Book excerpt: National Geographic's guide to 36 "super" herbs such as aloe, echinacea, ginkgo, and peppermint includes a wealth of essential information on the history, culture, folklore, and science of traditional and contemporary herbal medicine in all major culture areas of the world. Emphasizing current research and therapeutic uses, the volume provides an A-Z listing of 36 of the more than 80,000 known medicinal plants around the world. Information about each plant includes traditional and current medicinal uses, common and Latin names, description, habitat, cultivation and preparation, research, and caution alerts. Additional essays on the healing plants of Africa, Australia and New Zealand, Central and South America, China, Europe, India, North America, the Middle East, and Oceania provide insightful glimpses into the fascinating range and diversity of local health practices while also revealing the multifaceted roles that herbalists, healers, and herbal-medicine practitioners play in the lives of their patients.