Introducing our Materia Medica: My Digital Garden of Healing Plants
I’ve been working on a new project called Materia Medica, a web app that collects and shares information about medicinal plants. It’s still early days, but it’s starting to take shape and I wanted to share it while it’s growing.
Why I’m Building It
There are already a few Materia Medica websites out there, but I kept running into the same problems whenever I tried to use them. Some only have a handful of plants listed, some look like they haven’t been updated in years, and others are full of adverts that make it hard to focus on the information.
I wanted to create something different: a space that feels clean, modern, and genuinely useful. No pop-ups, no clutter, just solid information presented in a way that’s easy to browse and pleasant to look at.
I’ve always been fascinated by how people and plants connect, and how traditional herbal knowledge continues to influence modern wellbeing. This project is my way of bringing that knowledge together in a format that feels calm and accessible to anyone who’s curious about it.
What It’s About
The name Materia Medica comes from the traditional term for a collection of healing substances. This web app is a modern version of that idea, a growing digital library of plants, their properties, and their uses.
Right now, you can explore the plants that are already listed and get a feel for the design and layout. It’s still fairly minimal, but that’s intentional. I want to build it up carefully rather than fill it with noise.
Still Growing
The app is very much a work in progress. Over the next few weeks and months, I’ll be adding:
- More plant profiles and herbal data
- Images and illustrations
- New features for searching and filtering
- Interface improvements to make everything run more smoothly
It’s a living project, and it will keep evolving as I add more content and refine how it all fits together.
Take a Look
You can explore it here: materia-medica.netlify.app
If you have feedback, ideas, or favourite plants you’d like to see included, I’d really love to hear from you. This is still the seedling stage, but the goal is a clean, ad-free, and genuinely useful Materia Medica for anyone interested in the healing power of plants.