11 Questions About Useful Plants Answered

Yes. The air inside your home might be filled with toxins from tobacco smoke, cleaning products, ceiling tiles, and upholstery. Scientists have discovered that many types of houseplants absorb airborne pollutants as part of their normal “breathing” process—they take carbon dioxide in through their leaves and let oxygen out. A plant transports toxins to its roots, where microbes feed on and detoxify them. Although scientists disagree about how many—and what types of—houseplants it takes to clean the air, they suggest using a mix of plants. Bill Wolverton, a former NASA scientist and environmental engineer, studies the effects that plants have on air quality and has rated the areca palm, lady palm, bamboo palm, rubber plant, and dracaena as effective at clearing pollutants from the air.

In 1800 there were 7.1 billion acres of rainforest in the world. As of the first decade of the 21st century, less than half, or an an estimated 3.5 billion acres, remained. Thousands and thousands of acres of the world’s rainforests are destroyed each day, with trees cut down for their wood and land cleared for farming. While covering just two percent of Earth’s surface, the dense vegetation of these forests plays an important role in the health of our planet. The destruction of rainforests threatens the health of Earth by reducing the amount of oxygen in our air and increasing carbon dioxide. Too much carbon dioxide in our atmosphere keeps the Sun’s heat from radiating back into space, increasing global temperatures (called the greenhouse effect). Global warming, in turn, could bring about major climate changes. Melting glaciers and rising sea levels, for example, could cause the flooding of coastal regions.

The plants in rainforests produce natural chemicals that fight off destruction by insects, and scientists have learned how to make plant-based insecticides from rainforest plants (without destroying the rainforests) to spray on crops. These natural insecticides are far less toxic than synthetic, or human-made, chemicals. Numerous medicines, as much as one-quarter of all prescription drugs, have been made from materials gathered in rainforests, and many more life-saving medicines may await discovery there. Many products, such as natural rubber, essential oils used in cosmetics and perfumes, and rattan (a material woven together to make furniture), can be taken from rainforests without causing widespread destruction. In addition, rainforests can absorb huge amounts of water. When rainforests are destroyed, the vast amounts of rainfall in those regions cannot be absorbed, resulting in widespread flooding. International efforts are trying to save what remains of the rainforests by helping the people who destroy them find other ways to earn a living. Still, the destruction of these important forests continues.

Marram grass is a tough perennial grass that is often planted in shifting sand dunes to help stabilize them. Between the edge of the water and the beginning of the dunes, dry sand is constantly shifting and floating. One of the few plants that can take root in this windy environment is marram grass, which is also called beach grass. It spreads its tuberous roots just under the surface of the sand, and forms an underground web that helps hold the sand in place. This allows the soil to stabilize and the dune to grow higher.

During colonial times, the U.S. Navy used the oak tree’s hard wood to build its ships. The USS Constitution received its nickname, “Old Ironsides,” during the War of 1812 because its hull, made of live oak and white oak, was so tough that British warships’ cannonballs literally bounced off it. Because the Constitution was built before shipbuilders learned to bend or steam wood into shape, the long, arching oak branches were used as braces to connect the ship’s hull to its deck floors. Throughout the years, oak has been used as lumber, railroad ties, fence posts, veneer, and fuel wood. Today it is manufactured into flooring, furniture, and crates, among other products.

Linen, one of the oldest human fabrics, is woven from fibers of the flax plant. The fibers are located in the stalk, which is picked by hand. After the fibers have been separated from the stalk and processed, they are spun into yarns and woven or knit into linen textiles. However, many years ago linen was used for sheets and is still used for household items such as tablecloths and personal items such as handkerchiefs. Slacks, dresses, suits, and blazers are all common clothing items made from linen today.

Cotton, which comes from flowering Gossypium plants, is a key vegetable fiber used for making clothes, and oil from its seeds can be used in cooking or for making soap. The cotton plant is grown around the world, including in the U.S. states that make up that country’s “Cotton Belt”: California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Florida, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, and Kansas.

In places where cotton is not picked by hand, machines called pickers or strippers harvest the crops. Cotton-picking machines have spindles that pick (twist) the seed cotton from the burrs that are attached to plants’ stems. Doffers—a series of circular rubber pads—then remove the seed cotton from the spindles and knock the seed cotton into a conveying system. Conventional cotton stripping machines use rollers equipped with alternating bats and brushes to knock the fluffy white bolls, which contain seeds and hairs, from the plants into a conveyor. After harvest, most of the cotton is pressed into large blocks for storage. These cotton bundles are then transported to the cotton gin, a machine that pulls out the seeds from the cotton bolls.

Around the world, people have made paper from a wide variety of plant materials, such as wood pulp, rice, water plants, bamboo, cotton, and linen clothing. The ancient Egyptians made paper from papyrus reeds that grew abundantly along the Nile River. Today’s paper fiber comes mainly from two sources: pulpwood logs and recycled paper products. In fact, much of the paper today is a blend of new and recycled fiber. To make paper commercially, companies mash up these wood fibers and mix them with water. This mixture is mashed into a thin sheet. The sheet is dried and pressed flat into large rolls, cut into different sizes, and converted into paper products. Recycling paper and paper products helps save trees and support the paper-making process. According to the American Forest and Paper Association more than half—53.4 percent—of the paper used in the United States was recovered for recycling in 2006.

A cactus-like plant of the lily family, aloe vera grows wild in Madagascar and on the continent of Africa. It also is cultivated in Japan, the Caribbean region, the Mediterranean region, and the United States. People around the world have used its gooey, jelly-like sap for healing and cosmetic purposes. Aloe extracts can be used to treat digestive problems, including constipation, and aloe oils are used in cosmetic creams to help keep skin soft and to treat minor skin irritations.

Yes, and lots of other products, too. Substances from marine plants and animals are used in many home products, including ice cream, toothpaste, fertilizers, gasoline, and cosmetics. If you read the labels of some of these products, you may find the words carrageenan and alginate. Carrageenans are compounds extracted from red algae that are used to stabilize and gel foods. Brown algae contain alginates that make foods thicker and creamier and add to shelf life. They are used to prevent ice crystals from forming in ice cream, for example. Alginates and carrageenans are often used in puddings, milkshakes, and ice cream. The remains of diatoms (algae with hard shells) are used to make pet litter, cosmetics, and pool filters. The kelp plant is often used in lipstick, toothpaste, and clothing dye.

Spices are dried and ground-up plant seeds, fruits, root, or bark. Grown for centuries in the Middle East and East Asia, spices have been used for their antibacterial properties, to flavor foods, and to aid in digestion. In ancient times, spices were used as a way to mask the unpleasant tastes and odors of food, and later to keep food fresh. They were very important commodities. As early as 1000 BCE, a handful of cardamom was worth as much as a poor man’s yearly wages, and many enslaved people were bought and sold for a few cups of peppercorns. During the time of the ancient Greeks, the spice trade flourished between the Mediterranean region and East Asia. Arab merchants brought spices such as cinnamon, cassia, black pepper, and ginger by caravan to Europe. During this time, spices were used for cooking, in medicine, and in luxury items such as perfumes, bath oils, and lotions. During the 15th and 16th centuries, European explorers introduced spices to the New World. During the days of American colonization, the most popular cooking spices were pepper, cinnamon, vanilla, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and allspice. Colonial families experimented with exotic spices to flavor dishes, including chili peppers, cardamom, cumin, saffron, and turmeric (which was also used as a food preservative). Today, most spices are grown on large plantations in China, India, the Middle East, South America, and North Africa, where they are often picked by hand.

Yes, some flowers can be eaten or used to garnish a dish, but they must be chosen carefully. Cooking with flowers dates to Roman times, and it is common in Chinese, Middle Eastern, and Indian cultures. Edible flowers were also popular in Great Britain during Queen Victoria’s reign. Today, restaurant chefs may decorate their entrées with flower blossoms, such as pansies and violets. Dandelions, lilac, nasturtiums, and garlic blossoms are often used in salads. The commonly eaten parts of broccoli, cauliflower, and artichokes are all flowers. The spice saffron, often used to flavor rice dishes, is the stamen from the crocus flower. And capers are the unopened flower buds from a bush that grows in the Mediterranean.