Herb Library
Browse our comprehensive collection of traditional medicinal plants and herbal remedies.
Goraka (Garcinia gummi-gutta): The Sour Spice, the Diet Pill, and the Liver Warning
(Garcinia gummi-gutta (syn. G. cambogia))
Goraka (Garcinia gummi-gutta) leads a double life. In Sri Lanka it is a kitchen staple: the smoky, s
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Sudu Lunu (Allium sativum): Garlic, the Kitchen Medicine With 80 Clinical Trials
(Allium sativum)
Sudu lunu (Allium sativum) is the rare traditional medicine that modern science has tested to exhaus
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Uluhal (Trigonella foenum-graecum): Fenugreek for Blood Sugar — and the Breast Milk Question
(Trigonella foenum-graecum)
Uluhal (Trigonella foenum-graecum) is the small, amber, maple-scented seed that goes into the temper
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Siyambala (Tamarindus indica): Tamarind, the Sour Fruit With a Sweet Pharmacology
(Tamarindus indica)
Siyambala (Tamarindus indica) shades half the temple courtyards and village junctions of the dry zon
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Divul (Limonia acidissima): Wood Apple, the Hard-Shelled Fruit of the Dry Zone
(Limonia acidissima)
Divul (Limonia acidissima) is the fruit you crack open with a stone. Behind its grey, wooden shell l
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Sarana (Boerhavia diffusa): Punarnava, the Weed That Renews
(Boerhavia diffusa)
Sarana (Boerhavia diffusa) sprawls along roadsides and waste ground with pink-purple flowers no bigg
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Kaluduru (Nigella sativa): Black Seed and the 82-Trial Verdict
(Nigella sativa)
Kaluduru (Nigella sativa) arrived in Sri Lanka along the spice routes and settled into two places at
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Nika (Vitex negundo): The Five-Leaved Chaste Tree for Pain and Swelling
(Vitex negundo)
Nika (Vitex negundo) is the shrub Sri Lankan physicians reach for when a joint is hot and swollen. A
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Endaru (Ricinus communis): Castor, the Oil Plant With a Poison in Its Seeds
(Ricinus communis)
Endaru (Ricinus communis) grows on every neglected roadside in Sri Lanka, its glossy, star-shaped le
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Elabatu / Katuwelbatu (Solanum virginianum): The Thorny Nightshade for Coughs
(Solanum virginianum (syn. S. surattense, S. xanthocarpum))
Elabatu (Solanum virginianum) is the low, viciously spiny weed with purple flowers and yellow marble
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Dummella (Trichosanthes cucumerina): Snake Gourd, the Cooling Vegetable
(Trichosanthes cucumerina)
Dummella (Trichosanthes cucumerina) hangs from village trellises like a bundle of pale green snakes,
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Kohila (Lasia spinosa): The Spiny Marsh Vegetable That Fights Inflammation
(Lasia spinosa)
Kohila (Lasia spinosa) is the vegetable that bites back: a marsh plant whose leaf stalks and rhizome
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