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(tanacetum parthenium) Feverfew is a member of the chrysanthemum family, native to southern Europe. Today is grows all over Europe, the UK and North America. It has masses of white and yellow flowers which resemble daisies. The leaves are used in herbal medicine. Feverfew was mentioned in Greek medical literature as a remedy for inflammation …
(allium sativum) Garlic is the single most versatile, powerful and widely used medicinal plant in the world. A relative of onions, spring onion, leeks and chives, it has been used for over 5,000 years and is a key plant in Chinese Medicine. Slaves building the pyramids were paid in garlic, as were Roman soldiers. Garlic …
(Gentiana lutea) Gentian originally comes from meadows in Europe and Turkey. However, it is now also cultivated in North America. The root is used in herbal medicine. Gentian root and other highly bitter plants have been used for centuries by herbalists in Europe as digestive aids (the well-known Swedish bitters often contain gentian). Other folk …
(zingiber officinalis) Ginger is one of the greatest of all natural medicines, used by Chinese doctors since 1,000BC and popular with European herbalists since the Middle Ages. It is a perennial plant that grows throughout China, Asia, the tropics and South America. The root is used both as a spice in food and in medicine. …
(ginkgo biloba) Ginkgo biloba, also known as the maidenhair tree, is the world’s oldest living species of tree. Individual trees live as long as 1,000 years. Ginkgo grows most predominantly in the southern and eastern United States, southern France, China, and Korea. The leaves of the tree are used in modern herbal medicine. What it …
(hydrastis canadensis) Goldenseal is native to eastern North America and is now cultivated due to over-harvesting in the wild. The dried root and rhizome are used in herbal medicine. Goldenseal was used by Native Americans as a treatment for irritations and inflammation of the mucous membranes of the respiratory, digestive, and urinary tracts. It was …
(centella asiatica) This plant grows in a widespread distribution in tropical, swampy areas, including parts of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Madagascar, and South Africa. This slender, creeping plant flourishes in and around water. The roots and leaves are used medicinally. Gotu kola has been important in the medicinal systems of central Asia for centuries. In …
(camellia sinensis) Green teas, black teas and oolong are derived from the same plant, native to China. Green tea is produced by lightly steaming the fresh cut leaf, while to produce black tea the leaves are allowed to oxidise and ferment. Oolong tea is partially oxidised. Oxidation destroys the active compounds in the leaf, therefore …
(Paulinia cupana) Guaraná is an evergreen vine indigenous to the Amazon basin. The vast majority of guaraná is grown in a small area in northern Brazil. Guaraná gum or paste is derived from the seeds and is used in herbal preparations. The indigenous people of the Amazon rain forest have used crushed guaraná seed as …
(Commiphora mukul) The mukul myrrh (Commiphora mukul) tree is a small, thorny plant distributed throughout India. Guggul and gum guggulu are the names given to a yellowish resin produced by the stem of the plant. This resin has been used historically and is also the source of modern extracts of guggul. The classical treatise on Ayurvedic medicine, …
