Human be ings have long relied on plants to help maintain their health and well being. The
art ofhealing is believed to have originated in Egypt or India; however, evidence of early use of medicinal plants has been found all over the world. Additional evidence of early knowledge of medicinal plants can be found in De Mantra Medica, a book written in 1AD by the Greek physician Dioscorides, which referred to medicinal plants such as Juniperus, Ulmus, Paeonia, Communis, and burdock (Chevallier, 1996).