Medicinal Plants

Flashcards covering the vocabulary and key concepts discussed in the Medicinal Plants lecture.

Camellia sinensis

The scientific name for tea, with evidence of cultivation dating back to approximately 3000 BC in China. It was initially used as a medicine and later as a beverage.

Boston Tea Party

An event on Dec 6, 1773, where Americans protested the British Parliament's Tea Act by dumping tea into Boston harbor.

Ebers papyrus

An ancient Egyptian medical text from 1550 B.C., listing 850 plant medicines, including garlic, cannabis, and aloe.

Badianus Manuscript

An Aztec medicinal herbal written in 1552 A.D. by Spaniard Martin de la Cruz, documenting centuries of oral history regarding medicinal herbs.

Hippocrates

A Greek physician (460-377 B.C.) known as the Father of Medicine, who primarily used herbal remedies and physical rest for treatment.

DIOSCORIDES

A Greek physician (~ 64 A.D.) in the Roman army who collected plants and documented their medicinal uses in his publication, Materia Medica.

Doctrine of Signatures

The belief that God created everything with a 'signature' indicating its use to people, particularly applied to the medicinal uses of plants.

Mandragora officinarum

Also known as Mandrake, named for its perceived resemblance to the human form and used in witchcraft during the Middle Ages to induce hallucinogenic states.

Dr. William Withering

Discovered foxglove extracts in 1775, leading to the use of digitalin for heart disease treatment.

Digitalis purpurea

Foxglove; contains glycosides (digoxin & digitoxin) which are used to derive digitalin. Digitalin is medicinally significant for slowing heart rate while increasing power of each beat.

Salix spp.

Willow; used as a precursor to Aspirin. The leaves and bark were used to treat pain, fever, and inflammation.

Felix Hoffman

A chemist at Bayer Co. who synthesized aspirin in 1897 from Spirea ulmaria (meadowsweet).

Cinchona officinalis

A plant whose bark is used to derive quinine, an alkaloid that attacks the protozoan that causes malaria.

Artemisia annua

A plant that contains artemisinin, a terpene, and is in development as a replacement for quinine in malaria treatment.

Papaver somniferum

Opium Poppy - Alkaloids. Contains a chemically distinctive set of alkaloids (papaverines) that are highly effective in the treatment of pain

Catharanthus roseus

Madagascar Vinka - Vincristine (alkaloid) discovered in leaf extracts. Effective drugs vs. lymphomas (Hodgkin’s disease) – restricts mitosis.

Dioscorea

Wild Yam – convenient source for steroidal saponins which can be converted into synthetic hormones & for use in contraceptives

Hypericumperforatum

St. John’s Wort; Science shows it enhances serotonin in brain, mood enhancing neurotransmitter

Ginkgo biloba

Ginkgo; Blood clotting inhibited, thus increases blood flow Negative can be reactive with other blood thinners and cause severe bleeding

Phy 906

Phytoceutica Herbal medicine; Application: treat nausea and pain associated with cancer chemotherapy regimes – heals intestinal lining.