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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Amla

Phyllanthus emblica

Indian gooseberry — a sour, tannic fruit that Ayurveda treats as a rasayana, and that kitchens pickle in sugar and spice.

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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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Anise hyssop

Agastache foeniculum

A prairie mint that smells of licorice and basil — a bee spike, a tea, and a name that lies in two directions.

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Apple

Malus domestica

The temperate orchard fruit — cider, pie, a pocket, and a folklore about doctors that is older than the clinic.

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Artichoke

Cynara cardunculus var. scolymus

A giant thistle grown for the flower bud — you eat the bract bases and the heart, and throw away the choke.

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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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Bee balm

Monarda fistulosa

Wild bergamot — a ragged native mint whose leaf is an Earl Grey rumor and a traditional cold tea of the Northeast.

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Bitter melon

Momordica charantia

A warty tropical cucurbit that tastes like a dare — a cooked vegetable with a blood-sugar folklore that is not a prescription.

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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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Brown mustard

Brassica juncea

The yellow flower that became a jar — a pungent seed, a bitter green, and a traditional chest-plaster plant.

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Burdock

Arctium lappa

The burr that invented Velcro — a deep bitter root for skin and sluggish digestion.

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Cabbage

Brassica oleracea var. capitata

The headed brassica of winter tables — a fermented folklore as much as a boiled one.

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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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Catnip

Nepeta cataria

A grey mint that sends cats sideways and, as a mild tea, settles people the other direction.

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Cayenne

Capsicum annuum

The slender red chili that taught Europe heat — a kitchen spice and a traditional circulation pungent.

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Chaga

Inonotus obliquus

A charcoal-like birch canker simmered as a deep, vanilla-earth tonic — harvest with restraint.

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Chamomile

Matricaria chamomilla

A small daisy used for centuries as an evening tea for restlessness and mild digestive cramp.

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Chives

Allium schoenoprasum

The mildest kitchen onion — a perennial snip for eggs, and a gentler cousin of garlic’s folklore.

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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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Cinnamon

Cinnamomum verum

The inner bark that built a trade — blood-sugar folklore, a kitchen spice, and a tropical tree.

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Clove

Syzygium aromaticum

The nail-shaped flower bud that built a monopoly — a kitchen spice and a traditional toothache clove.

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Clove pink

Dianthus caryophyllus

The clove-scented pink of old knot gardens — petals for syrup and vinegar, a grey-green edge that likes it lean.

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Cucumber

Cucumis sativus

A cooling kitchen fruit of the vine — eaten unripe, pickled, or sliced, and a folklore sedative that is mostly water.

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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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Dandelion

Taraxacum officinale

The lawn's bitter physician — leaf as a potassium-rich diuretic, root as a liver bitter.

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Devil’s claw

Harpagophytum procumbens

A Kalahari trailer whose hooked fruit named it, and whose tuber is a bitter joint folklore — buy farmed, do not strip the desert.

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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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Eggplant

Solanum melongena

The glossy nightshade fruit of Asian and Mediterranean kitchens — bitter if underripe, silk if cooked with oil.

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Fennel

Foeniculum vulgare

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

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Fenugreek

Trigonella foenum-graecum

Maple-scented methi — a curry seed, a sprout, and a traditional milk-and-glucose folklore.

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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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Garden sage

Salvia officinalis

The grey kitchen sage — a drying, aromatic leaf for sore throats and rich food.

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Garland chrysanthemum

Glebionis coronaria

The edible chrysanthemum of East Asian pots — leaf first, yellow daisy second, a cool-season green that is not a florist mum.

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Ginger

Zingiber officinale

A tropical rhizome for queasy stomachs, cold hands, and dull inflammatory ache.

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Goldenseal

Hydrastis canadensis

A threatened woodland root, bitter and berberine-yellow — not an everyday immune tonic.

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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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Guava

Psidium guajava

A tropical myrtle fruit that smells like someone opened a perfume in a fruit stand — pink or white flesh, seedy, and a jelly classic.

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Hops

Humulus lupulus

The beer flower — a bitter, estrogenic sedative that also climbs the shed.

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Horseradish

Armoracia rusticana

The sinus-clearing white root of spring — a prepared-sauce plant with a traditional wet-cough folklore.

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Hyssop

Hyssopus officinalis

A blue-spike Mediterranean bitter for the chest — a bee plant with a camphor edge.

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Juniper

Juniperus communis

The blue berry that makes gin smell like a northern wood — a roasting spice with a kidney caveat in quantity.

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Lemon

Citrus limon

The acid citrus of the pantry — a squeeze, a preserved rind, a folklore cold cup that is mostly vitamin C and hot water.

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Lemon balm

Melissa officinalis

Lemon-scented mint for fretful moods, a racing mind, and cold-sore lips.

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Lemon verbena

Aloysia citrodora

An Andean shrub that smells more of lemon than lemon does — a digestive and evening leaf.

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Lemongrass

Cymbopogon citratus

A tropical clump that puts lemon in soup — fever-and-digestion folklore with a wok pedigree.

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Licorice

Glycyrrhiza glabra

Sweet root that soothes mucosa and supports adrenals — and can raise blood pressure if overused.

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Lion's mane

Hericium erinaceus

The pom-pom fungus eaten as crab-like food and taken for focus and nerve support.

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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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Mango

Mangifera indica

The stone fruit of South Asia — a ripe cheek of orange flesh, and a cashew-family sap that some skins refuse.

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Marshmallow

Althaea officinalis

A velvety marsh mallow whose root and leaf soothe raw mucosa.

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Meadowsweet

Filipendula ulmaria

Creamy meadow plumes that smell of almond and aspirin — a stomach-kinder willow analog.

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Milk thistle

Silybum marianum

Spiny purple thistle whose seeds are the classic liver trophorestorative.

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Mugwort

Artemisia vulgaris

The roadside Artemisia of dream pillows and roast goose — a bitter with a long folklore and a thujone limit.

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Nasturtium

Tropaeolum majus

Peppery lily-pad leaves and a spurred flower — a salad plant whose pickled seeds stand in for capers.

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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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Nutmeg

Myristica fragrans

One fruit, two spices — the brown seed and the lacy red mace — a kitchen warm with a hard stop at the teaspoon.

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Okra

Abelmoschus esculentus

A West African mallow whose young pods silk a stew — the Southern pot crop that hates the cold.

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Olive

Olea europaea

The silver tree of the Mediterranean — oil, fruit, and a bitter leaf with a long heart-folklore.

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Onion

Allium cepa

The bulb that starts the pan — a kitchen allium with a long folk record as food, not as a syrup protocol.

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Orange daylily

Hemerocallis fulva

The ditch lily whose buds go in a wok — edible Hemerocallis, never a true lily, never a cat’s flower water.

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Oregano

Origanum vulgare

A hot Mediterranean mint — pizza leaf, and a traditional winter antimicrobial tea.

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Oregon grape

Mahonia aquifolium

A holly-leaved west-coast shrub whose yellow root is a bitter berberine cousin of goldenseal.

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Parsley

Petroselinum crispum

The garnish that is actually a mineral-green — a kitchen herb with a traditional kidney-and-breath record.

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Passion fruit

Passiflora edulis

A wrinkled purple shell full of seedy pulp — perfume in a spoon, and a different species from the maypop leaf tea.

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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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Pineapple

Ananas comosus

A South American bromeliad that wears a crown — a ripe yellow flesh, and a core that is fiber, not a cleanse.

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Pomegranate

Punica granatum

A leathery fruit of the dry Mediterranean, packed with arils — juice and seed, not a rind tea.

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Poria

Wolfiporia extensa

A buried pine fungus used in Chinese soups for dampness, gut, and calm — a sclerotium, not a mushroom cap.

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Purslane

Portulaca oleracea

The lemony succulent in the cracks of the driveway — a salad weed richer in omega-3 than most garden greens.

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Rosemary

Salvia rosmarinus

A resinous Mediterranean shrub for memory, circulation, and roast potatoes.

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Saffron

Crocus sativus

Three red threads from a sterile autumn crocus — the dearest spice on earth, and a traditional mood-and-digestion pinch.

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Sesame

Sesamum indicum

The seed that opens — a hot-season crop whose paste is tahini and whose oil is the quiet fat of a dozen kitchens.

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Shiso

Perilla frutescens

The ruffled mint of Japanese and Korean kitchens — cumin-basil-citrus in a leaf that pickles plums and wraps rice.

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Slippery elm

Ulmus rubra

The mucilaginous inner bark of an American elm — a slippery tea for a raw throat and a raw gut.

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Sorrel

Rumex acetosa

The lemon of the temperate garden — arrow leaves that sharpen soup and fish, with a French pedigree.

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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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Starfruit

Averrhoa carambola

A five-pointed oxalis fruit — pretty in a salad, and a documented problem if the kidneys are already in trouble.

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Stevia

Stevia rebaudiana

The Paraguayan sweet herb — a few leaves that sugar a pot without sugar, and a bitter green aftertaste if you overdo it.

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Sumac

Rhus coriaria

The sour red dust of za’atar — a Mediterranean berry-spice, not the white-berried swamp plant that raises blisters.

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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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Sweet marjoram

Origanum majorana

Oregano’s sweeter kitchen cousin — a tender Mediterranean mint for digestion and a quiet evening cup.

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Tamarind

Tamarindus indica

A brittle brown pod of sour-sweet pulp — the acid in a chutney, a agua fresca, and a pad thai, from a tree that looks like a mimosa.

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Tomato

Solanum lycopersicum

The kitchen-garden berry we treat as a vegetable — acid, sweet, and the color of a summer table.

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Turmeric

Curcuma longa

Golden rhizome of South Asian cooking, taken for stiff joints and low-grade inflammation.

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Vanilla

Vanilla planifolia

A climbing orchid whose green bean is cured into the world’s dessert spice.

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Watercress

Nasturtium officinale

The peppery brook green — a mustard that lives in clean moving water, and a Victorian breakfast plate.

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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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Wormwood

Artemisia absinthium

The bitter of absinthe — a powerful digestive bitter whose essential oil is a neurotoxin in excess.

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