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difficult for this person to obtain in this way the full nutritional and medicinal activity of these herbs. However, a water-alcohol tincture of Saw Palmetto berries or a cold water infusion of Uva Ursi leaves represents pretty much the true pharmacological activity of the herbs because the therapeutic and nutritional principles are held in solution, are easily administered (although in this case it doesn’t do much to improve the flavor of the Palmetto berries), and ultimately assimilated, while the indigestible parts have been separated out and removed.

Some forms of herbal medicine are designed to be taken orally; others are prepared in forms suitable for topical application either directly onto the skin, in the ear, as an eye wash, or inserted vaginally or rectally. Some of these vehicles require a menstruum for the development of their unique design, others don’t. Following is a working outline of these various vehicles that will give you an overall view of the major players in the theater of herbal pharmacy. Detailed instruction and supplementary information about the preparation and use of these herbal delivery vehicles is the subject of the following chapters.

HERBAL PREPARATIONS TAKEN ORALLY

PREPARATIONS USING A MENSTRUUM

Water-based menstruum

Infusions, teas (one can also use fruit juice as a water-base menstruum)

Hot infusions

Cold infusions

Decoctions

Concentrates

Jellos

Hydrosols

Flower essences

Alcohol-based menstruum

Tinctures (maceration)

Folk method

Weight/volume method

Tinctures (percolation)

Fluid extracts (1:1 w/v extracts)

Wine-based menstruum

Wine infusions

Vinegar-based menstruum

Vinegar infusions

Glycerin-based menstruum

Glycerites

Oil-based menstruum

Oil infusions

Sugar or honey-based menstruum

Syrups

Oxymels

Electuaries (honeys, confections)

PREPARATIONS NOT USING A MENSTRUUM

Succus (expressed plant juice)

Capsules

Pills (tablets)

Powders

Lozenges (troches)

HERBAL PREPARATIONS FOR TOPICAL APPLICATION

i.e., Skin, vaginal mucosa, or rectal mucosa

Liniments

Lotions and creams

Hydrosols

Flower essences

Medicinal oils and salves

Ointments and balms

Suppositories, boluses

Fomentations (a.k.a. compresses or hot packs)

Poultices

Baths

Full body bath

Sitz bath

Foot and hand baths

Eye washes

Douches

PARTS OF PLANTS EMPLOYED AS HERBAL MEDICINES

PLANT PART EXAMPLE

Barks (Cortices) Willow, Crampbark

Bulbs (Bulbi) Garlic, Onion

Cellular

Hairs Cotton

Piths (Loose spongy tissue) Sassafras pith

Spores (Primitive reproductive bodies) Lycopodium

Glands Lupulin (from the strobiles of the Hop)

Excrescences (An abnormal outgrowth) Nutgall (highest source of tannic acid)

Corms (Cormi; a short, bulblike, underground, upright stem having a few scale-like leaves) Trillium

Flowers (Flores) Calendula, Chamomile, Hawthorn, Elder, Clove buds, Gumweed

Fruits (Fructi) Cayenne, Vitex, Elder berry, Hawthorn berry, Saw Palmetto, Fennel

Fruiting bodies of fungi Herbs (Herba) Reishi, Maitake, Turkey Tail

Juices (Succus; the fluid portion of a plant) St. John’s Wort, Yarrow, Scullcap, Nettle, Peppermint, Mugwort

Leaf and leaflets (Folia et Foliola) Cleavers, Plantain, Wheatgrass

Lichen (Thallus; a composite organism consisting of a fungus living symbiotically with an algae) Comfrey, Mullein, Ginkgo, Uva Ursi, Plantain Usnea

Rhizomes (Rhizomata; an underground root-like stem) Ginger, Wild Yam, Goldenseal, Black Cohosh, Valerian

Roots (Radices) Echinacea, Burdock, Yellow Dock, Comfrey, Dandelion, Marshmallow, Siberian Ginseng

Seeds (Semina) Burdock, Echinacea, Psyllium, Chia, Flax (Linseed), Nettle

Thallus (A plant body showing no differentiation into distinct members, as stem, leaves, roots, etc.) Kelp, Dulse

Tubers (Tubera; a short, fleshy, usually underground stem or shoot) Aconite, Devil’s Claw, Western Peony

Woods (Ligna) Quassia, Sandalwood

From the inception of herbal pharmacy, herbal traditions throughout the world have favored the simple infusion and decoction of medicinal plants as their predominant form