← Back to catalogue
Research draft

herb

vr.tr.herb · PHY.LIV

Let an agent handle herbs by species, use, cultivation, safety and evidence for medicinal claims, with cautions about toxic lookalikes and interactions.

Thing Registry Physical world and living systems

Research draft, second pass

A second pass drafted this model: the structure a model of this thing needs, and what is known about it in the world. The line under this one says how the second half was obtained - researched against sources, or recalled without web access, in which case nothing here was read anywhere and every claim is a lead to verify. Unreviewed either way.

written by Claude from model knowledge without web access - no source was read, every claim is a lead to verify

Researched by: Claude

Purpose and description

Let an agent handle herbs by species, use, cultivation, safety and evidence for medicinal claims, with cautions about toxic lookalikes and interactions.

A plant, or the leaves, flowers or seeds of a plant, used for flavouring food, for fragrance or in traditional medicine, such as basil, lovage and aromatic plants; wild herbs are gathered from nature.

What it is for: Cooking, fragrance, tea and traditional remedies.

It can be grow and harvest herbs; use them in cooking; identify wild herbs safely; check medicinal claims and interactions.

Distinguishing features

Used for flavour, scent or remedy

Fresh or dried

Some are toxic or interact with medicines

Botanical herb (herbaceous plant) is a related sense

What it looks like

Leafy green or flowering plants, fresh or dried.

How it is recognised

Culinary herbs such as basil or parsley

Aromatic leaves and flowers

Toxic lookalikes exist for some wild herbs

Related models

is a kind of - category

useful plant

is used in - uses

cooking and tea

is related to - food

leaf and spice

is regulated by - rules

herbal medicine rules

In practice

Families and kinds

culinary herbs

aromatic herbs

medicinal herbs

wild herbs

herbal teas

Standards and regulation

EU traditional herbal medicinal products directive

Food supplement rules

Plant protection rules for wild collection

Failure modes and hazards

Poisoning from misidentified wild plants

Interactions with medicines

Unsupported health claims

Also called

aromatic plantLevisticum officinalewild herbinvasive herbBoesenbergia rotundaculinary herbza'atarmugwortfiléLettuce leaf basilherb cream cheesemajoram herblemon thymelemon leafdried herbsPincarstrewing herbsouthernwoodAlkanna tinctoria

Where this came from

wikidata · CC0 1.0

Also registered as vr.tr.herb-food

Drafted structure

Bundle to layer to finding to question, as the second pass will find it: 4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions.

Herb Which herb.

Species and use.

Species

Identification.

Species

Species.

  1. Which plant species is it? provenance
  2. Is identification confirmed? boundary

Use

Culinary or medicinal.

Use

Use.

  1. Is it used for cooking, fragrance or remedies? definition
  2. Which parts are used? definition
Cultivation Growing.

Herbs are easy to grow.

Growing

Conditions.

Growing

Growing.

  1. Which conditions suit it? definition
  2. How is it harvested? action

Wild

Foraging.

Wild

Wild collection.

  1. Is foraging legal and sustainable here? boundary
  2. Could it be confused with a toxic plant? boundary
Safety Toxicity and interactions.

Some herbs are risky.

Toxic

Lookalikes.

Toxic

Toxic risk.

  1. Is there risk of confusion with a poisonous plant? boundary
  2. Who should be called after ingestion? action

Interactions

Medicines.

Interactions

Interactions.

  1. Could the herb interact with medicines, in pregnancy or for children? boundary
  2. Should a pharmacist or doctor be asked? action
Claims Evidence.

Medicinal claims need evidence.

Evidence

Research.

Evidence

Evidence.

  1. Is a medicinal claim supported by good evidence? provenance
  2. Which authority assessed it? provenance

Culinary

Cooking.

Culinary

Cooking.

  1. How is it used in cooking? action
  2. Fresh or dried, and how much? measurement

What the second pass must settle

  • Should herb species be separate entries?
  • How should interaction data be linked?
  • How should the botanical sense be split off?