Glossary of Plant Terminology

✾ Baneful

Refers to the ability of a thing to cause harm, and because of this threat, the baneful thing becomes taboo and gains a sinister reputation. In this case, we are talking about baneful herbs: Herbs capable of causing bodily harm and sometimes death; plants that have been used for murder, magic, and medicine throughout Human history. Their prominent and often maligned place in Pharmacopeia is owing to their potency as powerful medicines often valued for their pain-relieving and sleep-inducing properties.

✾ Botanical

Of or relating to plants, or the study of them; in regards to medicinal and other preparations, refers to ingredients derived from plants.

✾ Botanical World / Plant Kingdom

The entire collective of plants of the world, both living and extinct, estimated to include more than 400,000 unique species; poetically, your vision of plant-inspired life.

✾ Botany

The scientific study of plants related to a particular habitat, region, or time period; a Botanist is an expert or student of such scientific study.

✾ Biome

A large, naturally occurring community of flora and fauna occupying a major habitat (for example, a forest or tundra).

✾ Biodiversity

The total variety or variability of species within a particular Biome or ecosystem- or sometimes to general life on earth as a result of billions of years of evolution.

✾ Entheogens

The term Entheogen was coined to replace the socioculturally loaded term ‘psychedelic’ from the 1960’s. The name was conceived by ethnobotanists Carl A. P. Ruck, Jeremy Bigwood, Danny Staples, Jonathan Ott, and R. Gordon Wasson in 1979.

Not all entheogens are specifically psychedelic or hallucinogenic, however. They exhibit a broad spectrum of effects from subtle to intense, and ranging from stimulants, sedatives, and deliriants, to aphrodisiacs- in addition to the stereotypical psychedelics and hallucinogens. These different states, when entered ritualistically, can aid the practitioner in opening themselves to the Spirit world through altering consciousness in order to work magic, prophesize, and commune with Spirits; through ritual and reverence, and by changing Human perception, they give us access to the Divine, the otherworldly, and the arcane.

While there are many substances that make up the entheogenic pharmacopeia, they are not always used for spiritual purposes, however. Some substances are predominantly consumed for recreational use instead. Many Entheogenic plants, such as Belladonna, Poppy, and Datura, are also known for their Baneful nature.

✾ Environment

Relating to the natural world as a whole- or to a particular geographical region or biome.

✾ Ethnobotany

The study of traditions of various cultures relating to the ways they use plants medicinally, spiritually, and ritually, as well as their practical uses; Ethnopharmacology may specifically refer to the ethnobotanical study of traditional medicines of different cultures. Likewise, Entheology may specifically refer to the ethnobotanical study of such cultural usage of entheogens; an Ethnobotanist is an expert or student of such scientific study- and Ethnopharmocologist and Entheologist likewise respectively.

✾ Entheology

The scientific study of Entheogens and their ritual and cultural use among various cultures; an Entheologist is an expert or student of such scientific study.

✾ Ethnopharmacology

The study of traditional medicines and medical systems of various cultures- such as Chinese Medicine or Ayurveda; an Ethnopharmocologist is an expert or student of such scientific study.

✾ Nature

The phenomena of the physical universe- including all organic components such as plants, animals, humans, landscapes, and so on.

✾ Natural World

The coming-together of nature alluding specifically to that which is not man-made, which humans have lost touch with and must return to.

✾ Pharmacognosy

The study of naturally derived medicines regardless of system of specialization- including the pharmacological derivation of modern medicines from natural sources.