Reasons for properties

I'm a new poster but I've looked through a lot of the threads and I haven't seen a topic like this before, I've got a couple of books on witchcraft, several with extensive lists of herbs and their properties, but none with a table or any explanation as to WHY certain herbs are believed to have certain properties.
Personally, my belief in magic comes from a deep seated feeling that certain things are solidly true. Red is hot and ignites passion, blue is cooling and calming, meditating on an outcome can make it more likely to happen, these things are not only believed by witches but also have a solid foundation in psychology and science. I tend to disregard things that have been made up by modern people to fill in the gaps of what has been lost from the collective memory since Christianity.
I want to know things like, why, exactly is eucalyptus supposed to be good for abundance spells, why is sage supposed to be good for clearing negative energies? I don't want to be using a list, made by someone I don't know, of herbs and their properties with no evidence (even lore from quotable sources) as to the legitimacy of these claims. I think it's important to understand fully why you're using something in a spell, otherwise your intent can get scattered.
If anyone can recommend me a good website or book on this, (preferably a book available in the public domain or a small book I can get for, like, a fiver) I would really appreciate it.

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Look into botany. Herbs contain complex chemicals, which can have sublime effects.

Well I do have several books on medicinal herbs and plants, I'm just looking for one that has specific explanations as to the commonly understood magical properties. e.g. I can accept that acorns are good for abundance spells because of the great size and uses of the oak tree to ancient peoples. Even an old book on traditional herb lore would be great, am looking into it myself but would love some suggestions from SoM users :)

I always assumed it was by trial and error, people would try different plants that grew locally in their area. Some worked in all spells such as rosemary, as an allpurpose herb. While others only worked in some spells. Eventually different lists from different areas were put together to form large collections, hence why some herbs that grow in different areas have the same proporties.

This is only what I have gathered from small snippets in books, I have never found a book that goes very in depth with where all the information came from, I suppose some things just aren't written down like others.

This could be completely wrong, I do not claim this to be complete fact, just what I have assumed over the years.

Yep that's pretty much what I thought, the oral tradition and that. Will continue searching and let you's know if I find something that satisfies.

you're in ireland, right? try searching on amazon.co.uk for this book: Culinary Herbs: Their Cultivation, Harvesting, Curing And Uses (1912)

You see I'm not looking for medicinal or culinary uses, I'm looking for any solid information I can get, even allegorical information, on why you use certain herbs in SPELLS, specifically. Doing a wealth spell a while ago and it mentioned eucalyptus (oil for anointing candle), another mentions nutmeg (whole nutmeg to be included in wishing bundle), but I could really do with some kind of background as to why I should use them, even an old book on herb-related lore. It's just so that I don't include anything I don't understand the implications of in any spell I cast, I'm forever worrying about unintentional fallout :/