Helpful herbs

Leaves have a strong taste and in ancient Greece and Rome were fed to chariot horses to give them strength.

In ancient Egypt, people who died were mummified to preserve their bodies.

After cleaning and embalming the body of a dead person, it was wrapped in linen bandages, along with herbs such as thyme and mint. The herbs’ fresh and fragrant scents were considered sacred.

Herbs are plants that are used to flavor food, give perfume its smell, or provide medicinal qualities. Some have fragrant leaves or flowers that can be eaten fresh. Others are woody and added to cooking or used dried.

Chewing these leaves can help freshen breath after eating garlic.

In German folklore, places where thyme grows wild are said to be blessed

by fairies.

These fragrant leaves were once given to knights before battle to inspire courage.

The leaves are most well known as the dried herb used on pizza toppings.

The aromatic leaves have a tart, lemony flavor.

Using herbs dates back to ancient times. In ancient Greece, eating thyme was believed to cure poisoning, while rosemary was thought to help memory, and scholars used to put rosemary in their hair to help them during exams.

Spicy leaves taste like licorice and are used in Asian cooking.

In the past, these hairy, gray-green leaves were used to ward off evil.

Dill seeds are used as a spice.

These leaves are used in toothpaste and sweets.

The leaves are used for flavoring food. These delicate, feathery leaves are often eaten with seafood.

Dill leaves

Needlelike rosemary leaves grow on woody plants that can reach up to 7 ft (2 m) tall. The hollow, tubular stems taste like onion—and the flowers do, too!

In the Middle Ages, herb gardens were common in European monasteries: monks grew sage as a remedy and also to clean their teeth. The plant’s scientific name, Salvia, comes from the Latin for “I am well.” Oregano is also healing. In Chinese medicine, it is used to help digestive problems. Modern science has proven some of the qualities of herbs—mint oil is known to kill mosquito larvae, for example. Other ideas are based on superstition, such as the medieval practice of drinking dill tea to repel a witch’s curse.