Materia Medica

How I Source This Library

Herbal information tends to be either overstated or dismissed outright, so each claim on these pages carries its source. The rules I work by:

• Primary sources first. Traditional uses cite the original text: King's American Dispensatory, Felter's Eclectic Materia Medica, and Maude Grieve's A Modern Herbal for the Western record, Sebastian Pole for Ayurveda, and Bensky's materia medica for Chinese medicine. The public domain texts are linked in full so you can check any citation yourself.
• Modern research is linked, not summarized from a headline. Each study gets its own card with the preparation used, the study design, the dose, and the weak points. Human trials count for more than animal studies, and animal studies count for more than test tube results. If the evidence is early or thin, the card says so.
• Funding is disclosed. Industry-funded trials are flagged. Regulatory monographs from Germany's Commission E and the European Medicines Agency are cited as the positions of official bodies. The American Botanical Council, which publishes the English Commission E text, is a nonprofit funded partly by industry membership, and that is noted where it is cited.
• Dosing comes from named people. Ranges are drawn from the published work of practicing clinical herbalists and from regulators, with each one named. If two respected sources recommend different doses, both appear.
• Safety references are physical books. Contraindication entries are checked against my copy of Brinker's Herbal Contraindications and Drug Interactions, with his evidence grades carried over.
• Conservation is part of the record. Plants on the United Plant Savers At-Risk list are marked, with a note to buy cultivated material.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why are there so many different dosing approaches for each herb?

Because herbalists disagree about dose more often than they agree. A common theme across the field is that respected sources land on different numbers for the same plant, depending on the preparation, the tradition, and the goal. I include a wide spread of those views so you can see the range that exists in clinical practice. This is for educational purposes. The table shows you what practitioners and researchers have used. It does not tell you what to take.

Is anything on these pages medical advice?

No. The monographs describe how herbs have been used historically and how they have been studied. Any dose figure reports what a named source used. Decisions about your own health belong in a conversation with your healthcare provider, who knows your history and your medications.

What is a clinical herbalist, and is that a licensed profession?

A clinical herbalist is someone trained to work with medicinal plants in a one-on-one setting. In the United States there is no state license for herbalists. My certification comes from a training program, not a licensing board. I am not a physician, nurse, pharmacist, or dietitian, and I do not diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. The Become an Herbalist page covers how training works in this field.

Why cite books from the 1800s?

The Eclectic physicians recorded decades of bedside observation on the same plants people use today, in a level of detail that most modern writing lacks. Their texts are in the public domain and linked in full, so any reader can verify a citation. They are paired with modern research on each page so you can see where the old observations hold up and where they do not.

How do you decide which studies make it onto a page?

Human trials come first. Each study card names the preparation, the design, the dose, and every weak point I can find, including small sample sizes, missing placebo groups, extracts used in place of whole plants, and industry funding. A study with problems can still be included, as long as the problems are listed next to the findings.

Why do kitchen spices have a safety section?

Because a medicinal dose is different from a culinary one. Black pepper on your eggs is food. Black pepper in capsules can change how the body clears certain prescription drugs, and that is documented in human studies. Every monograph separates the two so the caution is aimed where it belongs.

Can I request an herb?

Yes. Send the plant name through the contact page. Requests are added to the queue in the order they arrive.

How often are the monographs updated?

Each page carries a last-updated date at the bottom of its source list. When a new trial or a revised regulatory monograph changes the picture, the page is revised and the date moves.