In the dry lands of eastern and northern Africa grows a small shrub with flattened pealike pods, delicate yellow flowers, and a powerful purgative punch. Beginning in the ninth century, first the Middle East and then the rest of the world learned of senna's dramatic laxative ability. several species exist, cultivated commercially in India and various MiddleEastern nations. Like cascara sagrada, senna is an active ingredient in many brand-name laxatives (such as Ex-Lax).

Senna can also help with Constipation, dysentery, ringworm, dermatitis, fever, gonorrhea, hemorrhoids, indigestion, and wounds.

Native to southern Europe and western Asia, but thanks to the thousands of seeds in those pods, it has become established all over the world, including North America. Shepherd's purse is nature's stypic, used for hundreds of years to halt both internal and external bleeding, whether from a wound, hemorrhoids, or menstration. Research confirms that an extract of the whole herb does hasten coagulation and constrict blood vessles. At the same time, it also allows coronary arteries to expand and improves blood flow to the heart.

Shepherd's purse can also help with, Inflammation, labor, nervousness, tumors, ulcers, bloody urine, cystitis, diarrhea, dysentery, fever, hemorrhage, hemorrhoids, and menstrual pain.

Found in damp woods and swamplands in North America. Skullcap has shown  therapeutic promise against strokes, and nervous disorders. An extract of scutellarin, one of the plant's active compounds improved blood flow. Other research has verified skullcap's ability to quell spasms and to sedate.

Skullcap can also help with Blood clots, stroke, addictions, alcoholism, anxiety, childbirth, chorea, epilepsy, hystera, and convulsions.

On the inside of the rough, reddish brown bark of this native North American tree is a natural medicine with a long, successful history. Native Americans used slippery elm to heal both inside and out. The tree's inner bark contains a copious amount of mucilage, a spongy, gummy, even slippery fiber that soothes inflamed, irritated mucous membranes from your mouth to your gastrointestinal tract.

Slippery elm can also help with Intestinal disease, dermatitis, diarrhea, stomach problems, abscesses, and pleurisy.

A member of the bean family,soy was named one of the five sacred crops in ancient Chinese medical texts.

It contains plant estrogens called isoflavones, soy has been touted  far and wide as a natural treatment, for and preventive of menopause-related problems and hormone fueled cancers.

Soybean can also help with, High cholestrol, dandruff, endometriosis, hepatitis, lack of appitite, and stomach disease.

This member of the mint family is full of clonally reproductive hybrids, without spearmint, we woulden't have the stronger-tasting peppermint, which is a hybrid of spearmint and watermint.

Menthol is one of the major medicinal compounds in spearmint, peppermint, and many other members of  the mint family, peppermint usually has a better concentration of this phytochemical than spearmint.

Spearmint can also help with Colds, gastric disease, intestinal disease, cancer, depression, and fever.

Throughout America's expensive, never-ending, quest for a low-calorie artificial substitute for sugar, few have considered the natural alternative, an obscure plant from Paraguay. The active phytochemical in the serraled leaves of stevia, or sweet herb as locals call it.

Stevia grows throughout Central and South America, but none apparently is as sweet as this one. A liquid leaf extract of stevioside, the active component, markedley lowered blood sugar levels.

Stevia can also help with diabetes, and obesity.

The root looks like a stone, and the plant traditionally has been used to treat stones, whether in the kidneys, bladder, or urinart tract-thus the common name of this toothy-leaved, yellow-flowered perennial that grows wild in eastern and central North America. Although it looks like nettle, it's a member of the mint family, but not as consistently aromatic. It may smell like lemon.

Stoneroot can also help with Bladder disease, intestinal disease, stomach disease, bruises, burns, calculus, diarrhea, dropsy, hemorrhoids, kidney stones or disease, laryngitis, lithuria, sores, sprains, and wounds.

Here's a plant with virtually no folk history, medicinal or otherwise. Nearlly 40 years ago, this clambering, nondescript member of the pigweed family didn't even have a popular name. Since then, some supplement promoters have created a small body of folklore claiming that the xingu tribe of Mato Grosso, Brazil, has used suma as a ginsenglike tonic for at least 300 years. 

Limited Japanese test tube experiments have identified some minor anticancer activity for suma.

Suma can also help with, Cancer, diabetes, Epstein-barr virus, fatigue, menopause, and stress

A predatory kin of the venus's-flytrap. Sundew grows inconspicuously in or along eastern and central North American peat bogs, a ground-hugging whorl of miniature spatula-shaped leaves covered with sticky reddish hairs at the bottom of its long, flower-topped stem.

The plant's phytochemicals including plumbagin, carboxy, oxy napthoquinones, and that insect-eating proteolytic enzyme, aid better breathing by quieting bronchial spasms, helping break up congestion, and soothing irritated mucous membranes.

Sundew can also help with gastritis, and hardening of the arteries.

Tea tree, native to the northeastern coast of New South Wales in Australia but also grown elsewhere, is no way related to what we call tea. Its more akin to the best antiseptics in health care. Terpenes and other phytochemicals in tea tree oil are powerful antiseptics and fungus killers that are readily absorbed by the skin.

The oil has been successful  in studies against acne, boils, foot odor, and toenail fungus. It also  hastens the healing of corns, calluses, and bunions.

Tea tree can also help with Cystitis, dermatitis, vaginitis, lice, varicose veins, and muscle pain.

Grows in North America, but the plant originated in the southern Mediterranean.Thyme has long been dispensed to facilitate breathing, and science has since backed up the traditional use. Thymol, carvacrol, other components of the essential oil, and flavonoids all are good for breaking up congestion,stopping coughing, taming bronchial spasms, and stimulating respiration.

Thyme can also help with Alzheimer's disease, arthritis, bed-wetting, cancer, cavities, colic, colitis, fungal infections, gingivitis, hair loss, menstrual pain, vulva disease, asthma, fatigue, lack of appitite, depression, and scleroderma.

Its wide, foot-long. lilylike leaves and yellow to yellowish white flowers-is native to India, Bangladesh, China, and Java and has been introduced to Latin America and other tropical lands. But its medicinal and culinary value is the root-or, to be technically correct, the rhizome (the belowground part of the stem), which is dried and ground into the spice.

Turmeric also helps with, hepatitis, scabies, dermatitis, fibrosis, heart disease, childbirth, hemorrhage, hemorrhoids, epilepsy, lymph gland problems, morning sickness and colic.

The curcumin and curcuminoids in turmeric are first-rate arthritis-alleviating anti-inflammatories that also help the gallbladder and liver and provide a defense against cancer.

Above ground, the plant is attractive physically and aromatically, but below the surface, where the medicine lies, the roots have an earthy, disagreeable smell and taste. It's known that valerian sedates, quiets the central nervous system, and minimizes muscle spasms-just like pharmaceutical tranquilizers.

Valerian can also help with, Acne, depression, nervous tension, restlessness, insomnia, anxiety, gum disease, hypochondria, intestinal disease, hysteria, migraine, and inflammation.

Vervain is indigenous to the Mediterranean but is now a somewhat common weed in temperate areas of north America. It's also cultivated elsewhere in the world, primarily eastern Europe.

Vervain has helped tamp down inflammation, quite coughs, and encourage the mouth to water. It also has increased the secretion of breast milk and stimulated uterine contractions, which may help explain the plant's reputation as an aphrodisiac and its folk uses for menstrual pain and menopause.

Vervain can also help with Acne, anemia, arthritis, debility, depression, dropsy, erectile dysfunction, gout, hepatitis, jaundice, kidney and liver disease, melancholy and malaria.

Until 1900, horehound, a relatively nonaromatic member of the mint family, was an accepted medicinal in the U.S. pharmacopeia. The plant, with its furry leaves and tiny whitish flowers, has almost no aroma and tastes rather bitter. Studies have demonstrated that horehound breaks up phlegm, relieves bronchial congestion, and triggers bile production. The medicinal chemicals responsible for horehound's expectorant action, marrubiin and marrubinic acid, also help stabilize heart rhythem.

White horehound can also help with,  Bloating, bronchitis, gallbladder disease, liver disease, heart disease, diabetes, asthma, laryngitis, respiratory disease, high blood pressure, and colds.

White willow, with its long, thin, finely serrated leaves, originated in central Asia an Europe but is now naturalized over a good portion of eastern North America, as far north as Nova Scotia and as far south as Georgia.

It's been used to combat pain and treat fevers for 2,500 years. The inner bark of the white willow tree, however, is often credited as the original and most frequently used source of it.

White willow can also help with, Rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing, spondylitis, cataracts, chest pain,corns, diarrhea, fever, gout, heart disease, infections, inflammation, influenza, and colds.

Native Americans made a tea from the bark to curtail diarrhea and soothe lung afflictions. The remedy was good enough for early Americans to include wild cherry in many cough elixirs.

The herb is a decent decongesttant that helps curb coughing, settle spasms, break up phlegm, and cool inflammation. It's also slightly sedating-all in all, a nice combination when you're feeling under the weather

Wild cherry can also help with, Bronchitis, cancer, insomnia, anxiety, debility, fever, pneumonia, respiratory disease, stress, intestinal inflammation, and pain.

Witch hazel is a native of eastern and central North America, widely used by Native Americans for all sorts of skin afflictions, witch hazel remains today almost as common as asprin in medicine cabinets. The astringent tannins and other phytochemicals in witch hazel counteract pain, soothe, cool, tone blood vessels, and improve circulation-making the herb an all-purpose palliative for everything from abrasions and minor bleeding to varicose veins and mst other skin problems. It's notably effective in alleviating hemorrhoid discomfort.

Witch hazel can also help with, arthritis, asthma, cholera, crohn's disease, gingivitis, herpes, intestinal bleeding, lung disease, and tissue swelling.

Native to Europe and russia, this low growing perennial sprouts most of its larger leaves growing along its stalks. These stalks may grow up to 2 feet tall and are topped with whitish, pinkish, or purplish bicolored flowers. Most of wood betony's therapeutic value comes courtesy of its astringent tannins, although Russian researchers have reported finding phytochemicals that reduce inflammation, stimulate the flow of digestion-helping bile, and lower blood pressure.

Wood betony can also help with, Anxiety, dermatitis, gallbladder problems, gingivitis, neuroses, asthma, lung disease, stress, and intestinal inflammation.

This herb, which is somewhat woody at the base and has grayish green leaves and clusters of miniature yellow flowers,once had an almost hallowed health-restoring reputation. Native to Europe but now found growing wild from Newfoundland south to Pennsylvania, wormwood was said to counteract poisoning from toadstools and hemlock (as well as the bites of sea dragons); treat liver disease, gout, and kidney stones; dispel intestinal worms; repel fleas, weevils, and other vermin; encourage menstruation; calm the mind and nerves; and "cure" drunkenness.

Wormwood can also help with, Colic, malaria, anemia, arthritis, kidney stones, and poisoning.

Native to Europe, you'll find yarrow growing naturally everywhere in North America except the Southwest. Yarrow helps stop bleeding and counters inflammarion and tissue swelling, so it is of some benefit for wounds, especially those that heal slowly. Some of its phytochemicals ease muscle spasms, making it helpful against menstrual cramps, it also stimulates the gallbladder's release of bile.

Yarrow can also help with gastritis, hemorrhage, liver disease, arthritis, backache, fever, infections, stomach disease, thrombosis, colic, high blood pressure, and rashes.

Dock is one of our more common weeds, a perennial herb with most of its strap-shaped leaves concentrated at the plant's base over a stout yellowish root. Though slightly antibacterial against a few microbes, yellow dock is perhaps most frequently considered a bowel aid that works whichever way you need it. The astringent tannins are of some mild help against diarrhea, while the anthraquinones are gentle laxative.

Yellow dock can help with, constipation, dermatitis, gingivitis, hives, anemia, enlarged lymph glands, jaundice, rhinitis, syphilis, and eczema.

West ot the Mississippi and into Mexico, this white-flowered perennial has been used for abroad range of ailments. The "tame herb", as its name translates, grows semiaquatically in salty waters and even warm springs.Yerba mansa does appear to relax muscles, calm the central nervous system, and reduce fevers, at least in part explaining its common use for all the symptoms that accompany colds, flu, and intestinal woes. It also tastes good-a little like cinnamon.

Yerba mansa can also help with, arthritis, colic, cystitis, diabetes, fits, gonorrhea, herpes, laryngitis, rectal inflammation, rhinitis, sinus problems, ulcers, and urethritis.

Yerba santa grows in clumps, usually on hillsides in California and northern Mexico. Yerba santa once was a popular, bitter-tasting tonic on the West Coast, and people used to smoke its leaves to alleviate asthma. The essential oil in Yerba santa can help break up congestion, it also eases inflammation and aids in eliminating excess fluid, both of which help relieve arthritis pain. It displays a little anti cancer-action, too. Most of its benefits, like those of many others in the citrus family, lie in its aromatic oil.

Yerba santa can also help with, allergies, asthma, cancer, dermatitis, fever, inflammation, poison ivy, respiratory disease, rheumatism, thrush, tuberculosis, and bronchitis.

Inside the bark of this West African tree may be your best natural bet for reversing sexual dysfunction. Africans have turned to this towering evergreen aphrodisiac for centuries, and Europeans finally took notice in the late 1800s. The whole herb is billed in health food shops not only as a sexual stimulant and erectile aid but also a muscle-building natural version of the anabolic steroids.

Yohimbe can also help with, Depression, chest pain,exhaustion, feebleness, high blood pressure, and low libido (in women)

Grows in warmer areas of North America, primarily the desert Southwest. Native Americans used yucca's long, swordlike leaves for fiber, and they used it's roots to make soap. In folk medicine, different species have been applied against arthritis, diabetes, bleeding, and sores, among other problems. Astudy showed a reduction in blood pressure, cholestrol, and triglycerides, and extractsfrom various yucca species may improve circulation,help digestion, and counteract headaches.

Yucca can also help with, menstrual pain, premenstrual tension, inflammation, intestinal disease, osteoarthritis, stomach disease, gallbladder problems, and liver disease.

Native to the Himalayas but widely cultivated in India, Sri Lanka, and China, the plant grows only a foot or two tall, often with brown veins coursing across its green leaves.The root is grayish or dirty white. Zedoary is turmeric but far weaker, like its famous relative, it contains the phytochemical curcumin, but in a lower concentration, making turmeric the preferred herbal medicine. Curcumin is an excellent anti-inflammatory for arthritis pain. It also benefits the liver and gallbladder and protects against cancer and alzheimer's disease

Zedoary can also help with, colds, gas, colic, cramps, indigestion, jaundice, and neuroses.