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Plants & Medicine
Top 10

Cannabis (Cannabis sativa)
Used medicinally for thousands of years, today it is used in the treatment of sleeping disorders, autoimmune diseases and glaucoma.

Coca (Erythroxylon coca)
Cocaine was widely used as a local anaesthetic in the 19th century and coca leaf tea is taken for altitude sickness in South America.

Daffodil (Narcissus spp.)
Galantamine hydrobromide, a compound derived from daffodil bulbs, is being used to treat Alzheimer’s disease.

Deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna)
All parts of this plant, especially the berries, contain the extremely toxic chemical atropine. Atropine is used to relax the muscles of the eye and to stop muscular spasms.

English yew (Taxus baccata)
The leaves of this yew are used in the synthesis of compounds called taxols, which are used in the treatment of breast cancer.

Fever tree (Cinchona succiruba)
A native of Latin America, the bark of the fever tree produces quinine, which is used to treat malaria.

Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea)
Digitalis has been used since the 16th century to treat heart disease and its derivatives are still used in modern medicine.

Opium poppy (Papaver somniferum)
Opium derivatives such as morphine are still used as powerful painkillers in hospitals.

Rubbertree (Hevea brasiliensis)
From rubber gloves to waterproof sheeting and prophylactics, latex plays an important role in health care and medicine.

Willow (Salix spp.)
The bark of the white willow contains acetyl salicylic acid, commonly known as aspirin. It has been used for pain relief for 2,000 years.