Herbs & Cultures

From Ayurveda to Rongoā Māori

Herbal knowledge and the cultures that passed it on

Communities around the world learned how plants nourish, care and heal. Here their traditions stand beside present-day use, with respect for every culture.

All 980 herbs from 43 traditions

Also found

Chinese formulas: Zuo gui wan Qi li san Jia wei xiao yao san Gui zhi fu ling wan Wen jing tang San huang xie xin tang Jiao ai tang Gui pi tang Bu zhong yi qi tang Shi quan da bu tang Xiao ji yin zi Huai hua san Tai shan pan shi san
Treatment by condition: Haemorrhoids Ulcerative colitis Liver cirrhosis Thrombocytopenic purpura Heavy menstruation and uterine bleeding

Caution
Europe · Herb · № 82
Motherwort
Leonurus cardiaca
Traditionally used for stress-related palpitations, nervousness and menstrual complaints. Clinical research is scarce.
Western herbal medicine+1
Caution
Europe · Herb · № 70
Field horsetail
Equisetum arvense
Rich in silica; traditionally used as a diuretic, for urinary infections and for hair, nails and connective tissue. Good clinical evidence is lacking.
Western herbal medicine+1
Caution
Asia · Herb · № 498
Sacred fig
Ficus religiosa
Traditionally attributed effects: bark cooling, astringent, lowers blood sugar; for gonorrhoea, ulcers, skin diseases, scabies, hiccups, nausea; milky sap with milk aphrodisiac; oil for eczema, leprosy, rheumatism; fruit laxative.
Ayurveda
Caution
Asia · Herb · № 541
Himalayan cherry
Prunus puddum
Traditionally attributed effects: astringent; fruit sour and astringent, stone for kidney stones and gravel.
Ayurveda
Caution
Africa · Herb · № 480
Bermuda grass
Cynodon dactylon
Traditionally attributed effects: soothing, astringent, diuretic, stops bleeding, mildly laxative; for oedema, blood in the urine, vomiting, chronic diarrhoea, hysteria, bleeding haemorrhoids, bladder irritation, bladder stones, gout and rheumatism.
Ayurveda
Caution
Asia · Herb · № 524
Ceylon ironwood
Mesua ferrea
Traditionally attributed effects: blossoms, root and bark bitter, aromatic, induce sweating; dried flowers astringent, stomachic, carminative; for heavy colds, gastritis, bronchitis, vomiting, dysentery, thirst, excessive sweating, bleeding haemorrhoids.
Ayurveda+1
Caution
Asia · Herb · № 548
Indian madder
Rubia cordifolia
Traditionally attributed effects: promotes menstruation, astringent, diuretic, cleansing, decongestant, tonic; for paralysis, jaundice, urinary tract obstruction, menstrual disorders, mastitis, too little lochia.
Ayurveda+2
Caution
Asia · Food · № 764
Japanese apricot (wu mei)
Prunus mume
Traditionally attributed effects: astringent in chronic cough and diarrhoea, replenishes body fluids and was used against worms.
Chinese medical traditions+2
Caution
Asia · Herb · № 302
Japanese pagoda tree (huai jiao)
Styphnolobium japonicum (syn. Sophora japonica)
Traditionally attributed effects: stops bleeding, laxative.
Chinese medical traditions+2
Caution
Asia · Herb · № 322
Asiatic dogwood fruit (shan zhu yu)
Cornus officinalis
Traditionally attributed effects: tonic, diuretic, lowers blood pressure, antimicrobial.
Chinese medical traditions+3
Caution
Asia · Herb · № 546
Wax tree
Rhus succedanea
Traditionally attributed effects: astringent, tonic, expectorant, stimulating, promotes bile; for cough, tuberculosis, asthma, fever, lack of appetite, stomach irritation, diarrhoea (also in teething children); paste for psoriasis.
Ayurveda+1
Caution
Asia · Herb · № 752
Teasel root (xu duan)
Dipsacus asper
Traditionally attributed effects: strengthens liver and kidneys, helps fractures heal and calms the foetus.
Chinese medical traditions
Caution
Asia · Food · № 38
Cinnamon
Cinnamomum verum
A spice made from inner bark. Research on health effects is preliminary; cinnamon is not a treatment.
Ayurveda+8Folklore
Caution
Asia · Herb · № 5
Turmeric
Curcuma longa
A traditional culinary spice containing curcumin; laboratory findings do not establish a cure for disease.
Ayurveda+5Folklore
Caution
Asia · Mushroom · № 41
Lingzhi (reishi)
Ganoderma lucidum
A bracket fungus used in traditional Chinese medicine; evidence for treatment effects in people is limited.
Chinese medical traditions+3
Caution
Asia · Food · № 359
Red lentil
Lens culinaris
Traditionally attributed effects: easily digestible, beneficial in bleeding and fever; purifies the blood internally and externally; scrub improves circulation.
Ayurveda
Caution
Asia · Herb · № 559
Lodh tree
Symplocos racemosa
Traditionally attributed effects: cooling, mildly astringent; for intestinal complaints, heavy menstruation, discharge from lax mucous membranes, oedema, liver complaints, fever, skin diseases, bleeding gums, eye diseases, ulcers, filariasis (chyluria, elephantiasis).
Ayurveda
Caution
Asia · Food · № 131
Sacred lotus
Nelumbo nucifera
Almost every part is used: seeds for diarrhoea and restlessness, rhizome as food, leaf for 'summer heat'. Scientific evidence is mostly laboratory research.
Ayurveda+3Folklore
Caution
Asia · Herb · № 520
Mahua
Madhuca longifolia
Traditionally attributed effects: flowers cooling, soothing, expectorant, tonic, nourishing; bark astringent and tonic; for diabetes and rheumatism, bleeding gums, tonsil and throat inflammation, itching, bronchitis, cough, haemorrhoids.
Ayurveda
Caution
Central America and the Caribbean · Food · № 266
Maize
Zea mays
Traditionally attributed effects: diuretic, heals the urinary tract lining, tonic, soothing.
Maya healing knowledge+7Folklore
Caution
Europe · Herb · № 71
Meadowsweet
Filipendula ulmaria
Contains salicylates. Traditionally used for heartburn, an irritated stomach and joint pain. Clinical research is scarce.
Western herbal medicine+2Folklore
Caution
South America · Herb · № 897
Mullaca
Muehlenbeckia volcanica
A low, creeping shrublet with small, round, leathery leaves and blue-black berries. Tannins and flavonoids have been found in the extract; in rats it was anti-inflammatory.
Kallawaya healing knowledge
Caution
South America · Herb · № 865
Nalca (Chilean rhubarb)
Gunnera tinctoria
A giant plant with leaves up to two metres across. The peeled stalks are edible; root and stalks are rich in tannins.
Mapuche medicine
Caution
Asia · Herb · № 638
Notoginseng (san qi)
Panax notoginseng
Traditionally attributed effects: purifies the blood and improves circulation, stops bleeding, soothes pain and helps bruises and swellings recover.
Chinese medical traditions
Caution
Asia · Herb · № 434
Orchid tree
Bauhinia variegata
Traditionally attributed effects: bark cleansing, tonic, astringent; root carminative; flowers laxative; for sore throat, cough, bleeding haemorrhoids, heavy menstruation, swollen neck glands, ulcers, diarrhoea, worms, overweight.
Ayurveda
Caution
Europe · Herb · № 217
Oregano
Origanum vulgare
A culinary herb with carvacrol and thymol, which inhibit bacteria and fungi in the laboratory. There is no good evidence that oregano oil treats infections in humans; undiluted oil irritates skin and mucous membranes.
Folk magic and herbal magicFolklore
Caution
South America · Herb · № 885
Peruvian matico (spiked pepper)
Piper aduncum
A shrub of the pepper family with rough, fragrant leaves. The leaf was traditionally used to stop bleeding; research is limited.
Kallawaya healing knowledge+1
Caution
Asia · Herb · № 275
Pinellia (ban xia)
Pinellia ternata
Traditionally attributed effects: cough-suppressing, expectorant, against vomiting, anticatarrhal.
Chinese medical traditions+3
Caution
Asia · Herb · № 132
Chinese peony (bai shao)
Paeonia lactiflora en P. suffruticosa
The peeled root (bai shao, white peony) is used in Chinese medicine for cramps, period pain and muscle pain. There are studies of combination formulas but few of peony alone.
Chinese medical traditions+3
Caution
North America · Herb · № 956
Fringed sage
Artemisia frigida
A low, silver-grey, strongly scented wormwood shrub. Contains a volatile oil with camphor and cineole and, like other wormwoods, thujone.
Lakota medicine+1
Caution
South America · Herb · № 915
Rhatany (ratania)
Krameria lappacea (syn. Krameria triandra)
A low shrub that is partly parasitic on the roots of other plants. The red root is rich in tannins and is therefore astringent. In Europe rhatany root is listed in the pharmacopoeia and used in mouthwashes and gum remedies.
Kallawaya healing knowledge+1
Caution
Asia · Herb · № 673
Rehmannia
Rehmannia glutinosa
Traditionally attributed effects: raw it cools the blood and nourishes yin; prepared (steamed with wine) it nourishes the blood and the kidney yin.
Chinese medical traditions+2
Caution
Europe · Herb · № 299
Herb Robert
Geranium robertianum
Traditionally attributed effects: astringent, stops bleeding.
Western herbal medicine
Caution
Asia · Herb · № 442
Silk cotton tree
Bombax ceiba
Traditionally attributed effects: gum astringent and stops bleeding; root and bark soothing, diuretic, aphrodisiac; for abnormal uterine bleeding, diarrhoea, dysentery, coughing up blood, heavy menstruation, bladder and kidney stones, boils, itching.
Ayurveda+2
Caution
North America · Herb · № 368
Red root
Ceanothus americanus
Traditionally attributed effects: astringent, antispasmodic, expectorant, calming; for a swollen spleen (e.g. after glandular fever), cools and constricts blood vessels in bleeding and congestion of the uterus, liver and lymph.
Indigenous healing traditions of North America+3
Caution
Asia · Herb · № 346
Red sandalwood
Pterocarpus santalinus
Traditionally attributed effects: antipyretic, fever-reducing, aphrodisiac, astringent, bitter, cooling, induces sweating, expels worms; for chronic dysentery, bleeding haemorrhoids, bile complaints, skin diseases.
Ayurveda+1

Image of Salvia divinorum

Featured · Central America and the Caribbean · Curanderismo

Salvia divinorum

Salvia divinorum

A sage with large leaves containing salvinorin A, a very potent substance acting on the kappa opioid receptor. Brings short-lived, often intense changes in perception and the feeling of leaving the body.

From plant to use

Ways to prepare herbs

All preparations →

Discover more

Traditions, kitchen and classical formulas

43 traditions

Cultures & traditions

How communities built up and passed on their knowledge of plants, region by region.

All traditions →

113 recipes

Recipes

Soups, teas and dishes in which herbs play a leading role.

All recipes →

146 formulas

Chinese formulas

The classical Chinese formulas, also listed by condition.

Treatment by condition →All formulas →