Hearth & Herb

Where this comes from

A Note on Sources

Nothing in this herbal is drawn from a single book or a single voice. It’s compiled the way a real household herbal always has been — from old printed herbals long out of copyright, from the working notes of home gardeners, and from techniques that have simply been handed down and repeated until they became common knowledge. Where a plant or a method shows up here, it’s because it shows up again and again across that older, informal record, not because of one source being cited.

The newer entries also lean on published ethnobotany and on the official pharmacopoeias of China and India. Uses from Native North American traditions are credited to the specific nations named in those records; much of that knowledge belongs to its communities and was never written down, and ceremonial practices are deliberately left out. Chinese and Ayurvedic properties are given only for plants that belong to those systems.

That means this is a record of tradition and household practice, not a clinical or scientific reference. The uses described in the Herb Library and the Recipes are the ones a household has reached for, historically and informally, not claims about what any plant will do for a particular person or condition. Notes on the herbalism of Chinese martial arts schools, such as the dit da jow liniment and the classical trauma and tonic formulas mentioned on some herb pages, come from A. Flane Walker and Richard C. Bauer’s The Ancient Art of Life and Death (Paladin Press, 2002), with herb names checked against standard Chinese materia medica; its martial material is left out. Where a herb’s page sums up modern research, it reports what published studies and health agencies have found, with links so you can read them yourself. That summary isn’t advice either.

This herbal is still small and still growing. If a plant, method, or recipe you’d expect to see here is missing, it simply isn’t written down yet — that’s not a judgment on how useful it is.

Reading a traditional profile

Each herb’s page opens with a short profile. These are the words it uses, as the old herbals and the living traditions use them.

Actions

adaptogen
Said to help the body cope with stress and return to balance. A modern term, not an old one.
analgesic
Eases pain.
anthelmintic
Used to expel intestinal worms.
anti-inflammatory
Used to calm swelling, redness, and heat in tissues.
antiemetic
Settles nausea and vomiting.
antimicrobial
Acts against bacteria, fungi, or other microbes, at least in the lab.
antioxidant
Rich in compounds that protect cells from oxidative damage.
antispasmodic
Relaxes cramping muscle, as in the gut or womb.
aromatic
Rich in fragrant oils, which tend to settle the stomach and clear the head.
astringent
Tightens and dries tissue; the puckery feel of strong tea, from tannins.
bitter
Strongly bitter; taken before meals to wake the appetite and digestion.
carminative
Eases gas, bloating, and colic.
cholagogue
Encourages the flow of bile.
counterirritant
Mildly irritates the skin to draw attention from a deeper ache.
demulcent
Coats and soothes irritated tissue with slippery mucilage.
diaphoretic
Brings on a sweat; used at the start of a cold or fever.
diuretic
Increases the flow of urine.
emollient
Softens and soothes the skin.
expectorant
Helps loosen and bring up mucus from the chest.
galactagogue
Traditionally believed to increase breast milk.
immune-stimulant
Traditionally used to rouse the body’s defenses against infection.
nervine
Acts on the nerves: relaxing nervines calm, tonic nervines restore.
nutritive
A food-like herb, rich in vitamins or minerals.
refrigerant
Cooling; lowers heat and quenches thirst.
rubefacient
Warms and reddens the skin by drawing blood to it.
sialagogue
Makes the mouth water.
stimulant
Quickens and warms the circulation or digestion.
tonic
Strengthens and restores when taken over time.
vulnerary
Helps wounds heal.

Chinese medicine

Nature
How warming or cooling a herb is, from cold through neutral to hot.
Flavor
Each flavor has a traditional action: acrid disperses, sweet tonifies and harmonizes, bitter drains and dries, sour holds in, salty softens.
Channels
The organ networks a herb is said to enter, such as Lung, Spleen, or Liver. These are functional systems in Chinese medicine, not the anatomical organs alone.
Five phases
Flavors are linked to the five phases: sour to Wood, bitter to Fire, sweet to Earth, acrid to Metal, salty to Water.
Formula roles
Monarch, minister, assistant, and envoy (jūn chén zuǒ shǐ): the rank each herb holds in a formula, from the main herb to the ones that support, temper, or guide it.
Blood stasis
Blood that has pooled or stopped moving, as in a bruise. Blood-moving herbs such as safflower and turmeric are used to disperse it.

Ayurveda

Taste (rasa)
The six tastes are sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter, and astringent.
Potency (virya)
Whether a herb heats or cools the body.
Post-digestive effect (vipaka)
The taste a herb is said to take on after digestion, which shapes its longer-term effect.
Doshas
Vata (air and space), Pitta (fire and water), and Kapha (earth and water): the three constitutions a herb can increase or calm.

Culpeper (1653)

Planet
Nicholas Culpeper assigned every herb to a ruling planet, following the astrological medicine of his day. Recorded here as history.

Pictures

The photographs are shared by their photographers under Creative Commons licenses and are used here resized. The engravings and paintings come from botanical books and collections, mostly of the 1700s and 1800s, that are now in the public domain.