In general use, herbs are plants with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, in medicine, or as fragrances. Culinary use typically distinguishes herbs from spices. Herbs refer to the leafy green or flowering parts of a plant (either fresh or dried), while spices are usually dried and produced from other parts of the plant, including seeds, bark, roots and fruits.
Herbs have a variety of uses including culinary, medicinal, and, in some cases, spiritual. General usage of the term "herb" differs betweenculinary herbs and medicinal herbs; in medicinal or spiritual use, any parts of the plant might be considered as "herbs", including leaves, roots, flowers, seeds, root bark, inner bark (and cambium), resin and pericarp.
The word "herb" is pronounced in the Commonwealth, but is common among North American speakers and those from other regions where h-dropping occurs. In botany, the word "herb" is also used as a synonym for "herbaceous plant ".
