Materia Medica

Wood Betony (Betonica officinalis) — Bishop's Wort, Lousewort

September 29, 2026

Wood betony is an old European medicinal herb now accepted botanically as Betonica officinalis, though Stachys officinalis remains common in herbal literature. This guide covers identification, traditional headache and digestive uses, modern phytochemistry, the limits of human evidence, safety and cultivation.

September 28, 2026

Wormseed, better known in the kitchen as epazote, is now botanically accepted as Dysphania ambrosioides; Chenopodium ambrosioides is an older familiar synonym. This guide separates culinary leaf use from historical vermifuge use, examines ascaridole research, and explains why concentrated essential oil requires serious safety caution.

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

Yellow root (Xanthorhiza simplicissima) is a native eastern North American shrub with intensely yellow, berberine-containing roots and a documented history in Cherokee, Catawba and Appalachian plant use. This guide covers correct identification, traditional uses, phytochemistry, research limits, cultivation, sustainable sourcing and safety.

September 28, 2026

California yerba santa (Eriodictyon californicum) is an aromatic evergreen shrub native to California and Oregon with a long Indigenous and regional history of respiratory use. This guide covers correct identification, traditional cough and cold use, modern flavanone chemistry, sterubin research, cultivation and the limits of current safety and clinical evidence.

September 28, 2026

Ylang ylang (Cananga odorata) is a tropical Annonaceae tree whose intensely fragrant flowers yield one of perfumery’s best-known essential oils. This guide covers botanical identity, traditional use, essential-oil chemistry, small human aromatherapy studies, contact-allergy risk, cultivation and practical safety.

September 28, 2026

Yohimbe is a West and Central African tree whose bark contains yohimbine, a pharmacologically potent alpha-2 adrenergic antagonist. This guide distinguishes traditional bark from purified yohimbine, reviews sexual-health research, documents major supplement-label variability, and explains cardiovascular, neurologic and medication-interaction risks.

September 28, 2026

Mojave yucca (Yucca schidigera) is a desert shrub-tree traditionally used for food, fiber, washing and regional medicine. This guide covers correct identification, steroidal saponins and yuccaols, food-use regulation, the limited human evidence behind arthritis and cholesterol claims, cultivation, sustainability and safety.

September 28, 2026

Hollyhock (Alcea rosea) is an old cottage-garden mallow with edible flowers and a long tradition of soothing respiratory, digestive and urinary preparations. This guide distinguishes the accepted name Alcea rosea from the older synonym Althaea rosea, reviews its unusually abundant flower mucilage, anthocyanins and flavonoids, summarizes preclinical airway, kidney-stone, glucose, inflammatory and anticancer research, and explains the major evidence gap: convincing controlled human therapeutic trials are still lacking.

September 28, 2026

Oriental or Asian water-plantain (Alisma plantago-aquatica subsp. orientale; syn. Alisma orientale), known in Chinese medicine as Ze Xie / Alismatis Rhizoma, is an aquatic East Asian herb whose dried subterranean medicinal material has a long fluid-balance tradition. This guide covers current taxonomy, traditional processing, alisol triterpenoids, diuretic and metabolic research, limited human evidence, and dose- and preparation-dependent kidney and electrolyte safety.