Last week someone on this list was asking about an herb called "Bodian" used by a family (from Afghanistan) that they were supporting. I had not heard of it myself and no Latin name was provided but I asked some fellow herbalist friends what they knew and here is one reply I got: "Don't know about Afghanistan but in Russian herbal medicine Bad'yan (??????) is a synonym of the True star anise (Illicium verum). In many instances names of the herbs came with the herbs themselves. Star anise was mostly imported into Russia from the countries south of it's border (as Afghanistan, Iran etc). the following link can be helpfull: http://www.uni-graz.at/~katzer/engl/Illi_ver.html#orig Based on that info, it seems the herb could potentially be something like fennel or anise, etc which would indeed be herbs useful for digestive issues/colic/gas, etc. Just wanted to share with the original poster of this thread. Melissa Cole *********************************************** Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html To reach list owners: [log in to unmask] Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask] COMMANDS: 1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail 2. To start it again: set lactnet mail 3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet 4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome