Nature's Medicine Cabinet, Part 1

The Surprising Plant Origins of Common Medicines: Roots, Branches, and Pain Relief

A series of MedReport articles exploring the botanical origins of the medicines we use every day, by B. Kristine Burneko, MSN, APRN, PMHNP-BC, APHN-BC.

Fig. 1 /Herbal Apothecary Tools. From Wix [photograph] (educational use.)

Welcome to my four-part series, Nature's Medicine Cabinet, where we will explore in detail (and pictures!) the surprising natural roots of many medications that we have come to appreciate in our daily lives. Along the way, we'll examine the first cultures and communities known to cultivate the plants as medicine, notice the dismaying pattern of exploitation that frequently accompanies their rise to commercial use, and enjoy the great beauty of the plants, animals, and minerals that help us heal today. We'll also uncover some shocking trivia along the way that might just drop your jaw. Let's dive in!

The Beginning: Roots

Nature has supplied humankind with healing plants from the moment our ancestors could use their newly opposable thumbs to gently pick flowers, buds, and leaves.  Ancient healing frameworks (such as traditional Chinese medicine, global shamanism, Egyptian religious medicine and Ayurveda) have long used plant-based medicine as a foundation on which to build wider philosophies and techniques inflected with cultural and spiritual wisdom.  Ayurvedic and shamanic traditions, for example, incorporate not only healing for the body but also the mind and soul (Elendu, 2024). Ancient Grecian medicine in the tradition of Hippocrates incorporated careful empirical observation and ethical frameworks millennia before the scientific method was created, and the libraries of Islamic medicine provided extensive syntheses of anatomy, physiology, and pharmacology that became the very foundations of what today is called “Western” medicine (2024).

The Present: The Troubled World of Plant Medicine

In the United States today, the world of phytomedicine (also known as botanical medicine) is beset by stigma from the Western scientific community - and not a small amount of risk owing to the fact that in the United States, herbal compounds in their fundamental forms are not regulated by the federal government (FDA, 2024) and cannot be guaranteed to contain the desired compound at all, to be processed in a clean laboratory, or even to be pure and not contain potent toxins. Over the years, the forensic research of the FDA has uncovered Salmonella, lead, cesium-137 (a radioactive isotope), Clostridium, Listeria, and Botulinum contamination in dozens of publicly marketed products in the US – some circulating freely even at the time of this publication (2024).

Fig. 1: Medical Research. Wikimedia Commons/Yulia Kolosova, In the Lab for Immunogenetic examination. (CC BY 4.0)

Botanical medicine and supplements are unregulated by the FDA for a multitude of reasons, chief among which is that in 1994, the United States government defined supplements as “food” and not “drugs” (FDA, Questions and Answers, 2024). The quality criteria applied by the FDA for the two categories differs vastly and the FDA does not safety-test supplements (botanical or otherwise) prior to marketing – only after adverse events are reported by the public after the fact (2024). For this reason, the recommendation and prescription of unaltered botanical compounds is a risky proposition and must be undertaken with the greatest caution.  This article should not be understood as a formulary of recommended treatments, but rather an interesting glimpse into the plant-based origins of common medicines recognized by healthcare workers everywhere.

However, the FDA does currently approve plant-based or plant-synthesized commercial drugs (produced by pharmaceutical companies) that are synthesized in a safe, regulated, quality-controlled laboratory. A 2012 editorial by the pharmacist Dr. Ciddi Veeresham quoted “Up to 50% the approved drugs during the last 30 years are from either directly or indirectly from natural products (2012).”  Accordingly, this article will focus on plants and other naturally-occurring medicines that have been selected by pharmaceutical companies for research, refinement, and occasional synthetic recreation – and blessed with trademarks, FDA approval, and availability in the current United States pharmacopeia for prescription by licensed medical providers.

Pain Relief

Fig. 2: The beautiful opium poppy. Wikimedia Commons/Andy Powell. Poppy flower (CC BY 4.0)

One of the very first medicinal plants that most people can name is the opium poppy, Papiver somniferum. The poppy – a gorgeous, elegant flower ranging in color from electric reds to violet-rimmed white - gives us opium, used medicinally for at least 8,000 years according to Sumerian clay tablets (Bandyopadhyay, 2019) and is native to modern-day Turkey. In the 1700s, Western culture began to use opium as an analgesic in the form of tinctures and powders until 1826, when the Merck company isolated and patented a way to synthesize the active ingredient morphine – still used worldwide today as one of the most powerful pain relief medications available. Since the 1930s, analogues of opium (“opioids”) have been synthesized in laboratory settings and are still widely used for pain relief: fentanyl, meperidine, methadone, oxycodone, and several others (Bandyopadhyay, 2019).

Another ubiquitous pain relief drug, aspirin, traces its origin from the Salix alba or white willow tree. This tree is truly enchanting in appearance, with elegant long leaves lined on the underside with silvery filaments, giving the foliage a greenish-white appearance. The bark of S. alba contains the analgesic compound salicin. A synthetic analog of this compound was isolated and refined 1897 by scientists at the Bayer company, trademarked, and marketed for popular consumption. (Interestingly, days later the Bayer company repeated the same process, and began marketing the new synthetic drug “heroin” to the public (Fürstenwerth, 2011.)

Fig. 3: The elegant leaves of the willow tree. Wikimedia Commons/Abu Shawka. Leaves of the Willow (CC BY 4.0)

Colchicine, frequently used for anti-inflammatory pain relief related to gout flares, is developed from the seeds of the Colchicum autumnale or autumn crocus plant and has been used since at least 1550 BC as documented in the Ebers Papyrus (Wall, 2015).  Cocaine, from the Erythroxylon coca plant (an unremarkable bush with seasonal small red berries), was first synthesized and used in traditional Western medicine in 1884 and is still (very rarely) used as a topical anesthetic, usually by ear, nose, and throat specialists (Armbuster et al., 2021, Long et al., 2009). The leaves of the plant have also been used for thousands of years by multiple South American cultures who have referred to it as “The gift of the Gods” for religious ceremonies, mystical insights, and medicine (Stolberg, 2011).

Fig. 4:the unremarkable coca bush. Wikimedia Commons, Erythroxylum coca (Public domain.)

Cannabis (Cannabis sativa, with its feisty and exuberant looking fan plumes familiar to most of us) is often prescribed for both acute and chronic pain, and many other diagnoses as well: cachexia (wasting due to lack of appetite), cancer- and AIDS- related severe nausea, seizure disorder, multiple sclerosis, glaucoma, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or “Lou Gherig’s Disease” (Ebbert et al., 2018). Long before the Western medicine establishment began to experiment with its medical properties, around 1840, archeological evidence suggests that the plant has been used medicinally by humans since at least 4000 BC in Eastern Asia (Zuardi, 2006). Cannabis, unsurprisingly, is one of the oldest cultivated plants in the history of humankind (Zuardi, 2006). 

Fig. 5: The exuberant cannabis plant. Wikimedia Commons/Chmee2. Cannabis sativa plant (CC by 4.0)

Another surprising plant-based medicine comes from a familiar source, the glossy red cayenne chili pepper (Capsicum annuum): capsaicin. Presently it most commonly used in topical form for musculoskeletal pain, although many systematic reviews have supported its use for dozens of other ailments in oral, intravenous, and other parenteral routes (Chang et al., 2025.) Cayenne peppers have been cultivated since the prehistoric era and did not make it into Western European usage until at least the late 15th century (Nagaraju and Kumar, 2020).

Fig. 6: Vivid and lustrous chili peppers. From Wix [photograph, "spicy peppers"] (educational use.)

In the next installment, we'll wander deeper into the garden and take a look at nature's remedies for infections, metabolism problems, mental health, and neurology - and continue to celebrate them in all their beauty and strangeness. See you next month!

References (for the whole series)

Airainer, M., & Seifert, R. (2024). Lithium, the gold standard drug for bipolar disorder: Analysis of current clinical studies. Naunyn-Schmiedeberg’s Archives of Pharmacology, 397(12), 9723–9743. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00210-024-03210-8

Al, B. (2014). The Source, Synthesis, History, and Use of Atropine. Journal of Academic Emergency Medicine, 13(1), 2–3. https://doi.org/10.5152/jaem.2014.1120141

American Chemical Society. (2014, October 21). Scopolamine. American Chemical Society. American Chemical Society: Molecule of the Week. https://www.acs.org/molecule-of-the-week/archive/s/scopolamine.html

Anonymous. (2007, September 18). Dr. John Eng’s Research Found That The Saliva Of The Gila Monster Contains A Hormone That Treats Diabetes Better Than Any Other Medicine. [Medical Information]. Diabetes In Control. https://www.diabetesincontrol.com/dr-john-engs-research-found-that-the-saliva-of-the-gila-monster-contains-a-hormone-that-treats-diabetes-better-than-any-other-medicine/

Armbuster, Y. C., Banas, B. N., Feickert, K. D., England, S. E., Moyer, E. J., Christie, E. L., Chughtai, S., Giuliani, T. J., Halden, R. U., Graham, J. H., McCall, K. L., & Piper, B. J. (2021). Decline and Pronounced Regional Disparities in Medical Cocaine Usage in the United States. The Journal of Pharmacy Technology : JPT : Official Publication of the Association of Pharmacy Technicians, 37(6), 278–285. https://doi.org/10.1177/87551225211035563

Arora, R., Chawla, R., Marwah, R., Arora, P., Sharma, R. K., Kaushik, V., Goel, R., Kaur, A., Silambarasan, M., Tripathi, R. P., & Bhardwaj, J. R. (2011). Potential of Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Preventive Management of Novel H1N1 Flu (Swine Flu) Pandemic: Thwarting Potential Disasters in the Bud. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2011(1), 586506. https://doi.org/10.1155/2011/586506

Awosika, A. O., Below, J., & Das, J. M. (2025). Vincristine. In StatPearls. StatPearls Publishing. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK537122/

Babashpour-Asl, M., Kaboudi, P. S., & Barez, S. R. (2023). Therapeutic and medicinal effects of snowdrop (Galanthus spp.) in Alzheimer’s disease: A review. Journal of Education and Health Promotion, 12(1), 128. https://doi.org/10.4103/jehp.jehp_451_22

Bailey, C. J. (2017). Metformin: Historical overview. Diabetologia, 60(9), 1566–1576. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00125-017-4318-z

Bandyopadhyay, S. (2019). An 8,000-year History of Use and Abuse of Opium and Opioids: How That Matters For A Successful Control Of The Epidemic ? (P4.9-055). Neurology, 92(15_supplement), P4.9-055. https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.92.15_supplement.P4.9-055

Ben Amar, M. (2006). Cannabinoids in medicine: A review of their therapeutic potential. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 105(1), 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2006.02.001

Bradley, D. (2005). Star role for bacteria in controlling flu pandemic? Nature Reviews Drug Discovery.https://doi.org/10.1038/nrd1917

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2014). Artemisinin: Etymologia. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 20(7), 1217. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2007.ET2007

Cervantes, B. V. M. de. (unknown). En busca del hueso perdido: (Tratado de paraguayología) (translated from Spanish). Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes. https://www.cervantesvirtual.com/obra-visor/en-busca-del-hueso-perdido-tratado-de-paraguayologia--0/html/ff4b16b6-82b1-11df-acc7-002185ce6064_17.html

Chaachouay, N., & Zidane, L. (2024). Plant-Derived Natural Products: A Source for Drug Discovery and Development. Drugs and Drug Candidates, 3(1), 184–207. https://doi.org/10.3390/ddc3010011

Chang, A., Rosani, A., & Quick, J. (2025). Capsaicin. In StatPearls. StatPearls Publishing. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK459168/

Check, W. A. (1989, October 30). Science / Medicine: Hot Pepper as Medicine : Modern Science Makes Use of an Ancient Pain Reliever. Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-10-30-me-93-story.html

Cheshire, M. D., & Akbar, U. A. (2024). Akira Endo: Father of Statins. Cureus, 16(8), e68198. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.68198

Ebbert, J. O., Scharf, E. L., & Hurt, R. T. (2018). Medical Cannabis. Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 93(12), 1842–1847. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mayocp.2018.09.005

Edwards, S. J., Hamilton, V., Nherera, L., & Trevor, N. (2013). Lithium or an atypical antipsychotic drug in the management of treatment resistant depression: A systematic review and economic evaluation. Health Technology Assessment, 17(54), 1–190. https://doi.org/10.3310/hta17540

Edwards, Steven A. (2012, December 10). Digitalis: The flower, the drug, the poison. American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). https://www.aaas.org/taxonomy/term/10/digitalis-flower-drug-poison

Elendu, C. (2024). The evolution of ancient healing practices: From shamanism to Hippocratic medicine: A review. Medicine, 103(28), e39005. https://doi.org/10.1097/MD.0000000000039005

Fountoulakis, K. N. (2025). The Rise of a Legend: Lithium and the Extraordinary Story of Its Discovery. Pharmaceuticals, 18(8), 1230. https://doi.org/10.3390/ph18081230

Fürstenwerth, H. (2011). Letter by Fürstenwerth Regarding Article, “Aspirin: A Historical and Contemporary Therapeutic Overview.” Circulation, 124(12), e332–e332. https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.111.038133

Gillessen, A., & Schmidt, H. H.-J. (2020). Silymarin as Supportive Treatment in Liver Diseases: A Narrative Review. Advances in Therapy, 37(4), 1279–1301. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12325-020-01251-y

Graham, W., & Roberts, J. B. (1953). Intravenous Colchicine in the Management of Gouty Arthritis. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. https://doi.org/10.1136/ard.12.1.16

Healy, Jacky. (2019, June 18). Visitors to Art of Healing exhibition told how Australian Indigenous bush medicine was given to every allied soldier landing at Normandy on D-Day. King’s College London. King’s College London. https://www.kcl.ac.uk/news/australian-indigenous-bush-medicine-was-given-to-allied-soldiers-on-d-day

Keys, Thomas E. (1996). The History of Surgical Anesthesia. Wood Library Museum of Anesthesiology. https://www.woodlibrarymuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/e-books/w0012pdf.PDF

Knapp, G. (2023). Escopolamina: The Complex History of Devil’s Breath (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429046186

Lee, M. R. (1999). The Snowdrop (Galanthus Nivalis): From Odysseus to Alzheimer. Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, 29(4), 349–352. https://doi.org/10.1177/147827159902900417

Lesi, A. F., & Meremikwu, M. M. (2004). High first dose quinine regimen for treating severe malaria. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2004(3), CD003341. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD003341.pub2

Long, H., Greller, H., Mercurio‐Zappala, M., Nelson, L. S., & Et., A. (2004). Medicinal Use of Cocaine: A Shifting Paradigm Over 25 Years. The Laryngoscope. https://doi.org/10.1097/00005537-200409000-00022

Manzoni, M., & Rollini, M. (2002). Biosynthesis and biotechnological production of statins by filamentous fungi and application of these cholesterol-lowering drugs. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 58(5), 555–564. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-002-0932-9

McGill University. (n.d.). 7 Up: Originally an Antidepressant. Office for Science and Society. Retrieved January 28, 2026, from https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/did-you-know-history/7-was-originally-antidepressant

McVean, Ada. (2017, June 17). 7 Up: Originally an Antidepressant. McGill University Office for Science and Society. https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/did-you-know-history/7-was-originally-antidepressant

Mishra, J., & Verma, N. (2017). A brief study on Catharanthus Roseus: A review. International Journal of Research in Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2.

Mondal, S., Patra, K., Sharma, D., Mishra, D., & Ghosal, S. (2025). From Fungi to Pharmacies: The Epic Discovery and Development of Statins—With Lovastatin at its Heart. International Journal of Research Publication and Reviews, 6, 8069–8077. https://doi.org/10.55248/gengpi.06.1225.0113

Muranaka, T., Ohkawa, H., & Yamada, Y. (1993). Continuous production of scopolamine by a culture of Duboisia leichhardtii hairy root clone in a bioreactor system. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf00170370

Nagaraju, M., & Kumar, M. (2020). Hot Pepper-History-Health and Dietary Benefits & Production. International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences, 9 number 4(2020, 2532–2538. https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2020.904.303

Özyol, P. (n.d.). Pharmacological Pinhole in Presbyopia Treatment: A Brief History from Pilocarpine to Aceclidine. Turkish Journal of Ophthalmology, 55(6), 350–351. https://doi.org/10.4274/tjo.galenos.2025.36524

Ruddock, E. H. (1867). The homœopathic vade mecum of modern medicine and surgery (2nd ed.). Jarrold and Sons. https://books.google.com/books?id=sxADAAAAQAAJ&pg=PR3#v=onepage&q&f=false

Sagandira, C. R., Mathe, F. M., Guyo, U., & Watts, P. (2020). The evolution of Tamiflu synthesis, 20 years on: Advent of enabling technologies the last piece of the puzzle? Tetrahedron, 76(37), 131440. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tet.2020.131440

Schönholzer, F., & Communications, U. Z. H. (2018, March 15). Dried Stars [Social and Cultural Anthropology]. University of Zürich. Universität Zürich - UZH News. https://www.news.uzh.ch/en/articles/2018/star-anise.html

Singh, D. R. (2023, January 27). Sadabahar (Periwinkle): Uses, Benefits, Side effects and More | PharmEasy. PharmEasy Blog. https://pharmeasy.in/blog/ayurveda-uses-benefits-side-effects-of-sadabahar/

Stolberg, V. B. (2011). The Use of Coca: Prehistory, History, and Ethnography. Journal of Ethnicity in Substance Abuse. https://doi.org/10.1080/15332640.2011.573310

United States Department of Veterans’ Affairs. (2019, May 7). Diabetes drug from Gila monster venom. United States Veterans’ Affairs Office of Research & Development. https://www.research.va.gov/research_in_action/Diabetes-drug-from-Gila-monster-venom.cfm

United States Food and Drug Administration. (2024, August 29). Information for Consumers on Using Dietary Supplements. United States Department of Health and Human Services. US Food and Drug Administration. https://www.fda.gov/food/dietary-supplements/information-consumers-using-dietary-supplements

United States Food and Drug Administration, O. of I. (2024a, October 1). Questions and Answers on Dietary Supplements. FDA. US FDA. https://www.fda.gov/food/information-consumers-using-dietary-supplements/questions-and-answers-dietary-supplements

United States Food and Drug Administration, O. of I. (2024b, October 1). Recalls, Market Withdrawals, & Safety Alerts. FDA. US FDA. https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts

Veeresham, C. (2012). Natural products derived from plants as a source of drugs. Journal of Advanced Pharmaceutical Technology & Research, 3(4), 200. https://doi.org/10.4103/2231-4040.104709

Wall, W. J. (2015). The Search for Human Chromosomes: A History of Discovery. Springer.

Walters, Kevin. (2022, October 12). The Invention of Warfarin: A National Historic Chemical Landmark. American Chemical Society. https://www.acs.org/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/warfarin.html

Wettengel, R. (1998). [Theophylline—Past present and future]. Arzneimittel-Forschung, 48(5A), 535–539.

World Health Organization. (2015). Guidelines for the Treatment of Malaria. Third Edition. World Health Organization.

World Health Organization. (2019). World Health Organization: Model List of Essential Medicines, 21st List. World Health Organization. https://iris.who.int/server/api/core/bitstreams/991ec35e-7462-4202-81ce-b7c9869afb2a/content

World Health Organization. (2025, December 4). Fact sheet about malaria. World Health Organization. World Health Organization - Fact Sheets. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/malaria

Zuardi, A. W. (2006). History of cannabis as a medicine: A review. Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry, 28, 153–157. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1516-44462006000200015

Assessed and Endorsed by the MedReport Medical Review Board