Biblical Medical Plants - Macquirelatory.com

Format of This Book
It is only natural that a believer in evolution would have an evolving format. The current format
has evolved from my CRC Handbook of Medicinal Herbs, 2nd edition, which had evolved from my
public domain Father Nature’s Farmacy, online at the USDA. There are some new features here.
Lead Line: The lead line for each species remains pretty much the same. Common name
— (Scientific name Author) followed by an X, a +, ++, or +++ representing the rather
subjective safety scores, as in the past (X = don’t take it, + = OK but probably not as safe
as coffee, ++ = OK and probably as safe as coffee, and +++ = OK and probably safer than
coffee); then the taxonomic family to which the species belongs. Family names are always
in capital letters and end in “ACEAE.” Like allopaths, health announcers, and reporters,
I reserve the right to change my mind as new information comes in, positive or negative.
I assembled this information, based on the published literature — no prescription implied
or intended.
Synonyms: The next line may list some outdated synonyms, scientific names that at some
time in the past also have been applied to this species.
Notes: The NOTES paragraph almost always begins with biblical quotes from various translations
of the Bible (KJV = King James Version; RSV = Revised Standard Version, NWT
= New World Translation). It is amazing how many uncopyrighted versions of the Bible in
many languages are available on the Internet. And it is amazing how often the plant names
(usually underlined in the quotation) are differently translated in the various versions.
After these quotes follows a concise paragraph or two commenting on points of interest.
Common Names: Here I have compiled many, but by no means all, common names, often
flagged as to language or country of origin. First comes a name in alphabetical order
with a parenthetical citation of the country and/or language name or abbreviation. The
country/language names/abbreviations always have the initial letter capitalized and subsequent
letters in lowercase. These are followed by three-letter abbreviations (all capital
letters) of the source(s), sometimes supplemented by journal citations or PubMed abstracts
preceded by an X, to tell readers where I found these names. Sometimes one of the references,
most frequently KAB, will list more than a hundred common names, from various
parts of India and elsewhere, including dozens of Sanskrit names. In some such cases, I
took at least one name from that source from each country or language. Few users will
want to study all these common names unless it is a country they plan to visit. With an
electronic version of the database, they could generate the names pertinent to the country
they plan to visit. Often, the name itself will tell something about the plant or its medicinal
uses. I have elected to use the standardized common names (Scn.) endorsed by the American
Herbal Products Association (AH2) as the pivotal common name in the lead line for
the entry. Occasionally, AH2 would offer an optional alternative common name, which I
have abbreviated Ocn. (= other common name). Where there was no standardized common
name, I often use the abbreviation Nscn. (= no standardized common name). In such
cases, not uncommon in this biblical edition, I have consulted the USDA nomenclaturists
and their database, trying to ensure that they and I will agree, and this might later influence
the American Herbal Products Association should they decide to add some of these
to a revised edition of their standardized common name book. With these common names