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  • Porridge with yoghurt and berries : a quick and yummy breakfast ... : Change4life / [produced by COI for the Department of Health].
  • Smilacina racemosa Desf. syn. Maianthemum racemosum (L.)Link Convallariaceae. False Spikenard, False Solomon's Seal, Scurvy berries, Treacle berries. Herbaceous perennial. Distribution: North America. Probably introduced to England by John Tradescant the Younger in 1656 as it appears in his garden plant catalogue in Musaeum Tradescantianum in 1656. Austin (2004) reports on Native American traditional usage: a cold infusion of the roots was used for sore eyes (Cherokee)
  • Vaccinium corymbosum L. Ericaceae Bilberry. Deciduous shrub. Distribution: North America. The berries are eaten and rich in Vitamin C. Native Americans used them as a dressing on acute erysipelas (Milspaugh, 1974). Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Vaccinium corymbosum L. Ericaceae Bilberry. Deciduous shrub. Distribution: North America. The berries are eaten and rich in Vitamin C. Native Americans used them as a dressing on acute erysipelas (Milspaugh, 1974). Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Dianella tasmanica Hook.f. Phormiaceae Tasman flax lily. Distribution: Australia. A pretty plant, but also a source of fine fibre. The leaves are used for making baskets and the berries as a dye source. No medicinal use found, but the fruit is an irritant
  • Aralia spinosa L. Araliaceae. Devil's walking stick, Prickly ash, Hercules' club. Tree. Distribution: Eastern North America. Contact with sap causes skin irritation, raw berries mildly toxic to humans, causing diarrhoea and vomiting. Eaten by bears. Used medicinally by Native Americans for a variety of conditions. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Myrtus communis L. Myrtaceae Myrtle Distribution: Europe. Dioscorides (Beck, 2005) recommends the fruit for treating haemoptysis (‘spitting blood’) and cystitis, and, if boiled, he said it made a fine wine. In various forms it was used as a hair dye, for sore eyes, anal and uterine prolapse, dandruff and shingles, all sorts of inflammations, scorpion bites and even sweaty armpits. Our plant has white berries, but he regarded those with black berries (they become black later in the season) as being more effective. Lyte (1576) adds that the juice of the berries kept the hair black and stopped it falling out, and prevented intoxication. He notes that it only flowered in hot summers in England, but it is reliable in flower now, either due to global warming or selection of suitable clones. According to Lyte, it is named after Merlyne, a fair maiden of Athens in ancient Greece, who judged the athletic games. Slain by a disgruntled competitor, the goddess Minerva brought her back as the myrtle tree in perpetual memory. The myrtle tree is also an ancient Jewish symbol for peace and justice. Myrtle wine is still made in Tuscany and now even in China. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Ruscus aculeatus L. Ruscaceae Butchers Broom., Box holly, Knee Holly, Jew’s myrtle. Distribution: Mediterranean to Britain. Aculeatus means 'prickly' which describes the plant well. Dioscorides in 70 AD (Gunther, 1959) says of this plant ‘... ye leaves and berries drunk in wine have ye force to move urine, expel the menstrua, and to break ye stones in ye bladder ...’ and adds also ‘ ... it cures also ye Icterus and ye strangurie and ye headache.' Its use did not change for a millennium and a half
  • Osmanthus delavayi Franch. Oleaceae Evergreen shrub. Distribution: China. Osmanthus is derived from the Greek for 'fragrant flower', delavayi from its discoverer, the French Missionary with the Missions Étrangères, and plant collector, Pierre Delavay (1834-1895). He sent 200,000 herbarium specimens containing 4000 species including 1,500 new species to Franchet at the Museum of Natural History in Paris. He sent seed of O. delavayi to France (1886), but only one germinated, and all the plants in cultivation until it was recollected 40 years later, arose from this plant (Bretschneider, 1896). The flowers are used to make a tea in China, but the berries (drupes) are not regarded as edible. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Taxus baccata L. Taxaceae European Yew. Trees are feminine in Latin, so while Taxus has a masculine ending (-us), its specific name, baccata (meaning 'having fleshy berries' (Stearn, 1994)), agrees with it in gender by having a female ending ( -a). Distribution: Europe. Although regarded as poisonous since Theophrastus, Gerard and his school friends used to eat the red berries (they are technically called 'arils') without harm. Johnson clearly ate the fleshy arils and spat out the seed, which is as poisonous as the leaves. It is a source of taxol, an important chemotherapeutic agent for breast and other cancers. It was first extracted from the bark of T. brevifolia, the Pacific yew tree, in 1966. About 1,100 kg of bark produces 10 g of taxol, and 360,000 trees a year would have been required for the needs of the USA – an unsustainable amount. In 1990 a precursor of taxol was extracted from the needles of the European yew so saving the Pacific trees. It is now produced in fermentation tanks from cell cultures of Taxus. Curiously, there is a fungus, Nodulisporium sylviforme, which lives on the yew tree, that also produces taxol. Because taxol stops cell division, it is also used in the stents that are inserted to keep coronary arteries open. Here it inhibits – in a different way, but like anti-fouling paint on the bottom of ships – the overgrowth of endothelial cells that would otherwise eventually block the tube. The economic costs of anticancer drugs are significant. Paclitaxel ‘Taxol’ for breast cancer costs (2012) £246 every 3 weeks
  • Physalis alkekengi L. Rosaceae Chinese lantern, Winter Cherry, Bladder Cherry Distribution: C & S Europe, W. Asia to Japan Culpeper: In his English Physitian of 1652 writes: Winter Cherry ... are of great use in physic ...’ and recommends them for almost all kidney and urinary problems. In particular he seems to advocate the use of green berries in beer, for preventing kidney stones lodging in the ureters. It is called ‘aikakengi’ in the College’s Pharmacopoeia Londinensis of 1618. Belonging to the family Solanaceae, all its parts are poisonous except the ripe fruit. The green fruit and the rest of the plant contain atropinic compounds and will produce a dry mouth, rapid heart beat, hallucinations, coma and death if enough is taken. As the atropine is only present in the unripe fruit eating one will make the mouth go dry (and it has the most unpleasant taste), but it will also relax the smooth muscle in the wall of the ureter which helps passage of ureteric stones. Culpeper’s observations on its usefulness are supported by more modern observations. When ripe, the orange fruit inside its skeletal outer ‘lantern’ is edible, free of atropine, and delicious. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Physalis alkekengi L. Rosaceae Chinese lantern, Winter Cherry, Bladder Cherry. Distribution: C & S Europe, W. Asia to Japan Culpeper: In his English Physitian of 1652 writes: Winter Cherry ...are of great use in physic ...’ and recommends them for almost all kidney and urinary problems. In particular he seems to advocate the use of green berries in beer, for preventing kidney stones lodging in the ureters. It is called ‘aikakengi’ in the College’s Pharmacopoeia Londinensis of 1618. Belonging to the family Solanaceae, all its parts are poisonous except the ripe fruit. The green fruit and the rest of the plant contain atropinic compounds and will produce a dry mouth, rapid heart beat, hallucinations, coma and death if enough is taken. As the atropine is only present in the unripe fruit eating one will make the mouth go dry (and it has the most unpleasant taste), but it will also relax the smooth muscle in the wall of the ureter which helps passage of ureteric stones. Culpeper’s observations on its usefulness are supported by more modern observations. When ripe, the orange fruit inside its skeletal outer ‘lantern’ is edible, free of atropine, and delicious. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Physalis alkekengi L. Rosaceae Chinese lantern, Winter Cherry, Bladder Cherry. Distribution: C & S Europe, W. Asia to Japan Culpeper: In his English Physitian of 1652 writes: Winter Cherry ...are of great use in physic ...’ and recommends them for almost all kidney and urinary problems. In particular he seems to advocate the use of green berries in beer, for preventing kidney stones lodging in the ureters. It is called ‘aikakengi’ in the College’s Pharmacopoeia Londinensis (1618). Belonging to the family Solanaceae, all its parts are poisonous except the ripe fruit. The green fruit and the rest of the plant contain atropinic compounds and will produce a dry mouth, rapid heart beat, hallucinations, coma and death if enough is taken. As the atropine is only present in the unripe fruit eating one will make the mouth go dry (and it has the most unpleasant taste), but it will also relax the smooth muscle in the wall of the ureter which helps passage of ureteric stones. Culpeper’s observations on its usefulness are supported by more modern observations. When ripe, the orange fruit inside its skeletal outer ‘lantern’ is edible, free of atropine, and delicious. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Physalis alkekengi L. Rosaceae Chinese lantern, Winter Cherry, Bladder Cherry. Distribution: C & S Europe, W. Asia to Japan. Culpeper, in his English Physitian of 1652 writes: Winter Cherry ... are of great use in physic ...’ and recommends them for almost all kidney and urinary problems. In particular he seems to advocate the use of green berries in beer, for preventing kidney stones lodging in the ureters. It is called ‘aikakengi’ in the College’s Pharmacopoeia Londinensis of 1618. Belonging to the family Solanaceae, all its parts are poisonous except the ripe fruit. The green fruit and the rest of the plant contain atropinic compounds and will produce a dry mouth, rapid heart beat, hallucinations, coma and death if enough is taken. As the atropine is only present in the unripe fruit eating one will make the mouth go dry (and it has the most unpleasant taste), but it will also relax the smooth muscle in the wall of the ureter which helps passage of ureteric stones. Culpeper’s observations on its usefulness are supported by more modern observations. When ripe, the orange fruit inside its skeletal outer ‘lantern’ is edible, free of atropine, and delicious. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Physalis alkekengi L. Rosaceae Chinese lantern, Winter Cherry, Bladder Cherry. Distribution: C & S Europe, W. Asia to Japan Culpeper: In his English Physitian of 1652 writes: Winter Cherry ...are of great use in physic ...’ and recommends them for almost all kidney and urinary problems. In particular he seems to advocate the use of green berries in beer, for preventing kidney stones lodging in the ureters. It is called ‘aikakengi’ in the College’s Pharmacopoeia Londinensis of 1618. Belonging to the family Solanaceae, all its parts are poisonous except the ripe fruit. The green fruit and the rest of the plant contain atropinic compounds and will produce a dry mouth, rapid heart beat, hallucinations, coma and death if enough is taken. As the atropine is only present in the unripe fruit eating one will make the mouth go dry (and it has the most unpleasant taste), but it will also relax the smooth muscle in the wall of the ureter which helps passage of ureteric stones. Culpeper’s observations on its usefulness are supported by more modern observations. When ripe, the orange fruit inside its skeletal outer ‘lantern’ is edible, free of atropine, and delicious. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Atropa belladonna L. Solanaceae. Deadly nightshade. Dwale. Morella, Solatrum, Hound's berries, Uva lupina, Cucubalus, Solanum lethale. Atropa derives from Atropos the oldest of the three Fates of Greek mythology who cut the thread of Life (her sisters Clotho and Lachesis spun and measured the thread, respectively). belladonna, literally, means 'beautiful lady' and was the Italian name for it. Folklore has it that Italian ladies put drops from the plant or the fruits in their eyes to make themselves doe-eyed, myopic and beautiful. However, this is not supported by the 16th and 17th century literature, where no mention is ever made of dilated pupils (or any of the effects of parasympathetic blockade). Tournefort (1719) says 'The Italians named this plant Belladonna, which in their language signifies a beautiful woman, because the ladies use it much in the composition of their Fucus [rouge or deceit or cosmetic] or face paint.' Parkinson says that the Italian ladies use the distilled juice as a fucus '... peradventure [perhaps] to take away their high colour and make them looke paler.' I think it more likely that they absorbed atropine through their skin and were slightly 'stoned' and disinhibited, which made them beautiful ladies in the eyes of Italian males. Distribution: Europe, North Africa, western Asia. Culpeper (1650) writes: 'Solanum. Nightshade: very cold and dry, binding … dangerous given inwardly … outwardly it helps the shingles, St Antonie's Fire [erysipelas] and other hot inflammation.' Most of the 16th, 17th and 18th century herbals recommend it topically for breast cancers. Poisonous plants were regarded as 'cold' plants as an excess of them caused death and the body became cold. They were regarded as opposing the hot humour which kept us warm and alive. Poultices of Belladonna leaves are still recommended for muscle strain in cyclists, by herbalists. Gerard (1633) writes that it: 'causeth sleep, troubleth the mind, bringeth madnesse if a few of the berries be inwardly taken, but if more be taken they also kill...'. He was also aware that the alkaloids could be absorbed through the skin for he notes that a poultice of the leaves applied to the forehead, induces sleep, and relieves headache. The whole plant contains the anticholinergic alkaloid atropine, which blocks the peripheral actions of acetylcholine in the parasympathetic nervous system. Atropine is a racemic mixture of d- and l- hyoscyamine. Atropine, dropped into the eyes, blocks the acetylcholine receptors of the pupil so it no longer constricts on exposure to bright light - so enabling an ophthalmologist to examine the retina with an ophthalmoscope. Atropine speeds up the heart rate, reduces salivation and sweating, reduces gut motility, inhibits the vertigo of sea sickness, and is used to block the acetylcholine receptors to prevent the effects of organophosphorous and other nerve gas poisons. It is still has important uses in medicine. Atropine poisoning takes three or for days to wear off, and the hallucinations experienced by its use are described as unpleasant. We have to be content with 'madness', 'frenzie' and 'idle and vain imaginations' in the early herbals to describe the hallucinations of atropine and related alkaloids as the word 'hallucination' in the sense of a perception for which there is no external stimulus, was not used in English until 1646 (Sir T. Browne, 1646). It is a restricted herbal medicine which can only be sold in premises which are registered pharmacies and by or under the supervision of a pharmacist (UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)). Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Two fruiting plants with conspicuous red and purple fruits and an outline of a third plant. Watercolour.
  • Three plants, including two fruiting branches of a holly (Ilex species) and an Andromeda species. Watercolour.
  • Autumn leaves and fruits of bramble (Rubus species). Watercolour drawings.
  • Black bryony (Tamus communis): fruiting stem. Partially coloured pen drawing.
  • Two plants, possibly a fruiting branch of hawthorn (Crataegus) and a stem of dodder (Cuscuta). Watercolour.
  • A plant (Cucubalus baccifer): flowering stem, fruit and floral segments. Coloured engraving after J. Sowerby, 1806.
  • The blossom and fruit of a coffee tree (Coffea arabica) Photograph.
  • Black nightshade (Solanum nigrum): leaves and fruits. Pen drawing, partially coloured.
  • The blossom and fruit of a coffee tree (Coffea arabica) Photograph.
  • Four flowering plants, including asarabacca (Asarum europaeum) and two mercury plants (Mercurialis species). Chromolithograph by W. Dickes & co., c. 1855.
  • Common elder (Sambucus nigra): flowering and fruiting stems. Coloured lithograph by W. G. Smith, c. 1863, after himself.
  • Diseased penis and scrotum with swellings or ganglions in the groin area. Watercolour by C. D'Alton, 1858.
  • Four flowering and fruiting plants: black bryony, herb Paris, common asparagus and butchers broom. Chromolithograph by W. Dickes & co., c. 1855.
  • Seal on the back of instructions for medicine against rabies