The coca plant is a source of cocaine, which was the basis for the development of modern anesthetics that are used today. Some other plants produce chemicals that have enabled new anesthetic drugs to be designed, while others such as cloves (the dried flower buds from Syzyglum aromaticum) in the myrtle family (Myrtaceae) have been used in the form of extracts or oils for the relief of pain because of the anesthetic-like action that their chemical constituents induce.
