The Herb Bible (Discover The World Of Herbs)

Grown indoors or out, in pots or in the ground, cultivating herbs for their many uses is a delightful and satisfying pastime for the beginner and seasoned gardener alike. Find out how these aromatic and fragrant plants can help to bring you closer to nature, and make your life simpler and healthier. Discover the fresh, new and pungent tastes you can give to foods and the uplifting effects of herbs in medicine.
In general use, herbs are plants with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, medicinal purposes, or for fragrances; excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients. Culinary use typically distinguishes herbs from spices. Herbs generally refers to the leafy green or flowering parts of a plant (either fresh or dried), while spices are usually dried and produced from other parts of the plant, including seeds, bark, roots and fruits.

Herbs have a variety of uses including culinary, medicinal, and in some cases, spiritual. General usage of the term "herb" differs between culinary herbs and medicinal herbs; in medicinal or spiritual use, any parts of the plant might be considered as "herbs", including leaves, roots, flowers, seeds, root bark, inner bark (and cambium), resin and pericarp.

The word "herb" is pronounced /hɜːrb/ in Commonwealth English,[1] but /ɜːrb/ is common among North American English speakers and those from other regions where h-dropping occurs. In botany, the word "herb" is used as a synonym for "herbaceous plant".