"Herb" and "spice" get used interchangeably in everyday cooking talk, but they're not actually the same category.
The difference comes down to which part of the plant you're using, not how strong or exotic the flavor is.
Once that distinction clicks, a few confusing things start making sense: why cilantro and coriander come from the same plant, why a spice rack holds dried basil right next to cinnamon, and why some ingredients genuinely qualify as both.
The difference is about plant anatomy, not flavor.
Herbs come from the leafy, green parts of a plant. The leaves, sometimes tender stems, and almost always from non-woody, soft-stemmed plants.
Spices come from everything else the plant produces: seeds, bark, roots, buds, dried fruit, or berries.
A basil leaf is an herb. A peppercorn, a cinnamon stick, and a nutmeg seed are all spices, because none of them are leaves–they're a berry, a bark, and a seed, respectively.
That's the entire distinction. It has nothing to do with intensity, cuisine, or how the ingredient is processed. Bay leaves and rosemary are herbs, and they're plenty pungent. Fennel seed is a spice, and it's mild. The line is drawn at which part of the plant you're holding, not how it tastes.
Herbs are leaves, full stop. Basil, Thyme, Oregano, Rosemary, Mint, Parsley, Sage, and Dill Weed are all leafy parts of plants that don't have woody stems.
Spices cover a much wider range, because "everything that isn't a leaf" includes a lot of plant anatomy: seeds (Cumin, Coriander, Mustard), bark (Cinnamon), roots and rhizomes (Ginger, Turmeric), flower buds (Cloves), dried berries (Peppercorns, Allspice), and even the dried stigma of a flower (Saffron).
That variety is part of why spices tend to have such different textures and forms. A cinnamon stick, a peppercorn, and a Vanilla Bean don't have much in common physically, but they're all spices for the same reason: none of them are a leaf.
If you compare the contents of these (2) jars side by side, the contrast is easy to see: Basil is a dried leaf, full stop. Cumin started as a seed, which was then milled into powder. So the form changed, but it's still a spice, because a seed is what it started as.
Whole vs. ground is a separate question entirely. It's more about how that form affects flavor and freshness, not about what category the spice belongs to.
Yes, and coriander is the textbook example. Cilantro and Coriander come from the exact same plant, Coriandrum sativum. The fresh green leaves are cilantro, an herb with a bright, citrusy, slightly soapy flavor to some palates. The dried seeds are coriander, a spice with a warm, nutty, faintly floral flavor that tastes almost nothing like the leaf it grew next to.
Dill works the same way, botanically. The feathery leaves are the herb (Dill Weed), and the plant's seeds are a spice in their own right (dill seeds), even though they're less common on a spice rack than the leaf.
Whenever a plant gives you both a usable leaf and a usable seed, root, or bark, you end up with one plant supplying both an herb and a spice! They just show up in completely different sections of the kitchen. For a closer look at just how differently cilantro and coriander perform in the kitchen, see What's the Difference Between Coriander and Cilantro?
Often, yes, and it comes back to the same plant-anatomy difference.
Leaves are delicate. Their flavor compounds are lighter and more volatile, which is why herbs are frequently added toward the end of cooking, or used fresh, so their flavor doesn't cook off before the dish is done.
Spices are generally hardier, because bark, seeds, and roots evolved to protect the plant, not to wilt in the sun. That's part of why whole spices hold up so well to long, slow cooking. Whole spices dropped into hot oil release their flavor into the fat instead of burning off. Blooming whole spices in oil is a technique that works because of exactly this kind of durability.
California Bay Leaves are a good example of an herb built for the long haul. They're tough enough to simmer for hours without disintegrating, but still meant to be fished out before the dish is plated. Whole Nutmeg, by contrast, is often added at the very end. It's grated fresh over the top of a finished dish specifically because a spice's volatile oils are at their peak the moment it's cracked open.
Mostly. Both want a cool, dark, dry spot away from the stove, since heat, light, and moisture are what degrade flavor in either one. But leafy herbs tend to fade a little faster than hardier spices like whole peppercorns, cinnamon sticks, or whole nutmeg, simply because a thin, dried leaf has less structure protecting its oils than a seed or a piece of bark does. To find out how to truly store spices properly, read our Spices 101 blog that covers the specifics of keeping both fresher for longer.
No. The herb-or-spice classification is fixed by which part of the plant it came from, not by its current form.
Fresh basil and dried basil are both herbs. A whole cinnamon stick and ground cinnamon are both spices. Drying, grinding, or freezing an ingredient changes its flavor and shelf life, but it doesn't change what it is botanically. Our blog on Fresh vs. Dried Herbs and Spices gets more into how that distinction affects flavor and how much of each to use in a recipe.
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