Common names: Some of the common and folk names for the herb. I only include those that I’ve actually heard or come across in texts. If I can, I include the Pin Yin (traditional Chinese Medicine English pronunciation), Ayurvedic name and Filipino name(s)

Taxonomic name: This is the ‘scientific name’ that allows the herb to be identified clearly and specifically. They are always written in italics to make them easier to find in texts e.g. Taraxacum officinale (Dandelion). Think of it as a visual cue or shortcut. The first part of the name is the ‘genus‘ – think of that as your family name – you have several members of a family who all share the same family name, just as there can be several plants in a genus. The second part is the ‘species‘ or specific name. Just as in your family, plants can have several members in the same genus but there is only one specific case of you. Think of this as being equivalent to your first name.

Don’t be concerned when you encounter Latin or Ancient Greek – they’re used because they’re considered ‘dead languages’ and thus not open for any changes. This format is used so that we all know that we’re learning about the same plant, where a plant may have several common names which may also be the common names for others.

Family: Extending the idea of plant relationships: the level above genus is Family. A Family is a broad grouping of plants that share key characteristics—traditionally the shape and structure of their flowers, though genetics is reshaping these boundaries.

If I can share a personal example to clarify the relationship between genus and Family: my family name, Haines, works like a genus name and identifies my immediate family. But there are many Haines families across Adelaide who aren’t part of my household. If we grouped us all together, that bigger mob could be called Hainesaceae. That’s what a plant Family does— it gathers many related genera under one umbrella.

A good herbal example is Lamiaceae, the Mint Family (plant Families always end in “‑aceae,” and unlike genus and species names, they’re not italicised.) Members of Lamiaceae all have distinctive, lipped or lobed flowers. Within this Family you’ll find many genera—Salvia, Mentha, Origanum, and others. If you look closely at their flowers, you’ll notice how similar they are.

Try exploring other herb Families, such as Brassicaceae, and see what similarities you can find..

Related herbs: Through understanding the a plant’s relatives and patterns, you can start grouping herbs not only by their physical features but by their effects on our body. Most of the medicinal herbs in Lamiaceae, for example, contain volatile oils.

Area of origin: Honouring the known origins of the plant helps to give a picture of how to medicinally classify many of the herbs. For example, many Mediterranean herbs that have made their way into our repertory, can be grown in a similar way and have a similar method of action. Here we start thinking about the herbal lineage that our knowledge has grown from. It stimulates me to explore the historical and colonial aspects of how we came to work with this particular plant.

Parts used: The part(s) of the plant that are most potent.

Has been used medicinally for: This is a broad example of things folks have medicinally used the herb for in the past. There are often hundreds of things that can be listed in this section but I include a few main ones to give you a picture of how to use the herb. This section isn’t intended to be prescriptive, rather it gives a shallow overview of what folks have used the herb for in the past or are currently using it for.

Healing Actions: These are a list of what the herb has been found to do medicinally, e.g. it is a diaphoretic. As I learn more about herbal actions and effects, I’m removing the broad categories like ‘anti-inflammatory’ and replacing them with more specific actions because many of the actions listed in herb books are more of an effect, not the action that causes it. When I know for sure how the herb makes something happen, I’ll drop back and update the appropriate sections.

TCM: This is the section where I integrate Traditional Chinese Medicine into the overall picture of the herb.

Taste: Taste has a huge effect on the effect of a medicinal herb (that’s why I don’t like using capsules too often). Tastes refer to the physical taste of the herb, which will often be an indication of its medicinal action. The traditional 5 tastes are ‘salty’, ‘sweet’, ‘bitter’, ‘sour’ and ‘pungent’. You may also see ‘astringent’ in some texts but this is more of a physical effect so I list it under ‘healing actions’. Taste also affects the way herbs interact in a formulation. How the taste is applied for a particular herb is listed in the medicinal uses section. And before you ask, I haven’t worked out where umami fits into the scheme of things yet!

Energetics: Have you noticed how a moistening herb such as Mallow works on dry conditions such as rashes? Or how a cooling herb such as Elderflower works well for hot conditions such as fevers? This is ‘energetics’. You’ll see things like ‘cooling/drying’ or ‘moves the blood’. I don’t stick to exactly the eight traditional energetic categories, preferring to clarify some points by listing such things as ‘softening’ or ‘clearing’.

Energetics, tissue states and organ affinities reflect the different ways of thinking of the cultures in which the frameworks were first developed. Some overlap, some are unique to a particular school of healing. Looking deeper at each can teach us much about the cultures involved and the way that the knowledge came to us.

Tissue states: This is a description of how the tissue is affected by the ailment. There are several schools of thought about tissue states but here I’ll just list those that most clearly relate to the herb. The names of the states are pretty self explanatory after a little thought. You’ll see things like dry/atrophy or damp/stagnation. When you can apply the energetics of a herb to the tissue state that you are trying to rectify, you get healing!

Organ/System affinities: Some herbs work best on a particular system, organ or tissue, this is called their ‘affinity. This is sometimes the most confusing section to work out when reading herbals. Some authors talk about physiological organs and systems, others (such as in TCM and Western Energetic based herbalism) talk about functional and energetic systems that may include the physical organ they are named after. For example, in physiology based herbalism, ‘liver’ refers to the organ itself, whereas in energetics, ‘Liver’ refers to the system. In TCM, ‘Liver’ refers to the functional system and also the meridians.

As the best herbalism is a combination of both systems of reference, I stick to the convention where the name of the organ with a small first letter refers to only the physical organ. The name with a capital first letter refers to the functional and energetic organ/system as seen mostly in TCM

Healing constituents: These are the main chemical compounds known to be in the herb and to have a particular effect. I try to group them as best I can but am not a chemist. Different compounds have different effects, of course, so seeing a compound that you know to be a laxative, for example, anthraquinones in this list for a herb will indicate to you that the herb probably has a laxative effect when taken. If you can mentally combine entries in this section with those in the ‘healing actions’ entry above, you will soon develop a good picture of the herbs and their actions from two perspectives.

Contraindications and warnings: Here I list anything you should be concerned about when taking or prescribing the herb. This section is especially important when your patient or yourself have any other illness (e.g. heart condition), are on any other medication (e.g. SSRI or blood thinning medication), are pregnant, very young or very old.