In the world of tea, herbals or botanicals refer to infusions made from leaves, roots, bark, seeds, flowers, or fruits. Below is an index of some of the most common botanicals used in herbal infusions.
AMARANTH
Amaranth grows up to a height of 3.5 m and possesses elliptical to ovate-oblong and lanceolate leaves. The plant bears many flowers with acute bracts. The seeds generally vary in colour.
Family Name: Amaranthaceae
Botanical Name(s): Amaranthus hypochondriacus
Popular Name(s): Hsien, Lady Bleeding, Spleen Amaranth, Love-Lies-Bleeding, Red Cockscomb, Velvet Flower
Parts Used: Seeds and leaves
Habitat: Amaranth is found in the tropics, mostly in tropical America.
AMERICAN GINSENG
American Ginseng is a perennial herb with a fleshy tuber-like root and grows to a height of 8-24 inches. The plant bears three compound leaves, each composed of five toothed leaflets. Its flowers are greenish white in colour and appear in June-July. The fruits are in the form bright red berries that appear in late summer.
Family Name: Araliaceae
Botanical Name(s): Panax ginseng, Panax quinquefolius
Popular Name(s): Five Fingers, Tartar Root, Five Leafed Ginseng, Redberry
Parts Used: Root
Habitat: American Ginseng is found in East North America (Canada and the US)
ANISE
Anise is a dainty, white-flowered urnbelliferous annual, about 18 inches high, with secondary feather-like leaflets of bright green, hence its name (of mediaeval origin), Pimpinella, from dipinella, or twicepinnate, in allusion to the form of the leaves.
Family Name: Umbelliferae
Botanical Name(s): Pimpinella Anisum
Popular Name(s): Anise, Aniseed, Sweet Cumin, Star Anise, Chinese Nise
Parts Used: Seeds
Habitat: It is a native of Egypt, Greece, Crete and Asia Minor
ASTRAGALUS
Astragalus membranaceus is a sprawling perennial legume, about 16 inches high. Astragalus membranaceus has a hairy stem, leaves made up of 12-18 leaflets and aromatic flowers.
Family Name: Fabaceae
Botanical Name(s): Astragalus membranaceus
Popular Name(s): Milk vetch, Huang qi, Milk vetch root, Goat’s horn, Green dragon, Yellow emperor.
Parts Used: Roots
Habitat: Astragalus is indigenous to the northern and eastern parts of China and some areas of Mongolia.
BERGAMOT
Bergamot is a member of the mint family and its leaves have a citrus-like flavor. It grows up to 1 m (3 feet) high. The flowers vary and are of several colors, varying from pink and mauve to a rich scarlet can be found. Its square, grooved and hard stems rise about 2 feet high and the leaves, which it bears in pairs, are rather rough on both surfaces.
Family Name: Lamiaceae
Botanical Name(s): Monarda Didyma
Popular Name(s): Scarlet Monarda, Oswego Tea and Bee Balm
Parts Used: The leaves and flowers are used.
Habitat: It is native to South America.
BURDOCK
A stout handsome plant, with large, wavy leaves and round heads of purple flowers. The whole plant is a dull, pale green and the stem about 3 to 4 feet and branched, rising from a biennial root. The lower leaves are very large, on long, solid footstalks, furrowed above, frequently more than a foot long heart-shaped and of a gray color.
Family Name: Compositae
Botanical Name(s): Arctium Lappa
Popular Name(s): Bardana, Burrseed, Clotbur, Cocklebur, Grass Burdock, Hardock
Parts Used: Root, Herb and Seeds.
Habitat: Burdock is native to Asia and Europe.
BLACKBERRY
Blackberry is a trailing perennial plant that grows in dry or sandy soil. The plant bears slender branches possessing sharp and recurved prickles. Its leaves are hairy bearing 3 to 5 leaflets. The leaflets are doubly serrate and ovate shaped. The flowers have five-petals are white in colour. Its ripe berries are red in colour.
Family Name: Rosaceae
Botanical Name(s): Rubus villosus
Popular Name(s): Bramble, Cloudberry, Dewberry, Goutberry, High Blackberry, Thimbleberry, American Blackberry
Parts Used: Leaves, root and bark
Habitat: Blackberry is cultivated in the United States of America.
CHAMOMILE
Chamomile is a low-growing plant, creeping or trailing, its tufts of leaves and flowers a foot high. The root is perennial, jointed and fibrous, the stems, hairy and freely branching are covered with leaves, which are divided into thread-like segments, the fineness of which gives the whole plant a feathery appearance.
Family Name: Compositae
Botanical Name(s): Anthemis Nobilis
Popular Name(s): Manzanilla, Maythen
Parts Used: Flowers and Herb.
Habitat: Chamomile is spread over Europe, North Africa and the temperate regions of Asia.
CINNAMON
Cinnamon is an evergreen tree which grows from 20 to 30 feet. The plant has strong branches and thick scabrous bark which is smooth and yellowish. In colour, the leaves are dark green on top and lighter green underneath. It has small yellowish-white flowers with a disagreeable odour that bears dark purple berries. The fruits are oval and berry like.
Family Name: Lauracae
Botanical Name(s): Cinnamomum zeylanicum
Popular Name(s): Laurus Cinnamomum, Dalchini
Parts Used: Bark
Habitat: Cinnamon is found widely in Sri Lanka but grows in Malabar, Cochin-China, Sumatra and in Eastern Islands too. It is cultivated in Brazil, Mauritius, India, Jamaica and in other countries also.
CLOVE
Clove trees are small, bushy and evergreen, with shiny, leathery, lance-like leaves. Fragrant, pink-white flowers that fall on opening and a tuft of yellow stamens are produced in late summer, followed by purple berries.
Family Name: Myrtaceae
Botanical Name(s): Eugenia Caryophyllata
Popular Name(s): Eugenia Aromatica, Clavos, Caryophyllus
Parts Used: Undeveloped flowers.
Habitat: Molucca Islands, Southern Philippines.
CORIANDER
Coriander is an erect annual, with aromatic lobed leaves, which become more finely divided further up the stem. White to mauve flowers appear on the stem in umbels in summer, followed by ribbed, pale brown fruits.
Family Name: Apiaceae
Botanical Name(s): Coriandrum Sativum
Popular Name(s): Cilantro and Chinese Parsley, Dhania, Dhanyak, Kustumbari.
Parts Used: Fruit and fresh leaves
Habitat: It is indigenous to southern Europe, is found occasionally in Britain in fields and waste places and by the sides of rivers.
CUMIN
Its stem is slender and branched, rarely exceeding 1 foot in height and somewhat angular. The leaves are divided into long, narrow segments like Fennel, but much smaller and are of a deep green color, generally turned back at the ends. The upper leaves are nearly stalkless, but the lower ones have longer leaf stalks. The flowers are small, rose-colored or white.
Family Name: Umbelliferae
Botanical Name(s): Cuminum Cyminum
Popular Name(s): Cumino Aigro
Parts Used: Fruit.
Habitat: It is native of Arabia, India, China, and countries bordering on the Mediterranean.
ECHINACEA
The stout, bristly stem bears hairy, linear-lanceolate leaves, tapering at both ends, the lower on long petioles, the upper sessile. The distinctive flower features 12 to 20 large, spreading, dull-purple rays and a conical disk made up of numerous purple and tubular florets.
Family Name: Asteraceae
Popular Name(s): Narrow-leaved purple coneflower, Sampson root, Black Sampson, Red sunflower, Echinacea
Parts Used: Roots
Habitat: Echinacea is a wildflower native to North America.
ELDER
Elder grows up to 10m in height with a trunk-diameter of up to 30cm. The bark is light grey in colour when young but changes to coarse grey as it gains height. It possesses feathery leaves. Its tiny, cream scented flowers are borne in summer, followed by black berries. The flowers are arranged in rich, flat cymes. They have a short, bell-shaped calyx and a rounded corolla composed of creamy oval petals. The ovary has a sessile stigma divided into three to five lobes, maturing into globular, glossy and blackish-purple drupes containing the seeds.
Family Name: Caprifoliaceae
Botanical Name(s): Sambucus nigra L.
Popular Name(s): Common Elder, Black Elder, American Elder, Sweet Elder
Parts Used: The bark, leaves, flowers and berries
Habitat: Elder is found widely in North America and in Europe
FENNEL
Fennel is a tall perennial plant that forms clumps, with deep roots, hollow stems and glossy, feathery leaves (looks like threads). Tiny, dull, yellow flowers appear in umbels in summer, followed by oval brown seeds.
Family Name: Umbelliferae
Botanical Name(s): Foeniculum Vulgare
Popular Name(s): Large Fennel, Sweet Fennel, Wild Fennel, Finocchio, Carosella, Florence fennel
Parts Used: Seeds, leaves, roots
Habitat: Native of the Mediterranean region.
FENUGREEK
Fenugreek is an erect annual with tri-foliate leaves, divided into toothed leaflets. It produces solitary or paired yellow-white flowers tinged with violet.
Family Name: Leguminosae
Botanical Name(s): Foenum-Graecum
Popular Name(s): Fenugreek Bird’s Foot, Greek Hay
Parts Used: Seeds
Habitat: Native of Southeastern Europe and Western Asia.
GINGER
Ginger is a perennial root. In tuberous joints, it creeps and increases in size keeping itself under the ground. In spring, the root sends up a green reed, like a stalk, 2 feet high, with narrow lanceolate leaves. The flowering stalk rises from the root and ends up in an oblong scallop spike. Ginger produces flower buds which are white and pink in colour and bloom into yellow flowers
Family Name: Zingiberaceae
Botanical Name(s): Zingiber officinale
Popular Name(s): Shunthi, Adrak, Sunth, Black Ginger, Race Ginger, African Ginger
Parts Used: Root
Habitat: Ginger is native to Asia. It is cultivated in West Indies, Jamaica and Africa also.
GINGKO BILOBA
Ginkgos are medium-large deciduous trees, reaching 20-35 m height (some specimens in China being over 50 m), with an often-angular crown and long, somewhat erratic branches. They are usually deep rooted and resistant to wind and snow damage. Young trees are often tall and slender and sparsely branched.
Family Name: Ginkgo
Botanical Name(s): Ginkgo Biloba
Popular Name(s): Maidenhair Tree, Ginkgo Biloba
Parts Used: Leaves
Habitat: Ginkgo grows most prominently in the southern and eastern United States and in China.
GINSENG
The aromatic root commonly grows to a length of 2 feet or more and is often divided at the end. The simple, glabrous stem bears, near the top, a whorl of three or five palmate compound leaves consisting of five oblong ovate, finely double serrated leaflets.
Family Name: Araliaceae
Botanical Name(s): Panax Ginseng
Popular Name(s): Ginseng, Asian Asiatic Ginseng, Chinese Ginseng, Asian Ginseng
Parts Used: Root
Habitat: It grows in the damp woodlands of Manchuria.
GOJI BERRY
Wolfberry species are deciduous woody perennial plants, growing 1-3 m high. These species produce a bright red, ellipsoid berry 1-2 cm long, each containing 10-30 tiny yellow seeds that are compressed with a curved embryo.
Family Name: Solanaceae
Botanical Name(s): Lycium Barbarum
Popular Name(s): Wolfberry, Western Snowberry, Gojira
Parts Used: Fruits
Habitat: It grows heavenly on Mountains of Western China.
HAWTHORN
Its trunk or stem has hard wood, smooth and ash-gray bark and thorny branches. The small, shiny leaves are dark green on top, light bluish green underneath and have three irregularly toothed lobes. The white flowers have round petals.
Family Name: Rosaceae
Botanical Name(s): Crataegus Oxyacantha
Popular Name(s): Hawthorne, Haw, May Tree, May Blossom, Mayflower, Quickset, Thorn-Apple Tree, Whitethorn.
Parts Used: Flowers, leaves, fruits
Habitat: Grows as either a shrub or a tree in England and continental Europe.
JASMINE
Jasmine is a woody, perennial climber, which reaches up to 15 meters in height. The stems and leaves are green and the plant bears pinnate leaves and sweet-smelling flowers that are borne in clusters in summer, followed by black berries. It is the J. grandiflorum that is mostly used in herbal remedies, while the J. officinale is mostly used in aromatherapy.
Family Name: Oleaceae
Botanical Name(s): Jasmianum Grandiflorum
Popular Name(s): Royal Jasmine, Spanish or Catalonian Jasmine as well as Jati.
Parts Used: Flowers and oil are used.
Habitat: It is native to China, Japan and eastern India.
LAVENDER
Lavender is a small shrub with gray, downy, linear leaves with blue to violet flowers, growing in compact or interrupted spikes. A wide variety of lavenders are found, but consist of two main types – Angustifolia being the most popular, While Latifolia produces harsher and more camphoraceous oil.
Family Name: Lamiaceae
Botanical Name(s): Lavandula Angustifolia
Popular Name(s): Lavender, Garden Lavender, Spike Lavender and Common Lavender.
Parts Used: Flowers
Habitat: Native to the Mediterranean region.
LEMON BALM
Lemon Balm is a lemon scented perennial. It grows wild in fields and gardens and along roadsides. It has an upright stem that grows as high as 3 feet. Oval toothed leaves and minor yellow flowers are produced in auxiliary clusters in summer.
Family Name: Lamiaceae
Botanical Name(s): Melissa Officinalis
Popular Name(s): Balm, Lemon Balm, Melissa, Sweet Balm, Balm Mint, Bee Balm, Blue Balm, Cure-All, Dropsy Plant, Garden Balm.
Parts Used: The dried leaves, as well as the essential oil are used.
Habitat: It is common throughout Europe but cultivated mostly in the United States.
LICORICE ROOT
Licorice is a hardy herb or under shrub, usually of 2 m height. It is tall, erect and a perennial plant with light, gracefully-spreading pinnate foliage and dark green lanceolate leaflets that hang down at night and have violet to lavender color flower. The roots are brown, long and cylindrical.
Family Name: Papilionaceae
Botanical Name(s): Glycyrrhiza Glabra
Popular Name(s): Licorice, Yashtimadhu, Mulathi, Liquorice, Atimadhuram, Liquorice, Sweet Wood, Sweetwort
Parts Used: The dried roots are used
Habitat: It is a native of Mediterranean countries
MILK THISTLE
Milk thistle is a tall plant (generally 2-5 feet high, sometimes up to 10 feet) with an erect, branched and furrowed but not spiny stem. It has large, thorny green root-leaves, which are attached to the stem without petiole; the upper leaves have a clasping base.
Family Name: Asteraceae
Botanical Name(s): Silybum Marianum
Popular Name(s): Holy Thistle, Marian Thistle, Our Lady’s Thistle and Wild Artichoke
Parts Used: The seeds
Habitat: For more than two thousand years milk thistle has been cultivated throughout Europe, but it was always especially popular in Greece, Italy, and Germany.
NETTLES
It is a coarse creeping perennial with yellow roots and ovate leaves covered with bristly stinging hairs and small green flowers are borne.
Family Name: Urticaceae
Botanical Name(s): Urtica Dioica
Popular Name(s): Stinging Nettle, Common Stinging Nettle and Common Nettle
Parts Used: Aerial parts
Habitat: It is native to Eurasia.
NUTMEG
Nutmeg is a bushy, evergreen and aromatic tree with oblong leaves and pale yellow flowers, followed by round fleshy fruits, containing a brown seed. The tree is about 25 feet high and has a grayish-brown smooth bark, abounding in a yellow juice.
Family Name: Myristicaceae
Botanical Name(s): Myristica Fragrans
Popular Name(s): Nutmeg, Nutmeg Flower, Black Caraway, Flower Seed, Black Cumin
Parts Used: Seed
Habitat: Nutmeg is a tropical evergreen tree native to Indonesia and cultivated in the West Indies, South Africa, the Malacca Islands, India and other tropical areas.
OREGANO
Oregano is a perennial herb which grows to height of 20-80 cm and possesses creeping roots. The leaves are opposite, petiolate, nearly entire hairy beneath and are 1-4 cm long. The flowers are purple in colour and are 3-4 mm long.
Family Name: Lamiaceae
Botanical Name(s): Origanum vulgare
Popular Name(s): Pot Marjoram, Sathra, Mirzanjosh, Kattumaruva
Parts Used: Herb and oil
Habitat: Oregano is found in Asia, Europe and in North Africa.
PAU D’ARCO
Pau D’arco is an evergreen tree which grows up to a height of 50 ft (45 m) and 10 ft (3 m) in diameter. The wood is very hard and makes fine furniture. The plant possesses broad leaves. It has large purple flowers which are used in landscaping and decoration.
Family Name: Bignonia
Botanical Name(s): Tabebuia avellanedae
Popular Name(s): LaPacho, Ipe Roxo, Taheboo tree
Parts Used: The inner bark
Habitat: Pau D’arco is widely found in South America. It is abundant in Brazil, Peru and Argentina.
PEPPERMINT
The leaves of this kind of mint are short but distinctly stalked, 2 inches or more in length, their margins finely toothed, their surfaces smooth, both above and beneath, or only very slightly, hardly visibly, hairy on the principal veins and mid-rib on the underside. The stems, 2 to 4 feet high, are quadrangular, often purplish.
Family Name: Labiatae
Botanical Name(s): Mentha Piperita
Popular Name(s): Mentha Nigricans, Brandy Mint
Parts Used: Herb
Habitat: The plant is found throughout Europe, in moist conditions, along stream banks and in wastelands.
RED CLOVER
A perennial, but of short duration, generally abundant on meadowland of a light sandy nature, where it produces abundant blossom, forming an excellent mowing crop. Red Clover contains phytoestrogens like genistein and daidzein.
Family Name: Leguminosae
Botanical Name(s): Trifolium Pratense
Popular Name(s): Red Clover, Wild Clover, Cleaver Grass, Marl Grass, Cow Grass, Trefoil and Purple Clover
Parts Used: Blossoms
Habitat: Abundant in Britain, throughout Europe, Central and Northern Asia.
RED RASPBERRY
Red Raspberry has thorny, erect stems and it reaches a height up to 2 m. The plan bears alternate leaves which are imparipinnate with ovate-lanceolate leaflets. The flowers are formed in the leaf axils or at the apex of the branches.
Family Name: N.O. Rosaceae
Botanical Name(s): Rubus idaeus (LINN.)
Popular Name(s): Raspbis, Hindberry, Bramble of Mount Ida
Parts Used: The leaves and fruit
Habitat: Red Raspberry is found in many parts of Europe.
ROSEMARY
Rosemary is a hardy bushy perennial shrub with aromatic, evergreen leaves and pale-blue flowers around the stem. There are silver and gold striped varieties, but the green-leaved variety is the kind used medicinally.
Family Name: Labiatae
Botanical Name(s): Rosmarinus Officinalis
Popular Name(s): Polar Plant, Compass-Weed, Compass Plant, Rosmarinus Coronarium, Rosemarine, Incensier and Garden Rosemary.
Parts Used: Leaves and Flowers
Habitat: Native to the Mediterranean region, cultivated widely elsewhere.
SAFFLOWER
Safflower possesses a stiff, upright and whitish stem which grows up to a height of 2 to 3 feet. Its leaves are pointed, spiny and oval shaped. The flowers have both male and female organs and are pollinated by insects.
Family Name: N.O. Compositae
Botanical Name(s): Carthamus tinctorius
Popular Name(s): Dyer’s Saffron, American Saffron, Fake Saffron, Bastard Saffron
Parts Used: Flowers
Habitat: Safflower is grown in many parts of India, China and in other parts of Asia. It is found in Egypt and in Southern Europe also.
SAGE
Sage generally grows about a foot or more high, with wiry stems. The leaves are set in pairs on the stem. An evergreen perennial shrub with pale green leaves. Flowers are borne in summer.
Family Name: Labiatae
Botanical Name(s): Salvia Officinalis
Popular Name(s): Red Sage, Garden Sage, Sage, True Sage, Meadow Sage and Common Sage
Parts Used: Leaves and Whole Herb
Habitat: It is a native of Spain along the Mediterranean coast.
SENNA
Senna is a small shrub growing to a height of 2 feet. The plant possesses erect stem, pale green colour and long, spreading branches. The branches bear leaflets which occur in four or five pairs with an average length of an inch. The flowers are small and yellow in colour. The pods are broadly oblong with a length of 2 inch and breadth of 7/8 inch. It contains about six seeds.
Family Name: N.O. Leguminosae
Botanical Name(s): Cassia acutifolia (DELL.)
Popular Name(s): Alexandrian Senna, Nubian Senna, Cassia lenitiva, Cassia Lanceolata
Parts Used: Dried leaflets and pods
Habitat: Senna is found in Egypt, Nubia, Arabia and Sennar.
SIBERIAN GINSENG
Siberian ginseng is a shrub that grows 3 to 10 feet high. Its leaves are attached to a main stem by long branches. Both the branches and the stem are covered with thorns. Flowers, yellow or violet, grow in umbrella-shaped clusters, and turn into round, black berries in late summer. The root itself is brownish, wrinkled, and twisted.
Family Name: Araliaceae
Botanical Name(s): Eleutherococcus Senticosus, Acanthopanox Senticosus
Popular Name(s): Siberian Ginseng, Eleuthero and Devil’s Shrub Parts Used: Root and rhizomes
Habitat: It is native to the Taiga region of the Far East
SLIPPERY ELM
Slippery Elm is a deciduous tree which reaches to a height of 10-20 meter and its leaves are 10-18 cm long. The flowers occur in clusters and appear before the leaves. Its fruit are oval shaped and contains a single seed.
Family Name: Ulmaceae
Botanical Name(s): Ulmus rubra Muhl
Popular Name(s): Red Elm, Gray Elm, Soft Elm, Moose Elm
Parts Used: The inner bark
Habitat: Slippery Elm is found in the United States and Canada.
SPEARMINT
It is a creeping, sweetly scented, perennial with bright green leaves. Stems rise to a height of about 2 feet. The small flowers are densely arranged in rings in the axils of the upper leaves, forming cylindrical, slender, tapering spikes, pinkish or lilac in color.
Family Name: Lamiaceae
Botanical Name(s): Mentha Spicata
Popular Name(s): Garden Mint, Lamb Mint, Green Mint and Spire Mint.
Parts Used: Herb
Habitat: Native to Europe.
THYME
Thyme is a variable shrub with white to purple flowers. Some plants have variegated leaves and grow to about 25 cm in height.
Family Name: Lamiaceae
Botanical Name(s): Thymus Vulgaris
Popular Name(s): Thyme, Common Thyme, Garden Thyme and Mother of Thyme.
Parts Used: Leaves and Flowering Tops.
Habitat: Thyme is indigenous to the Mediterranean region and cultivated widely.
TURMERIC
This is a perennial herb with a large rhizome and large leaves with yellow flowers and is a close relative to the ginger plant.
Family Name: Zingiberaceae
Botanical Name(s): Curcuma Longa
Popular Name(s): Curcuma, Indian Saffron, Yellow Ginger, Haridra and Yu Jin.
Parts Used: Rhizomes
Habitat: Southern Asia. Cultivated in China, Bengal and Java.
VALERIAN
It is a perennial erect plant, which can be 4 feet high. It has a short, conical, erect yellowish rootstock with multiple long thin roots. Only one stem usually grows from the root. It is round and hollow, with hairs near the base.
Family Name: Valerianaceae
Botanical Name(s): Valeriana officianalis
Popular Name(s): English Valerian, German Valerian, Great Wild Valerian, Vermont Valerian, Vandal Root, All-heal, Setwall, American English Valerian, Garden Valerian, Phu, Valerian.
Parts Used: Root and Rhizome.
Habitat: Valerian is a perennial flowering plant native to Europe and Asia.
VERBENA
Verbena is an erect, clump-forming perennial with stiff, widely branched stems. It can reach 3-6 ft (0.9-1.8 m) in height with an open, airy spread of 1-3 ft (0.3-0.9 m). The scabrous (sandpapery) stems and branches grow in an upright pattern and are square in cross section. Most of the leaves are clustered in a mounded rosette at the base of the plant.
Family Name: Labiatae
Botanical Name(s): Verbena Officinalis
Popular Name(s): Vervain, Wild Hyssop, American Vervain, Blue Vervain, Indian Hyssop, Purvain.
Parts Used: Leaves and flowering heads.
Habitat: It is native to Brazil and Argentina.
WILD CHERRY
This tree grows from 50 to 80 feet high, and 2 to 4 feet in diameter. The bark is black and rough and separates naturally from the trunk. Leaves deciduous, 3 to 5 inches long, about 2 inches wide, on petioles which have two pairs of reddish glands.
Family Name: Rosaceae
Botanical Name(s): Prunus Serotina
Popular Name(s): Wild Cherry Bark, Virginia Prune Bark
Parts Used: Dried bark.
Habitat: Although native to North America, wild cherry trees now grow in many other countries.
*Reference: www.herbsguide.net
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