Salicylic acid has for a long time seemed a relatively insignificant component of many plants, remarkable only in that willows, poplars, and related salicaceous species synthesise and accumulate large amounts of its derivatives: it seemed entirely fortuitous that some of these derivatives, like salicylic acid itself, have beneficial medicinal effects in humans that have been appreciated for thousands of years. Newer research however, has revealed some functions of salicylic acid in plants that almost elevate it to the role of a plant hormone. Moreover, one of its effects in wounded or infected plants appears to resemble the reaction that is the basis for its medicinal effects in animal tissues. If this effect is established and shown to be general, then the medicinal properties of salicylates would appear to be less fortuitous and simply a logical consequence of their role in plants.
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