I tried looking up both "Urtica nummulariifolia" and "Pilea nummulariifolia" in some of the larger herbal references I have and found nothing. But that is not surprising. There are thousands and thousands of medicinal plants worldwide. And each area in the world and each people with their own "materia medica," what they know and use for healing. There are many specific ethnobotanical references that the cover the specific herbal traditions of a particular people or area that include plants and herbal uses that don't make the more common herbal references. So just because I couldn't find a use for a specific plant doesn't mean that it isn't used. It might be from an herbal tradition that didn't make the references I used. That said, however, I would take a much safer approach. Herbs can have powerful actions and can have side-effects as well as interacting with other medications and/or health conditions. If you wish to pursue herbal treatments, please do. But do it in a safe manner. There are herbalists and Naturopaths closer to home that you can see, discuss your medical history, and work with for herbal treatments. There are many herbs used in asthma treatments that are well-known and commonly used by herbalists. And a very strong agreement from me that common names are useless! FataMorgana

Thank you so much for the links. I will keep them in mind if I cant get one from El Yunque. Yeah, the west coast is way out of the way :(. It was stolen when we were getting gas on the way to the airport. I am so glad I had my wallet in my hand! We werre surrounded by a bunch of younger teens and adults and I had a feeling what they were doing but it all happened so fast. I actually saw the guy walk away with it and I felt helpless, no way I would have chased him with all his friends around. And the police chatted with him and said he didnt have it, even though I SAW him with it and the house he went into! I told the police I would give him $200 just for the memory chip, he could keep the camera an eveything else, but he insisted he didnt have it! Oh well, our fault, we should have kept a better eye on it and locked the car while pumping gas. I travel so much and have NEVER had a problem, so I am about due for one :). This is my last hope and then I will have to look else where or maybe get a hand made one to look as close as I can remember it. I may call El Yunque again and beg :) Keriann~

M3D is correct, I am an Aura fan. It is not a good fit for everyone, however. And I'm not just talking about DIYers either. When Aura is not a good fit for a professional's knack for painting and they have to add extender in all sorts of... umm, "creative"... ways it's just time to choose another product that is a better fit for the way they paint. There is a recipe for adding a high-quality extender and it should be followed. Adding more than is called for or mixing with water, or whatever whacky concoction, just in an effort to get it one the wall isn't a good plan. If Aura doesn't workout for you, just pick somethin' else for corn's sake. Aura, OTOH, is a dream come true for many people like M3D already pointed out. The free pint is an AWESOME way to try it out. Thanks M2D for the heads-up.

I have often thought about going. I love the Caribbean, but tend to be too unadventurous for non-USA territories (but coming back through USVI airport, it may as well have been non-US!). It looks beautiful flying over it, and now, seeing your photos, looks beautiful on the island. I'm glad you have a good time when you go. Your vote of confidence deepens my desire to be there.