Talk:Herb

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[edit] External links

I've moved the following links here:

If you would like to add these back in per Wikipedia:External links then please talk about it here first.
brenneman(t)(c) 14:13, 21 July 2005 (UTC)

Also moved:

brenneman(t)(c) 12:28, 28 July 2005 (UTC)


I tried to redirect "herbaceous plant" here, rather than to "perennial plant", but for some reason the redirect doesn't seem to be working. MrDarwin 01:16, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Seems OK. The redirect works for me. -- Solipsist 04:04, 25 January 2006 (UTC)


Have just been looking at some of the external links and they seem to be just advertising. --219.90.234.191 11:44, 18 July 2007 (UTC) --203.87.24.28 23:42, 22 July 2007 (UTC)

Have cleaned up some links. One link did not work and the other lead to product pages (below are the ones that have been removed)

www.herbalremediesinfo.com/ Home Herbal Remedies Info

www.plantsavers.org United Plant Savers

www.herbsetc.com Herbs Etc.

www.impgc.com International Medicinal Plant Growers Consortium

[edit] A vs. an

Reading "a herb" makes my head hurt. Is this a British/American English thing that I shouldn't fix per the manual of style? moink 01:19, 10 July 2006 (UTC)

Yes it is but that doesn't mean no you shouldn't. If you want to be pedantic you can go way back and find the original way it was written and then we stick with that, or just change it to the correct ahem way you like. I say "a herb" myself, but that is neither here not there. - brenneman {L} 08:10, 10 July 2006 (UTC)

Herb and green tea is very useful for health —Preceding unsigned comment added by Msnancy (talk • contribs) 06:05, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Herbaceous vs Herbal!

Since the word "herb" is used in two very divergent ways in normal English as opposed to Botany, I'm splitting the botanical def into its own page (a revamped "herbaceous" article) which is linked on the herb disambiguation page. Krnntp 17:14, 19 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] References

One thing I notice about the various herb articles(Rosemary being an example) is that many state outrageous claims about medical benefits and uses for cures w/o stating any references at all. Mint tea is stated as a "strong dieuretic". Indeed, a veritable menagerie of random non-culinary uses for herbs and spices have sprung up, with nearly none citing references. Question is: start deletin' or start referencin'? Curuinor 05:46, 24 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Clean up

When I press to edit the See also section I get the references section etc and I cant see how to fix it. Coul;d sopmeone do so and then remove the clean-up tag, SqueakBox 01:18, 1 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Culinary but not food?

The article says 'Herbs (IPA: hə(ɹ)b, or əɹb; see pronunciation differences) are plants grown for any purpose other than food, wood or beauty.[1] Such uses include culinary'. Culinary means 'of or relating to cooking'; they're used to flavour different foods. As they are part of what we eat, doesn't that make them food?88.110.29.44 19:53, 29 April 2007 (UTC)

Indeed. I'm not an expert but the definition of herb here seems pretty questionable. For example the Oxford English Dictionary defines herb as "A plant of which the stem does not become woody and persistent (as in a shrub or a tree), but remains more or less soft and succulent, and dies down to the ground (or entirely) after flowering." This is quite different from the definition on this page and seems to make a lot more sense. 192.189.157.11 09:56, 3 May 2007 (UTC)
My dictionary has two definitions; one common and one botanical. The common definition is 'Any plant with leaves, seeds, or flowers used for flavouring, food, medicine, or perfume.' The botanical one is 'Any seed-bearing plant which does not have a woody stem and dies down to the ground after flowering.' The botanical definition fits with the one you've provided.--Jcvamp 23:22, 3 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Definition

I have changed the definition from " seed-bearing plants without woody stems, which die down to the ground after flowering" to "plants that are valued for qualities such as medicinal properties, flavor, scent, or the like." Both definitions are from dictionary.com, but given that herbaceous plants and herbs have been given distinct pages this secondary definition is clearly appropriate here. Bay leaves are a herb, but the trees are not herbaceous. Conrad Leviston (talk) 04:51, 19 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Rosemary

So rosemary is a shrub, but according to the definition, that would make it a medicinal herb, not a cullinary herb. This is rediculous! Change the def so it's looser and can include those odd cases, or exhaustively list the exceptions. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.102.71.37 (talk) 03:48, 9 January 2008 (UTC)