Herbs

The ground ivy plant has been used as a medicinal herb since the Middle Ages. Saint Hildegard, the German abbess of the order of St. Benedict, recommended this plant for …

Several species of hemp nettle grow in Europe and America. They all have bi-lobulated flowers resembling the mouth of a weasel (Greek gale). In the 19th century, when tuberculosis killed …

The Mormon tea plant may be the medicinal herb used for the longest time. It was first known in China, where it was called mahuang, and the Chinese had used …

The caimito plant is one of the most flaunting trees in tropical America, and its fruit is tasteful and thirst-quenching. It is not hard to understand why people expect to …

Irish moss is a form of algae first used in Ireland in the mid-19th century. Since then, its medicinal applications have increased. The alga’s thallus has a cartilaginous consistency (Latin …

Iceland moss does not have leaves or roots and is a true example of a surviving species. It adapts to cold and dry climates and can remain latent for more …

The yellowish, tough wood of the lignum vitae tree caught the attention of the first Spanish people traveling to America. From the 16th century onwards, the lignum vitae tree was …

The gum plant contains phenolic and flavonic substances, which give it antispasmodic properties, and saponins, to which it owes its expectorant properties. The resin of the gum plant is formed …

The rustyback fern was already mentioned by the great Greek physician, pharmacologist, botanist, and author Pedanius Dioscorides in the 1st century A.D., though with the name of scolopendra due to …

The pleurisy root produces a white sap and has been widely employed in North America to treat respiratory afflictions. The natives, who have used the plant for ages, named it. …