Herb (Plant)

An herb is a plant whose leaves, stems, or flowers are used to add flavor to food, to make medicine, or to give off a nice smell. Most herbs are small, soft plants without woody trunks. Common cooking herbs include basil, mint, parsley, rosemary, thyme, oregano, and cilantro. People have been growing and using herbs for thousands of years, all over the world.

Herbs are different from spices, even though both are used to flavor food. Herbs come from the leafy green parts of a plant. Spices come from other parts, like seeds, bark, or roots. Pepper is a spice because it comes from a dried berry. Basil is an herb because you eat the leaves.

What makes an herb taste or smell so strong? The answer is tiny pockets of oil inside the leaves. These oils are called essential oils. When you crush a mint leaf between your fingers, you break open the pockets and release the oil. That is why fresh herbs smell stronger after you chop them.

People have used herbs as medicine for a very long time. Ancient Egyptian doctors prescribed garlic and dill more than 4,000 years ago, before anyone understood how the human body worked. In the Middle Ages, monks grew herb gardens at monasteries to treat the sick. Many modern medicines came from plants people once chewed, brewed, or rubbed on wounds. Aspirin, for example, came from a chemical first found in the bark of willow trees.

Herbs grow in many climates. Mint and parsley like cool, damp places. Rosemary and oregano grow well in hot, dry parts of the world, like the lands around the Mediterranean Sea. Some herbs are annuals, which means they live for only one growing season. Basil is one of these. Others, like rosemary, are perennials. They can live for many years and grow into small bushes.

Herbs also help the plants around them. The strong smell of many herbs keeps insects away. Farmers and gardeners often plant basil near tomatoes, hoping it will protect the tomatoes from pests. Bees and butterflies, on the other hand, love herb flowers. A patch of flowering oregano or lavender can be busy with insects all summer.

You probably eat herbs more often than you notice. The green flecks in pizza sauce are oregano. The leaves on top of a taco are usually cilantro. A bowl of pasta sauce might have five different herbs hiding inside it.