List of Plants Used in Herbalism - C

C

• Cat's claw (Uncaria tomentosa) has a long history of use in South America to prevent and treat disease.
• Cayenne (Capsicum annuum) is a type of chili that has been used as both food and medicine for thousands of years. Uses have included pain relief and treating fever, cold, diarrhea, among other conditions.
• Celery (Apium graveolens) seed is used only occasionally in tradition medicine. Modern usage is primarily as a diuretic.
• Chamomille (Matricaria recutita and Anthemis nobilis) used over thousands of years for a variety of conditions, including sleeplessness, anxiety, and gastrointestinal conditions such as upset stomach, gas, and diarrhea.
• Chaparral (Larrea tridentata) leaves and twigs are used by Native Americans to make a tisane used for a variety of conditions, including arthritis, cancer and a number of others. Subsequent studies have been extremely variable, at best. Chaparral has also been shown to have high liver toxicity, and has led to kidney failure, and is not recommended for any use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or American Cancer Society.
• Chasteberry (Vitex agnus-castus) used over thousands of years for menstrual problems, and to stimulate lactation.
• Chili (Capsicum frutescens)'s active ingredient, capsaicine, is the basic of commercial pain-relief ointments in Western medicine. The low incidence of heart attack in Thais has been shown to be related to capsaicine's fibronolytic action (dissolving blood clots).
• Cinchona is a genus of about 38 species of trees whose bark is a source of alkaloids, including quinine. Its use as a febrifuge was first popularized in the 17th century by Peruvian Jesuits.
• Clove (Syzygium aromaticum) is used for upset stomach and as an expectorant, among other purposes. The oil is used topically to treat toothache.
• Coffee senna (Cassia occidentalis) is used in a wide variety of roles in traditional medicine, including in particular as a broad-spectrum internal and external antimicrobial, for liver disorders, for intestinal worms and other parasites and as an immune-system stimulant.
• Comfrey (Symphytum officinale) has been used as a vulnerary and to reduce inflammation. It was also used internally in the past, for stomach and other ailments, but its toxicity has led a number of other countries, including Canada, Brazil, Australia, and the United Kingdom, to severely restrict or ban the use of comfrey.
• Cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon) used historically as a vulnerary and for urinary disorders, diarrhea, diabetes, stomach ailments, and liver problems. Modern usage has concentrated on urinary tract related problems.