ABSTRACT
In the past, but also continuing today, many different schools of herbalists have operated from a romantic perspective that the healing power of herbal treatment derives from a spiritual-holistic base, that some ritual process is crucial to the healing, and that some special esoteric knowledge or communion with nature is at the source of wellness. These vestiges of a shamanistic perspective, regardless of their efficacy, are a major barrier preventing large-scale incorporation of herbal medicines into scientific, mainstream medical practice. China and other East Asian areas, as well as France and the United States, continue to be the primary sources of the bulk plant materials. The leaves of the plant yield the desired extract, high in flavonoid glycosides. The German experience explained in this chapter seems to be an excellent example of how scientific allopathic medicine can incorporate hundreds of herbal therapies without compromising scientific standards.
