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Herbarium: Medicinal Plants as Information Worthy Worts: Comprehensive Comparison of the Histories, Structures, and Therapeutic Uses of Plants in the Scrophulariaceae and Asteraceae Families In order to better understand the “worts'” categorization, an analysis of the plants within the Scrophulariaceae family (Scrophularia californica, Scrophularia scorodonia, and Galvezia juncea) and two plants within the Asteraceae family (Artemisia douglasiana and Artemisia campestris) was conducted. Through research thus far, it was found that these aforementioned plants share structural similarities in terms of aspects that include venation of the leaves. The most prominent common denominator of the wort category is that they all have therapeutic uses. Among the historical therapeutic uses found in the literature are anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, and antioxidant uses. These benefits have been utilized from societies ranging from the American Indians to the Europeans. -By Chris Leung, Catly Do, Fady Tawfik, and Sean Jamali. Exploring the Sages: Medicinal Properties and Appearances of Artemisia Californica and Salvia Apiana Both plants Artemisia Californica and Salvia apiana under the category of sages play important roles in maintaining the growth of their local ecosystems with similar habitats, medicinal properties, and flowering appearances during the times of collection. However, they also share important differences in their flowering and growth patterns as well as the active agents used for their medicinal properties. In analyzing the similarities and differences between these two plants regarding appearances, climate, medicinal properties, and growth patterns, the similarities in how they are able to provide and support their local ecosystems is the big picture idea that can be understood. - By Stephanie Bottomley, Rasika Obla, Tony Ong, and Balpreet Sond. Tea Time: Exploring the Medicinal Properties of Bark-Use Plants from a Traditional Ecological Knowledge Context This page discusses three different plants that contain significant medicinal properties in their bark and have been historically used by indigenous communities throughout North America: Populus tremuloides, Frangula californica subsp. californica, and Amelanchier alnifolia. These species will be compared on a global scale by examining the bark-based applications of two related species from Africa and East Asia: Dovyalis caffra and Rhaphiolepis umbellata. Despite their phenotypic differences and the differences in their medicinal properties, all five of these plants have been used to help relieve symptoms of communicable and chronic diseases through the direct digestion of tea like remedies made from the boiled bark of these plants. -By Saja Zidan, Maha Ulhaq, Kate Santoso, Gillian, Miller, Anna Jovin, and Luc Lorain The History, Comparison, and Analysis of Parasitic Plants Our project presents the process of collecting and researching the special characteristics of parasitic plants. We explore each plant's respective medical practices and compare them to epiphytic plants that are similar to our original plants of interest. In each project, we individually explain how the plants were collected, identified, translated, and classified. The contextual reasons behind this process are also presented and connected to the general unique characteristics of parasitic plants. Each page provides a collection of media images that visually represent the main plant of interest, the epiphytic plant, the historical materia medica image, and the individual journal observations that we made of our respective plants. We offer comparative analysis and highlight important parts of each specimen throughout these photos. - By Khang Vo, Jessica McLaughlin, Alastair Sterns, and Dania Alkoraishi Combating Coughs: The Respiratory Remedies across North America Bioprospecting and the application of materia medica have played central roles in the remedy of physical ailments in humans throughout history. From ancient cultures utilizing extracts from leaves and roots to modern medicinal practices extracting medicinal properties from plants to put into pills and other therapies, materia medica has and remains a relevant and growing practice. Here, we examine various plants from North America and their varied characteristics, though they share similar medicinal properties.- By Raymond Ko, Mari Williams, Elizabeth Pham, Julia Tang, Cienna Henry Milton, and Emma Barrall Antiseptics in Nature: An exploratory analysis of Coptis trifolia and Larrea tridentata The following research studies common properties of plants used as potential antiseptic medicinal use. Explained more in depth later on, the first page introduces the plant Coptis trifolia, and its common characteristics with a similar plant, Thalictrum fendleri. The second page studies Larrea Tridentata found at the UCLA Herbarium and its living species at the UCLA Botanical Garden. The pages also examine other species found at the UCLA Botanical Garden, with references of possible characteristics which may allude to the specificity and uniqueness of the plants and objects. These three species studied share a common use as an antiseptic. - By Neha Shetty, Simran Athwal, Mariah Ghodrat, Madeline Huttie, and Liam Kordmahale-Izaddoust Plant Specimen and their Alias : Exploring the Identity of Plants with Animal in the Name Lycium torreyi and Equisetum laevigatum, both plant species with an animal in their name, were explored for their characteristics and relationship to their respective animals. Through extensive research, we deduce several similarities and differences between our plants that led us to an understanding of why each plant earned their colloquial name, or alias. Lycium torreyi and Equisetum laevigatum, alias Wolfberry and Smooth Horsetail, respectively, have several commonalities and differences to their corresponding animal including physical and character traits as well as their medicinal qualities. Images, observations and outside research portray the many queries and answers to their common name. By Frieda Anastopulos, Alexa Hernandez, Denise Llera, Chelsea Okoro, Grace Randall Precious Polygonaceae: Insight into the Historical Collection and Therapeutic Uses of Polygonum, Eriogonum, and Rumex Genera This comparative analysis took to exploring six species under the Polygonaceae plant family, half of which are housed in the UCLA Herbarium and half of which are located in the Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden at UCLA. Although they shared a meaningful commonality, these plants fell under a total of three genuses, which seems to explain their differences in morphology - as observed in the physical herbarium specimen sheets and the botanical garden visit - and utility, as unveiled by various Materia Medica entries. However, with an understanding of both historical and modern collection processes, this analysis also postulated that such differences could relate to how these plants were collected and their associated metadata. - By Moryel Yashar, Lexie Baughman, Nicole Cohen, Yair Tabibi, Tabetha Sanchez, and Leah Tabibi Bidens pilosa, Crataegus douglasii, and Urtica dioica effects on Cardiovascular System Bidens pilosa, Crataegus douglasii, and Urtica dioica are medicinal plants that have been found to contain a myriad of bioactive compounds, such as flavonoids, antioxidants, and polyphenol compounds. These compounds are known to have significant effects on the cardiovascular system by primarily targeting systolic hypertension. Plant extracts and their derivatives ameliorate oxidative stress, hyperlipidemia, and hypertension associated with cardiovascular disease. This association is due to the characteristics of anti-inflammatory, vasorelaxant, and antiviral activity within the specimen. These medicinal outcomes are elicited to prevent the onset of cardiovascular diseases risk factors. Overall, Bidens pilosa, Crataegus douglasii, and Urtica dioica play a crucial role in cardioprotective effects and health benefits. - By Salma Fawzi, Anaeli Guzman, Rere Huang, Lilliane Martin, Isabel Nakoud, and Sriha Srinivasan A History and Analysis of Antiviral Medicinal Plants Medicinal plants vary wildly among cultures around the world, and proper identification, collections, and bioprospecting of these plants expand upon modern medicine and provide new possibilities of drugs. Exploration of historical materia medica, preserved herbarium specimens, and observation of plants both in adaptations and chosen environment allow for the discovery of new medical leads. Three plants in particular, Eclipta prostrata, Astragalus nuttallii var. Nuttallii, and Sambucus canadensis, have historically been documented and used in medicine for their antiviral properties. Through the process of observation as well as investigation of historic cultural uses, much can be learned about these medicinal plants that carry these critical properties. - By Allison Wang, Joanne Kwak, Nina Do, Nicolo Villasis, Sabrina Huang, and Hamza Mojadidi

Larrea tridentata (L. mexicana) early illustration

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The Smelly, Antiseptic Wonder: A look at the history, form and medicinal properties of Larrea tridentata Larrea tridentata holds the unique status of being one of the world’s oldest, longest-living organisms. Beyond this natural history, however, lays L. tridentata's rich history as a key ingredient in medical practice. The following work is an examination of L. tridentata, describing the plant’s physical attributes and covering the desert bush’s past and potential future medicinal use as an antiseptic. The following study of L. tridentata is derived from analysis of an L. tridentata specimen sample from the UCLA Herbarium, research in the Materia Medica, and observation of a living closely related plant, Larrea nitida. This more comprehensive study has enabled us to paint a fuller picture of the plant Larrea tridentata. - By Madeline Huttie and Liam Kordmahale-Izaddoust
Larrea tridentata is a plant of many names, commonly known as a creosote bush (named for the plant’s smell's reminiscence to creosote tar) in addition to the multiple local and cultural names by which the plant is referred: chaparral, gobernadora, and hediondilla. While the current scientific name of the plant is Larrea tridentata, this nomenclature has changed over time, first being classified as Larrea mexicana (named in reference to one area the plant is native) in the Materia Medica. Larrea tridentata current species denotation refers to the plant's three-toothed leaves. The plant’s maintanining generic name is named for bishop Juan Antonio Hernández Pérez de Larrea, a patron of science and botanist. Species belonging to the Larrea genus vary in physical characteristic differences, ranging from leaf shape and fruit production to petal shine, defining qualities oft present in a plant's species (Larrea cuneifolia meaning wedge-shaped leaves, Larrea nitida meaning bright).
Looking at the Larrea tridentata specimen from the UCLA Herbarium, collected by E. Armstrong, March 28th, 1934 in the Mojave Desert, Kern County, there are two branches saved, each at a different stage of maturity. In seeing the branch at two places in the plant's cycle comparative observation of the plant at different stages is possible, providing a fuller understanding of the plant's growth and flowering cycle. For example, after a flower is spent, it gives way to a fuzz-covered node.

Observations of Larrea tridentata were supplemented through the observation of living specimen Larrea nitida in the Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden, and early illustrations of Larrea tridentata, then Larrea mexicana. The UCLA Herbarium Larrea tridentata specimen's discoloration over decades of drying made consultation of this imagery and a closely related living specimen paramount to this examination and illuminated the differences between species of the same genus, specifically leaf shape. The value of supplemental comparison can be seen in the recognition that the dense foliage observed on the Larrea tridentata specimen sample likely functioned in part to advantage the bush’s water retention in its native desert climate with little precipitation, a connection only made possible through observing Larrea nitida's visible root system.

While Larrea tridentata is now named for a physical trait, it is the plant’s chemical characteristics that endow Larrea tridentata particular significance, both as a long-surviving species and within the plant’s medicinal properties. Larrea tridentata, widely known for its resilience in a harsh desert environment, produces chemical compounds which serve to protect the plant from damage insects, pathogenic fungi, and herbivores might otherwise inflict. Larrea tridentata’s chemical constitution of lignans, a protein compound, and flavonoids both give the bush antiseptic properties. It is because of Larrea tridentata’s active antibacterial properties, that the leaves and twigs from Larrea tridentata have traditionally been made by native peoples into tea, powder, and poultice, functioning primarily as an antiseptic to destroy germs, and an emetic to clear the stomach of harmful substances and toxins. Boiling the bush’s leaves into tea treated diarrhea, stomach pain, and served as a mucoactive agent, while topical application would treat chest complaints and skin conditions, including wounds and sores. Larrea tridentata was also historically used to treat toothaches, with the sap from the plant’s shoot tips being dripped into cavities, in addition to wide usage in treatments for rheumatism, venereal infections, urinary infections, and cancers. Acknowledgment of the historic implementation of the Larrea tridentata in medicinal practice has exciting implications for the future of medicine.
References
Wikipedia. n.d. “Larrea tridentata”. Accessed March 8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larrea_tridentata#Habitat
Marshall, K. Anna. 1995. “SPECIES: Larrea tridentata”. Accessed March 8. https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/lartri/all.html