About and safety

Herbarium is a family archive of medicinal plants found in Nigeria. For each plant it shows how to recognise it, what people use it for, how well each use is supported by research, and what the risks are.

Using it safely

• This is for learning. It is not medical advice. Do not use it to diagnose an illness or to replace a medicine you have been prescribed.
• Tell your doctor or pharmacist about any herb you take. Many plants change how medicines for blood pressure, diabetes, blood thinning and HIV work.
• Be most careful in pregnancy, while breastfeeding, with children, and with kidney or liver disease.
• "Natural" does not mean harmless. The dose in a home preparation is unknown and can vary a lot from one batch to the next.
• Fever in Nigeria can be malaria. Get a test and proper treatment. Do not rely on a herb alone.
• Be certain of the plant. Some medicinal plants have poisonous look-alikes, and a photo is not enough to be sure.

How to read an entry

Each use carries one of three labels:

• Traditional use. People use it this way, but it has not been tested.
• Lab or animal studies. It has shown an effect in the laboratory or in animals, which often does not carry over to people.
• Studied in people. At least one human study exists. The note says how strong the result is.

Where the information comes from

Entries are drafted with AI from published sources, which are listed with numbered citations at the bottom of each page. An entry marked "Not yet reviewed" has not been checked by a person. A source marked "Source not checked" could not be confirmed when the entry was drafted.

Photos come from Wikimedia Commons under open licences, with credit shown under each photo.