The History of Herbalism

In the early stages of human history many aspects of life such as diet, clothing, and broader cultural development utilized increasing knowledge of plants, wild fruits, trees, and flora generally.
The use of plants for medicinal purposes was recognised in India over 2000 years ago. There are also ancient Chinese records of the use of herbal remedies. The Greek historian 'Pliny the Elder' stated that the Greeks produced both written and pictorial records of herbal treatments as early as the 1st Century BC. The Byzantines (in modern day Turkey) produced similar records in c. 500 AD.
From the Middle Ages (ca 1100-1450) onwards numerous European scholars documented and illustrated a wide variety of plants together with accounts of their medical benefits.
Knowledge of the uses and effects of plants grew rapidly. Awareness of their remedial properties for a variety of health conditions, of their hallucinatory properties, of their soporific and stimulating effects, and so on, encouraged the emergence of professional "experts" and a widespread interest that has continued to the present day.

During the centuries of global exploration, colonial expansion, increasing trade, and improved communications (C16th - C19th), numerous "new" plants were added to those known in Europe.

More recently, the dominance of urban/industrial society (especially in Europe and North America) of the last two hundred years - together with increasing knowledge in a range of scientific areas - coincided with increased questioning of, and scepticism about, traditional remedies such as form the basis of Herbalism.
Availability of the chemical and synthetic products of modern pharmacy has also contributed to obscuring the importance and contributions of herbal treatments.

At present herbal remedies increasingly available through conventional channels such as dispensing chemists (referred to as "pharmacies" or "drugstores" in the USA). This is part of a general trend of increasing interest in, and 'respectability' of, "natural" approaches to health and wellness. Herbal remedies are increasingly considered to be ecologically friendly and a potential source of health care that may be free of the undesirable side-effects associated with chemically-constructed synthetic products.

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