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191 results
  • Lobelia tupa L Campanulaceae Tabaco del Diablo [Devil's tobacco]. Distribution: Central Chile. Dried leaves are smoked as a hallucinogen by the Mapuchu Indians of Chile. It was also used as a respiratory stimulant. The genus was named after Matthias de L’Obel or Lobel, (1538–1616), Flemish botanist and physician to James I of England, author of the great herbal Plantarum seu Stirpium Historia (1576). Lobeline, a chemical from the plant has nicotine like actions and for a while lobeline was used to help people withdraw from smoking, but was found to be ineffective. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Salvia coahuilensis Fernald Lamiaceae Coahuila Sage. Perennial shrub. Distribution: Mexico. Most of the historical medicinal literature is on common sage, Salvia officinalis. The name Salvia meaning 'healthy'. Elizabeth Blackwell (1737) wrote that it had "... all the noble Properties of the other hot Plants more especially for the Head, Memory, Eyes, and all Paralytical Affections. In short, 'tis a Plant endu'd with so many and wonderful Properties, as that the assiduous use of it is said to render Men Immortal" with which Hans Sloane agreed. Its health giving properties were recorded in the aphorisms of the School of Salerno (fl 9-13th century) - quoted in the Decameron [c.1350, translated: Why should man die when Salvia grows in the Garden']. Some salvias, such as Salvia divinorum contain hallucinogenic compounds. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Salvia nemorosa L. Lamiaceae Woodland sage. Balkan clary Distribution: Central Europe, Western Asia. Most of the historical medicinal literature is on common sage, Salvia officinalis. The name Salvia meaning 'healthy'. Elizabeth Blackwell (1737) wrote that it had "... all the noble Properties of the other hot Plants more especially for the Head, Memory, Eyes, and all Paralytical Affections. In short, 'tis a Plant endu'd with so many and wonderful Properties, as that the assiduous use of it is said to render Men Immortal" with which Hans Sloane agreed. Linnaeus (1782) also: 'Timor, Languor, Leucorrhoea, Senectus [fear, tiredness, white vaginal discharge, old age]'. Its health giving and immortality conferring properties were recorded in the aphorisms of the School of Salerno (fl 9-13th century) - quoted in the Decameron [c.1350, translated: Why should man die when Salvia grows in the Garden']. Some salvias, such as Salvia divinorum contain hallucinogenic compounds. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Mandrake roots in human form; the mandrake plant; ginseng. Engraving.
  • Mandrake roots in human form; the mandrake plant; ginseng. Engraving.
  • Mandrake roots in human form; the mandrake plant; ginseng. Engraving.
  • Mandrake roots in human form; the mandrake plant; ginseng. Engraving.
  • Mandrake roots in human form; the mandrake plant; ginseng. Engraving.
  • Mandrake roots in human form; the mandrake plant; ginseng. Engraving.
  • Mandrake roots in human form; the mandrake plant; ginseng. Engraving.
  • Mandrake roots in human form; the mandrake plant; ginseng. Engraving.
  • Mandrake roots in human form; the mandrake plant; ginseng. Engraving.
  • Mandrake roots in human form; the mandrake plant; ginseng. Engraving.
  • Mandrake roots in human form; the mandrake plant; ginseng. Engraving.
  • Mandrake roots in human form; the mandrake plant; ginseng. Engraving.
  • Mandrake roots in human form; the mandrake plant; ginseng. Engraving.
  • Mandrake roots in human form; the mandrake plant; ginseng. Engraving.
  • Mandrake roots in human form; the mandrake plant; ginseng. Engraving.
  • Mandrake roots in human form; the mandrake plant; ginseng. Engraving.
  • Mandrake roots in human form; the mandrake plant; ginseng. Engraving.
  • Mandrake roots in human form; the mandrake plant; ginseng. Engraving.
  • Mandrake roots in human form; the mandrake plant; ginseng. Engraving.
  • Mandrake roots in human form; the mandrake plant; ginseng. Engraving.
  • Mandrake roots in human form; the mandrake plant; ginseng. Engraving.
  • Mandrake roots in human form; the mandrake plant; ginseng. Engraving.
  • Mandrake roots in human form; the mandrake plant; ginseng. Engraving.
  • Mandrake roots in human form; the mandrake plant; ginseng. Engraving.
  • Mandrake roots in human form; the mandrake plant; ginseng. Engraving.
  • Mandrake roots in human form; the mandrake plant; ginseng. Engraving.
  • Mandrake roots in human form; the mandrake plant; ginseng. Engraving.