The Doctrine of Signatures in present-day Israel

Some evidence of the existence of an ancient pharmacological theory - the Doctrine of Signatures - has been found in the folk medicine of Israel. The research reported 14 plants with folk medicinal uses based on the Doctrine of Signatures categories including: similarity of the plant or plant organ to the damaged human organ (Alhagi maurorum, camel thorn; Astragalus macrocarpus, milk-vetch; and Cynoglossum creticum, blue hound's tongue), similarity to animal shape or behavior (Heliotropium europaeum, European tumsole; Asteriscus spinosus, starwort; and Briza maxima, large quaking grass), similarity of plant color to the color of the disease's symptoms or the medical phenomena (Rhamnus alaternus, Italian buckthorn; Citrullus colocynthis, bitter gourd; and Ecballium elaterium, squirting cucumber), and similarity of plant habitat or characteristic to human features (Parietaria judaica, wall pellitory; and Ruta chalepensis, African rue).