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Working with herbs / Preparations and References
 any plants have different common names, these are from centuries of cross-cultural use, folklore, and geography. For example, Dropberry, Lady' Seal, St. Mary's Seal, Sealroot, and Sealwort are the very different names for Solomon's Seal or Polygonatum officinale. Then there is Starwort, Starflower, and Starweed. The names are similar and could be for the same plant, yet these are the names of three different plants; Unicorn Root(Aletris farinosa), Borage (Borago officinalis) and Chickweed(Stellaria media) respectively. There is only one Polygonatum officinale, one Borage officnalis, in a few cases a plant will have two Latin names but generally there is just the one. This makes identification much easier. When using herbs precision is crucial. No matter whether we buy our herbs or if we harvest them from garden or field identifying them using the Latin name will help us avoid potentially costly mistakes.
 When purchasing dried herbs, you need to be sure of the quality. For To do this we look at taste, effect, color, and scent. 
The color of the dried plant material should be fairly close to that of the fresh plant. For example, dried parsley we buy in jars is almost the same color as the fresh parsley in the produce department. If originally green herbs are yellow or faded, they are old and better suited to the compost heap. Flowers and berries should be approximately the same color as they were when fresh. Things get a bit tricky when dealing with barks, twigs, roots and seeds. Since they are generally tan, brown or black and usually hard or brittle, telling if they are fresh by appearance alone is difficult. This is where the nose knows.The plant material should have a strong, though not necessarily good, scent. Anyone who has encountered Valerian root can attest to that. A good rule of thumb is that if the plant material hardly has any scent or if there is a dusty, musty smell it is either old or has gotten damp and molded. Off to the compost heap it goes. With commercially produced herbs a few facts must be taken into consideration before buying. Almost all commercial quality herbs coming into this country are channeled through a few tonnage warehouses located on the coasts. While in storage and waiting for FDA inspection they are sprayed several times to kill insects. Commonly used products are Physitoxin and Ethyl Bromide. Most of these herbs are grown in Developing Nations where the use of heavy dosages of pesticides and herbicides is common practice. Many of these sprays are banned in the US and Canada because of their overwhelming and far-reaching toxicity. These commercial grade herbs are harvested en-masse, quick dried at high heats and shipped via boat. For these reasons it is imperative to purchase domestic organically grown or ethically wildcrafted herbs as often as possible.
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Working with herbs / Preparations and References
