Botanical Name: Chamaelirium luteum. Other Common Names: Fairywand, helionas dioica, helonias lutea, veratrum luteum, chamaelirium carolinianum, helionas root, blazing star root, devil’s bit, starwort. Habitat: False unicorn is a flowering herb originally found in moist areas east of the Mississippi River but also common in other southern states. Description: False unicorn is a herbaceous perennial, […]
Medicinal Herb Profiles
Evening Primrose – Health Benefits and Side Effects
Botanical Name: Oenothera biennis. Other Common Names: Fever plant, great evening-primrose, kings-cure-all, night willow-herb, scabish, scurvish, tee primrose, sun drop, suncups. Habitat: Evening primrose grows in the temperate climates of North America, and other similar regions. This plant can be found growing in the dry, open soils along roadways, railways, and in open fields. This […]
European Ash – Health Benefits and Side Effects
Botanical Name: Fraxinus excelsior. Other Common Names: Ash, common ash, weeping ash, bird’s tongue. Habitat: The European ash is found in most parts of Europe from the Mediterranean Sea in the south to Norway in the north and to the Caucasus and western Russia in the east. Description: European ash is a large tree that […]
Ephedra – Health Benefits and Side Effects
Botanical Name: Ephedra sinica. Other Common Names: Ma huang, teamster’s tea, sea ephedrine, desert tea, yellow horse, yellow astringent, joint fir, squaw tea, mormon tea, popotillo and sea grape. Habitat: Northern China, Mongolia, India, Southwestern United States, Persia (Turkey, Iraq, and Iran) and western areas of South America. Plant Description: Ma huang is a xerophytic, […]
English Ivy – Side Effects and Health Benefits
Botanical Name: Hedera helix. Other Common Names: Common ivy, true ivy, gum ivy, woodbine, winter-green, winter-grunt, kissos, bergflétta. Habitat: English Ivy is a common garden plant that is native to Europe and temperate Asia. Description: English ivy is an evergreen climbing vine with glossy, angular leaves. It climbs using fibrous shoots resembling roots which grow […]
Elecampane – Health Benefits and Side Effects
Botanical Name:: Inula helenium. Other Common Names: Scabwort, marchalan, elf dock, wild sunflower, horseheal, velvet dock. Habitat: Elecampane can be found throughout Great Britain, central and southern Europe, the temperate zones of Asia west of the Himalayas, and the eastern and central regions of North America. It is found growing wild in damp meadows, wet-mesic […]
Elderberry – Side Effects and Benefits
Botanical Name: Sambucus nigra, Sambucus canadensis. Other Common Names: Black elder, black-berried European elder, European elder, boor tree, bountry, elder, ellanwood, ellhorn, German elder, saúco (Spanish), sureau noir (French), almindelig Hyld (Dansish), Schwarzer Holunder (German), svarthyll (Norwegian). Habitat: Elderberry is native to most of Europa, parts of Asia and North Africa. Black (American) Elderberry (Sambucus […]
Echinacea – Side Effects and Health Benefits
Botanical Name: Echinacea angustifolia, Echinacea purpurea. Other Common Names: Purple Coneflower, Kansas Snakeroot, black sampson, coneflower, American coneflower. Habitat: Echinecea is native to North America. There are nine types of echinacea in this species of daisy but only a few have a well-documented use in traditional American medicine. Echinacea purpurea does not have the wide […]
Dwarf Milkwort – Health Benefits and Side Effects
Botanical Name of Dwarf Milkwort: Polygala amarella. Other Common Names: Bitter milkwort, rosettjungfrulin (Swedish), polygale amer (French), Sumpf-Kreuzblume (German), polígala amarga (Spanish). Habitat: Dwarf milkwort is indigenous to Europe, where the species has a wide distribution (mainly in Central Europe). Description: Dwarf milkwort is a small (around 10 cm high) perennial plant of the family […]
Dong Quai Root – Benefits and Uses
Botanical Name: Angelica sinensis. Other Common Names Chinese angelica Female ginseng Dang gui (Chinese) Toki (Japanese) Tanggwi (Korean) Chinesische Engelwurz (German) Kinesisk angelikarot (Swedish). When Chinese angelica is used as a medicinal herb it is mostly known by its Chinese name “dong quai”. Habitat It is found growing wild in China, Korea, and Japan. In […]