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183 results
  • Coreopsis tinctoria Nutt. Asteraceae. Plains coreopsis. Golden tickseed. Distribution: North America. Used by Cherokee as an infusion for diarrhoea. Drunk by the Lakota as a tea. Zuni women drink infusion of plant, minus roots, if they wish to have female babies
  • Sketches towards a Hortus botanicus americanus, or, Coloured plates (with a catalogue and concise and familiar descriptions of many species) of new and valuable plants of the West Indies and North and South America : Also of several others, natives of Africa and the East Indies; arranged after the Linnaean system.
  • Sketches towards a Hortus botanicus americanus, or, Coloured plates (with a catalogue and concise and familiar descriptions of many species) of new and valuable plants of the West Indies and North and South America : Also of several others, natives of Africa and the East Indies; arranged after the Linnaean system.
  • Sketches towards a Hortus botanicus americanus, or, Coloured plates (with a catalogue and concise and familiar descriptions of many species) of new and valuable plants of the West Indies and North and South America : Also of several others, natives of Africa and the East Indies; arranged after the Linnaean system.
  • Sketches towards a Hortus botanicus americanus, or, Coloured plates (with a catalogue and concise and familiar descriptions of many species) of new and valuable plants of the West Indies and North and South America : Also of several others, natives of Africa and the East Indies; arranged after the Linnaean system.
  • Sketches towards a Hortus botanicus americanus, or, Coloured plates (with a catalogue and concise and familiar descriptions of many species) of new and valuable plants of the West Indies and North and South America : Also of several others, natives of Africa and the East Indies; arranged after the Linnaean system.
  • Sketches towards a Hortus botanicus americanus, or, Coloured plates (with a catalogue and concise and familiar descriptions of many species) of new and valuable plants of the West Indies and North and South America : Also of several others, natives of Africa and the East Indies; arranged after the Linnaean system.
  • Sketches towards a Hortus botanicus americanus, or, Coloured plates (with a catalogue and concise and familiar descriptions of many species) of new and valuable plants of the West Indies and North and South America : Also of several others, natives of Africa and the East Indies; arranged after the Linnaean system.
  • Sketches towards a Hortus botanicus americanus, or, Coloured plates (with a catalogue and concise and familiar descriptions of many species) of new and valuable plants of the West Indies and North and South America : Also of several others, natives of Africa and the East Indies; arranged after the Linnaean system.
  • Sketches towards a Hortus botanicus americanus, or, Coloured plates (with a catalogue and concise and familiar descriptions of many species) of new and valuable plants of the West Indies and North and South America : Also of several others, natives of Africa and the East Indies; arranged after the Linnaean system.
  • Sketches towards a Hortus botanicus americanus, or, Coloured plates (with a catalogue and concise and familiar descriptions of many species) of new and valuable plants of the West Indies and North and South America : Also of several others, natives of Africa and the East Indies; arranged after the Linnaean system.
  • Sketches towards a Hortus botanicus americanus, or, Coloured plates (with a catalogue and concise and familiar descriptions of many species) of new and valuable plants of the West Indies and North and South America : Also of several others, natives of Africa and the East Indies; arranged after the Linnaean system.
  • Sketches towards a Hortus botanicus americanus, or, Coloured plates (with a catalogue and concise and familiar descriptions of many species) of new and valuable plants of the West Indies and North and South America : Also of several others, natives of Africa and the East Indies; arranged after the Linnaean system.
  • Sketches towards a Hortus botanicus americanus, or, Coloured plates (with a catalogue and concise and familiar descriptions of many species) of new and valuable plants of the West Indies and North and South America : Also of several others, natives of Africa and the East Indies; arranged after the Linnaean system.
  • Sketches towards a Hortus botanicus americanus, or, Coloured plates (with a catalogue and concise and familiar descriptions of many species) of new and valuable plants of the West Indies and North and South America : Also of several others, natives of Africa and the East Indies; arranged after the Linnaean system.
  • Xanthorhiza simplicissima Marshall Ranunculaceae. Yellow root. Distribution: North America, where it was discovered by the plant collector and explorer William Bartram in 1773. Austin (2004) reports that of the Native Americans, the Cherokee use the crushed plant to make a yellow dye
  • Xanthorhiza simplicissima Marshall Ranunculaceae. Yellow root. Distribution: North America, where it was discovered by the plant collector and explorer William Bartram in 1773. Yellow-root. Austin (2004) reports that of the Native Americans, the Cherokee use the crushed plant to make a yellow dye
  • 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.
  • Eschscholzia californica Cham. Papaveraceae. Californian poppy. Named for German botanist and physician, Johan Friedrich von Eschscholtz (1793-1831). Distribution: North America. Official state flower of California. Contains berberine, considered a potential source for many new medicines, and numerous alkaloids some of which may have mild anxiolytic activity. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • 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.
  • Rhodiola rosea L. Crassulaceae Golden root, roseroot Distribution: Arctic, Eastern North America, mountains of central Asia. Herbalists regard it as having curative properties for diseases as diverse as cancer, influenza, depression and other conditions. It has not been licensed for use in manufactured herbal medicines in the UK. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Allium schoenoprasum L. Alliaceae. Chives. Bulbour perennial herb. 'schoenoprasm' means 'rush leek' in Greek, referring to the narrow leaves. Distribution: Asia, Europe and North America. Leaves used as a garnish on cooked food and in salads. However like others in Boraginaceae it contains the pyrrolizidine alkaloid cynoglossine which causes liver damage. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Trillium sessile L. Trilliaceae Distribution: North America. Various Trilliums were used by Native Americans to stop haematuria, haematemesis, menorrhagia, and to heal ulcers (Milspaugh, 1974). Roots were eaten to treat stiff muscles, and tea from the plant drunk and powdered plant put on joints for rheumatism by the Iroquois (Lewis & Elvin-Lewis, 2003). Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Gaultheria procumbens Kalm Ericaeae. Wintergreen, teaberry, boxberry, chickerberry. Distribution: North American forests. Named for French physician/botanist Jean Francois Gaultier (1708-1756). Physician to the French King, emigrated to Quebec in 1742. Researched flora of North America, died of typhus (Oakeley, 2012). Source of oil of wintergreen. Ten pounds of oil can be extracted from a ton of leaves. Toxic effects: Stupidity, swelling of the tongue, food craving, epigastric tenderness, vomiting, dyspnoea, hot skin, tachycardia, restlessness (MiIlspaugh, 1974). Active chemical is methyl salicylate. Used topically for musculo-skeletal conditions, it is converted to salicylic acid when absorbed. Excess use has caused a death. Salicylic acid is also used for warts and corns (first described by Dioscorides in 70CE)
  • 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)
  • Achillea millefolium L. Asteraceae. Yarrow or sneezewort, the latter because ground up it made a snuff to induce sneezing. Evergreen, herbaceous perennial. Distribution: Europe, Asia and North America. Dioscorides calls it Achilles’ woundwort, sideritis, writing that the ground-up foliage closes bleeding wounds, relieves inflammation and stops uterine bleeding. Gerard (1633) says that put up one’s nose it causes a nosebleed and so stops migraines. Named for the Greek warrior, Achilles, who used this plant for healing wounds – having been taught its properties by his teacher, Chiron the centaur. Millefolium because of the thousands of fronds that make up the leaf, and which, when applied to a bleeding wound, facilitate coagulation by platelets. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Camassia leichtlinii (Baker)S.Watson Hyacinthaceae. Great Camas, Quamash. The species was named for Maximillian Leichtlin (1831-1910 of Baden , Germany, bulb enthusiast who corresponded with J.G. Baker at Kew. Bulbous herb. Distribution: North America. The bulbs of Camassia species were eaten by the Native Americans, the Nez Perce, after cooking by steaming for a day - which suggests they may be poisonous raw. They gave them to the American explorers, Meriwether Lewis and William Clerk, on their expedition (1804-1806) when they ran out of food. The bulbs of the similar looking 'Death camus', Toxicoscordion venenosum have been fatal when ingested by mistake (RBG Kew on-line). Steroidal saponins, which are precursors in the manufacture of steroids and cytotoxic activity has been detected in the sap of the bulbs. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Tragopogon pratensis L. Asteraceae. Goatsbeard, Salsify, Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon. Distribution: Europe and North America. This is the Tragopogion luteum or Yellow Goats-beard of Gerard (1633) who recommended them boiled until tender and then buttered as being more delicious than carrots and parsnips and very nutritious for those sick from a long lingering disease. Boiled in wine they were a cure for a 'stitch' in the side. In the USA children collect the milky sap onto a piece of glass and, when dry, chew it as bubble-gum. The name 'Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon' referes to the flowers which close at noon and the spherical radiation of seed plumules which then appear. Salsify is now applied as a name for T. porrifolius and Scorzonera hispanica. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Tragopogon pratensis L. Asteraceae Goats beard, Salsify, Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon. Distribution: Europe and North America. This is the Tragopogion luteum or Yellow Goats-beard of Gerard (1633) who recommended them boiled until tender and then buttered as being more delicious than carrots and parsnips and very nutritious for those sick from a long lingering disease. Boiled in wine they were a cure for a 'stitch' in the side. In the USA children collect the milky sap onto a piece of glass and, when dry, chew it as bubble-gum. The name 'Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon' referes to the flowers which close at noon and the spherical radiation of seed plumules which then appear. Salsify is now applied as a name for T. porrifolius and Scorzonera hispanica. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Tragopogon pratensis L. Asteraceae. Goatsbeard, Salsify, Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon. Distribution: Europe and North America. This is the Tragopogion luteum or Yellow Goats-beard of Gerard (1633) who recommended them boiled until tender and then buttered as being more delicious than carrots and parsnips and very nutritious for those sick from a long lingering disease. Boiled in wine they were a cure for a 'stitch' in the side. In the USA children collect the milky sap onto a piece of glass and, when dry, chew it as bubble-gum. The name 'Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon' referes to the flowers which close at noon and the spherical radiation of seed plumules which then appear. Salsify is now applied as a name for T. porrifolius and Scorzonera hispanica. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.