Herbs on the Go: Daily Stress Balance™

This deciduous woody shrub has mostly unbranched stems that grow approximately 10 to 20 feet (4 to 6 meters).^2,4,6 The young stems are covered with flexible prickles, while the older stems are mostly smooth.² The leaves are palmately compound with five leaflets that are elliptical with a serrated margin that are often attached to the stem by reddish petioles.² Flowers are small, multiple, and umbelliferous; attached by long peduncles at the end of stems.² Fruit is a drupe with multiple kernels.² The root is a cylindrical dark brown taproot that is sometimes branched with a smooth exterior and a thin bark about 0.5 cm in diameter.² The rhizome is pale brown, up to 4 cm thick, wrinkled lengthwise, and shows the root scars with aerial stem traces and a pale yellow interior.²

Holy Basil is a fast-growing upright temperate annual or short-lived tropical perennial herb or shrub that can grow up to approximately 1 meter (3 ft 3 in) by 0.5 meter (1 ft 8 in).^2,3,4,6 The slender clusters of flowers are small and purple-red or white in color and have rounded upper lip lobes and obtuse to rounded lower lip lobes.^2,3 Its stems are square, hairy and well-branched.^3,4,5 The simple, opposite leaves are ovately-shaped, slightly toothed and hairy. ^3,4,5 They can be purple, green or green-brown in color.⁴

This perennial is a short, erect shrub that grows up to 5 feet (1.5 m).^3,4 Its leaves are oval shaped, simple, and covered in velvety hairs along the leaves and stems.^4,6 Its grouped cyme flowers are green to white to vivid yellow and radially symmetric.^3,4,5 The herb’s round berry is orange to red in color.⁴ The plant’s sepals create a membranaceous brown sheath that encloses the berry.^4,5 The seeds of the berry are kidney-shaped and yellow.⁶ Its root is a fleshy main taproot that is white to somewhat yellow-brown in color.^2,4,5

Rhodiola is a perennial succulent that can grow approximately 1 ft to 3 ft (0.3m-0.9m) by 1 ft (0.3m).^3,4 The stems and leaves of the plant are fleshy. The whorled toothed leaves are oblong shaped and some have a reddish tip.³ The terminal flowers are multiple, small and greenish-yellow.^3,7 The slow-growing root and thick rhizomes are also fleshy and smell of roses when cut.^3,7,8

Ginger is an herbaceous perennial herb, growing up to approximately 5 feet (1.5 meters) in height.⁴ Its alternate lance-shaped narrow leaves are sheathed to the stem and grow upwards.⁴ Flower stems are shorter than leaf stems and have an egg-shaped tip with dense, large yellow-green bracts surrounding the tip.⁴ The orange-yellow petals of the flower have a purplish tubular inner structure.^3,4 The cone flowers are scarce in a spike formation originating from a small thin bract within the larger bract.^4,5 Its capsule fruit has tiny arillate seeds.⁴ The underground part is a horizontal rhizome that branches out resembling the fingers of a hand.⁴ The thin skin of the rhizome is a tan color with a yellow fibrous interior.⁴