Acer palmatum, although there are more than 100 species of maple worldwide, only one species (Acer campestre) is native to the UK.

Skip to page content

Back to: Nature online

Thank you for taking part in this ongoing project to gather records of herbal cures, which includes all aspects of the folklore and traditional uses of plants. To send us your cure, please fill in the boxes below or write to Roy Vickery, Department of Botany, The Natural History Museum, London, SW7 5BD, UK.

Any information, no matter how widespread or well known, will be gratefully received, but while previously published material is of interest, the survey concentrates on cures people remember, know or use at present.


Your herbal cures will be added to the Survey of Plant-lore, started by Museum botanist Roy Vickery in 1980.

Please include as much of the following information as possible:

  • how and where you heard about the cure
  • how the plant is prepared, how the cure is applied and the expected results
  • other uses of plants that you know of, such as in traditional customs or religious festivals, fortune telling or children's games
  • any associated superstitions (eg some flowers are believed to be 'unlucky' if picked or taken indoors), sayings or legends
  • local names given to the plant that differ from their scientific or common name.
Cures featured in this exhibition and on the website should be used only with advice from a qualified medical herbalist.