From Ayurveda to Rongoā Māori
Communities around the world learned how plants nourish, care and heal. Here their traditions stand beside present-day use, with respect for every culture.
GrapeFolk magic and herbal magic
BuchuLocal African healing traditions
Indian tobaccoCherokee medicine
Lignum vitaeHerbal knowledge of the Caribbean
Yerba mateKallawaya healing knowledge
CautionNorth America · Herb · № 987
Euonymus americanus
A shrub of the spindle family, up to two metres tall. In autumn the warty pink fruits burst open to show seeds in a bright red aril. Seeds and fruits are strongly purgative, as in other spindles, and the genus is considered poisonous.
CautionAsia · Herb · № 498
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.
CautionAsia · Herb · № 541
Prunus puddum
Traditionally attributed effects: astringent; fruit sour and astringent, stone for kidney stones and gravel.
CautionAsia · Food · № 518
Luffa acutangula
Traditionally attributed effects: soothing, diuretic, bitter tonic, nourishing, expectorant, lowers blood sugar; seeds emetic and laxative; for enlarged spleen, dysentery; leaves on ulcers, ringworm, haemorrhoids, leprosy, insect and snake bites.
CautionAsia · Herb · № 436
Berberis aristata
Traditionally attributed effects: tonic, stomachic, astringent, antipyretic, induces sweating, cleansing; for malaria and intermittent fever (comparable to quinine), washing ulcers, eye diseases, haemorrhoids, swollen glands; laxative for children.
CautionAsia · Herb · № 537
Peucedanum graveolens
Traditionally attributed effects: carminative, antispasmodic; for flatulence, hiccups, colic and stomach ache, reduces cramps from laxatives and dysentery; drink for women after childbirth; leaves on boils and abscesses.
CautionAsia · Herb · № 432
Barringtonia acutangula
Traditionally attributed effects: aromatic, carminative, emetic; for nasal and respiratory catarrh, chest pain, headache (snuff), diarrhoea and dysentery, bitter tonic; root cooling and antipyretic.
CautionAsia · Herb · № 553
Solanum indicum
Traditionally attributed effects: aphrodisiac, astringent, carminative, strengthens the heart, diuretic, expectorant; for asthma, dry cough, difficult childbirth, chronic fever, colic, worms, painful urination, oedema, catarrh, vomiting, itching.
CautionAsia · Herb · № 533
Oroxylum indicum
Traditionally attributed effects: astringent, bitter tonic, stomachic, pain-relieving, induces sweating; for diarrhoea, dysentery, acute rheumatism, oedema, ear infection; young fruit carminative, seeds laxative.
CautionAsia · Herb · № 454
Cassia fistula
Traditionally attributed effects: laxative, tonic, fever-reducing; fruit pulp mildly laxative (safe for children and pregnant women); leaf for ringworm, chilblains, rheumatism, facial paralysis; root for fever and heart disease.
CautionAsia · Herb · № 491
Eugenia jambolana
Traditionally attributed effects: astringent, stomachic, diuretic, lowers blood sugar; seeds for diabetes, bark for chronic diarrhoea, dysentery, heavy menstruation, spongy gums, stomatitis; diarrhoea in children.
CautionAsia · Food · № 764
Prunus mume
Traditionally attributed effects: astringent in chronic cough and diarrhoea, replenishes body fluids and was used against worms.
CautionAsia · Herb · № 302
Styphnolobium japonicum (syn. Sophora japonica)
Traditionally attributed effects: stops bleeding, laxative.
CautionAsia · Herb · № 715
Chaenomeles speciosa
Traditionally attributed effects: relaxes tendons and muscles in cramps and rheumatic pain and drives dampness from the stomach.
CautionAsia · Herb · № 723
Eriobotrya japonica
Traditionally attributed effects: cools hot phlegm in the lungs and makes rebellious lung and stomach energy descend.
CautionAsia · Herb · № 546
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.
CautionAsia · Herb · № 417
Anthocephalus indicus
Traditionally attributed effects: bark tonic, fever-reducing, astringent; fruit cooling; for fever, mouth ulcers and stomatitis, eye inflammation, stomach irritation in children, snake bites.
CautionOceania · Food · № 53
Terminalia ferdinandiana
A bush food with exceptionally high vitamin C, measured at 2,300–3,150 mg per 100 grams.
CautionAsia · Herb · № 521
Mallotus philippensis
Traditionally attributed effects: laxative, expels worms (specifically tapeworm), astringent; ointment for ringworm, scabies, herpes and parasitic skin diseases, leprosy rash, syphilitic ulcers.
CautionAsia · Food · № 38
Cinnamomum verum
A spice made from inner bark. Research on health effects is preliminary; cinnamon is not a treatment.
CautionCentral America and the Caribbean · Food · № 416
Annona squamosa
Traditionally attributed effects: astringent, tonic, expels worms, laxative, diuretic, insecticidal; unripe fruit for diarrhoea and dysentery, leaves for non-healing ulcers and fainting, seed powder against lice.
CautionAsia · Herb · № 555
Solanum surattense
Traditionally attributed effects: carminative, strongly diuretic, expectorant, fever-reducing, aids digestion, astringent; for fever, cough, asthma, toothache, sore throat, gonorrhoea, rheumatism; promotes conception.
CautionNorth America · Herb · № 155
Phytolacca americana
Formerly used for swollen glands, tonsillitis and rheumatism. Because of its toxicity it is not a safe herb; there is no evidence of benefits that outweigh the risks.
CautionEurope · Herb · № 214
Carum carvi
Traditionally attributed effects: carminative, aromatic, stomachic, stimulating, promotes milk flow; for flatulence and intestinal cramps, corrects nausea-inducing medicines, scabies.
CautionEurope · Food · № 256
Prunus avium
A fruit rich in vitamin C. The dried stalks were used in folk medicine as a diuretic. Sour cherries have been studied for gout and sleep, with preliminary results.
CautionAfrica · Herb · № 116
Ammi visnaga
Contains khellin, a muscle relaxant that widens the airways and blood vessels. Khellin was the basis for modern drugs such as cromoglicate (for asthma) and amiodarone (for heart rhythm disorders).
CautionEurope · Herb · № 565
Tribulus terrestris
Traditionally attributed effects: cooling, soothing, diuretic, tonic, aphrodisiac.
CautionAsia · Food · № 357
Cocos nucifera
Traditionally attributed effects: cooling, diuretic, antiseptic, laxative; root for uterine diseases, bronchitis, liver complaints, dysentery, sore throat (gargle); coconut water for thirst, fever, urinary complaints and vomiting; ash for scabies and toothache.
CautionAsia · Food · № 500
Garcinia indica
Traditionally attributed effects: fruit cooling, promotes bile, soothing, antiscorbutic; bark astringent; oil for dysentery, mucous diarrhoea, tuberculosis, skin diseases, chapped lips, ointment base; fruit for hives.
CautionAsia · Herb · № 232
Cuminum cyminum
Traditionally attributed effects: carminative, aromatic, stomachic, stimulating, astringent, cooling; for gonorrhoea, chronic diarrhoea, indigestion, hoarseness; oil as a source of thymol against hookworms.
CautionAsia · Food · № 261
Cucumis sativus
Traditionally attributed effects: fruit nourishing and soothing; seeds cooling, diuretic, tonic; for throat complaints, strongly diuretic with sugar, in fever.
CautionOceania · Herb · № 842
Aleurites moluccanus
A tree whose oil cares for the skin; the nuts are laxative.
CautionAsia · Food · № 238
Citrus aurantiifolia
A sour citrus fruit rich in vitamin C. The juice was given against scurvy and is used in Asia with honey or salt for coughs and sore throat.
CautionAsia · Mushroom · № 41
Ganoderma lucidum
A bracket fungus used in traditional Chinese medicine; evidence for treatment effects in people is limited.
CautionAsia · Food · № 653
Dimocarpus longan
Traditionally attributed effects: a sweet, warming tonic for heart and blood; good for digestion and calming.
CautionAsia · Herb · № 544
Randia dumetorum
Traditionally attributed effects: fruit rind induces sweating and antispasmodic; bark calming and soothes the nerves; bark internally and externally for rheumatism, bruises and bone pain in fever, diarrhoea and dysentery; fruit emetic in acute bronchitis and asthma; scorpion stings.
Featured · Central America and the Caribbean · Curanderismo
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.
Read moreFrom plant to use
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43 traditions
How communities built up and passed on their knowledge of plants, region by region.
113 recipes
Soups, teas and dishes in which herbs play a leading role.
146 formulas
The classical Chinese formulas, also listed by condition.