The cupboard
Kitchen herbs & spices
Filter by element or search a plant. Traditional kitchen and folk use — four tastes, not a clinic monograph.
10 plants
Ginger
Zingiber officinale
The stillroom’s first answer to a cold belly or a coming chill.
Nausea · Indigestion · Chill & congestion
Warm, move, and stimulate
Cayenne
Capsicum annuum
A pinch that sends heat to the rim of the body.
Chill & congestion · Cold hands & sluggish blood · Stiff joints
Warm, move, and stimulate
Black pepper
Piper nigrum
The everyday spark that makes other spices land.
Indigestion · Chill & congestion · Cold hands & sluggish blood
Warm, move, and stimulate
Cinnamon
Cinnamomum verum
Bark that smells like a warmed cupboard and acts like a slow fire.
Indigestion · Chill & congestion · Cold hands & sluggish blood
Warm, move, and stimulate
Rosemary
Salvia rosmarinus
Remembrance in a needle — a head herb as much as a roast herb.
Dull focus · Headache · Cold hands & sluggish blood
Warm, move, and stimulate
Garlic
Allium sativum
The house charm that also went into the broth.
Chill & congestion · Cold hands & sluggish blood · Sore throat
Warm, move, and stimulate
Hibiscus
Hibiscus sabdariffa
A crimson sour that drinks like a summer cooler and a winter tonic.
Feverish & flushed · Cold hands & sluggish blood · Dull focus
Brighten, circulate, and clear
Yarrow
Achillea millefolium
The wound-wort and fever herb of the yard.
Feverish & flushed · Crampy cycle · Chill & congestion
Warm, move, and stimulate
Hawthorn
Crataegus spp.
The sour heart-berry of the hedgerow — astringent, food-like, and long-used.
Cold hands & sluggish blood · Frayed nerves · Worriation
Brighten, circulate, and clear
Motherwort
Leonurus cardiaca
Lion’s-tail — a bitter for a racing heart and a crampy womb.
Frayed nerves · Crampy cycle · Cold hands & sluggish blood
Warm, move, and stimulate