Materia Medica

Stevia (Stevia rebaudiana) — Sweetleaf, Sugarleaf

September 29, 2026

Stevia rebaudiana is the South American sweetleaf behind modern steviol-glycoside sweeteners. This guide separates traditional whole-leaf use from high-purity steviol glycosides, explains U.S. regulatory distinctions, reviews human metabolic research, and covers cultivation and safety.

September 29, 2026

Common tansy is a historic European herb with old culinary, antiparasitic and household uses, but modern internal use is limited by unpredictable essential-oil chemotypes and thujone neurotoxicity. This guide separates true Tanacetum vulgare from tansy ragwort and feverfew, explains U.S. food restrictions, and reviews identification and safety.

September 29, 2026

Tarragon is a classic culinary Artemisia with distinct French and Russian forms, a long digestive tradition, and limited but real human metabolic research. This guide explains its botany, flavor chemistry, estragole and methyleugenol safety concerns, and why culinary use is different from concentrated extracts and essential oil.

September 29, 2026

Wild lettuce, Lactuca virosa, has a long European history as a bitter sedative and analgesic herb whose dried milky latex was called lactucarium or “lettuce opium.” This guide explains why that nickname is misleading, reviews lactucin and lactucopicrin research, documented human toxicity, identification, and safety without providing home extraction or dosing instructions.

September 28, 2026

Wormwood (Artemisia absinthium) is an intensely bitter European herb with a long digestive, vermifuge and absinthe history. This guide separates traditional whole-herb use from thujone-rich essential oil, reviews modern pharmacology and limited clinical research, and explains the plant’s major safety concerns.

September 28, 2026

Globe artichoke is a Mediterranean food plant now treated botanically within Cynara cardunculus; Cynara scolymus remains a familiar synonym in older herbal and clinical literature. This guide distinguishes the edible flower bud from medicinal leaf preparations, reviews dyspepsia and cholesterol research, explains cynarin and caffeoylquinic acids, and covers biliary and allergy cautions.