Henryk Stanisław Różański – a graduate of the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Faculty of Biology (master’s thesis completed at the Department of General Botany, Institute of Experimental Biology, under the supervision of prof. dr hab. Elżbieta Zenktler). Doctor of Biological Sciences, doctoral thesis completed at the First Faculty of Medicine, K. Marcinkowski Medical University in Poznań, under the supervision of prof. dr hab. med. Roman Meissner at the Department of Social Medicine. A long-time scholarship holder of the Swiss Büchner Foundation. Specialist in the fields of herbal commodity science, pharmacognosy, pharmaceutical biology, chemotaxonomy, botany, phytotoxicology, phytopharmacology, history of biological and medical sciences, and food technology. Author and co-author of approximately 90 original scientific publications, 5 books, and 200 popular science publications. Since 1994, he has been building a database of detailed information on rarely used and abandoned natural folk remedies. He is also the author of approximately 90 studies for company use, expert opinions, implementation documentation, descriptions of technological lines, and opinions submitted to courts, prosecutors’ offices, and other state institutions, as well as commercial entities. For 12 years, he has been conducting research on medicinal plants in Europe, primarily from Bulgaria, Greece, and Romania.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
From the Author ………………………………………………………………… 7
Introduction ……………………………………………………………………. 10
Section: Pteridospermae – ferns ……………………………. 26
Class: Filicales ………………………………………………………… 31
Family: Polypodiaceae ……………………………………………. 31
Class: Equisetales ……………………………………………………. 38
Family: Equisetaceae ……………………………………………… 38
Class: Lycopodiales ………………………………………………….. 43
Family: Lyopodiaceae ……………………………………………… 43
Section: Gymnospermae – gymnosperms ………………………. 46
Order: Taxales ………………………………………………………….. 56
Family: Taxaceae ……………………………………………………. 56
Order: Pinales ………………………………………………………….. 59
Family: Pinaceae ……………………………………………………. 59
Order: Cupressales …………………………………………………… 64
Family: Cupressaceae …………………………………………….. 64
Section: Angiospermae ………………………………………………. 74
Division I: Batrachiophyta ……………………………………………….. 74
Division II: Hamamelidophyta ………………………………………….. 86
6
Order: Hamamelidales – witch-hazels …………………………. 86
Family: Platanaceae – plane trees ……………………….. 86
Family: Hamamelidaceae – witch-hazel family …………………. 86
Division III: Melophyta ……………………………………………………. 91
Branch: Rosalia ……………………………………………………… 91
Order: Rosales – roses ……………………………………….. 91
Family: Crassulaceae – stonecrops ……………………. 91
Family: Rosaceae – rose family ……………………………….. 91
Family: Saxifragaceae – saxifrages …………………….. 91
Family: Pittosporaceae – pittosporums ……………….. 91
Division III: Melophyta ………………………………………………….. 115
Branch: Leguminosalia ………………………………………….. 115
Order: Leguminosales – legumes …………………………. 115
Family: Leguminosae – legumes, papilionaceous (Papilionaceae) ……………….. 115
Bibliography …………………………………………………………… 126

FROM THE AUTHOR

The vascular flora of Bulgaria (flowering plants, ferns, gymnosperms) comprises approximately 4060–4100 native species and subspecies. According to Ana Petrova and Vladimir Vladimirov, the flora of Bulgaria currently includes 4064 species, belonging to 921 genera and 159 families. These numbers reflect the dynamic nature of floristic research, including new discoveries and taxonomic revisions. For comparison, the vascular flora of Poland includes approx. 2350–2400 native species, which highlights the exceptional biodiversity of Bulgaria – estimated at 8–10% of the European vascular flora.

The flora of Bulgaria constitutes one of the richest natural treasures of Southeastern Europe, being a testament to the complex geological, climatic, and biogeographical history of the Balkan Peninsula. The country’s location at the intersection of temperate continental and subtropical Mediterranean zones, combined with an extreme diversity of terrain – from Black Sea lowlands to high mountain ranges such as Pirin (alt. 2914 m a.s.l.) and the Rhodopes – favors the occurrence of unique plant communities.

Intensive phytochemical and biochemical research in the 19th and 20th centuries laid the foundations for the development of chemotaxonomy.

Dimcho Zahariev systematized and compiled information on raw materials and the number of medicinal plant species used in Bulgaria. It turned out that 845 plant species were used in Bulgarian medicine.

Chemotaxonomy is a subdiscipline of systematics concerned with distinguishing taxonomic units, determining the degree of relatedness between taxa, and constructing taxonomic systems using chemical criteria.

When classifying individual taxa, characteristic (specific to a given taxon) secondary metabolites are taken into account.

Related taxa possess similar secondary metabolites and metabolic pathways.

Knowledge of chemotaxonomy makes it possible to predict the occurrence of certain key substances in related lower taxonomic units (subspecies, species, genus), even if they have not been analyzed separately (directly), which is particularly important for toxicology and pharmacology.

Chemotaxonomy is especially valuable in the study of plant evolution (specialization) and relationships. The first chemotaxonomic system of plants was developed in the 1960s by the Swiss pharmacist Robert Hegnauer (1919–2007).

Therefore, chemotaxonomy constitutes an invaluable tool in scientific and clinical practice, helping to identify plants with potential medicinal properties and to assess their safety of use. It also enables a better understanding of the evolution and adaptation of species in changing environmental conditions, which is fundamental for biodiversity conservation and the rational use of plant resources.

A phytotherapist, a phytomedicine physician, a pharmacist, or a pharmacologist – without knowledge of chemotaxonomy – will permanently go astray and will never fully understand or recognize the medicinal properties of plants.

I began research on the medicinal plants of Bulgaria in 2005. Based on my own phytosociological and analytical studies, as well as a literature review, I have been developing for nearly 20 years a comprehensive publication on the medicinal properties, toxicology, and applications of medicinal plants occurring in Bulgaria.

In this monograph, selected native medicinal plants of Bulgaria are presented within the interesting taxonomic system of Alexander Alfonsovich Grossheim (1888–1948), taking into account chemotaxonomic features and aspects of herbal safety.

I would like to express my sincere thanks to Prof. Dr. Igor Britchenko (Игор Геннадийович Бритченко) and to Dr. Eng. Janusz Kilar for their critical remarks on this work and for encouraging me to prepare it.
I also thank the authorities of the Academy of National and Information Security in Plovdiv (Академия по национална и информационна сигурност – АНИС) for their interest in this monograph and assistance in its publication.

Henryk Różański
Krosno, December 8, 2025

This book is aimed at phytotherapists, herbalists, pharmacists, as well as students of medical and natural sciences, and all those passionate about medicinal plants. It is an excellent resource for those wishing to deepen their knowledge of Bulgarian herbs and their properties. This publication will be of particular interest to those seeking proven, safe, and effective methods of using plants based on Alexander Alfonsovich Grossheim’s system.