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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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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Cannabis (hemp & marijuana)

Cannabis sativa

A dioecious annual used as fiber, seed food, and — where legal — as a medicine for pain, nausea, and spasticity.

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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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Clove

Syzygium aromaticum

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

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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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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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Ginger

Zingiber officinale

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

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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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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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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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Peppermint

Mentha × piperita

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

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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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Spearmint

Mentha spicata

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

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