😷 Medicinal Plants for Cough
With cough, everything depends on which kind. A dry, tickly cough calls for mucilage that settles like a film over irritated membranes — marshmallow, mallow, ribwort plantain. When the mucus sits tight, plants with essential oils or saponins help thin it and ease it up: thyme, ivy or anise.
40 plants from our database are traditionally associated with Cough – each with a profile, active compounds, safety notes and sources. Poisonous and legally controlled species are deliberately left out of this list; they remain reachable through the search and the plant index.
These plants are traditionally used for the listed conditions. Not medical advice — consult a doctor or pharmacist for persistent symptoms.
Onion cough tea or onion decoction for cold-related cough and hoarseness: a traditional home remedy reputed to be expectorant and mildly antibacter…
Traditional folk remedy: leek soup or hot leek broth for colds, coughs and sore throats.
Soothing cold macerate for dry tickly cough and irritation of the oral and pharyngeal mucosa.
Leaf tea for whooping cough and coughs: dried sweet chestnut leaves contain tannins and flavonoids with astringent, antitussive, and expectorant pr…
Main use (EMA monograph, 'traditional use'): the water-soluble mucilage polysaccharides lichenin and isolichenin form a protective film over the ir…
Quince seeds (unbroken) soaked or briefly simmered in water yield a mucilage-rich decoction.
Cough tea for productive cold cough.
Older folk medicine used a decoction for whooping cough, bronchitis and tracheitis.
Expectorant tea for cough with a cold — short-term.
Infusion of dried aerial parts (leaves, stems) is used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for upper respiratory tract infections, chronic cough,…
Infusion from flowering hyssop herb is the traditional remedy for bronchitis, persistent cough, and mucus congestion of the airways.
Traditional root decoction as expectorant for cough and bronchial catarrh — classic application in European phytotherapy (ESCOP, Wichtl).
Soothes irritation of the mouth and throat mucosa and the associated dry tickly cough by coating the irritated areas with a fine film of mucilage.
Traditional horehound herb tea as expectorant for cold-related and irritative cough, and as a bitter remedy for loss of appetite and dyspeptic comp…
In Philippine and Caribbean folk medicine, mint tea (Yerba Buena) is used for mild cold symptoms, cough, and sore throat.
Traditional folk-medicinal use as an aromatic infusion for dyspeptic complaints (bloating, flatulence, loss of appetite) and for catarrhal upper-re…
Traditional use as soothing cough tea for dry irritant cough.
Tea from fresh spring shoots (Maiwipferl): finely chopped young shoot tips are steeped in hot water for 5 minutes.
Secretolytic and secretomotor cough tea for cold cough with thick mucus.
Inhalation of pine needle oil (Pini aetheroleum) or an infusion of young shoots traditionally relieves catarrh of the upper and lower respiratory t…
Soothing tea for dry irritated cough and hoarseness.
Classic expectorant root tea: triterpene saponins act reflexively as a secretolytic, easing expectoration of viscous bronchial mucus.
Lungwort tea made from aerial parts is traditionally used in European folk medicine for coughs, bronchitis, and throat complaints.
Traditionally, black radish juice mixed with honey was used as a cough remedy and expectorant.
Fresh radish juice or grated radishes were used in folk medicine for colds, coughs and bronchitis.
Main indication per EMA HMPC and German Commission E: gargling and mouth-rinsing with sage leaf infusion for inflammations of the mouth and throat…
A decoction of the herb is used in folk medicine as a gargle for throat inflammations and pharyngeal complaints.
In Austrian and Central European folk medicine, rowan berries were used as tea, syrup, or jelly for colds, flu, cough, bronchitis, and fever.
Clove oil (1–2 drops on a cotton swab) acts as a local analgesic and antiseptic for toothache.
Classic cough tea for productive cold-related cough — the essential oil has an expectorant and antibacterial action.
Traditional diaphoretic tea at the first signs of a cold.
Traditional diaphoretic tea for the onset of a cold.
Acute cough and bronchial catarrh
Traditional cough tea for dry irritant cough and catarrh of the respiratory tract (EMA traditional use).
The classic application of mullein flowers: the mucilage they contain forms a soothing film over irritated mucous membranes, while saponins ease ex…
Infusion of the flowering aerial parts (1–2 g per cup, steep 10 min) for mild colds, coughs, and catarrh of the upper respiratory tract.
Traditional diaphoretic flower tea for feverish colds — perspiration-promoting use recognised by EMA as traditional use.
Chronic cough, bronchial catarrh, stuck mucus (folk medicine)
Taken internally for catarrh of the upper respiratory tract; the mucilage and tannins soothe irritated airway mucous membranes.
The root extract is used traditionally to relieve common cold symptoms.
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