The annual plant Origanum dictamnus is also known as dittany of Crete or Cretan dittany. It is in the Lamiaceae family, which includes many other aromatic herbs like basil, oregano, and mint. It comes from the genus Origanum, which has many kinds of oregano and marjoram. The plant Cretan Dittany only grows wild in the valleys and on the slopes of the Mediterranean, especially on the Greek island of Crete. It smells nice and is good for you. A lot of people see it as a sign of the island’s plants. Some common names for these plants are Dittany Mint,…

Lamium amplexicaule, commonly known as common henbit, or greater henbit, is a species of Lamium belonging to Lamiaceae Martinov or Mint family. The plant is native to Western Europe, the Mediterranean, Asia Minor, Iran, the Himalaya, Korea, Japan, North America, and North Africa, European part of the former USSR, the Caucasus, Crimea, Central Asia, Western Siberia, Eastern Siberia and the Far East. Some of the popular common names of the plants are common henbit, giraffe head, henbit, henbit dead-nettle, common dead-nettle, clasping henbit, dead nettle and greater Henbit. Henbit got its name because it seems to be a particular…

Canariym indicum, otherwise known as Canarium Nut or Galip nut is an evergreen tree belonging to Burseraceae (Frankincense family) which has 16 genera. The genus Canarium consists of nearly 100 species, of which 75 species are found mainly in tropical Asia and the Pacific, including 21 species in Papua New Guinea. The plant is native to humid, lowland zones of eastern Indonesia (Maluku, Ambon, Sulawesi, Moluccas, Irian Jaya, and West Papua), Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and surrounding islands. It is often cultivated in Melanesia. It is also cultivated in Australia, Taiwan, Fiji, Hawaii, Honduras and Trinidad. Some…

Threeleaf goldthread scientifically known as Coptis trifolia is a perennial plant belonging to the genus Coptis, and a member of the family Ranunculaceae. The plant is native to low places, dry woods or meadows in northern, western and middle regions of northeastern United States and much of Canada. The plant is listed as endangered in Maryland and classified as sensitive in Washington. It has been part of Asian and North American traditional medicine for hundreds of years. The roots of the plant look like a tangled mass of gold thread, hence its name. Herbal goldthread is actually the powdered rhizome,…

A perennial member of the moonseed family, Yellow parilla grows from Canada to Carolina, and west to the Mississippi. The horizontal, very long woody root, of a beautiful yellow colour, thrives in moist woods, hedges and near streams. The taste is bitter and it is nearly odorousless. The stem is round and climbing and about 1 ft. in length, with roundish smooth leaves, 4–5 in. in diameter, green above, paler beneath. The small yellow flowers are in clusters in the month of July followed by one seeded fruit which is thick, black and resembles grapes. Its active principle is menispermin,…

Willow, of the family Salicaceae and genus Salix, has many trees and shrubs; 300 species vary from less than 1 in. in height to trees of 100 ft. or more, depending on local and climatic conditions. In North America we can claim over 100 of the species variety. Largest of the Willows of eastern North America is the Black willow S. Nigra. It has dark-brown, ridged bark, reddish to orange twigs, and long, narrow leaves that are taper-pointed. The flowers are in elongated clusters, aments or catkins, of two different types; however, in rare instances, the flowers are bisexual. The…

Mechameck belongs to the United States of America. This is a climbing perennial herb of the Morning glory family. The root is very large and tapering from which arise several long, round, slender, purplish stems, 4–8 ft. high. The leaves are cordate at the base, alternate and acuminate and about 2–3 in. long, The large white flower opens in the forenoon; flowering from June to August, followed by a two-celled fruit capsule. Thrives in light, sandy soil, seldom found in the northern latitudes. The roots can be dug when young shoots appear but it is best to wait until autumn,…

The Lily family embraces many economically important genera, including sources of fibres, food (Onion, Garlic), spices, resins, medicines, soap, poisons and essential oils. However the so-called water lily (Nymphaea) and Calla lily (Calla palustris) are not members of the Lily family. White pond lily grows in ponds, with large, round, dark-green leaves, floating in the water, bearing a large white flower that looks like a large Gardenia in shape. Growing from Canada to Florida end Louisiana. It is widely distributed in quiet tools and ponds in North and Central America. It is a hardy and native plant which gloats its…

Pine is the common name of the largest and economically most important genus (Pinus) of the pine family (Pinaceae) of the conifers (cone-bearing trees) in general. Of the ninety or more species of pines, thirty are native to North America, distributed from north of Mexico, eastern, northern and the western states. The outstanding characteristics of the genus are mostly erect, much branched, twigs with long shoots with scaled leaves and dwarf branches bearing long needles surrounded by scaled leaves at the base; the leaves are either primary, solitary, scale-like, spirally arranged, and usually deciduous some weeks after their appearance. The…

Wahoo in botany is a name of American Indian origin, most commonly applied to a large shrub, or small tree, 6–25 ft. tall native to North America. (The name Wahoo is also given to an Elm (Ulmus alata) and another variety, Euonymus americanus.) Eastern Wahoo has obtusely four-angled twigs; leaves, 2–5 in. long, oval in shape, with finely toothed margins and covered below with fine hairs. The purple flowers, appearing in May or June, are about ½ in. across are borne in groups of seven to fifteen on a short stalk. The fruit is a deeply four-lobed purple capsule bearing…

Wafer ash is a shrub common to America, growing most abundantly west of the Alleghenies in sandy moist places and edges of woods and also in rocky places. This handsome shrub is 6–8 ft. high with dark brown branches; the leaves are downy beneath when young; trifoliate and marked with pellucid dots. The June flowers are polygamous, greenish-white, nearly ½ in. in diameter, and of a disagreeable odour; usually four stamens; short styles and the fruit a two-celled samara. The light-brown root bark is wrinkled with a thin epidermis, internally yellowish-white, darkens with exposure; odour peculiar, aromatic; taste bitter. Petelein…

Virginia snakeroot is a perennial plant found in hilly woods of Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky, and the southwest states, Louisiana to Texas, of the U.S.A. The root is fibrous and of a brown colour, has numerous stem scars and bears a dense tress of branching roots about 3 in. long, with a gingery, aromatic, identifiable fragrance; bitter taste. The one or more erect, zigzag jointed stems are 1–2 ft. high, with a purplish colour near the plants base. The leaves are oblong and about 3 inches long and 1 inches wide. June and July finds the few purple…

This indigenous perennial plant is a beautiful little herb that grows in North America, Canada to Kentucky, in rich soil, on hills, among rocks and old decayed timber. The plant grows 6 to 12 inches high. It has small, tender stalk and small fine leaves of bluish-green colour, round bulbous root, about the size of a large pea; from two to four of these peas to a stalk, attached to small roots which are hard, and of yellowish colour; quite bitter, and nearly odourless. The six to ten small, reddish-purple, nodding flowers are seen very early in the spring and…

Larch, the common name of a small genus (Larix) of medium-sized coniferous trees of the pine family (Pinaceae). They differ from other genera in being deciduous and in bearing short, green needle-like leaves on dwarf and long shoots. The spruce-like, erect cones with thin, persistent scales and long, accuminate bracts mature in one season. Most species are 40–80 ft. high except when growing near the timberline. Of the ten species now recognized, American larch (L. americana), also known as Black larch, or Tamarack, is the most common in the eastern United States and Canada extending west to the Rocky Mountains…

The name of various oleoresins allied to elemi; balsam is exuded by different species of trees found in East India, Africa, Brazil and Siberia. Our Balsam poplar is found in northern parts of the United States and Canada. This tree attains a height of 50–70 ft., with a trunk about 18 inches in diameter. The branches are smooth, round and deep brown. The leaves are ovate, gradually tapering and dentate, deep-green above and smooth on both sides. In America the leaf buds are in bloom in April, and this is the official part and time for collection. They have an…

Sweet gum, a tree of the Witch hazel family (Hamamelidaceae), native of the eastern United States, also Mexico and Central America. Along the rivers of the south-eastern United States, Sweet gums exceed 125 ft. in height and 4 ft. in diameter. The deeply cut grey or brownish-grey bark forms winged projections on the twigs. The alternate, palmate, shiny leaves have usually five pointed, finely toothed lobes, and are fragrant when bruised. In the autumn the star-shaped leaves turn brilliant red to purple, making a valuable ornamental tree. The staminate flowers are inconspicuous, the pistillate in spherical heads maturing into long-stalked,…

This is a common weed, found in wet grounds, rich fields, swamps and ditches from New England to Missouri. Purplestem beggarticks is a summer annual measuring 1-4 ½ feet tall branching occasionally. Stems are light green to purple, more or less terete and glabrous. Usually leaves are opposite though some uppermost leaves are alternate. Leaf blades are 2 to 6 inches long and ½ to 1 ½ inches across. They are lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate and coarsely serrated along its margins. Lower leaves have 1 to 2 smaller basal lobes. Upper blade surface is glabrous and medium green and lower blade…

Spignet is also known from other common names such as Bamboo Brier, Wild Sarsaparilla, Rabbit Root, Shot Bush, Virginia Sarsaparilla, False Sarsaparilla, Small Spikenar, American Sarsaparilla and Wild Licorice. There are several species of Spignet, which are indigenous to Central America, southern Mexico, northern South America, and such West Indian islands as Jamaica. The common name Sarsaparilla is derived from the Spanish zara (shrub) and parrilla (little vine), known in the south as bamboo brier. The botanical name Aralia nudicaulis is derived from Latin and Greek: nudus, Latin for naked or bare and kaulos, Greek for stem. Aralia racemosa, American…

Sanicle, of the Parsley family, is an indigenous perennial common to the United States and Canada. The fibrous root is aromatic in taste and odour, with a smooth reddish furrowed stem, 1–3 ft. high. The leaves are digitate, mostly radical and on petioles, 6–12 in. long, nearly 3 in. across, glossy green above, less colour underneath. Leaves have deep incised lobes radiating from the same point. Each leaf has no set number of leaflets 5 to 7. The plant is not that tall but fruiting stalk rises to 2 feet and bears green diminutive flowers in spring. The flowers bloom…

This plant is common to the western states of North America and a member of the Aster family. Cup plant is found throughout eastern and prairie states and several of the Canadian provinces. The broad flat achenes are surrounded by a wing notched at the summit and terminate in two short awn like teeth representing pappus. Rhizomes are cylindrical, crooked, rough and small and transversed section shows large resin cells. The pitted root is large, long and crooked, with smooth herbaceous stem, 4–7 ft. high. The leaves of this perennial plant are opposite, ovate, 8–14 in. long by 4–7 in.…

There are several kinds of Pyrola growing in North America: Green pyrola (Pyrola vivens), Pink pyrola (Pyrola asarifolia), Shin leaf (Pyrola elliptica) and Round leaved pyrola (Pyrola rotundifolia), which is the one most used in herbal practice. Pyrola is common in damp and shady woods in various parts of the United States. The herb is a low perennial evergreen. The leaves are radical, ovate, nearly 2 in. in diameter, smooth, shining and thick, resembling Pipsissewa (Chimaphila umbellata) and used similarly. The petioles are much longer than the leaf. The large, white, fragrant and drooping flowers are many and in blossom…

A common name of shrubs and small trees of the genus Ligustrum, in the olive family (Oleaceae) comprising approximately fifty species. Wild privet (L. vulgare), with its numerous cultivated varieties, is hardy in the north, is planted as a hedge plant and is locally naturalized in eastern North America, from New England to Virginia and Ohio. It is endemic to central and southern Europe, Southwestern Asia and North Africa. Found growing in wild woods and thickets. This smooth shrub is 5–6 in. high, the leaves are dark green, 1–2 in. in length, about half as wide, entire, smooth, lanceolate, and…

Our Pennyroyal (Hedeoma) should not be confused with the European Pennyroyal (Mentha pulegioides). Squaw mint is an indigenous annual plant with a fibrous, yellowish root, and an erect, branching stem, from 6–12 in. high. The leaves are ½ in. or more long, opposite, obscurely serrate, hairy beneath and on short petioles. The flowers are small and light blue, appearing from June to September. They thrive particularly in limestone country, in barren woods and dry fields. Is common to nearly all parts of the United States. The mint-like fragrance is felt in the air for some distance. The taste is aromatic,…

The genus comprises some 300 species native to Europe, North Africa, western and central Asia. Some species have escaped and are common in the United States, growing in recent clearings, sparsely inhabited fields and along roadsides. They vary greatly in size and form, but most have a columnar aspect, are hairy or woolly, and have yellow, red, purplish or brownish-red flowers arranged in dense terminal spikes or in narrow panicles. The best-known species in America is the common V. thapsus, marked by a stout, erect, unbranched, woolly stem 2–3 ft. tall, with basal leaves, narrowing at the base into wings…

Southern maidenhair fern with scientific name Adiantum capillus veneris, is a deciduous and clumping fern with drooping habit which grows 12 to 18 inches tall and slowly spreads by short creeping rhizomes. It has bipinnate to tripinnate fronds with wiry and black stems which are distinctively arching to pendent. Small pinnae are fan shaped with wedge shaped bases and irregular lobing at the apex. It resembles appearance to northern maidenhair fern except unforked fronds. Foliage are soft delicate and finely textured and attractive in woodland areas. There are some eighty varieties of this plant, some of which grow abundantly in…

Bushy Lippia is a Central American plant which is used by Aztac peoples as an herbal sweetener. This perennial herb is inherent to Southern Mexico, the Caribbean, Colombia and Venezuela. It is well known of more than 200 species of Lippia which are mostly from the tropics. It is a fast growing ground cover which sends horizontal runners. It grows well in areas with full sunlight and requires warm climate with soil pH ranging 6 to 8. Leaves are decussate-opposite, lanceshaped-oblong about 3-10 x 1.5-3.5 cm across with narrow to pointed base, sawtoothed margins, sparsely velvet-hairy above. Leaf stalk is…

This member of the Chicory family is an indigenous perennial herb, has a smooth stem and grows 2–4 ft. high. The stem is stout and purplish, with radical leaves, lanceolate, and all irregularly dentate. This plant grows plentifully in moist weeds and in rich soils, from New England to Iowa, and from Canada to Carolina. It is the member of Asteraceae and tribe lactuceae. Recently this species was considered to be in the genus Prenanthes included European, African, Asian and North American species. Leaves are alternate and variable in shape i.e. deeply and irregularly lobed. Flowering stems are 1 to…

An annual herb native to Europe, but has become naturalized in the northern states of the U.S.A. The American species are known either as Tall larkspurs, which are 3–7 ft. in height and grow in moist places of higher altitudes and bloom in summer; or Low larkspur, which are found in open or exposed places to an elevation of 3,000 ft. Only four species of the seventy-nine native to North America occur east of the Mississippi, the majority being western in distribution, often in small areas. The leaves are palmate and variously cut or divided. The flowers are mostly blue,…

An evergreen shrub common to North America and is found as far south as Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. They are low ornamental plants from 1–6 ft. high, having narrow, dark leaves lined underneath with rust-coloured wooly hairs and bearing white, bell-shaped flowers in the early spring. During the American Revolution the leaves are said to have been used as a substitute for commercial tea. It is an erect and aromatic shrub which grows to the height of 1 meter with twigs densely covered with long and soft hairs. Leaves are narrow, leathery, about 2-5 cm long, evergreen and alternate. Leaves are…

This is an indigenous perennial; several species grow abundantly in woods, along roadsides, prairies, beside rivers and streams throughout the eastern and southern parts of the country as far west as Kansas and Texas. The purplish-green, coarse, composite plant has stems from 3–10 ft. high. The leaves are from 4–8 in. long, dark purple and showy. They bear heads of magenta-coloured flowers from July to September somewhat like miniature thistles. The root is bitter. Ironweed belongs to the member of Asteraceae with only disk or tubular flowers. Flowers are purple tubular and form in groups of 20-40 or more head.…