There are 391,000 species of plants known to be living in the world, of these species, 50,000 of them are used in medicine. These plants are disappearing quickly though, with over 15,000 facing endangerment because of overharvesting and habitat loss. Different types of plants are used medically every day like roots, flowers, stalks, leaves, cloves, and fruit. 

The reason so many of these plants are able to be used in medicine is because they contain chemical properties that can be used as natural healers.  

Plants can be used as teas given to drink or you can make a compress and use the plant on a wound directly. To make a compress, you grind the plant to let it release its chemicals, then place the herbs into boiling water, let it steep, then strain the herbs and place them into cloth. Plants can also be used to create medicine such as aspirin. 

Just for a sore throat there are at least 7 good herbs that can be used as a medicine. These are peppermint, ginger, licorice root, marshmallow root, garlic, fenugreek, and chamioline. 

There are even plants used for wound healing, some examples are yarrow, goldenrod, and calendula. The plants yarrow is also used for digestive problems. All of these plants can be used on burns in addition to open wounds. Aloe vera is one very popular skin gel that is extracted from a plant. Aloe vera is used on minor burns and small wounds, for example sun burns.  

Some more specific examples are ginger, gingkos, ginseng, feverfew, echnicha, chamomile, valerian, and saw pellto. Chamomile is a flower used for anxiety and relaxing in tea, and it can also be applied on wounds directly to help swelling and inflammation. Feverfew is used to treat common fevers or to prevent migraines. Gingko is a leaf extract that can be used for asthma, fatigue, and bronchitis. Ginseng, which is a root, is used as a tonic and also as an aphrodisiac. All of these examples show how many different ways plants can be used for medicinal purposes.