Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
[3] [47] The Food and Agriculture Organization estimated in 2002 that over 50,000 medicinal plants are used across the world. [48] The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew more conservatively estimated in 2016 that 17,810 plant species have a medicinal use, out of some 30,000 plants for which a use of any kind is documented. [49]
Archaeological evidence indicates that the use of medicinal plants dates back to the Paleolithic age, approximately 60,000 years ago. Written evidence of herbal remedies dates back over 5,000 years to the Sumerians, who compiled lists of plants. Some ancient cultures wrote about plants and their medical uses in books called herbals.
phytotherapy: the study of medicinal use of plant extracts; phytochemistry: the study of chemicals derived from plants (including the identification of new drug candidates derived from plant sources); zoopharmacognosy: the process by which animals self-medicate, by selecting and using plants, soils, and insects to treat and prevent disease;
Agriculture deals with the production of food crops, and has played a key role in the history of world civilizations. Agriculture includes agronomy for arable crops, horticulture for vegetables and fruit, and forestry for timber. [3] About 7,000 species of plant have been used for food, though most of today's food is derived from only 30 species.
Usually, this behavior is a result of coevolution between the animal and the plant that it uses for self-medication. [5] For example, apes have been observed selecting a particular part of a medicinal plant by taking off leaves and breaking the stem to suck out the juice. [33]
Fragrance: used to add a pleasant odor to food, medicine, or other consumed or partially consumed items (such as incense, candles, or lotions) Dye: used to alter the color of food, medicine, or other consumed items Ritual: ingested or partially ingested (eg used as incense) as an important component of a cultural or religious ritual
The Peterson Field Guide Series A Field Guide to Western Medicinal Plants and Herbs. Houghton Mifflin Co, New York. ISBN 0-395-83807-X. A field guide with photographs of each plant and descriptions of their uses. C. Garcia & J.D. Adams (2005). Healing with Medicinal Plants of the West - Cultural and Scientific Basis for their Use. Abedus Press ...
This article contains a list of useful plants, meaning a plant that has been or can be co-opted by humans to fulfill a particular need. Rather than listing all plants on one page, this page instead collects the lists and categories for the different ways in which a plant can be used; some plants may fall into several of the categories or lists ...