Herb
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Herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal purposes, or for
A variety of herbs are visible in this garden, including mint.
Herb garden at Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire, England, originally planted in the 1870s by Lady Louisa Egerton, recreated by the National Trust, largely following the original design.
A bundle of thyme (Thymus)
A traditional Chinese decoction (湯劑/汤剂), using Chinese herbs
Medicinal plants
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Medicinal plants, also called medicinal herbs, have been discovered and used in traditional medicine practices since prehistoric times. Plants synthesize hundreds of chemical compounds for various fun
The bark of willow trees contains salicylic acid, the active metabolite of aspirin, and has been used for millennia to relieve pain and reduce fever.
Dioscorides's 1st century De materia medica, seen here in a c. 1334 copy in Arabic, describes some 1000 drug recipes based on over 600 plants.
The Ebers Papyrus (c. 1550 BC) from Ancient Egypt describes the use of hundreds of plant medicines.
Illustration of a 1632 copy of Avicenna's 1025 The Canon of Medicine, showing a physician talking to a female patient in a garden, while servants prepare medicines.