What is a medicinal herb?
Medicinal herbs are plants that are used for medicinal purposes. Other types of herbs include culinary herbs, used to flavor food, and aromatic herbs, used to add fragrance. Medicinal herbs cover a wide range of types of plants. They can be annuals or perennials; woody or herbaceous; sun loving or shade requiring. The parts of the plants used for medicine may be their leaves, flowers, roots, seeds or bark. What puts medicinal herbs together in a category is their use in healing. Plants have been used by humans and animals for medicine for many hundreds of years. Not surprisingly, many medicinal plants have a rich folklore associated with them. This cultural history is an important part of many communities in North Carolina and many other places. In addition to their cultural significance, medicinal herbs are important economically. Due to North Carolina’s unique topography and climate, growers here have the potential to profit from the cultivation of many medicinal plant species. What
