The Herbal Library

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Browse every herb in the database by name, category, or the body system it's traditionally associated with.

All categories Aromatic Culinary Medicinal

Results

8 herbs

No. 001Medicinal

Berberine

Berberis vulgaris

A natural compound found in barberry (shown here) and other plants such as goldenseal. It is widely used in China for diarrhea, and has been studied for H. pylori infection and blood sugar.

No. 002Medicinal

Black Walnut

Juglans nigra

A North American tree whose nut hulls contain juglone and other compounds. Black walnut hull is an ingredient in herbal gut formulas, but it hasn't been studied on its own in people.

No. 003Medicinal

Botanical illustration of Chinaberry Bark

Bark of the chinaberry tree, whose compound toosendanin was developed in China as a roundworm medicine. The plant is toxic: toosendanin damages the liver, and chinaberry has poisoned many kinds of animals.

No. 004Medicinal

Epazote

Dysphania ambrosioides

An herb used in Jamaican and Latin American folk medicine against worms. It can cause serious, even deadly, poisoning, especially in children.

No. 005Medicinal

Soursop

Annona muricata

A tropical fruit (graviola) used in folk medicine for stomachache, diarrhea and intestinal parasites. Eating it has been linked to more severe Parkinson's disease in the Caribbean.

No. 006Medicinal

Strong Back Root

Morinda royoc

Redgal, a root boiled into Jamaica's "strong back" roots tonic, used by men for impotence and stamina. It hasn't been studied in people.

No. 007Culinary

Susumber

Solanum torvum

Turkey berry, a small berry from the nightshade family cooked in Jamaican dishes and used in traditional medicine in Asia, Africa and South America. Some batches of berries have caused serious poisoning.

No. 008Medicinal

Vervain

Stachytarpheta jamaicensis

Called vervain in Jamaica and vervine in Antigua and Trinidad, a weedy plant whose leaves make a "cooling" tea used for the stomach, colds and coughs, and to clean wounds.