Nomenculture used in MedicineTraditions

Names used for medicines used in MedicineTraditions may be in one of several formats. This has been done:  
  a) to make the listing of medicines as concise as possible while being recognisable;
  b) to make it as easy as possible for Western/English-language trained herbalists;
  c) to make use of a large Materia Medica in the most practical way possible.


1. Common Name
Common name is used for standard readily known herbs (ie. Wormwood, Camomile)
Combination section of the Monographs may use only the common name.

2. Botanical Name
Botanical name is used for a lot of less commonly known and foreign herbs (ie. Withania, Andrographis)
If only one herb of the genus is commonly used medicinally, just the genus name may be used (ie. Andrographis). When more than one medicine in the genus is used, the species name may be also used, for example Polygonum hydropier to distinguish from Polygonum (Knotgrass).

3. Botanical with PinYin
Many TCM herbs are used in this format: Epimedium Yin Yang Huo, Ephedra Ma Huang

4. Common with PinYin
Herbs common to the West may be used in the following format, especially in monographs of Chinese Medicines: Licorice (Gan Cao)