Herbs

If you’ve read that the saxifrage plant can break up kidney stones, here’s the honest version up front: saxifrage (Saxifraga granulata) is a European wildflower with a long folk reputation …

The leaves of the meadowsweet plant resemble the elm tree, after which the herb is named in some Latin-rooted languages. From the 17th century onwards, it was used to treat …

White willow bark (Salix alba) is the plant that aspirin traces back to. Its bark contains salicin, which your body converts into salicylic acid — the same chemical family behind …

The male fern benefits people still search for belong mostly to pharmacy history, not to a modern self-care routine. Dryopteris filix-mas was an official medicine across Europe and the United …

Abelmosk is a musk-scented plant best known for its fragrant seeds, which perfume makers distill into ambrette oil and some cooks add to coffee and spice blends. It also carries …

Blackthorn — the wild, thorny shrub botanists call Prunus spinosa — produces a small, dark, mouth-puckering fruit called a sloe. Here’s the honest headline: it is a genuinely antioxidant-rich food …

The Mexican Aztecs have known vanilla benefits for many ages. They used it as a fragrance (flavoring) for their favorite drink, made with cocoa grains and corn flour. The Spanish …

Roselle benefits: Hibiscus is a botanical genus comprising 200 species, many of which are used as ornamental plants in gardens and parks because of their beautiful flowers. From a medicinal …

Marjoram does not grow wild in Europe. According to some researchers, the Crusaders knew of its many benefits and spread it during the Middle Ages. Due to its similarity with …

Black pepper benefits for the digestive system were known by the people of India from ancient times. Alexander the Great was the first to introduce this spice to Europe in …