Description

Herbs are the fresh and dried leaves generally of temperate plants and are usually green in color. Spices are the flowers, fruit, seeds, bark, and roots typically of tropical plants and range from brown to black to red in color. In general, spices have a more pungent flavor than herbs. It is possible for one plant to provide an herb and a spice. The Ebers Papyrus is an Egyptian scroll listing plants used as medicines, which dates back to about 1550 B.C. Some spices listed are anise, mustard, saffron, cinnamon, and cassia. Cinnamon and cassia are native to southeastern Asia and China, not Egypt. The scroll serves as evidence that the spice trade was in existence at least 3,500 years ago. The use of plants as herbs has been important to all cultures since long before history was recorded. Hundreds of tribal cultures have used wild and cultivated herbs for medicinal and food purposes for thousands of years