Ashwagandha is a small shrub in the nightshade family, traditionally valued for its root. The name is often translated as “smell of the horse,” referring to the root’s strong earthy scent and its traditional association with strength and stamina. Do…
Green tea is one of the world’s most studied herbal beverages. It is made from Camellia sinensis leaves that are quickly heated after harvest to limit oxidation, helping preserve their green color, fresh flavor, catechins, and delicate aroma. Green Tea…
Dandelion root is the deep taproot of the familiar yellow-flowered plant that many people call a weed and herbalists call “free medicine trying very hard to get your attention.” In traditional herbalism, dandelion root is used mainly as a bitter…
Orange peel is the fragrant outer rind of the sweet orange. In herbalism and traditional food cultures, the peel is used as an aromatic digestive herb, flavoring agent, tea ingredient, and bright companion to heavier or more bitter herbs. Orange…
Cardamom is a fragrant spice from the ginger family, best known for its sweet, warming, slightly citrusy, eucalyptus-like aroma. In herbalism and traditional food cultures, the small seeds inside the green pods are used for digestion, breath freshness, respiratory comfort,…
Skullcap is a gentle-looking mint-family herb with small blue-purple flowers and a long history in North American and Western herbal traditions. The part most commonly used is the aerial portion of the plant: leaves, stems, and flowering tops. Skullcap (Scutellaria…
Licorice root is a sweet, earthy root with a long history in Western herbalism, Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and traditional European medicine. It is famous for its naturally sweet taste, which comes largely from glycyrrhizin, a compound many times sweeter…
Holy basil, also known as tulsi, is a fragrant member of the mint family with a long history of use in Ayurveda and household herbal traditions. It is not the same as sweet basil used in Italian cooking, though the…
Calendula is a bright orange or yellow flower in the Asteraceae family, traditionally used as a gentle skin, lymphatic, digestive, and mucous membrane herb. In herbalism, the flower heads are the main part used, especially the sticky green resinous base…
Passionflower is a climbing vine with dramatic purple-and-white flowers that look almost too fancy to be real. In herbalism, the part most often used is the aerial herb: the leaves, stems, and flowers of Passiflora incarnata. The fruit is edible…
Rosehip is the small red-orange fruit-like part that forms after a rose flower has been pollinated and the petals fall away. Technically, it is not a true fruit in the simple botanical sense, but in everyday herbal life, it behaves…
Oat is both a familiar food and a respected herb. Most people know oats as breakfast, but herbalists also use the green aerial parts, oat straw, and fresh milky oat tops as gentle restorative herbs for the nervous system, stress…
Hibiscus is a bright, tart, ruby-red herb best known as a refreshing tea. In herbalism, the part most often used is not the showy flower petal, but the fleshy red calyx that surrounds the seed pod of Hibiscus sabdariffa. That…
Fennel is a fragrant, sweet, anise-like herb in the carrot family. In herbalism, the “seeds” used in tea and cooking are technically the dried fruits of the fennel plant. They are small, aromatic, and surprisingly hardworking for something that looks…
Marshmallow root is the soft, soothing root of Althaea officinalis, a perennial plant in the mallow family. It is rich in mucilage, a slippery plant compound that becomes gel-like when mixed with water. In herbalism, marshmallow root is one of…
