What Are Plants Used For?

All plants have enormous importance in our food chain.

They are also useful in the making of medicines, perfumes, cosmetics, textiles, paper, colourings and tools.

We use different parts of the plant according to what we need. From the bark of some trees we can obtain cork. At one time, salicylic acid, an essential part of the aspirin medicine, was extracted from the bark of the willow plant. Now this acid is produced in laboratories.

The leaves, the roots and the flowers of herbs are used for health purposes. We get wood from the trunks of trees, and rubber is made from the sap of the rubber tree.

We also get cotton from the cotton plant which is used in the manufacture of cotton thread and materials.

— The Big Book of How? When? Why?