Herb

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
A variety of herbs are visible in this garden, including mint.

In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding

spices. Herbs generally refers to the leafy green or flowering parts of a plant (either fresh or dried), while spices are usually dried and produced from other parts of the plant, including seeds, bark, roots and fruits
.

Herbs have a variety of uses including culinary, medicinal, aromatic and in some cases, spiritual. General usage of the term "herb" differs between culinary herbs and

pericarp
.

The word "herb" is pronounced

Commonwealth English,[1] but /ɜːrb/ is common among American English speakers and those from regions where h-dropping occurs. In Canadian English, both pronunciations are common.[2] In botany, the noun "herb" refers to a "plant that does not produce a woody stem", and the adjective "herbaceous" means "herb-like", referring to parts of the plant that are green and soft in texture".[3][4]

Definition

Herb garden at Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire, England, originally planted in the 1870s by Lady Louisa Egerton, recreated by the National Trust, largely following the original design.

In

perennials,[6] although herbaceous plants can also be annuals (plants that die at the end of the growing season and grow back from seed next year),[8] or biennials.[6] This term is in contrast to shrubs and trees which possess a woody stem.[7] Shrubs and trees are also defined in terms of size, where shrubs are less than ten meters tall, and trees may grow over ten meters.[7] The word herbaceous is derived from Latin herbāceus meaning "grassy", from herba "grass, herb".[9]

Another sense of the term herb can refer to a much larger range of plants,

Herbalism can utilize not just stems and leaves but also fruit, roots, bark and gums.[8] Therefore, one suggested definition of an herb is a plant which is of use to humans,[8]
although this definition is problematic since it could cover a great many plants that are not commonly described as herbs.

History

Ancient Greek philosopher

pot herbs (e.g. onions), sweet herbs (e.g. thyme), and salad herbs (e.g. wild celery).[8] During the seventeenth century as selective breeding changed the plants size and flavor away from the wild plant, pot herbs began to be referred to as vegetables as they were no longer considered only suitable for the pot.[8]

Botany and the study of herbs was, in its infancy, primarily a study of the pharmacological uses of plants. During the Middle Ages, when

chicken broth, which had developed a reputation as a therapeutic food by the 14th century. One of the most common sauces of the age, green sauce, was made with parsley and often sage as well. In a 14th-century recipe recorded in Latin "for lords, for settling their temperament and whetting their appetite" green sauce is served with a dish of cheese and whole egg yolks boiled in watered down wine with herbs and spices.[12]

Reproduction

Perennial herbs are usually reproduced by stem cuttings, either softwood cuttings of immature growth, or hardwood cuttings where the bark has been scraped to expose the cambium layer. A cutting will usually be approximately 3 to 4 inches in length. Plant roots can grow from the stems. Leaves are stripped from the lower portion up to one half before the cutting is placed in growth medium or rooted in a glass of water. This process requires high humidity in the environment, sufficient light, and root zone heat.[13]

Uses

Culinary

A bundle of thyme (Thymus)

Culinary herbs are distinguished from

flavor rather than substance to food.[14]

Herbs can be perennials such as

bay laurel (Laurus nobilis) – this contrasts with botanical herbs, which by definition cannot be woody plants. Some plants are used as both herbs and spices, such as dill weed and dill seed or coriander leaves and seeds. There are also some herbs, such as those in the mint family
, that are used for both culinary and medicinal purposes.

Emperor Charlemagne (742–814) compiled a list of 74 different herbs that were to be planted in his gardens. The connection between herbs and health is important already in the European Middle Ages--The Forme of Cury (that is, "cookery") promotes extensive use of herbs, including in salads, and claims in its preface "the assent and advisement of the masters of physic and philosophy in the King's Court".[5]

Teas

Some herbs can be infused in boiling water to make

chamomile tea,[10] or mint tea.[11] Herbal teas are often used as a source of relaxation or can be associated with rituals.[11]

Medicine

An image of decocted Chinese medicine 一貫煎 on snow, taken in the United States. The snow is on the border of a forest near a residential area, with a small lake in the background near trees.
A traditional Chinese decoction (湯劑/汤剂), using Chinese herbs
herbalist, physician, and astrologer.[15]
(etching by Richard Gaywood between 1644 and 1662)

Herbs were used in prehistoric medicine. As far back as 5000 BCE, evidence that Sumerians used herbs in medicine was inscribed on cuneiform.[16] In 162 CE, the physician Galen was known for concocting complicated herbal remedies that contained up to 100 ingredients.[17]

Some plants contain

Piper methysticum) can be used for medical purposes to relieve depression and stress.[18]
However, large amounts of these herbs may lead to toxic overload that may involve complications, some of a serious nature, and should be used with caution. Complications can also arise when being taken with some prescription medicines.

Herbs have long been used as the basis of traditional

Hippocratic (Greek) elemental healing system, based on a quaternary elemental healing metaphor. Famous herbalist of the Western tradition include Avicenna (Persian), Galen (Roman), Paracelsus (German Swiss), Culpepper (English) and the botanically inclined Eclectic physicians of 19th century/early 20th century America (John Milton Scudder, Harvey Wickes Felter, John Uri Lloyd
). Modern pharmaceuticals had their origins in crude herbal medicines, and to this day, some drugs are still extracted as fractionate/isolate compounds from raw herbs and then purified to meet pharmaceutical standards.

There is a record dated 1226 for '12d for Roses for Baron's Chamber and in 1516 for flowers and rushes for chambers for henry the 9th[6]

Certain herbs contain psychoactive properties that have been used for both religious and recreational purposes by humans since the early Holocene era, notably the leaves and extracts of the cannabis and coca plants. The leaves of the coca plant have been chewed by people in northern Peruvian societies for over 8,000 years,[19] while the use of cannabis as a psychoactive substance dates back to the first century CE in China and northern Africa.[20]

Indigenous Australian peoples developed "bush medicine" based on plants that were readily available to them. The isolation of these groups meant the remedies developed were for far less serious diseases than the western illnesses they contracted during colonisation. Herbs such as river mint, wattle and eucalyptus were used for coughs, diarrhea, fever and headaches.[17]

Ritual

Commiphora gileadensis (Gilead myrrh)

Herbs are used in many

Rastafari also consider cannabis
to be a holy plant.

smudging
.

Cosmetics

Originally there was always doubt in ancient societies, especially in the sceptical medium of western traditions, as to the efficacity of herbal medicines. The use of herbal cosmetics dates back to around six centuries ago in the European and Western countries. Mixtures and pastes were often concocted to whiten the face. During the 1940s, herbal cosmetics took a turn with the emerging red lipstick color, with every year gaining a more intense red. Herbal cosmetics come in many forms, such as face creams, scrubs, lipstick, natural fragrances, powders, body oils, deodorants and sunscreens. They activate through the epithelium of sebaceous glands to make the skin more supple. Ayurvedic oils are widely used in India, prized for their natural health-giving properties.[22]

One method and perhaps the best, used to extract natural oils from herbs to make lipstick is partition chromatography. The process involves separation in watery solution, and then the injection of colour under pressure.

Other

Strewing herbs are scattered (strewn) over the floors of dwelling places and other buildings. Such plants usually have fragrant or astringent smells, and many also serve as insecticides (e.g. to repel fleas) or disinfectants. For example, meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) was sometimes strewn across floors in the Middle Ages because of its sweet smell.[10]


See also

References

  1. ^ "Herb". Cambridge Advanced Learners' Dictionary & Thesaurus. Cambridge University Press.
  2. ^ "'H' an ingredient of modern herb". Toronto Star. 12 October 2009. Retrieved 2 June 2023.
  3. .
  4. ^ "Glossary of Botanical Terms". Royal Botanic Garden Sydney. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  5. ^ a b Freeman, Margaret B. (1943). Herbs for the Medieval Household, for Cooking, Healing and Divers uses. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. pp. ix–x.
  6. ^ .
  7. ^ .
  8. ^ .
  9. .
  10. ^ .
  11. ^ .
  12. ^ Health and Healing From the Medieval Garden. The Boydell Press. 2008. p. 67. .
  13. ^ Tucker, Arthur; Debaggio, Thomas. The Encyclopedia of Herbs. London: Timber Press.
  14. . Retrieved 9 October 2018.
  15. ^ Patrick Curry: "Culpeper, Nicholas (1616–1654)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford, UK: OUP, 2004)
  16. ^ Wrensch, Ruth D. (1992). The Essence of Herbs. University Press of Mississippi. p. 9.
  17. ^
    S2CID 9769230
    .
  18. ^ Adele G Dawson (2000). Herbs, Partners in Life: Healing, Gardening and Cooking with Wild Plants. Bear & Co. pp. 5–6.
  19. S2CID 162889680
    .
  20. . Retrieved 2018-07-25.
  21. ^ Cooper, Guy; Taylor, Gordon I. (1986). English Herb Garden. Random House.
  22. ^ Panda, H. (2015). Herbal Cosmetics Handbook (3rd ed.). Asia-Pacific Business Press.

External links

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