Capsules and pills:
A medicinal preparation using powdered herbs in a gelatin capsule, a extract in solid pill form or powdered herbs held together with a binding agent.

Decoction:
A medicinal simmered tea made with the harder plant parts such as roots, bark and seeds. Herbs are added to cold water in a stainless steel or non-metallic pan, covered and brought to a simmer which is sustained for 30 - 40 minutes. If using a mixture of leaves, flowers or tender stems as well as roots, seed or bark, the decoction is made first, after it is done, the heat is turned off and the remaining herbs added to steep in the hot liquid.

Elixir:
A medicinal wine based preparation. A light wine is chosen in which a single or combination of herbs are steeped for several weeks, then strained. The herbs are then steeped in hot water as when making an infusion, this is carefully filtered and the two extracts are combined. The resulting elixir is store in a capped bottle and refrigerated.

Herbal wine:
Food or medicinal preparation in which selected herbs are steeped in a light wine for several hours up or days. Or a wine that is brewed using herbs and flowers.

Infusion:
A strong medicinal tea made from a single or combination of herbs comprised of leaves, flowers and tender stems steeped in hot water for 8 to 12 hours. Generally made by the quart. Infusions are employed for long term treatment (weeks to months) of chronic ailments requiring daily consumption of large amounts (3- 4 cups) of the herbal preparation.

Oil:
A medicinal preparation. There are two types of oil, essential oils made through a complex and costly distillation process and infused oils made using a base oil, of vegetable origin, in which the chosen herb(s) is steeped for several hours to several weeks depending on the method used.

Ointment/salve:
A medicinal preparation consisting of oil based herbal extracts, either infused oils and/or essential oils in and a solid usually beeswax or a saturared(solid at room temperature) vegetable oil such as coconut.

Tincture:
A medicinal preparation consisting of a liquid solvent used to extract the chemical constituents of the chosen herb(s) over the course of several weeks. The liquid solvent is usually alcohol, though glycerin and water extraction methods are also used.

Tisane:
A tea made from a single or combination of herbs comprised of leaves, flowers and tender stems steeped in hot water for up to 30 minutes. Tisanes are employed commonly for pleasure, and simple or acute medicinal application.
      Most commercial tea bags, the pillow type with sealed edges, are sealed with the heat sealant chemical Polyvinylchloride, a known carcinogen. Companies are aware of the risk but choose to use this material because it is cheap. Always buy tea bags that are stapled shut. Herbs used in tea bags are often, but not always, of inferior quality. They must be shredded into small pieces to even fit into the bag, this shredding exposes them to destructive forces of air and heat and thus they loose their properties more quickly. Next time you want to drink herbal tea from a bag, tear one open first and give it the quality test. Many herbs are now available in bulk and there are many different types of tea holders, from cloth bags to stainless steel tea balls/spoons, on the market, eliminating the need for commercially prepared tea bags. If all you can find are sealed bags, an option is to open the bag and put the contents in a tea ball, that way you avoid the sealant which is released through the effect of heat. Sun and moon teas fall into the category of Tisanes though they are steeped for longer periods of time.

Wildcrafting:

A Plant Lovers Guide to Wildcrafting

Krista Thie, Longevity Herb Press, at 1549 West Jewett Boulevard, White Salmon WA 98672.

Direct Marketing Registry; Ethical Wildcrafters and Organic and Organic Growers of Medicinal herbs

Rocky Mountain Herbalist Coalition, 412 Boulder Street, Gold Hill, Boulder, CO 80302.

Peterson's Field guide to Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants

S. Foster and J. A. Duke, Houghton-Mifflin, 1990

Principle and Practice of Plant Conservation

David Given, Timber Press, Portland, Oregon.

The EcoHerbalist Field Guide

Gregory Tilford, Mountain Weed Publishing, Conner, MT 59837

United Plant Savers / Their web-site

P. O. Box 420, East Barre, VT, 05649

Abundant Life Seeds, Box 772, Port Towsend, WA 98368

Elixir Farms, Brixey, MS 65618

Garden in the Woods, 180 Hemenway Rd, Farmington, MA 01701

Horizon Herbs, P. O. Box 69, Williams Oregon, 97544

Land ReFormers, 35703 Loop Road, Rutland Ohio, 45775

Seeds of Change, 1364 Rufina Circle #5, Santa Fe, NM 87501