Determination of the exact scientific name of medicinal plants used in Iranian traditional medicine

Abstract

With the development of the use of complementary medicine in the world and especially in Iran, more attention is increasingly being given to different schools of natural medicine. One of the schools in which hygiene and treatment is the centre of attention is that of the Iranian Traditional Medicine. Fortunately, this is being given considerable attention by Iranian authorities. One of the difficulties in exploiting Iranian traditional medicinal plants is the obsoleteness of the names of the plants. In a study supported by the newly-established “Institute for the History of Medicine and Complementary Medicine”, the botanico-medical information contained in very famous ancient medical manuscripts such as Seydaneh, The Canon, Aljameh, Tohfattolmomenin and Makhzannoladvieh and that contained in monographs published during the past three centuries by famous western botanists and physicians have been collated, resulting in determining the scientific (Latin) name of the Iranian traditional medicinal plants.