99 Uses Of Plants That Will Surprise And Amaze You!

Anusuya Mukherjee
Oct 19, 2023 By Anusuya Mukherjee
Originally Published on Jan 10, 2022
There are many uses of plants, especially medicinal plants. Read them all here at Kidadl.

You'd be very surprised at the number of uses that plants, whether green plants or dried ones, provide us with!

A plant can clean the air you breathe, be food for your stomach, or help you recover from an illness. The saying 'either you grow it, or mine it' is very applicable when it comes to plant species.

Look around you. You will see that almost everything in your immediate environment is made out of plants!

The wood on your table, the fibers that your clothes are made out of, and the food you are eating all come from plants! Throughout history, plants have had a wide range of uses in the lives of people.

First and foremost, plants are important to every living, breathing creature on the planet. It is a source of food for some, and for others, it provides a rest.

People love gardening and devote many of their hours to making sure that their gardens have various plants that are well maintained and healthy. Apart from medicines, plant extracts are used by people to make natural paint and to even decorate their homes.

Even your cotton clothes come from plants, specifically cotton plants. Apart from cotton clothes, they are also used to make bed sheets and cotton towels.

Even jute bags that are environment-friendly come from jute plants! An expensive cloth material called linen is obtained from the flax plant.

Jasmine, rose, lily and lavender are all flowers that come from plants and are used to make some really wonderful perfumes. In countries like Thailand and Indonesia, bamboo stems are used to make floors, roofs, and even for decorative purposes!

Herbs like coriander, basil leaves, and curry leaves are used to add flavor to the food we eat. Pepper, cinnamon, cardamom, parsley, mint, and thyme are some of the leafy plants that enhance the flavor of food to great levels.

Even oils can be extracted from plants like mustard oil, flaxseed oil, cedarwood oil, sesame oil, and sunflower oil too!

Eucalyptus oil is known to relieve some intense migraines and stuffy noses too. Plants have been used for their natural healing properties too, and modern medicine still uses plant extracts.

For example, a foxglove leaf contains a substance that is used to treat heart conditions, and if the correct doses are given, it can get the heart to beat strongly and steadily.

Having a warm cup of tea during the winter is something that we all adore, and tea comes from the tea plant! Today, almost any flavor is being introduced as tea, and even fruits can easily be made into tea.

Sugar and even chocolate, something that almost every human being loves, come from plants. A large proportion of the world's total sugar comes from sugar cane, which is actually the stem of the plant.

Some plants are also utilized in cosmetics, and one such plant is aloe vera, which is known for its many healing and soothing qualities on the skin. Plants' fruits can be eaten as well, like oranges, strawberries, bananas, and apples.

Dry fruits also come from plants like cashews, walnuts, almonds, and pistachios. Grass, which is basically a short plant, is used as pitches to play many sports on.

Cricket, football, hockey, and golf are all sports that are played on the grass. Musical instruments like the drumsticks of drumkits, violins, guitars, panpipes, and other string instruments all consist of materials made out of plants.

Commercial Usage Of Plants

Plants are the primary source of food, medicine, and clothing. They also provide us with a lot of other things like their fruits and leaves that are used as foods to enhance flavors and enrich your meal.

Plants are grown all over the world to provide people with raw materials, food like fruits and vegetables, fuel, and medicines. People who grow plants or plant cultivators aim at making sure that their plant yield is at its maximum so that they can get a high profit too.

For a long time, human beings have been growing plants and have used them to make their lives better in different ways.

The clothes you wear also come from plants.

For example, the cotton plant gives us cotton fibers that allow us to make cotton clothes that keep us comfortable in summer. Plants give us the books and paper we use to write on and even rubber comes from plants, which we use to erase stuff that we write.

Wood and bamboo, again provided by plants, help us make the furniture that we need, like tables, chairs, and desks. Some oils from plants are utilized by people as essential oils that give them some sort of relief from headaches or pains by just inhaling their scent.

Oils like peppermint oil, lavender oil, tea tree oil, and rosemary oil are great at helping people who suffer from insomnia sleep at night.

Uses Of Plants In Healthcare

Plants are used to treat so many types of ailments and diseases. Earlier, many scholars, astrologers, and philosophers believed only certain herbs could cure diseases by crushing the leaves and extracting an ointment.

They studied various plants that helped in curing diseases and also experimented on how efficient they would be. This is why, till today, herbal treatments are largely popular among people because, unlike drugs, they don't produce any side effects.

For instance, there is a practice called homeopathy that is widely practiced and used by many people, especially in India.

Homeopathy is a medical practice that is based on the ideology that the body can cure itself. Those who follow this method take a small number of supplements or vitamins that are obtained from plants and minerals naturally.

In rural communities, in particular, people adopt a natural way of healing diseases through the use of certain medicinal plants since they often cannot make it on time to the hospitals that are situated in cities and towns. The Indian lilac, or the Neem tree, as it is commonly known, works wonders in treating chickenpox.

A spoon of lemon juice, honey, and turmeric helps in quickly relieving a sore throat.

Milk, turmeric, and ginger help in curing colds and also improve digestion. The list never ends, and almost every plant, if investigated closely, can provide you with unique medicinal benefits.

Uses Of Plants In Everyday Life

People and plants have had a strong relationship ever since the world was created, and it has been a continuous one too. Plants provide us with food like fruits, vegetables, pulses, dry fruits, and seeds.

We use plants to decorate our homes, and the stems of plants are often used to make our homes stronger. Many Asian countries use wood that comes from plants to build their homes.

Some primitive groups and tribes build their homes in trees and use plants to keep them tied together. We receive different medicines from plants.

The fibers of our clothes come from plants. Sweet lovers get their sugar and chocolates from plants.

Weddings and funerals, two occasions that bring out different emotions, are made beautiful by using flowers to make bouquets and wreaths that, again, come from plants. Apart from providing us with many things, plants are also a source of food for various plant-eating animals and insects.

Most Important Use Of Plants

Plants provide us with shelter, food, clothing, oil, raw materials, fruits, flowers, and fuel. In fact, green plants provide us with the clean, fresh air we breathe by taking in carbon dioxide and giving out oxygen.

The uses of plants for us are many, and it is up to us to keep them protected.

Even on a sunny day, when the sun is shining down on you, some shade from the leaves of a tree can make you feel cool. It is important to take the initiative and plant plants whenever you can, as ultimately, the benefits will be reaped by you.

Uses Of Plants In Textile Industry

Cotton plants, jute plants, flax plants, hemp plants, and other fiber plants all help the textile industry get the fibrous materials required to make the clothes that we wear.

These textiles and fabrics can be woven, knit, and stitched to not only make clothes but also make other necessities that need cloth material like towels, bedsheets, napkins, cushions, and sofas.

Fibers directly obtained from these plants are renewable and totally biodegradable.

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Written by Anusuya Mukherjee

Bachelor of Arts and Law specializing in Political Science and Intellectual Property Rights

Anusuya Mukherjee picture

Anusuya MukherjeeBachelor of Arts and Law specializing in Political Science and Intellectual Property Rights

With a wealth of international experience spanning Europe, Africa, North America, and the Middle East, Anusuya brings a unique perspective to her work as a Content Assistant and Content Updating Coordinator. She holds a law degree from India and has practiced law in India and Kuwait. Anusuya is a fan of rap music and enjoys a good cup of coffee in her free time. Currently, she is working on her novel, "Mr. Ivory Merchant".

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