black Lipped Oyster" of French Polynesia.

The black-lipped oyster found in French Polynesian waters naturally secretes a dark pigment which, depending on the quantity, gives the resulting pearl a basic color ranging from steel gray to black.

Strictly speaking, natural pearls are those created without any human intervention whereas cultured pearls require human intervention.

Bloom refers to the slow rising of "essential oils" to the surface of a cigar. It first shows up as tiny (almost microscopic) crystals on the surface, and can eventually make a cigar look slightly "dusty" with a whitish finish on the surface. Not only is it harmless, some prefer to see a little bloom, as an indication of strong taste. Mold OTOH, is (ick!) a fungus, growing on overly humidified stogies.

Natural pearls form without human assistance -- when a foreign object, such as a parasite or piece of shell, accidentally lodges itself in an oyster's soft inner body where it cannot be expelled. This happens so rarely that, today, nearly all natural pearls one sees are in estate jewelry collections.

Alexandrite: Because of the price and often limited availability of genuine Alexandrite, this mfr. uses Green Tourmaline to represent the green color of Alexandrite. (Alexandrite is a color-change stone.) Green Tourmaline however is more of a medium to medium-dark olive green color. Opals or Cultured Pearls: Opals are cabochon-shape stones... they are domed with no facets so when set they look different when compared to a faceted stone when viewed from the top and the side.

The quality of pearls is determined by several factors: millimetre size, lustre of the individual pearls (sheen of pearl), blemishes on pearl surface, and symmetry (roundness of pearl). Please refer to our Pearl section.

Because colds and flu share many symptoms, it can be difficult (or even impossible) to tell the difference between them based on symptoms alone. Special tests that usually must be done within the first few days of illness can be carried out, when needed to tell if a person has the flu.

Although there are slight differences in body conformity, finclips are used to positively identify the strains of steelhead. This is why all steelhead stocked into Root and Kewaunee Rivers (brood streams) are finclipped. Knowing the strain of the fish prevents breeding of one strain with another.

Generally wild-crafted herbs are grown and harvested in their natural habitat, while organic herbs are grown under controlled situations. Here at Penn Herb, the majority of our herbs are wild-crafted. Our suppliers assure us that the botanicals are free of chemical pesticides and are not irradiated.

Wild yam, Dioscorea barbasco, is a herb that has been used historically in herbal medicine for women's health. Some of the actions of wild yam include smooth muscle relaxation and a mild diuretic effect. Contrary to some information provided by companies producing wild yam products, wild yam does not convert into progesterone in the body. This conversion can only occur in a laboratory setting.

A "pearl" is typically a dry powder that can be added to a multitude of paint products. Pearls come in dozens of colors, and they are the consistency of baby powder. Spraying a white base, followed by a blue pearl, and then clearcoat, will give you a white finish that has a pearl-blue haze/hue when seen at certain angles.

In the West, the first tropical orchids arrived in Europe in the mid 18th century from the Caribbean region; in China, Korea and Japan, esteemed varieties have been grown since ancient times, around 3,000 years or more. And in other areas, indigenous peoples have marveled at great beauty and desired that it be close at hand, even as we do now, and have taken a plant or two from the surrounding forest to place on a handy rock or log...perhaps for tens of thousands of years.

Asparagus was first cultivated about 2500 years ago in Greece. The name is a Greek word, meaning stalk or shoot. The Greeks believed asparagus was a herbal medicine which, among other things, would cure toothaches and prevent bee stings. Second century Physician, Galen, described asparagus as "cleansing and healing". Claims for medicinal benefits of asparagus persist to this day. The Romans became great lovers of asparagus, and grew it in high-walled courtyards.

The Freesia is a South African winter flowering plant. It is a member of the Iridaceae family which includes the more common gladioli and iris - the species was "discovered" by a Dutch botanist in the 19th century who named it after a friend and colleague. Most commercial freesia varieties have been bred in Holland and Britain since 1945. They mainly have single flowers but some doubles are available. The crop has special growing requirements under British conditions.

You cannot differentiate between avian influenza and SARS by symptoms alone. Confirmation of diagnosis will depend on laboratory tests on clinical samples from the patient.