The Vedas and Herbs:
The Vedas are called “Apaurusheya’ meaning not written by any person. They project philosophies about a variety of sciences that can be practically implemented for living. The 4th of the Vedas, called the Atharva Veda, with 5,977 verses, contains the details of thousands of herbs.

During the Vedic era, the effects of herbs were primarily understood through their magical or symptomatic properties; for example, Sahadevi is believed to alleviate fever when placed on the head. Eventually, the concept of energetic principles emerged.

Numerous references to the systematic use of plants can be found throughout Vedic literature. Some of these include the Shaunak Sutras,Rig-Veda and Atharva-Veda. The latter offers detailed information on the classification of the plant kingdom.

The insights regarding the usefulness of specific plant parts, their utility based on geographical origin, and the characteristics of various plants are all outcomes of extensive, long-term observations. In that period, smaller plants were designated as Aushadhi, while larger trees were referred to as Vanaspati.The Atharva Veda also provides thorough descriptions of individual plant parts.

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The traditional way of naming plants 

Great care was taken in naming plants to extract the most significant meaning from the words. Every plant is named scientifically with a first name, the Genus and the second name, which refers to the Species to which it belongs, and this is called its botanical name.

These terms generally describe the plant to some extent; similarly, the Sanskrit names for plants, dating back to the Vedas, aimed to convey varying information about each plant based on their appearance, characteristics and the effect they produce.

For example,

E.g – Shankapushpi – meaning a conch-shaped flower

Ashwagandha – Meaning odour like a horse

iSahasraparni (translated as a thousand or more leaves) and Uttanaparni (referring to the dorsolateral position of leaves).

Numerous such terms are found throughout the Vedas to describe various plants and were then utilised for correct identification during collection. Just as the names illustrated the plant's morphology for identification, they also indicated the plant's medicinal properties, e.g., kilasabheshaja, vishadushini, etc. Some plant names from the Vedic era are still in current use as they were originally, such as udumbara and ashwattha, which have remained unchanged since the Vedas.

 

Literature

The Charaka and  Sushruta Samhitas, as well as the Ashtanga Sangrahas, mention almost 20,000 plants with medicinal properties. India is currently home to around 7,534 species of medicinal plants, of which only 1750 are used in Ayurveda, 880 are traded, and 300 are endangere and the “karpa mooligaigal’ which are 108, are dominantly used in siddha medicines.

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The information concerning Dravya Guna, right from the Vedic period, was grouped under the Nighantus providing a perfect insight into how to use the Herbs in their raw state and processed form, precise description of dravyas or medicinal plants with their morphological characters and their energetic principles.

Each of the herbs is further classified under many sections based on the Form, Origin, Potency, Taste, Mode of action, purpose and so on. There are also mentions of herbs with special characters, like antidotes for mercury poisoning.

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Herbs are classified into five types based on the five elements of nature. They are also classified into various types based on their properties (taste, after digestive effect, potency and special qualities) and Physiological Action. Based on their Energetic principles, the Herbs are classified into numerous subtypes.