Evening primrose is a coarse, annual or biennial plant found in dry meadows and waste places and along roadsides east of the rockies to the Atlantic.

Astringent, mucilaginous. Use evening primrose as a soothing remedy for coughs associated with colds. It has also been used for mental depression, its effectiveness perhaps due to a stimulating effect on the liver, spleen, and digestive apparatus. It can also be made into an ointment useful for rashes and other skin irritations. The entire plant is edible.

Life everlasting is a fragrant, herbaceous annual plant found in dry fields, open pine woods, and clearings in the Atlantic coastal states and west to Kansas and Texas.

Astringent, diaphoretic, diuretic. low cudweed is used primarily for its diuretic properties and as a mouthwash and gargle for mouth and throat problems. American Indians smoked it like tobacco to cure headaches.

Female fern is a perennial plant found all over the U.S., growing in shady areas, among rocks, and on decaying tree stumps. The leaves or fonds, are green, glabrous, and pinnatifid almost to the midrib, the pinnae being lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate.

In popular usage, the infusion of female fern is used for coughs, horseness, and respiratory problems. It can also be used to wash external wounds. A strong decoction makes a good purgative and anthelmintic, female fern has also been recommended in herbals for fever, jaundice, and lack of appitite.

Sumbul is a perennial herb native to central and western Asia. Its thick, brown, spongy rootstock produces a stem alternate, pinnately decompound leaves with thread like segments. The small, yellow flowers grow in compound, many-rayed umbels.

Sumbuls antispasmodic properties have made it useful for asthma and bronchitis. It has also been used in the past for hysteria, for hypochondria, and for general debility (neurasthenia). The rootstoc's musky odor makes it a good substitute for musk oil.

Feverweed is a sticky and hairy, annual or perennial plant that grows in dry woods and thickets from Maine to Florida and west to Ontario, Minnesota, and Missouri. The numerous stems are 1 to 4 feet high and bear opposite, fern like leaves, 1 to 3 inchs long, which are pinnately lobed and deeply serrate. The large, yellow, bell-shaped flowers grow in loose terminal racemes in August and September.

A warm infusion of feverweed is particularly effective in producing perspiration and is said to be highly effective against ephemeral fever.

Fig tree is native to the Mediterranean region and is cultivated elsewhere for its fruit. Its wood is soft, and with its many branches it grows up to 30 feet.

For internal use, the fig has mildly laxative properties and is often used in combination with senna and carminative herbs. When you have a cold, a decoction of figs acts as a demulcent to soothe the mucous membranes of the respiratory passages. The fresh fig, roasted and cut in half, makes a good emollient poultice for boils and small tumors. The stems and leaves contain an acrid milky juice that can be used to remove warts.

Fax is an annual plant widely cultivated in the U.S., mostly northwestern states, Canada, and Europe but also found wild along roadsides and railroad lines, and in waste places.

A decoction of the seeds can be used for coughs, catarrh, lung and chest problems, and digestive and urinary disorders. To eliminate gallstones, take 1 1/2 to 2 tbsp, linseed oil and lie down on your left side for half hour. The gallstones will pass into the intestines and be eliminated from there. Eating the seeds intact is useful for constipation. The seeds swell up in the intestines, encouraging elimination by increasing the volume of fecal matter. For emollient uses and for rheumatic complaints, make a linseed poultice.

Foxglove is a biennial plant cultivated as anornamental in the U.S. but also found wild in pastures and burnedover areas on the Pacific coast from British Columbia to northern California. The stem is stout, succulent, simple, and downy, growing to a height of 2 to 5 feet.

Foxglove contains glycosides which are extracted from the second year's growth of leaves to make the heart drug digitalis. Even touching the plant with bare skin has been known to cause rashes, headaches, and nausea.

Fragrant valerian is a perennial plant, about 2 to 4 feet high, which has escaped from cultivation to inhabit roadsides and thickets from New England south to New Jersey and west to Ohio. It is also very common all over Europe.

Fragrant valerian is useful for all sorts of nervous conditions, migraine, and insomnia. It is also helpful for hysteria, neurasthenia, fatigue, and stomach cramps that cause vomiting. CAUTION: Large doses or extended use may produce symptoms of poisoning. Take the tea twice daily for no more than two to three weeks at a time. Fragrant valerian tea can also be used as an enema for pinworms, and externally as a wash for sores and pimples.

Fraxinella is a perennial plant introduced from Europe and sometimes cultivated as a garden ornamental in the northern U.S. The knobby, cylindrical, whitish rootstock sends up several round, downy, green and purple stems with alternate, odd-pinnate leaves. The fruit is a five-parted capsule. The entire plant has a lemon-like smell.

A decoction of the rootstock is popularly used for intermittent fever and for stomach cramps, as well as for other uses indicated by the categories. A decoction of the rootstock and the seed is used for kidney and bladder stones, to promote the onset of menstruation, and for leucorrhea, cramps, diuretic, gravel and hysteria.

Fringe tree grows from 8 to 25 feet high, in the middle and southern U.S. and in New England. It is cultivated in parks and gardens and also occurs wild along riverbanks and on higher ground. The leaves are opposite, smooth, and oblong to oval in shape. In may and June, when when the leaves are partially developed, the fragrant white flowers, from whose fringe-like petals the tree derives its name, appear dense panicles. The fruit is oval, purple drupe.

A preparation of fringe tree bark abates fever, is good for acute dyspepsia, and has a beneficial effect on the kidneys and the liver, including acute or chronic liver inflammation and cirrhosis of the liver. The bark can also be made into a poultice for external use on wounds and skin irritations.

Fumitory is an annual plant found practically everywhere on earth, mostly where other plants are cultivated. The hollow stem is smooth, and bluish hued. The small flowers vary from reddish-purple to yellowish-white, have a reddish-black spot on the tip, and grow in loose racemes from May to September.

Fumitory is used internally primarily for liver and gallbladder problems. Larger doses act as a laxative and diuretic, but excessive doses can cause diarrhea and stomachache. For chronic constipation, use fumitory in combination with other appropriate herbs.Take fumitory also for scabies and other skin problems.

Galangal is a perennial plant, varieties of which are found wild and cultivated in China, Southeast Asia, Indonesia, and Iran. The creeping rootstock is cylindrical and branched, ringed with the leaf sheaths of the past, rust brown or red outside, and gray-white and mealy inside. Its odor and taste are reminiscent of its relative, ginger. Aside from the basal leaves, procumbent stems also bear linear-lanceolate leaves as well as white flowers growing in racemes. During flowering, the plant reaches a height of 3 to 5 feet.

Galangal is used like ginger. Lovers of the middle ages (not middle aged lovers) used it as an aphrodisiac.

Garden violet is a small, European, perennial plant that is commonly cultivated and also grows wild in meadows, thickets, hedges, and along roadsides and the edges of woods. The leaves are basal, petioled, and cordate. The spurred, violet, sometimes white or rose-coloured, flowers grow on long peduncles from March to May.

Garden violet is primarily an herb for respiratory problems. Also used as a soothing gargle, is also good for headaches, its a good expectorant, it soothes coughs, whoopin cough, insomnia, and hysterical or nervous problems. The flowers and seeds can be used as a mild laxative. In larger doses, the rootstock is emetic.

Goldthread is a low perennial plant found in mossy woods and swamps from Labrador south to Maryland and west to Minnesota, Iowa, and Tennessee. From a slender, golden, creeping rootstock arise the basal, longpetioled, trifoliate, evergreen leaves and the naked scapes, 3 to 6 inches high, which terminate in a small, white flower. Flowering time is May to August. The fruit is an oblong capsule.

Goldthread has been used internally as a bitter tonic, particularly for dyspepsia. Its main use has been as a wash or gargle for sores and ulcerations in the mouth, throat, and even stomach. It has also been a popular folk remedy for inflammations of mucos membranes in the mouth and around the eyes.

Great burnet is a perennial plant that grows in old gardens, damp meadows, peat bogs, and coastal areas of the U.S. and Europe.It has dense spikes of purplish flowers to enable the plant to  reach a height of 2 to 3 feet. Flowering time is July to September.

The two main uses for Great burnet are to stop diarrhea and to coagulate blood so as to end hemorrhaging. The plant has also been recommended at times for inflammation of the veins and for menopausal problems.

Ground ivy is a creeping, perennial plant found in moist soils of the eastern states and the Pacific coast, as well as in Europe. It grows to 2 feet in height, the leaves are opposite, hairy, crenate, from reniform to cordate but nearly round. The bluish-purple, two-lipped flowers grow in axillary whorls of six from April to July.

Ground ivy is helpful in relieving diarrhea and inflammation of mucos membranes, as in colds, sore throat, bronchitis, congestion, headaches. It has been used for problems caused by hypoacidity, for catarrhal enteritis, and for liver ailments. Groun ivy has also been used in cases of neurasthenia and morbid hysteria; and, made into a bath additive, it is said to be good for sciatica, gout, gravel, and stones

Guaica is the resin from a tree that grows in the West Indies, Mexico, Central America, and northern South America. The crooked trunk grows 30 to 40 feet high and provides lignum vitae, the olive-brown,heavy,very hard wood which contains the oily resin.

Guaiac has found application in cases of gout, catarrh, syphilis, rheumatism, and skin diseases. Take a decoction of the wood and keep warm to induce perspiration or keep cool for diuretic action.

Gum plant is a bushy perennial native to, but not plentiful in, the coastal areas of California.. Several stems grow together to a height of 1 to 2 feet and bear oblong to ovate, sharply serrated or denticulate, leathery leaves. Two to 5five yellow flower heads grow in a terminal cyme from August to September.

Used in small doses,gum plant is helpful for colds, nasal congestion, bronchial irritation, and for the spasms of whooping cough and asthma. Externally, the tae can be used as a wash for burns, rashes, blisters, and inflammation: a fluid extract, diluted with 6 to 10 parts water, can be applied to skin irritation caused by poison ivy. LARGE doses can be poisonous: Smaller doses may cause slowing of the heartbeat.

Heather is a evergreen shrub, rare in the U.S. but commonly found on poor soils and marshy grounds in Great Britain and EuropeIt grows up to 3 feet long and sends up branches 1 to 1 1/2 feet high. The dull green, sometimes gray, small, linearlanceolate leaves grow in two overlapping rows. branching spikes of light violet, bell-shaped flowers appear in August and September.

Some people find heather useful for insomnia, and it has also been recommended for gouty and rheumatic pains, stomachache, coughs, and facial skin problems. Heather contains compounds that act to constrict the blood vessels, strengthen the heart, and moderately raise blood pressure. They also stimulate the flow of bile and of urine.

Hedge bindweed is a perennial herbaceous vine found in waste places, thickets, and cultivated ground in the eastern half of the U.S. and also in all of Europe. It grows 3 to 10 feet long, growing from a creeping rootstock, the flaring, funnel shaped flowers are white or pink with white stripes and grow solitary on long, quadrangular peduncles from the leaf axils from June to October.

Hedge bindweed is used primarily as a purgative, but it also helps reduce inflammation of mucous membranes. The powdered rootstock made from the plant is commonly used. The fresh juice should be taken only in small quantities; in large quantities it produces constipation. Like all strong purgatives, hedge bindweed is not for extended use.

Hedge garlic is a European, annual or biennial plant found along roadsides, hedges, walls, fences and among bushes. The blue-green, usually simple stem grows up to 3 feet high and is mostly glabrous but thinly hairy at the bottom. The leaves when bruised smell like garlic. The small, white flowers grow in a broad raceme from April to June.

Hedge garlic is used in basically the same ways as mustard and garlic. In addition, it is popularly used as a springtime cure diuretic for rheumatism, gout, and asthma. In the past it has been praised as a stimulant and an anthelmintic. CAUTION; as with mustard, skin irritation can result from use of the plant as poultice or plaster.

Hedge hyssop is a European perennial herb which grows to a height of about 1 foot in low, wet places. It has a creaping rootstock that bears shallow toothed leaves.

The solitary, axillary flowers have a tubular corolla that is rose coloured or reddish with yellow streaks. Flowering time is from June to August.

Hedge hyssop is potent medicine and should be used only in the form of prepared extracts and tinctures to minimize the danger of poisoning. Large doses of the plant produce numerous and dangerous effects. The tincture is said to help in the effort to stop smoking. It can also be taken for gout, mild dropsy, chronic eczema, and persistent itching skin.

Hedge mustard is a common, much-hated, annual weed found in fields and waste places all over North America and Europe. It grows 1 to 4 feet in height and has small yellow flowers that grow in terminal racemes from April to November. Beneath the flower clusters, linear or oblong seed pods develop, closely pressed to the axis in a long, slender raceme. The seeds resemble those of mustard.

Hedge mustard tea is popularly used in Europe for colds, coughs, hoarseness, chest congestion, laryngitis, bronchial catarrh, and particularly as part of a springtime cure.

Black hellebore is a perennial plant cultivated and found wild around the edges of forests in the subalpine and southern parts of Europe. It has also been introduced into the U.S. as a garden plant. The stem grows as high as 1 foot and bears a few smaill leaflets. The large, showy flowers appear from December to March.

Hellebore is used variously to stimulate the heart, and to treat depression, mania, epilepsy, and skin problems. The leaves and rootstock contain a variety of glycosides similar in activity to digitalis. Contact with the bruised herb may also cause dermatitis.

Hemlock spruce is a North American evergreen tree,growing 50 to 100 feet high in mountain ravines and woods and in swampy areas. The bark is a dull brownish-gray on the outside and red underneath and is made up of large, rough scales, the leaves are short and needle like.

A tea of the inner bark or the young twigs is helpful in kidney and bladder problems and makes a good enema for diarrhea. Use it also to wash external sores and ulcers and as a gargle or mouthwash for mouth and throat problems. Put powdered bark in the shoes for tender or sweaty feet or for foot odor.

Hemp agrimony is a European perennial plant which grows along shorelines, in ditches, and in other moist places. The leaves are dark green on top, gray green below, and palmately three to five parted with serrate leaflets. The reddish flowers grow in compound terminal cymes from July to September.

An infusion of the leaves is helpful for liver problems and is also recommended for rheumatism;. A decoction of the rootstock is used as an expectorant; in large doses it acts as a laxative and emetic. Hemp agrimony can also be applied externally to wounds, bruises, sores, swellings, etc

Hemp nettle is an annual weed found in gardens and waste places all over Canada, in Alaska, and from the Great Lakes south to West Virginia. The square, branching stem is swollen and covered with bristly, pointing hairs. The opposite, ovate, coarsely toothed leaves are from 2 to 5 inches long and bristly on both sides. Dense, whorled, terminal or axillary clusters of pale magenta, two lipped flowers with bell-shaped, spiny calyxes appear from June to october.

Hemp nettle is particularly good for clearing up bronchial congestion and phlegm and is commonly used for coughs. It seems to have a beneficial effect on the blood and has been recommended for anemia and other blood disorders. Europeans also use it as a home remedy for spleen problems and tuberculosis.

Henbane is a biennial plant found growing in dry, sandy soils, waste grounds and graveyards and around the foundations of neglect houses in the northern states of the U.S., and in Canada and Europe.The funnel-shaped flowers are dull yellow or beige, with purple veins and bases, and grow in one sided, leafy spikes from July to September. The plant has a fetid odor.

Because of the danger of poisoning, henbane is used primarily for external applications. An oil obtained from the leaves is made into anodyne lotions and used for earache and rheumatism. Henbane can also be taken for nervousness, irritability and to relieve pain. CAUTION the whole plant is poisonous, children have been poisoned by eating the seeds or seed pods.

Henna is a small shrub that grows in Arabia, North Africa, Iran, and the East Indies. The grayish-green leaves are elliptical and from 1 to 2 feet long. Fragrant red flowers, highly prized by Egyptian ladies, grow in large panicles.

A decoction made from the leaves is useful as a gargle and, taken internally or used externally, for skin problems. It is also sometimes taken as a headache remedy.

Hepatica is a small perennial plant found in woodlands of the eastern U.S., westward to Iowa and Missouri, and in Canada and Europe. The leaves are green on top and reddish purple beneath. The leaves last through the winter, the new leaves appear after the plant flowers. The light blue, sometimes reddish-blue or white, flowers grow on hairy scapes from December to May.

Hepatica tea has been used for bronchitis, liver congestion, gallbladder problems, and kidney and bladder ailments. It is also said to stop gastric hemorrhage and vomiting of blood. The fresh plant is irritating to the skin and should not be used on wounds.

Herb robert is a disagreeable smelling annual plant which grows in rocky woods from Nova Scotia south to Pennsylvania and waes to Manitoba and Missouri, it is also common in Europe, Asia, and North Africa. The purplish red or rose coloured flowers grow in pairs from May to October. The petals have long claws which suggest the long bill of a stork or crane.

Internal use of herb robert is recommended for diarrhea, gastritis, gout, and hemorrhage. A hot poultice of boiled leaves is said to be good for bladder pains, fistulas, bruises, erysipelas, inflammations, and persistent skin problems. Can also be used as a mouth wash, and the dilute tea as an eyewash.

Holly is an evergreen tree or shrub which grows wild and is cultivated in Europe and in the U.S. for christmas decorations. As a tree, it grows as high as 30 feet, as a shrub it reaches about 15 feet. It has smooth bark and green branches, with green shiny, waxy, spiny leaves. During May and June, small white flowers appear, then into pea sized, red, berry like drupes which remain through the winter.

Although little used today, mountain holly has been used in the past for gout, stones, and urinary problems, for chronic bronchitis, rheumatism, and arthritis. CAUTION: The berries are mildly poisonous and are dangerous to small children.

Hollyhock is a tall plant indigenous to India and southern Europe but wildly cultivated as a garden plant for its flowers. The stem grows both leaves and flowers along its length, the large flowers come in many different colours and having either one or two sets of petals. Flowering time is from July to September.

Tea made from hollyhock flowers helps to sooth inflammation in the mouth and throat. A fomentation or vapor bath of the yea may be helpful for earache. Hollyhock flowers are used as an emollient ingredient in various cosmetics.

Horseradish is a perennial plant native to southeastern Europe and western Asia, and found wild but cultivated in other parts of the world. The basil leaves are lanceolate with scalloped edges, the stem leaves are much smaller. A panicle of numerous white flowers appear during June and July.

The diuretic properties of fresh horseradish make it useful for gouty and rheumatic problems and also for bladder infections. For catarrhal lung problems, coughs, and asthma, take horseradish combined with honey and raw sugar. Externally, horseradish is used as an irritant to stimulate blood flow; it can also be made into a poultice for rheumatism and into a bath additive for chilblains.

Horseweed is a native North American annual plant found also in South America and Europe. It generally inhabits waste places, roadsides, fields, and meadows all over North America. Numerous small, green and white flower heads appear in panicled terminal clusters from June to November.

Horseweed's astringent and styptic properties make it particularly suitable for diarrhea, dysentery, internal hemorrhage, and hemorrhoids. American Indians boiled the root to make a tea for menstrual irregularities. As a diuretic, it has also been recommended for bladder problems and rheumatism.

Hounds tongue grows in dry grassy places and dunes. It is a greyish biennial, softly downy, with alternate, long lanceolate leaves and dark red, funnel-shaped flowers, and has an odour like mice.

Constituents: Pyrrolizidine alkaloids; cynoglossine, consolidine, heliosupine, echinatine, allantoin miscellaneous; tannin 8-9% choline, mucilage, resin.

Anodyne, demulcent, astringent. Due to the toxic alkaloids its use is not recommended.

A common garden plant in Britian and Europe. Leaves forming a rosette 5-8cm in diameter,fleshy sessile, oblong-ovate, incurved, pointed and hairy at the margin. It tastessaline, astringent, and acid, and it is odourless.

The fresh leaves have been bruised and applied as a poultice for burns and stings etc. The juice has potent antioxidant, free-radical scavenging and membrane-stabilizing abilities, reducing ascorbic acid and ferric-chloride-induced lipid peroxidation in microsomal suspension of rat liver. A freeze dried extract lowered HDL-cholesterol levels and protected against experimental liver damage, and also improved various parameters of liver function, such as normalizing cytochrome P450 enzymes and restoring reactivity of spleen cells.

Imperial masterwort is a perennial plant that is cultivated and also found wild in European mountain meadows. Flowering from July to August.

It can be used as a calmative, diaphoretic, diuretic, emmenagogue, febrifuge, stimulant. A weak decoction of imperial masterwort is good for catarrhal problems, digestive difficulties and lack of appetite, uterine cramps, menstrual problems, mucos congestion, gout, and rheumatism. Old herbals praise it also for effectiveness against bronchitis and fever.

Corn is familiar enough not to need description.

Uses: Demulcent, diuretic. Corn silk makes a good diuretic preparation, which is sometimes helpful in such urinary problems as cystitis, pyelitis, and oliguria and also in edemous conditions. If kept to long without being completely dried, however, corn silk takes on purgative properties. For those who want to loose weight, corn silk makes an effective and harmless dieting food. The tea can also be used as a non-irritating enema.

Indian pipe is a unique perennial plant found in dark, rich woodlands in the temperate and warmer parts of North America. A mass of dark, brittle, saprophytic roots produces the ivory-white, waxy stem growing 4 to 10 inches high and covered with scaly bracts.

Indian pipe root makes a good remedy for spasms, fainting spells, and various nervous conditions and may be helpful in remittent and intermittent fever. Mixed with fennel seed, it makes a good eyewash and vaginal douche.

Indian turnip is a perenniel plant that grows mainly in moist woods in the states east from Louisiana, Kansas, and Minnesota.

Indian turnip was used in American medicine during the nineteenth century for asthma, rheumatism, and whooping cough. Since the frssh root is dangerously irritating to mucos tissue and the dried root is inactive, the roots were used partially dried. Among American Indians, the pawnee applied the powdered root to the head to cure headache, and the hopis drank it in water to induce temporary or permanate sterility. Thorough drying, boiling, or heating makes the root edible. 

Ironweed is a coarse, perennial plant found in woods, on prairies, and along river- and streambanks in states west of Ohio. The simple, glabrous stem grows 2 to 10 feet high and bears alternate, ascending, purplish-green, linear or oblong-lanceolate leaves. The reddish-purple or purple flowers grow in dense cymes of short-peduncled heads from July to September.

The rootstock of ironweed is taken in the form of a powder or a decoction primarily to stimulate appetite and promote digestion.

Jalap comes from Mexico, its roots are usually ovoid, up to about 15cm long, very hard and heavy. Externally dark brown,wrinkled, with paler, transverse lenticels. Fracture; hard, horny, showing a greyish interior.

Cathartic, purgative. Usually used with carminatives and other laxatives to prevent gripping. Brazilian Jalap is sometimes substituted; it has similar effects.

Jasmine is a vinelike plant indigenous to the warm parts of the eastern hemisphere and now cultivated also in gardens in the southern U.S. Jasmine has opposite, dark green, pinnate leaves and sweet-smelling white flowers.

According to old herbals, Jasmine flowers calm the nerves. However, others suggest that the scent arouses erotic interests, and a few drops of jasmine oil massaged on the body with some almond oil may help overcome frigidity. In India,jasmine is used as a remedy for snakebite, and the leaves are used for eye problems.

Jimson weed is a fetid, annual plant found in waste places, pastures, gardens, and roadsides all over North and South America and in many other parts of the world.

Jimson weed is a dangerous plant in inexperienced hands, and an overdose is likely to be fatal. A tincture is sometimes given for spasmodic coughing, chronic laryngitis, and asthma.

The leaves have been made into cigarettes for smokers with asthma and other respiratory problems. In South America, jimson weed is believed to have aphrodisiac powers.

khus-khus is a tall perennial grass which grows in large clumps in tropical and sub tropical Asia and the East Indies; it is also cultivated in the southeastern U.S.

The erect stem, growing up to 7 to 8 feet high, bears long, narrow, glabrous leaves that are rough on both sides and somewhat stiff. The flowers grow in paired spikelets in a narrow panicle from 6 to 12 inches long.

Most of the uses for the aromatic roots or khus-khus are nonmedical, but a tea made from the roots can be taken as a generally stimulating and tonic drink.

Kidney vetch is a European perennial plant found in limestone soils, dry meadows, hills, and railroad embankments.It has yellow flowers that are arranged in ovoid or subglobose, clover-like heads, appearing from May to September.

A warm infusion of kidney vetch can be used to wash wounds, which are then covered with a poultice which is renewed every hour. The tea is often given to children as a mild purgative, and it sometimes helps to allay vomiting in children.

Knotgrass is an annual plant found in waste places and cultivated soils all over the world. The axillary flowers, growing all along the stem, are green and white or green with pink or purple margins. Flowering time is fromJune to October.

Knotgrass is recommended for diarrhea, dysentery, and enteritis. It is also said to be good for bronchitis, jaundice, and lung problems. As a blood coagulant, it is useful for all forms of internal bleeding, including stomach ulcers. Knotgrass has been successfully used for cholera infantum, a serious condition with simultaneous vomiting and diarrhea in infants. Taken regularly, the tea or the tincture dissolves gravel and stones.

Kousso is found in Northeast Africa, and flowers about 1cm across, the petals minute, linear; 10 veined leaf-like sepals in two rows.

Used as an infusion and powder, in conjuction with purgatives such as castor oil. The kosins are cytotoxic and have anti-tumor  activity against murine adenocarcinoma cells., and kosotoxin is spasmolytic in guinea pig ileum  and rabbit jejunum against a range of spazmogens. Excessive doses are dangerous, causing irritation of the gastrointestinal tract, salivation, vision disorders and collapse.

Larch is found in Europe, and the British isles. The inner bark of the tree, deprived of the grey outer inert bark, is preffered for medicinal use. The external surface is reddish-brown, the inner surface with a pinkish or yellowish tint.

It is short , slightly fibrous; the taste is astringent and bitter.

Astringent, balsamic, diuretic. Larch has been used as a tincture to treat bronchitis and urinary inflammation. The abietane diterpenes from inhibit Epstein-barr virus activation.

Larkspur is a common garden plant. Seeds black, tetrahedral, flattened, up to about 2mm in diareter, with acute edges and pitted surfaces,it tastes bitter and acrid, and is odourless.

Parasiticide, insecticide, antispasmodic. Atincture has been used to destroy nits and lice in the hair; the alkaloids also have insect-repellant activity. These products should be used with great care as the alkaloids are cardiotoxic and neurotoxic and are being investigated for clinical usage as analgesics and antiarrhythmic agents

Native to the Mediterranean region, cultivated widely

The oil has been used as an external application for rheumatism and in hair-dressing for dandruff. Bay leaves are an important culinary spice. This plant should not be confused with West Indian Bay, from Pimenta racemosa, which is an ingredient of Bay Rum. The sesquiterpenes inhibit alcohol absorption in rats and retard gastric emptying and also inhibit nitric oxide production in activated mouse peritoneal macrophages, thought to be due to induction of heat shock protein 72 and prevention of NFkappaB activation.

Leek is an annual, or sometimes perennial, plant that is generally found in cultivation. Its linear leaves dilate at the bottom into leaf sheaths that surround the stem. Flowering time is from June and July.

Leek has about the same properties as garlic, but to a lesser degree. It also stimulates appetite and helps to releive congestion in the respiratory passages. Leek makes a good, non-irritating diuretic. The crushed leaves can be used externally to ease the sting of insect bites.

Lemon grows on trees, particularly in California and Florida. The rest is equally well known.

Lemon juice is a popular home remedy for numerous ailments, particularly colds, coughs, and sore throat. It is sometimes taken too for headaches and rheumatism. Externally, lemon juice can be used on sunburn, warts, and corns, and it is currently enjoying a revival of interest as a hair rinse and facial astringent.

Lemon's vitamin C and astringency also make lemon powder useful to stop bleeding in wounds.

Everyone is familiar with common lettuce as it is available in the supermarket, but this is the loplant picked before it is fully grown. When allowed to mature, lettuce developes a tall stem with alternate leaves and panicled heads of yellow flowers. Flowering time is June to August.

When allowed to go to the seed, garden lettuce and several other varieties contain a milky juice that has narcotic effects. In common lettuce, it is a harmless substance which can be used as a calming agent for insomnia and various nervous conditions. Itis also helpful for coughs, asthma, and cramps. Eating a few leaves before bed may help insomnia.

Lily of the valley is a perennial plant native to Eurasia but commonly grown in gardens in the U.S. and Canada, from where it sometimes escapes into the neighbouring countryside.

lily of the valley is sometimes given for neuraasthenia, apoplexy, epilepsy, and dropsy. It can also be made into an ointment for headache and for rheumatic or gouty pains. In homeopathy, it is used as a cardiac drug.

CAUTION: lily of the valley contains glycosides that act somewhat like digitalis and can produce irregular heartbeat and upset stomach.

Lion's foot is a perennial plant indigenous to the rich woods of the eastern third of the U.S. and Canada. The smooth, purple-tinged stem grows to a height of 2 to 4 feet and contains a milky juice. The leaves are smooth, thick, and deep green, the florets are cream-coloured and tinged with lilac.

A decoction of the root is helpful against diarrhea and dysentery. In the past, drinking the milky juice was believed to be useful for snakebite. Apoultice of the leaves can be used as first aid for snake and insect bites.

Loosestrife ia s bushy, perennial plant which has settled in swamps, marshes, and moist places in the eastern U.S. after being introduced from Europe. The square, hairy stems grow 2 to 4 feet high and bears opposite, lanceolate, downy leaves. Purple six-petaled flowers grow in dense terminal spikes from June to August.

Loosestrife is effective against diarrhea, including simple diarrhea and that associated with serious illnesses such as dysentery and typhoid fever. The infusion or fluid extract is also used for gastroenteritis and is particularly useful for diarrhea in infants. Loosestrife helps to stop internal bleeding, and it works without producig constipation.

Madder is a European herbaceous perennial plant which grows in the Mediterranean area. A cylindrical, reddish-brown, creeping rootstock up to 3 feet long produces several angular prostrate or climbing stems which bear lanceolate leaves in whorls of 4 to 6. The flowers are small and yellow-green.

Madder is useful for all problems with the urinary tract, particularly where the urine becomes alkaline. As a treatment supporting other measures, it has been used for rickets, slow-healing broken bones, inflammations, lack of appetite, diarrhea, and hectic fever. Externally, a decoction of madder can be used for skin problems, especially tubercular conditions of skin and mucous tissue.

Magnolia is an evergreen tree found in the Atlantic and Gulf coast states. It has smooth, ash-coloured bark and soft, leathery leaves which are alternate, elliptical, glossy bright green on top, and pale underneath. The flowers are cream-coloured and appear from May to August.

Magnolia bark is good for dyspepsia, dysentery, intermittent fever, erysipelas, and other skin diseases. It can also be made into a douche for leucorrhea. Some people have been cured of the tobacco habit by drinking magnolia bark tea. Magnolia bark can also be substituted for peruvian bark as a safer remedy.

Maidenhair is a delicate perennial fern found in moist, cool places in North America and Asia. The creeping rootstock produces leaves from 1 to 2 feet high, growing on dark, polished stalks which are forked at the top. Each fork bears 3 to 8 long-oblong pinnae, or leaflets, which are themselves divided into smaller oblong segments, or pinnules, which are incised on the upper margin but entire on the lower side.

A decoction made from the leaves helps to clear up coughs and congestion due to colds, as well as hoarseness and catarrhal problems. Maidenhair is sometimes a constituent in hair rinses, and related species of the fern have been used since antiquity as a hair tonic.

Wild marjoram is a perennial plant that grows wild in the Mediteranean region and in Asia and is cultivated in the U.S. Its creeping rootstock produces a square, downy, purplish stem with opposite, ovate leaves that are dotted with small depressions. Purple, two-lipped flowers grow in terminal clusters from July to October.

An infusion of the fresh herb has beneficial  effects on upset stomach and indigestion, headache, colic, and nervous complaints, as well as on coughs, whooping cough, and other respiratory ailments. It also helps to relieve abdominal cramps in women and will regulate the menstrual cycle when taken three or four days before the regular time. An infusion of the flowers is said to prevent seasickness and to have a calming effect. Wild marjoram oil is also used externally in liniments and lotions and will ease toothache when dropped into a hollow tooth. The tea makes a calming and tonic bath additive. The bruised leaves made into a sleep pillow may be helpful for insomnia.

Marsh tea is an evergreen shrub that is found particularly in peat bogs and moist places in the northern areas of North America, Europe, and Asia. It is sometimes cultivated as an ornamental. Terminal umbels of white, or sometimes rose-coloured, flowers appear from May to July

Used externally, marsh tea makes a good remedy for all kinds of skin problems. Internally, it stimulates the nerves and the stomach. Because of its diaphoretic and diuretic properties, an infusion or cold extract can be used for rheumatism, gout, and arthritis. A syrup made from marsh tea is sometimes used for coughs and horseness.