Plants

Allspice is an unusual herb that is also known by the name of Jamaica Pepper, newspice, and Myrtle Pepper. Allspice is a dried unripe fruit – which derived its name from the English who believed that it smelled like a mixture of nutmeg, cloves, and cinnamon.

Allspice is not, as is mistakenly believed by some people who have only come across it in ground form, a mixture of spices. The fruit is picked when it is green and unripe and traditionally dried in the sun. When dry the fruits are brown and resemble large brown peppercorns.

Cloves are the aromatic dried flower buds of a tree. It is native to Indonesia and used as a spice in cuisine all over the world. The name derives from French clou, a nail, as the buds vaguely resemble small irregular nails in shape. The clove tree is an evergreen which grows to a height ranging from 10-20 m, having large oval leaves and crimson flowers in numerous groups of terminal clusters.

Fenugreek is used both as an herb (the leaves) and as a spice (the seed). The leaves are used to make the herbs and the seeds are used to make the spices. The name fenugreek or foenum-graecum is from Latin for “Greek hay”. The rhombic yellow to amber colored fenugreek seed, commonly called Methi, is frequently used in the preparation of pickles, curry powders and pastes, and is often encountered in the cuisine of the Indian subcontinent.

Rhodiola rosea also known as roseroot is a plant in the family Crassulaceae that grows in only cold regions of the world. These places of habitat include much of the Arctic, the mountains of Central Asia, the Rocky Mountains, and mountainous parts of Europe, such as the Alps, Pyrenees, Carpathian Mountains, British Isles, Scandinavia and Iceland.

Rhodiola rosea has been found to be very effective for improving someone’s mood and alleviating depression. Russian research has shown us that it improves both physical and mental performance, reduces fatigue, and prevents high altitude sickness.

Astragalus is a Chinese herb that helps to stimulate the immune system. Besides stimulating the immune system, astragalus, also helps the body to replenish spleen deficiency and is helpful for prolapse syndromes. Some prolapse syndromes include a prolapsed uterus, stomach, and anus.