CautionCentral America and the Caribbean · Food · № 818
Annatto (achiote)
Bixa orellana
The red seeds are used as a colouring and spice; traditionally also as a remedy.
Maya healing knowledge+4
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.
GrapeFolk magic and herbal magic
BuchuLocal African healing traditions
Indian tobaccoCherokee medicine
Lignum vitaeHerbal knowledge of the Caribbean
Yerba mateKallawaya healing knowledge
Also found
- Recipes
- Brown rice with bamboo shoots and Chinese dodderFish and vegetable soup with celosia seedAcne oil or cleanser
- Chinese formulas
- Zuo gui wanZhi bai di huang wanQing e wanYou gui wanShi quan da bu tangTian wang bu xin danFang feng tong sheng sanSang piao xiao sanBa wei di huang wan (jin gui shen qi wan)Liu wei di huang wanJin suo gu jing wan
- Treatment by condition
- Diabetes mellitusPremature ejaculationSeminal emission and penile discharge
- Caution
CautionAsia · Herb · № 340
Ajwain
Trachyspermum ammi
Traditionally attributed effects: stimulating, carminative, tonic, aromatic, antispasmodic, antiseptic; for flatulence, indigestion, colic, diarrhoea, cholera, intestinal cramps; source of thymol; against worms.
Ayurveda+1
CautionAsia · Herb · № 754
Sharp-leaf galangal fruit (yi zhi ren)
Alpinia oxyphylla
Traditionally attributed effects: strengthens kidney yang and holds in urine and semen; warms the spleen in diarrhoea and drooling.
Chinese medical traditions
CautionCentral America and the Caribbean · Herb · № 374
Amaranth
Amaranthus spp.
Traditionally attributed effects: flowers, leaf and root strongly antiseptic; wound healing.
Folk magic and herbal magicFolklore
CautionAsia · Herb · № 678
Amur cork tree bark (huang bai)
Phellodendron amurense
Traditionally attributed effects: drains damp heat from the lower body and cools heat from kidney yin deficiency.
Chinese medical traditions+1
CautionAsia · Herb · № 670
Anemarrhena (zhi mu)
Anemarrhena asphodeloides
Traditionally attributed effects: cools heat in lungs and stomach and nourishes yin in fever, thirst and night sweats.
Chinese medical traditions+1
CautionAfrica · Herb · № 450
Apple of Sodom
Calotropis procera
Traditionally attributed effects: root bark for dysentery and elephantiasis; leaves for intermittent fever; milky sap irritant and laxative; flowers for colds, cough, asthma and indigestion.
Local African healing traditions+2
CautionAsia · Herb · № 569
Little ironweed
Vernonia cinerea
Traditionally attributed effects: fever-reducing, induces sweating, cleansing; decoction promotes sweating in fever; seeds antidote, expel worms, for leprosy and chronic skin diseases; plant for bladder cramps, difficult urination, haemorrhoids; flowers for conjunctivitis.
Ayurveda
CautionAsia · Herb · № 17
Ashwagandha
Withania somnifera
An Ayurvedic medicinal plant. Some preparations have been studied for stress and sleep, but evidence is limited and products vary.
Ayurveda+2
CautionAsia · Herb · № 757
Flattened milkvetch seed (sha yuan zi)
Astragalus complanatus
Traditionally attributed effects: strengthens kidney yang, holds in the essence and strengthens the eyesight.
Chinese medical traditions
CautionAsia · Herb · № 542
Babchi
Psoralea corylifolia
Traditionally attributed effects: laxative, expels worms, diuretic, induces sweating, antibacterial; for leprosy and leucoderma (vitiligo) internally and externally, bile complaints.
Ayurveda+1
CautionAfrica · Herb · № 398
Babul tree
Acacia nilotica
Traditionally attributed effects: astringent, soothing, aphrodisiac, nourishing, expectorant; for cough, diarrhoea and dysentery, sore throat and spongy gums, wounds and skin diseases, gonorrhoea, leucorrhoea, prolapse of anus and uterus.
Ancient Egyptian medicine+3
CautionAsia · Herb · № 552
Country mallow
Sida cordifolia
Traditionally attributed effects: cooling, astringent, stomachic, tonic, fever-reducing, soothing, diuretic; contains an ephedrine-like substance.
Ayurveda
CautionEurope · Herb · № 67
Borage
Borago officinalis
The seed oil, rich in gamma-linolenic acid, has been studied for eczema and joint inflammation with mixed results. The leaf was traditionally used to reduce fever and as a tonic.
Western herbal medicine+2
CautionEurope · Herb · № 278
Bitter candytuft
Iberis amara
Traditionally attributed effects: antispasmodic, relaxing, strengthens the digestive tract, carminative; traditionally for gout and rheumatism.
Western herbal medicine
CautionAfrica · Food · № 814
Bitter kola
Garcinia kola
A bitter seed that is chewed and offered as a sign of hospitality and at ceremonies; as a folk remedy also for coughs and sore throats.
Local African healing traditions+1
CautionAsia · Herb · № 439
Blepharis
Blepharis edulis
Traditionally attributed effects: resolvent, diuretic, aphrodisiac, expectorant; for impotence, blood, chest, lung and liver diseases; leaves for fever, urinary discharge, leucoderma; root regulates menstruation.
Ayurveda+1
CautionAsia · Herb · № 447
Bonduc nut
Caesalpinia crista
Traditionally attributed effects: antipyretic, antispasmodic, bitter tonic, expels worms, fever-reducing; for fever, intermittent fever, asthma, colic, swellings, bleeding, liver disorders, convulsions and nervous complaints.
Ayurveda+1
CautionEurope · Food · № 48
Stinging nettle
Urtica dioica
A food and fiber plant with a long tradition in folk medicine. Medical claims are not established.
Monastic and folk knowledge+3Folklore
CautionNorth America · Herb · № 630
California figwort
Scrophularia californica, S. lanceolata
Traditionally attributed effects: cools heat in the blood and nourishes yin, drains damp heat and disperses swellings.
Chinese medical traditions+1
CautionCentral America and the Caribbean · Herb · № 161
Cayenne pepper
Capsicum frutescens
Capsaicin from chilli peppers is used externally for nerve pain and joint pain; high-dose capsaicin patches are an approved medicine. Internally it is mainly a warming spice.
Maya healing knowledge+6Folklore
CautionAsia · Herb · № 766
Cherokee rose (jin ying zi)
Rosa laevigata
Traditionally attributed effects: holds in the essence and curbs diarrhoea and frequent urination.
Chinese medical traditions+1
CautionAsia · Herb · № 641
Chinese dodder (tu si zi)
Cuscuta chinensis
Traditionally attributed effects: a remedy for male infertility and urinary complaints; a tonic that strengthens bones and tendons, soothes lower back pain and balances the female reproductive system.
Chinese medical traditions
CautionAsia · Herb · № 683
Chinese pulsatilla (bai tou weng)
Pulsatilla chinensis
Traditionally attributed effects: for hot, bloody dysentery, amoebae and vaginal trichomonas.
Chinese medical traditions
CautionAsia · Herb · № 642
Chinese asparagus root (tian men dong)
Asparagus cochinchinensis
Traditionally attributed effects: moistening; for recovery after illness or surgery, chronically dry skin and for the production of sex hormones.
Chinese medical traditions
CautionAsia · Herb · № 643
Chinese raspberry (fu pen zi)
Rubus chingii
Traditionally attributed effects: strengthens kidneys and liver; for poor vision, frequent urination and impotence.
Chinese medical traditions+1
CautionAsia · Herb · № 729
Chinese cardamom (sha ren)
Amomum villosum (en A. kravanh)
Traditionally attributed effects: warms the spleen, transforms dampness, calms a restless foetus and prevents tonics from lying heavy on the stomach.
Chinese medical traditions+1
CautionAsia · Food · № 635
Chinese yam (shan yao)
Dioscorea polystachya (syn. D. opposita)
Traditionally attributed effects: strengthens spleen, stomach and lungs, helps regulate the hormone system in women and is said to lower blood sugar.
Chinese medical traditions+2
CautionAsia · Food · № 445
Chironji
Buchanania lanzan
Traditionally attributed effects: soothing, cleansing, laxative, diuretic; seeds nutritious, gum for diarrhoea, ointment for itching and skin blemishes, oil for swollen neck glands, substitute for almond oil.
Ayurveda
CautionAsia · Herb · № 760
Cistanche (rou cong rong)
Cistanche deserticola
Traditionally attributed effects: strengthens kidney yang, moistens the bowel and warms the uterus.
Chinese medical traditions
CautionAsia · Herb · № 777
Cnidium seed (she chuang zi)
Cnidium monnieri
Traditionally attributed effects: externally for itching and fungus around the genitals; internally a kidney yang tonic.
Chinese medical traditions
CautionAsia · Herb · № 474
Purging croton
Croton tiglium
Traditionally attributed effects: drastically laxative, irritant, skin-irritant; for stroke, insanity, convulsions, stubborn constipation, worms, ascites, oedema, colic, gout; wood in small doses induces sweating.
Ayurveda+1
CautionAsia · Herb · № 759
Cynomorium (suo yang)
Cynomorium songaricum
Traditionally attributed effects: strengthens kidney yang, nourishes the blood and moistens the bowel.
Chinese medical traditions
CautionAyurveda+4Folklore- Caution
Europe · Food · № 245
Grape
Vitis vinifera
Traditionally attributed effects: soothing, laxative, cooling, stomachic, diuretic; for bilious indigestion, bleeding, painful urination, chronic bronchitis, heart disease, gout; juice for constipation in children.
Folk magic and herbal magic+3Folklore 
CautionNorth America · Herb · № 966
Devil's club
Oplopanax horridus
An ivy-like shrub with large, hand-shaped leaves and spines over the whole stem and the leaf veins. Research into a blood-sugar-lowering effect is at an early stage.
Kwakwaka'wakw medicine
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.
Read moreFrom plant to use
Ways to prepare herbs
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Traditions, kitchen and classical formulas
43 traditions
Cultures & traditions
How communities built up and passed on their knowledge of plants, region by region.
113 recipes
Recipes
Soups, teas and dishes in which herbs play a leading role.
146 formulas
Chinese formulas
The classical Chinese formulas, also listed by condition.