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In Europe, apothecaries stocked herbal ingredients as traditional medicines. In the Latin names for plants created by Linnaeus, the word officinalis indicates that a plant was used in this way. For example, the marsh mallow has the classification Althaea officinalis, as it was traditionally used as an emollient to soothe ulcers. [2]
Herbs were also commonly used in the traditional medicine of ancient India, where the principal treatment for diseases was diet. [14] De Materia Medica, originally written in Greek by Pedanius Dioscorides (c. 40 – c. 90 CE) of Anazarbus, Cilicia, a physician and botanist, is one example of herbal writing used over centuries until the 1600s. [15]
Herbal teas tend to be made from aromatic herbs, [11] may not contain tannins or caffeine, [6] and are not typically mixed with milk. [10] Common examples include chamomile tea, [10] or mint tea. [11] Herbal teas are often used as a source of relaxation or can be associated with rituals. [11]
Name Other common names Scientific name Drug Adverse effects Cinchona bark Cinchona pubescens: Warfarin Possible additive effect [3] Chamomile: Blood thinners [23] Devil's Claw: grapple plant, wood spider Harpagophytum: Warfarin Additive effect [3] Ephedra Ephedra: Caffeine, decongestants, stimulants [15] Increases sympathomimetic effect of ...
The use of plants for medicinal purposes, and their descriptions, dates back two to three thousand years. [10] [11] The word herbal is derived from the mediaeval Latin liber herbalis ("book of herbs"): [2] it is sometimes used in contrast to the word florilegium, which is a treatise on flowers [12] with emphasis on their beauty and enjoyment rather than the herbal emphasis on their utility. [13]
An herb is a plant grown for medicinal value or for flavoring food. There is some overlap between the milder leafy herbs and the more strongly-flavored leaf vegetables.This category does not include the much wider category of herbaceous plants which are also called herbs in some countries.
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An herbal tea may be strained or not (as with mate where a special straw called a bombilla is used for drinking). Some herbal teas are blends which include various different herbs or plant parts. Herbal infusions may also be sweetened, spiced, salted, or combined with other additives, like milk or lemon juice.