Collection: Medicinal Plant Seeds

Medicinal plants, also called medicinal herbs, have been discovered and used in traditional medicine practices since prehistoric times. Plants synthesize hundreds of chemical compounds for functions including defense against insects, fungi, diseases, and herbivorous mammals. Numerous phytochemicals with potential or established biological activity have been identified. However, since a single plant contains widely diverse phytochemicals, the effects of using a whole plant as medicine are uncertain. Further, the phytochemical content and pharmacological actions, if any, of many plants having medicinal potential remain unassessed by rigorous scientific research to define efficacy and safety.

 

The earliest historical records of herbs are found from the Sumerian civilization, where hundreds of medicinal plants including opium are listed on clay tablets. The Ebers Papyrus from ancient Egypt, c. 1550 BC, describes over 850 plant medicines. The Greek physician Dioscorides, who worked in the Roman army, documented over 1000 recipes for medicines using over 600 medicinal plants in De materia medica, c. 60 AD; this formed the basis of pharmacopoeias for some 1500 years. Drug research makes use of ethnobotany to search for pharmacologically active substances in nature, and has in this way discovered hundreds of useful compounds. These include the common drugs aspirin, digoxin, quinine, and opium. The compounds found in plants are of many kinds, but most are in four major biochemical classes: alkaloids, glycosides, polyphenols, and terpenes.

 

Medicinal plants are widely used in non-industrialized societies, mainly because they are readily available and cheaper than modern medicines. The annual global export value of 50,000 to 70,000 types of plants with suspected medicinal properties was estimated to be US$2.2 billion in 2012, and in 2017, the potential global market for botanical extracts and medicines was estimated at several hundred billion dollars. In many countries, there is little regulation of traditional medicine, but the World Health Organization coordinates a network to encourage safe and rational usage. Medicinal plants face both general threats, such as climate change and habitat destruction, and the specific threat of over-collection to meet market demand.

 

-Courtesy of Wikipedia, read more at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicinal_plants

-Image source: Zeynel Cebeci and used under Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International

67 products
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    3000 Stinging Nettle Seeds - Urtica Dioica Seeds
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    Marshmallow Plant Seeds - Althaea officinalis
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    250 Epazote Seeds - Chenopodium Ambrosoides - Dysphania ambrosioides
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  • 500 Artemisia Absinthium Seeds - Wormwood | O'Neill Seeds
    500 Artemisia Absinthium Seeds - Wormwood | O'Neill Seeds
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    1000 Allheal Seeds - Prunella vulgaris
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    Sweet Annie Seeds - Artemisia annua - Sagewort - Wormwood
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    1000 Artemisia Vulgaris Seeds - Mugwort / Common Wormwood
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  • 50 Ashwagandha Seeds
    50 Ashwagandha Seeds
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  • 10,000 Mullein Seeds - Verbascum thapsus
    10,000 Mullein Seeds - Verbascum thapsus
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  • 200 Ruta Graveolens Seeds - Rue Seeds
    200 Ruta Graveolens Seeds - Rue Seeds
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  • 1500 Hyssopus officinalis Seeds
    1500 Hyssopus officinalis Seeds
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    500 Lovage Seeds - Levisticum officinale
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  • Greater Plantain Seeds - Plantago major - Broadleaf Plantain
    Greater Plantain Seeds - Plantago major - Broadleaf Plantain
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  • 1000 Tansy Seeds - Tanacetum vulgare - Perennial Flower Seeds
    1000 Tansy Seeds - Tanacetum vulgare - Perennial Flower Seeds
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  • Borage Seeds - Borago officinalis
    Borage Seeds - Borago officinalis
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  • Scutellaria lateriflora seeds - Blue Skullcap - Mad Dog Skullcap - Scullcap
    Scutellaria lateriflora seeds - Blue Skullcap - Mad Dog Skullcap - Scullcap
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  • Tanacetum parthenium - Feverfew
    Tanacetum parthenium - Feverfew
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  • White Yarrow Seeds - Achillea millefolium
    White Yarrow Seeds - Achillea millefolium
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  • 75 Milk Thistle Seeds - Organic - Silybum marianum
    75 Milk Thistle Seeds - Organic - Silybum marianum
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  • 500 Giganteum Poppy Seeds - Giant Poppy - Beautiful and Non-GMO Flower
    500 Giganteum Poppy Seeds - Giant Poppy - Beautiful and Non-GMO Flower
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  • 250 Pennyroyal Seeds - Mentha Pulegium
    250 Pennyroyal Seeds - Mentha Pulegium
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  • 175 Vervain Seeds - Verbena bonariensis
    175 Vervain Seeds - Verbena bonariensis
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    1000 Chinese Plantain - Plantago asiatica
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  • 500 Roman Chamomile Seeds - Chamaemelum nobile - Non-GMO Medicinal Herb
    500 Roman Chamomile Seeds - Chamaemelum nobile - Non-GMO Medicinal Herb
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  • 300 Summer Savory Herb Seeds - Satureja Hortensis Seeds
    300 Summer Savory Herb Seeds - Satureja Hortensis Seeds
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    Heliotrope Seeds - Heliotropium arborescens
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  • 100 Chickweed Seeds - Stellaria media - Non-GMO Medicinal and Edible Plant
    100 Chickweed Seeds - Stellaria media - Non-GMO Medicinal and Edible Plant
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  • 100 Black Elderberry Seeds - Sambucus nigra - Common Elder - European Elder
    100 Black Elderberry Seeds - Sambucus nigra - Common Elder - European Elder
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  • 500 Lauren’s Grape Poppy Seeds - Beautiful Pods and Non-GMO Flower
    500 Lauren’s Grape Poppy Seeds - Beautiful Pods and Non-GMO Flower
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  • 1000 Catnip Seeds - Nepeta cataria Seeds
    1000 Catnip Seeds - Nepeta cataria Seeds
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    1000 Sneezewort Yarrow Seeds - Achillea ptarmica
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  • 2000 German Chamomile Seeds - Matricaria recutita - Non-GMO Medicinal Herb
    2000 German Chamomile Seeds - Matricaria recutita - Non-GMO Medicinal Herb
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