Find a plant by how you feel

Allspice

Pimenta dioica

A Jamaican myrtle berry that tastes of clove, cinnamon, and nutmeg at once — the stew spice of the Caribbean and of winter baking.

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Anise

Pimpinella anisum

The licorice seed of Mediterranean baking — a carminative kitchen spice, not the toxic Japanese lookalike of star anise.

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Bay laurel

Laurus nobilis

The soup leaf of the Mediterranean — a pot shrub whose dried blade flavors broth and beans.

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Black pepper

Piper nigrum

The berry that made the spice routes — a tropical vine whose dried fruit is still the world’s default heat.

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Caraway

Carum carvi

The rye-bread seed — a biennial umbel whose crescent spice is the carminative of Central Europe.

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Cilantro

Coriandrum sativum

The herb people argue about — leaf for salsa, seed for digestion. A two-crop kitchen annual.

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Cumin

Cuminum cyminum

The warm, earthy seed of every chili and curry — a carminative kitchen spice with a long gut record.

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Curry leaf

Murraya koenigii

The leaf that makes a South Indian tadka smell like itself — a citrus-family tree, not a jar of powder.

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Dill

Anethum graveolens

Feathery kitchen green and a caraway-cousin seed — the pickle herb, also an after-dinner chew.

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Fennel

Foeniculum vulgare

Anise-sweet seed for gas, colic folklore, and after-dinner breath.

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French tarragon

Artemisia dracunculus var. sativa

Anise-leaf of French kitchens — a sterile clone you buy as a plant, then tarragon-vinegar the rest of your life.

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Galangal

Alpinia galanga

Ginger’s sharper Thai cousin — pine, camphor, and pepper in a rhizome that tom kha cannot do without.

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Green cardamom

Elettaria cardamomum

The queen of spices — a tropical ginger whose green pods scent chai, coffee, and after-meal folklore.

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Lovage

Levisticum officinale

A perennial celery that forgot to be polite — Maggi-herb of European yards, a stock leaf with a long digestive record.

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Nigella

Nigella sativa

Kalonji — the small black seed on naan, a peppery-oregano spice with a long West Asian kitchen record.

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Peppermint

Mentha × piperita

A hybrid mint whose menthol cools the gut and opens the sinuses — classic after-dinner leaf.

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Spearmint

Mentha spicata

The sweeter garden mint — less menthol fire, more green candy. A children’s and after-dinner leaf.

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Star anise

Illicium verum

The eight-pointed spice of pho and five-spice — a licorice star with a lookalike that does not belong in a pot.

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Summer savory

Satureja hortensis

The bean herb — a peppery summer mint that German and Balkan kitchens still put in the pot with pulses.

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Sweet basil

Ocimum basilicum

The pesto leaf — a cooling kitchen mint for digestion and summer nerves.

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Winter savory

Satureja montana

The tougher bean herb — a shrubby perennial savory that winters over and still belongs in the pot with pulses.

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