Concept

Gardens

Images

  • Four female torsos joined at the waist with garden features as heads; symbolising the four seasons in a garden. Etching by T. B., c. 1797.
  • Lathyrus vernus (L.)Bernh. Papilionaceae previously Orobus vernus L. (Linnaeus, 1753) Spring vetchling. Distribution: Europe to Siberia. The seeds of several Lathyrus species are toxic, and when eaten cause a condition called lathyrism. The chemical diaminoproprionic acid in the seeds causes paralysis, spinal cord damage, aortic aneurysm, due to poisoning of mitochondria causing cell death. Occurs where food crops are contaminated by Lathyrus plants or where it is eaten as a 'famine food' when no other food is available. It is the Orobus sylvaticus purpureus vernus of Bauhin (1671) and Orobus sylvaticus angustifolius of Parkinson (1640) - who records that country folk had no uses for it. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Cucurbita maxima 'Golden Hubbard'
  • Tellima grandiflora (Pursh)Lindl. Saxifragaceae Distribution: Western North America from Alaska to California. The Native American Skagit tribe from Washington State, used it to improve appetite. The Nitinaht used it to stop having dreams of sexual intercourse with the dead (Moerman, 1998), Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Hopîtal Royal de Bicêtre, Paris: patients exercising in the grounds. Engraving by Letitia Byrne, 1829, after T. Nash.

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