Olive leaf has been grown in Egypt, Israel, and Syria since biblical times, but is now cultivated across the Mediterranean region, as well as in Peru, Chile, and South America. A phytochemical in the olive leaf called oleuropein appears to kill bacteria and fungi. In other research olive leaves increase urinary output and lowered uric acid levels.

Olive leaf can also help with Bacterial infections, diabetes, fungal infections, heart disease, high blood pressure, wounds, and fever.

Onion is garlic's teary-eyed sibling, both grow below ground, and both shoot thin green leaves above the earth.

Onion shares, albeit in somewhat smaller amounts, many ofgarlic's phytochemicals, particularly allicin and other sulfur compounds. It also shares the same therapeutic potential, notably against heart disease, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and pain. The newest research suggests that onion also might be useful against osteoporosis.

Onion can also help with Bronchitis, diabetes, fever, hardening of the arteries, cancer chest pain, colic, and whooping cough.

Oregon grape is a hardy shrub Indigenous to the Western United States. Oregon grape is a muscular antioxidant and contains substances that help deter the formation of certain skin cells, which is why it's useful against, psoriasis and other dermatologic conditions.

Oregon grape can also help with Dandruff, dermatitis, constipation, eczema, jaundice, acne, bruises, coughing, psoriasis, urinary tract infectionskidney disease, liver disease, stones, ulcers, and wounds.

Native to Central and South America, but found in tropical climates around the world, papaya plants serve many purposes. Papain's protein-digesting power makes papaya helpful against heartburn and indigestion. Papain also may help thin the blood and discourage clotting.

The fruit's proteolytic enzymes and other compounds, including a substance called carpaine, work against intestinal worms and other parasites.

Papaya can also help with Arthritis, depression,gallbladder problems, heart disease, hematoma, hemorrhoids, and hodgkin's disease.

The chlorophyll in parsley is a mighty mediator of bad breath, but that's not all the plant has to offer. Parsley stimulates urination, making it a good adjunct to any therapy for breast tenderness, kidney stones, gravel, urinary infections, and urinary difficulties. The folkloric use against menstrual and other female-specific problems, The herb's phytochemicals are mildly estrogenic. Its high concentrations of boron and fluoride might help against bone thinning and osteoporosis.

Parsley can also help with Bladderstones, arthritis, low libido, spleen disorders, tumors, labor, dropsy, heart disease, cystitis, and high blood pressure.

With it's round, shiny, white-streaked leaves, white flowers, and bright red berries, partridgeberry often decorates rock gardens and lawns. But this ground hugging evergreen, native to North America, has more than ornamental value. Native american women considered partridgeberry one of the best natrual treatments for many uniquely female health problems-from easing menstrual cramps and stimulating regular menstruation to facilitating childbirth and soothing nipple soreness to nursing.

Partridgeberry can also help with Arthritis, dysentery, hemorrhoids, hives,  breast milk deficiency, inflammation, and pain.

Picking apart a plant chemically often isn't a useful exercise, for the whole extract usually is more effective than any individual constituent. This is especially so for passionflower. Together in an extract, the alkaloids and flavonoids are stronger sedatives and relaxants than any one on its own. Nevertheless, we do know that harmine and harmaline induce drowsiness, ease smooth-muscle cramps, and as some antidepressants do, curb the body's release of the monoamine oxidase (MAO) enzyme.

Passionflower can also help with Insomnia, nervousness, restlessness, epilepsy, hemorrhoids, high blood pressure, hyperactivity, hysteria, addiction, gastritis, and palpitations.

In Brazil and elsewhere across South America and the world, pau d'arco bark is an accepted remedy for vaginal yeast infections, other fungal infections, immune system weakness, and cancer. Isolated formulations of two phytochemicalc, lapachol and beta-lapachone, proved to be otherwise toxic in amounts necessary to kill cancer cells.

The lapachol and beta-lapachone in pau d'arco have been compared favorably to the yeast-killing drug ketoconazole. Some say that beta-lapachone is better than the pharmaceutical.

Pau d'arco can also help with Athlete's foot dermatitis, epstein barr virus, malaria, leukemia, hodgkin's disease, and schistosomiasis.

Peppermint is now probably the most widely used of all volatile essential oils, found in everything from laxatives, antacids, salves, and cold nostrums to toothpaste, mouthwashes, and after-dinner mints. The plant is actually a hybrid of spearmint and watermint; all three are native to Europe but are now grown the world over. Most of the mints medicine is in the menthol, concentrated primarily in peppermint's volatile essential oil.

Clinical studies have verified the herb's ability to quell intestinal muscle spasms and ease irritable bowel symptoms. Peppermint can also help with breathing difficulties, colitis, liver disease, nerve pain, arthritis, hemorrhoids, gingivitis, insomnia, pneumonia, and stress.

Originally from Europe, periwinkle with its tiny blue or purple flowers and shiny, dark green leaves grows wild throughout eastern North America. Periwinkle is a blood-related medicine, with the seemingly contradictory abilities to stop bleeding, increase blood circulation in the brain, and lower hypertension. Vincamine, an extract of one of it's alkaloids, is a pharmaceutical in Europe, prescribed for arterial and cerebral circulatory disorders.

Periwinkle can also help with High blood pressure, senility, stroke, chest pain, hemorrhoids, intestinal disease, menstrual pain, mucos membrane inflammation, sore throat, tonsillitis, toothache, vaginal problems, and weakness.

Pineapple was first found in Guadeloupe in the early 1490's. The medicinal interest comes mostly from a proteolytic phytochemical called bromelain, which is present only in modest quantities or almost absent from the fruit. The fruit contains protein-dissolving enzymes, notably bromelain, and another phytochemical called alpha-hydroxy acid, which exfoliates the skin.

Pineapple can also help with Arthritis, blood clots, indigestion, sinus problems, sprains, strains, tissue swelling, water retention, cancer, diarrhea, pain, ulcers, wounds, menstrual pain, varicose veins, and thrombophlebitis.

Indigenous to Eurasia but grows just about anywhere. If you live in a temperate climate in North America, theres a good chance you have this all-purpose herb in your back garden. Plantain has a long history of use as a treatment for a variety of skin woes, from dandruff and eczema to insect bites and minor cuts. The plant's juice is, in fact, antibacterial and quite soothing when applied to a burn.

Plantain can also help with Arthritis, bloody urine, breast cancer, bronchitis, colds, colon cancer, hemorrhoids, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high triglycerides, psoriasis, thrush, yeast infections, and dysentery.

Indigenous to Canada and the United States, the more medicinally oriented name stems from its use among Native Americans to relieve serious respiratory problems, including pneumonia and the nasty lung inflammation known as pleurisy.

An extract of pleurisy root's asclepin strengthens heart contractions, perhaps better and more safely than the drug digoxin (Lanoxin).

Pleurisy root can also help with Arthritis, asthma, bronchitis, fever, flu, lung disease, nasal problems, pleurisy, pneumonia, stomachache, swelling, and uterine disease.

In the 1800's it was often prescribed for toothaches. Native Americans chewed on the bark to alleviat dental pain. Chewing on prickly ash bark makes your mouth water and gets your gastric juices flowing, which is probably why it's been prescribed in folk medicine for indigestion and stomach problems.

Prickly ash can also help with High blood pressure, arthritis, cancer, circulatory impairment, cramps, dysentery, heart disease, inflammation, intermittent, claudication, lung and kidney disease, neuroses, pancreatic problems, raynaud's disease, sore throat, and tonsillitis.

Native to the Mediterranean and western Asia, this is the active ingredient in many laxatives. Credit the ingenuity of nature for devising a substance able to treat both diarrhea and constipation, depending on what ails you. Psyllium is indeed superior at alleviating these two contradictory complaints and several other bowel problems.

The seeds mucilage sucks up fluids, adding bulk to the stool and inhibiting diarrhea. To fight constipation, the seeds' absorption of liquids softens the stool, and the larger volume helps provoke the intestinal contractions.

Psyllium can also help with diabetes, hepititis, high blood pressure, obesity, and diverticulitis.

This big orange gourd is a happy harbinger of fall. Pumpkin is indigenous to tropical areas of the Americas, where there is no temprate spring or fall, but it now grows almost anywhere. The next time you carve a pumpkin, be sure to save the seeds. 

In parts of Europe, handfuls of pumpkin seeds are standard treatment for benign prostate enlargement.

Pumpkin can also help with Bladder disease and stones, also with Adenoma, cystitis, prostatitis, ringworm, tapeworm, bed-wetting, kidney inflammation, and urinary pain.

Some call this tree African cherry because it grows mostly in central Africa and the off-coast island of Madagascar and is closely related to the cherry tree. For health purposes, you want the bark of the tree. So many want it, in fact that pygeum has become an endangered species in parts of Africa. When you rip the bark, you kill the tree.

Pygeum can also help with Bed-wetting, prostate enlargement (benign), and urinary pain.

If your an older male at risk for prostate enlargement, benign or otherwise, this herb is helpful. On 250 men with benign prostate enlargement, more than half noticed a benefit.

A perennial or biennial shrub native to Europe and naturalized in North America. Native Americans made a tea from the root bark to ease inflamed eyes. Europeans and other herbal advocates preferred to brew up the toothy leaves to treat diarrhea, colds, and stomach complaints, among other health problems.

Raspberry's most extensive use is to alleviate menstrual discomfort and to facilitate childbirth, some studies sat that it can either relax or stimulate uterine muscles.

Raspberry can also help with Dysentery, hemorrhoids, intestinal disease, tonsillitis, bleeding, wounds, canker sores, diabetes, fever blister, lung disease, and morning sickness.

Red clover came from Europe but is naturalized across much of the United States, notably in Vermont, where it's the official state flower.Red clover possesses a strong concentration of natural estrogens, plant world equivalents of human female hormones. phytoestrogens perform functions in the body similar to those of natural and synthetic estrogens, relieving menopause and menstruation-related problems and perhaps protecting against osteoporosis and cancer of the breast, colon, and prostate. When the body's own supply is low, the phytoestrogens step in and help pick up th slack

Red clover can also help with Asthma, dermatitis, eczema, jaundice, syphilis, and venereal disease.

Most of the plant's leaves grow at ground level, with a few smaller, egg-shaped, short-stalked leaves up the stem beneath purple-veined, yellow to purplish brown flowers. Rehmannia is only a foot or so tall, and all 10 species are all from eastern Asia. Some researchers have reported good clinical success with a rehmannia extract used against arthritis pain and asthma. Studies show that rehmannia encourages fluid excretion, relaxes blood vessels, and stimulates the adrenal glands.

Rehmannia can also help with, High blood pressure, hives, kidney disease, anemia, hepatitis, cataracts, hemorrhage, insomnia, lumbago, measles, tonnitus, and palpitations.

Medicinal rhubarb, as its known, is a strong laxative. In China where it is native, the plant is called da huang, or "great yellow" , a reference to its yellow rhizome, which Asian herbalists have ground up into a purgative powder for the past 5000 years.

Rhubarb can also help with, Constipation, dysentery, endometriosis, hepatitis, high blood pressure, high cholestrol, high triglycerides, intestinal inflammation, aggression, cancer, diarrhea, flu, gallbladder problems, gas gingivitis, hemorrhage, hemorrhoids, jaundice, kidney disease, and vaginal inflammation.

Pick up a bottle of vitamin C, read the label, and you're quite likely to find the ascorbic acid accompanied by rose hips. Rose hips are actually fruit, and they sort of resemble small, oval or spherical cherries.

Rose hips' therapeutic value comes, in part, from their vitamin C content, although they're not very exceptional sourses of this antioxidant. A few other mild phytochemicals help out, too.

Rose hips can also help with Capillary fragility, arthritis, chills, colds, dropsy, flu, gastritis, gout, headaches, sciatica, stomach disease, stress, thirst, and urinary pain.

Native to the Mediterranean from Portugal and Spain south to Morocco and Tunisia. Some six or so substances in the herb, help prevent the breakdown of the brain chemical acetylcholine, a deficiency of which has been implicated in Alzheimer's disease.

It contains good concentrations of two dozen or so antioxidants. Other compounds trigger better blood circulation throughout the body, including the brain.

Rosemary can also help with Arthritis, gallbladder problems, lack of appitite, liver disease, sciatica, cancer, heart disease, low blood pressure, lethargy, rib pain, and paralysis.

Native to Europe but naturalized in parts of the United States. In the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries, its distinctive smell led to its reputation for repelling fleas, lice, and other vermin, as well as for overcoming poisoning by everything from snakebite to noxious mushrooms.

The plant served as the first source of the capillary protecing phytochemical rutin. Rue can, in large doses, provoke abortion-strength uterine contractions and other harmful side effects.

Rue canalso help with, indigestion, insect infestations, intestinal disease, cramps, coughing, diarrhea, earache, fever, liver disease, oral inflammation, skin problems, and uterine disease.

This evergreen, mint-family perennial is native to the Balkans and the Mediterranean region. Europeans used the gritty leaves on their teeth to sand off plaque.

The plant's tannins are astringent and antiseptic, a big help in preventing gingivitis. Six or so other chemicals assist by fighting inflammation in the body.

Sage can also help with Indigestion, lack of appetite, rhinitis, alzheimer's disease, perspiration, cancer, gingivitis, gum bleeding, stomach disease, canker sores, depression, dermatitis, diarrhea, infertility, lartngitis, and tuberculosis.

St. John's wort originated in Europe but now grows wild in Africa, Asia, Australia, North America, and South America. Thanks to phytochemicals such as hyperforin and hypericin, St. John's wort helps brighten the moods of people with mild to moderate depression and anxiety.

St. John's wort can also help with Dermatitis, indigestion, myalgia, alcoholism, arthritis, chickenpox, cytomegalovirus, ear inflammation, gallbladder problems, HIV, insomnia, menopause, vitiligo, bed-wetting, dysentery, hysteria, respitory disease, and radiation exposure.

The aromatic, sweet-tasting sassafras was regarded as a blood-purifying, all-purpose tonic for whatever ails you, including syphilis. The pleasing flavour made it a favoured tea on both sides of the Atlantic. For a while, only tobacco topped this easern North American native as an export to Europe. As Native Americans knew, sassafras encourages the excretion of urine and lowers body temprature.

Sassafras can also help with, Acne, arthritis, breast inflammation (mastitis), colds, dermatitis, gout, high blood pressure, kidney disease, liver disease, measles, poison ivy, respiratory disease, and urinary tract infections.

Since European explorers arrived in America in the early sixteenth century, the root of this tropical vine, whose several thorny species belong to the lily family, was thought to be a cure for syphilis a sexually transmitted disease.

Sarsaparilla won't cure syphilis. Certain root phytochemicals, called saponins, have soothed psoriasis, most likely by disabling bacterial components called endotoxins that, in excess, can overtax the liver and aggravate inflammatory processes in the body.

Sarsaparilla can also help with, arthritis, cancer, gonorrhea, stomach disease, leprosy, kidney disease, intestinal disease, dermatitis, and irritable bowel syndrome.

To the Seminoles of what is now ths southeastern United States, the reddish brown to black berries on this palm-family shrub were good food. How the Seminoles ate them, we'll never know, for the berries taste terrible and stink to high heaven. Only later were they used to ease upset stomachs and insomnia, among other complaints.

Saw palmetto can also help with Prostate enlargement (benign), gallbladder problems, hair loss, inflammation, cystitis, micromastia (abnormally small breasts), asthma, bronchitis, debility, dysentery, low libido, migraine, stomach disease, testicular problems, and uterine disease.

All but 1 of the more than 20 species are native to eastern Asia; the oddball is a seldom seen vine that grows in southeastern United States and is occasionally cultivated as an ornamental. In Asia, the leaves and berries are consumed as food, and herbal preparations are used as all-purpose tonics. Traditional Chinese physicians recommend schisandra in much the same way they recommend ginseng- as a general tonic and adaptogen that seems to normalize whatever is out of whack in the body.

Schisandra can also help with Hepatitis, paralysis, parkinson's disease, psychosis, stroke, cancer, chemotherapy, depression, fatigue, labor, meniere's disease, impotence, and insomnia.

This tree is in woods, along streams, and on hills from Quebec to North Dakota and south to Florida and Texas. It is more common in the western part of its range.

Slippery elm is from 40 to 50 feet, with a trunk 2 1/2 feet in diameter. The bark is very rough, even the small branches are rough, and the twigs are furnished with rough hairs.