Medicinal plants (again)

The scope of herbal medicine ranges from mild-acting plant medicines such as chamomile and peppermint, to very potent ones such as foxglove (from which the drug digitalis is derived). In between these two poles lies a wide spectrum of plant medicine with significant medical applications. One need only go to the United States Pharmacopoeia to see the central role that plant medicine has played in American medicine.
~Donald Brown

 I'm re-visiting a post today. Love these photos!
  

Schisandra by Brian Chiu

 

Feeling tentatively optimistic this morning...hope you have reasons to feel upbeat, too. If you are interested in medicinal plants for stress, you might like to read this relaxing nervines and adaptogens post by Mountain Rose Herbs. (I hear many good things about Mountain Rose Herbs. I'm not making any money from them, just thought you might want to know.)

Motherwort and bumblebee
by American College of Healthcare Sciences

Look up "contraindications" for the herbs you'd like to try so you can make sure they don't conflict with any pharmaceuticals you already take. For instance, if you are on blood thinners, you don't want to thin your blood more with herbs. WebMD has contraindications listed under "interactions."

Holy basil with hovering bee by Jo Zimny

If you've never had any herbs before, maybe chamomile would be a good place to start. Lavender and holy basil (tulsi) are also good introductions.

Chamomile by Virginia Sanderson

Plants are some of my favorite topics of conversation, so feel free to chat me up about them!