Willow Tree
The leaves and bark of the willow tree have been mentioned in ancient texts from Assyria, Sumer and Egypt as a remedy for aches and fever, and the Ancient Greek physician Hippocrates wrote about its medicinal properties in the fifth century BC. Native Americans across the American continent relied on it as a staple of their medical treatments, because willows contain salicin, a substance that chemically resembles aspirin. It temporarily relieves headache, stomachache, and other body pain. Salicin is metabolized into salicylic acid in the human body, which is a precursor of aspirin. an Italian chemist, who then succeeded in separating out the compound in its pure state. The new drug, formally acetylsalicylic acid, was named Aspirin by Hoffmann's employer Bayer.