Comprehensive List of Medicinal Plants and Herbs: Uses and Benefits for Natural Healing

Medicinal plants can be used to treat many diseases ranging from fevers to hypertension and diabetes.

These natural herbs are an essential source of drugs for alternative medicine systems.

These systems include Ayurveda, homeopathy, Unani, and even allopathy.

They are thought to constitute 80% of the total drugs used by humans.

These natural healing herbs are used to treat many diseases and disorders.

Their specialty is advantages like better compatibility in the body, easy metabolism, low side effects, and lower cost than synthetic drugs.

Further, they are not harmful to the environment after disposal.

They don’t require heavy manufacturing, expensive analysis, or storage facilities.

They retain their potency for a long period if stored well.

Many of them can be used as homemade preparations during an emergency or can be bought as over-the-counter drugs without a physician’s prescription.

These medicinal plants come under different types of plants and are not restricted to one family or type of plants.

Readily Available Medicinal Plants and Herbs in the U.S.

Sl.No.	Name of plant	Uses
1	Aloe vera (Aloe barbadensis)	Skin care, wound healing
2	Amla (Indian Gooseberry)	Immune support, skin and hair health
3	Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera)	Stress relief, anti-anxiety, mood stabilizer, energy booster
4	Black pepper (Piper nigrum)	Digestive aid, appetizer, anti-inflammatory, enhances eructation
5	Cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum)	Expels gas by eructation and a Digestive aid
6	Castor oil (Ricinus communis)	Natural Laxative and skincare
7	Clove (Eugenia caryophyllus)	Dental analgesic, anti-septic, digestive aid
8	Coriander (Coriandrum sativum)	Carminative, Digestive aid, anti-inflammatory
9	Eucalyptus oil (Eucalyptus citriodara)	Respiratory issues, cold relief
10	Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare)	Expels gas, digestive aid, anti-inflammatory
11	Garlic (Allium sativum)	antilipidemic (reduce fat), Immune support, heart health and anti-hypertensive
12	Ginger (zingiber officianale)	Nausea relief, digestive aid Anti-spasmodic relives gut pain.
13	Glycyrrhiza (Liquorice)	Expectorant and anti-inflammatory
14	Halorheana (Haritaki)	Digestive support, detoxification
15	Peppermin oil (Mentha oil) (Mentha piperita)	Expels gas by eructation, cold relief, rubifacient.
16	Papaya (Carica papaya)	Digestant, wound healing.
17	Senna (Cassia angustifolia)	Natural laxative
18	Tribulus terrestris	Urinary and reproductive health, energy booster

Sl.No.	Name of plant	Source	Uses
1	Aconite	Aconitum ferox –plant root	Succulent leaves. Used as a hydrating agent for smooth skin
2	Arjuna	Terminalia Arjuna-Tree dry Bark	Heart health, removes vessel blocks.
3	Belladonna	Atropa accuminata leaves & flowers	Pain relief, muscle relaxant (toxic)
4	Banafsha	Viola odorata	Respiratory issues
5	Caraway	The dried bark of Rhamnus purshiana	Expels gas by eructation, Digestive aid
6	Cascar	Cathartic (in constipation), hair growth promoter	As laxative
7	Ceylon Cinnamon	Cinnamomum zeylanicum	Anti-inflammatory, digestive aid
8	Citronella oil	Cymbopogan nardus-volatile oil from leaves	Mosquito and Insect repellent.
9	Egyptian Henbane	Has essential oils with uses like Expectorant (removes phlegm), and counter-irritant.	Relieve spasms of the urinary tract & gripping effect of purgatives
10	Ginseng	Panax ginseng	Is immunomodulator. See the benefits of ginseng.
11	Ipecac	Cephaelis ipecacuanha-dried roots & rhizomes	To induce vomiting (emetic)
12	Isapgol	Plantago ovate-	To relieve constipation (laxative)
13	Cumin	Ciminum cyminum-dry ripe fruit Ciminum cyminum-dry ripe fruit	Stimulant, carminative
14	Lemon grass Oil	Cymbopogan	Relieve stress, ease nausea, regulate blood pressure
15	Palmarosa oil	Cymbopogan martini-volatile oil from leaves	Insect repellent
16	Peruvian bark	Cinchona ledgeriana-dried bark	Anti-malarial drug
17	Pyrethrum	Chrysanthemum cineraria folium flower heads	Sandalwood oil
18	Dioscorea (Dioscorea villosa)	Dioscorea composite-dried tubers	For rheumatic arthritis
19	Rauwolfia	Rauwolfia serpentine-Dry roots	For high blood pressure, psychosis.
20	Sandal wood oil	Santalum album-volatile oil	Urinary infections, skin health
21	Giloy/ Guduchi	Leaves and stems of Tinospora cordifolia	For fevers
22	Tulsi	Ocimum sanctum-fresh & dry leaves	Asthma, bronchitis, diarrhea.
23	Turmeric	Curcuma longs-dry rhizomes	Anti-septic, anti-oxidant, condiment
24	Turpentine oil.	Pinus roxburghii-volatile oil	Counter irritant (for pain relief)
25	Vetiver oil	Vetiveria zizanoides-volatile oil from root	Relive prickly heat and itching
26	Vinca	Catharanthus roseus-entre plant	medicinal plants for cancer treatment, anticancer herbs
27	Yew	Taxus baccata	Dry leaves, bark & roots.

References:

Ayurveda