Which of Your Plants Fall Into This Category?

Different kinds of plants are categorized in many ways. One specific method classifies plants depending on how they are used. These uses include food, medicine, industry, or simple decoration.

Category number one is plant you can eat. These are plants that are cultivated by agriculturalists from farm crops, both commercial and privatized. These edible plants are the majority of what farms turn out. Most of the edible plants we are discussing are vegetables or fruits, but there are also many others that qualify as plants that can be eaten. Some of these are herbs, seasonings, nuts, and legumes. Nuts are nothing more than dried and hardened fruit seeds. Herbs, whether fresh or dehydrated, are just flavorful plant life. Seasonings are simply different fruits or scraps of bark that have been dehydrated for market. Some beverages, like coffee and teas, are also procured from edible plants.

Plants used for medicine is our second category. This category includes all plants that have medicinal benefits, many of which are cultivated specifically for use in prescription drugs. Medicinal plants only count in this category if they do not need to be modified chemically. Opium is one such plant, and it is used in several pain relief drugs. Codeine and morphine are two good examples. Opiate drugs are manufactured with poppy sap after it has been refined and dehydrated.

Some plants that are medically beneficial do not require any processing whatsoever. For example, witch hazel is a wonderfully effective anti-itching agent when massaged into the skin. It can be a great help for those with chronic dry skin or anyone suffering from insect bites. The yarrow plant will help the body ward off poisoning. Many plants are used as antibiotics, including garlic, which can help cure infections. Peppermint and dandelion are often employed to aid problematic digestion.

Other plants that have medicinal properties are eaten or used raw. Witch hazel can be rubbed on the skin and is helpful with itching that accompanies bug bites and skin dryness. Yarrow is a type of plant eaten to relieve poisoning. Garlic is an antibiotic and can stop infection, while dandelion and peppermint are used to treat digestive problems.

Plants used in industry are very common, as well, and as such are our third category. Some plants produce usable oil, such as the oil palm. Other plants produce fibers that can be used for clothing and other materials, such as hemp and flax.

Our last category is the decorative plant category. If you live in or travel to the suburbs regularly, you will see that it is very fashionable! Many suburban homes will have extravagant, multi-colored gardens displaying many plants from this category, as they have no use besides their aesthetic appeal. Ivies, poinsettias, tulips, a number of trees, and many types of shrubbery all fit into the decorative definition.

Placing plants into usage categories can be a practical manner if defining different kinds of plants. People should always remember how many uses these various plants give us, and how much our lives would be inconvenienced if they didn't exist. This is a prime motivation to defend these plants' natural habitats!