Wellcome Collection homepage
All
Stories
Images
Catalogue
Events
1,107 results
  • Flora Londinensis. Or Plates and descriptions of such plants as grow wild in the environs of London: with their places of growth, and times of flowering; their several names according to Linnæus and other authors: with a particular description of each plant in Latin and English. To which are added, their several uses in medicine, agriculture, rural œconomy and other arts / By William Curtis.
  • Flora Londinensis. Or Plates and descriptions of such plants as grow wild in the environs of London: with their places of growth, and times of flowering; their several names according to Linnæus and other authors: with a particular description of each plant in Latin and English. To which are added, their several uses in medicine, agriculture, rural œconomy and other arts / By William Curtis.
  • Flora Londinensis. Or Plates and descriptions of such plants as grow wild in the environs of London: with their places of growth, and times of flowering; their several names according to Linnæus and other authors: with a particular description of each plant in Latin and English. To which are added, their several uses in medicine, agriculture, rural œconomy and other arts / By William Curtis.
  • Flora Londinensis. Or Plates and descriptions of such plants as grow wild in the environs of London: with their places of growth, and times of flowering; their several names according to Linnæus and other authors: with a particular description of each plant in Latin and English. To which are added, their several uses in medicine, agriculture, rural œconomy and other arts / By William Curtis.
  • Flora Londinensis. Or Plates and descriptions of such plants as grow wild in the environs of London: with their places of growth, and times of flowering; their several names according to Linnæus and other authors: with a particular description of each plant in Latin and English. To which are added, their several uses in medicine, agriculture, rural œconomy and other arts / By William Curtis.
  • Flora Londinensis. Or Plates and descriptions of such plants as grow wild in the environs of London: with their places of growth, and times of flowering; their several names according to Linnæus and other authors: with a particular description of each plant in Latin and English. To which are added, their several uses in medicine, agriculture, rural œconomy and other arts / By William Curtis.
  • The garden of health, containing the sundry rare and hidden vertues and properties of all kindes of simples and plants, together with the manner how they are to bee used and applyed in medicine for the health of mans body ... / [William Langham].
  • The garden of health, containing the sundry rare and hidden vertues and properties of all kindes of simples and plants, together with the manner how they are to bee used and applyed in medicine for the health of mans body ... / [William Langham].
  • The garden of health, containing the sundry rare and hidden vertues and properties of all kindes of simples and plants, together with the manner how they are to bee used and applyed in medicine for the health of mans body ... / [William Langham].
  • The garden of health, containing the sundry rare and hidden vertues and properties of all kindes of simples and plants, together with the manner how they are to bee used and applyed in medicine for the health of mans body ... / [William Langham].
  • The garden of health, containing the sundry rare and hidden vertues and properties of all kindes of simples and plants, together with the manner how they are to bee used and applyed in medicine for the health of mans body ... / [William Langham].
  • The garden of health, containing the sundry rare and hidden vertues and properties of all kindes of simples and plants, together with the manner how they are to bee used and applyed in medicine for the health of mans body ... / [William Langham].
  • The garden of health, containing the sundry rare and hidden vertues and properties of all kindes of simples and plants, together with the manner how they are to bee used and applyed in medicine for the health of mans body ... / [William Langham].
  • The garden of health, containing the sundry rare and hidden vertues and properties of all kindes of simples and plants, together with the manner how they are to bee used and applyed in medicine for the health of mans body ... / [William Langham].
  • The garden of health, containing the sundry rare and hidden vertues and properties of all kindes of simples and plants, together with the manner how they are to bee used and applyed in medicine for the health of mans body ... / [William Langham].
  • The garden of health, containing the sundry rare and hidden vertues and properties of all kindes of simples and plants, together with the manner how they are to bee used and applyed in medicine for the health of mans body ... / [William Langham].
  • Herbier ou collection des plantes médicinales de la Chine. D'après un manuscrit peint et unique qui se trouve dans la bibliothèque de l'Empereur de la Chine, pour servir de suitte aux planches enluminées et non enluminées d'histoire naturelle et à la collection des fleurs qui se cultivent dans les jardins de la Chine et de l'Europe / Dirigé par les soins de Mr. Buc'hoz.
  • Herbier ou collection des plantes médicinales de la Chine. D'après un manuscrit peint et unique qui se trouve dans la bibliothèque de l'Empereur de la Chine, pour servir de suitte aux planches enluminées et non enluminées d'histoire naturelle et à la collection des fleurs qui se cultivent dans les jardins de la Chine et de l'Europe / Dirigé par les soins de Mr. Buc'hoz.
  • Herbier ou collection des plantes médicinales de la Chine. D'après un manuscrit peint et unique qui se trouve dans la bibliothèque de l'Empereur de la Chine, pour servir de suitte aux planches enluminées et non enluminées d'histoire naturelle et à la collection des fleurs qui se cultivent dans les jardins de la Chine et de l'Europe / Dirigé par les soins de Mr. Buc'hoz.
  • The garden of health, containing the sundry rare and hidden vertues and properties of all kindes of simples and plants, together with the maner how they are to be used and applyed in medicine ... against divers diseases and infirmities most common amongst men / Gathered by ... William Langham.
  • Hypericum olympicum L. Clusiaceae. Mount Olympus St John's wort. Deciduous perennial herb. Distribution Greece, Asia minor. This is not the plant used for mood disturbances in herbal medicine which is Hypericum perforatum. However, all the 370 species of Hypericum are called 'St John's Wort' so a potential for confusion exists. It shares some of the chemicals thought to be active in Hypericum perforatum. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Aconitum carmichaelii Debeaux. Ranunculaceae. Chinese aconite, Chinese wolfsbane, Carmichael's monkshood. Herbaceous perennial. Distribution C. to W. China to N. America. Named for Dr J.R. Carmichael (d. 1877), English physician, plant collector and Protestant missionary from 1862-1877 in Guangdong and Shandong, China initially in Canton. He aided Francis Forbes to collect plants for Kew. Aconitum plants are so poisonous that Theophrastus states that death was the punishment for possessing them. Aconitine is the poison and was used - from Aconitum ferox - in the 'curry murder' in London in 2009. It causes respiratory paralysis, bradycardia (slowing of the pulse), cardiac arrhythmias, tingling, sweating, gastric cramps, diarrhoea and death, both by ingestion and by absorption through the mucous membranes and the skin. Despite this it is widely used in Chinese herbal medicine. It is a restricted herbal medicine which can only be dispensed by a herbal practitioner for external use following a one-to-one consultation, or by prescription from a registered doctor or dentist (UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)). Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Rudbeckia triloba L. Asteraceae Orange Cone flower. Herbaceous perennial. Distribution: North America. It is named for Olof Rudbeck, father (1630–1702) and son (1660–1740). Olof Rudbeck the Elder was professor of medicine at Uppsala University, and established a botanic garden there. He was the discoverer of the human lymphatic system. His son succeeded his father as professor of medicine, and one of his students was Carl Linnaeus (1707–88) who named the genus Rudbeckia after him and his father. It is a plant which is poisonous to cattle, sheep and pigs with no medicinal uses. Austin (1974) discusses R. hirta, also regarded as a toxic plant. It was used externally by the Cherokee to bathe sores and snakebites and made into a tea for treating diarrhoea. The Seminoles used it for headaches and fever and the Miccosukee for sunstroke and headache. The Cherokee and the Iroquois used it to treat intestinal worms Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Magnolia stellata (Siebold & Zuch.) Maxim. Magnoliaceae. Star magnolia. Small flowering tree. Distribution: Japan. Named for the French botanist and physician, Pierre Magnol (1638-1715), Professor of Botany and Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Montpelier. Charles Plumier (1646-1704) named a tree on Martinique after him (Magnolia) and the name was continued by Linnaeus (1753). No medicinal use. This is a very ancient genus of flowering plants. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Acanthus spinosus L. Acanthaceae. Bears breeches. Distribution: Southern Europe to Western Turkey. Herbaceous perennial flowering plant. Named for spiny leaves. Dioscorides recommended the roots applied for inflammation and spasms, and -when drunk- to promote urine, check diarrhoea, and for phthysis, ruptures and convulsions. The leaves are the model for those at the top of Corinthian columns. Tetraglycosides isolated from the plant show cytotoxicity in sea urchin eggs and crown gall tumour on potato disks. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • 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.
  • Polygonatum x hybridum Brugger Convalliariaceae. Hybrid Solomon's Seal (P. multiflorum x P. odoratum) It has the RHS Award of Garden Merit. Rhizomatous herbaceous perennial. Distribution: Garden plant whose parents come from Europe and Asia. Dioscorides (70 AD ex Beck, 2005) reports that Polygonatum is good for wounds if a poultice is applied, and that it also removes facial blemishes. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Galega officinalis L. Fabaceae. Goat's Rue. Distribution: Central and Southern Europe, Asia Minor. Culpeper (1650) writes that it ‘... resists poison, kills worms, resists the falling sickness [epilepsy], resisteth the pestilence.’ Galega officinalis contains guanidine which reduces blood sugar by decreasing insulin resistance and inhibiting hepatic gluconeogenesis.. Metformin and Phenformin are drugs for type II diabetes that rely on this group of chemicals, known as biguanidines. Its name gala, meaning milk plus ega meaning 'to bring on', refers to its alleged property of increasing milk yield, and has been used in France to increase milk yield in cows. officinalis refers to its use in the offices of the monks, and is a common specific name for medicinal plants before 1600 and adopted by Linnaeus (1753). The fresh plant tastes of pea pods. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Adonis vernalis L. Ranunculaceae. Pheasant's eye, the golden flowered spring (or vernal) Adonis, is named in memory of Adonis, the Greek god of plants, who disappeared into the earth in the winter and reappeared in the spring. The flowers were said to have sprung from his blood when he was gored to death by a wild boar, but this plant must have been the blood red Adonis aestivalis, the summer Adonis. Distribution: Eurasia to Spain and Sweden. Gerard (1633) recommends it for renal stone and intestinal colic. Lewis & Elvin Lewis (2003) note it is poisonous, containing cardiac glycosides (adonitoxin, cymarin, K-strophanthin) and flavonoids. The UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)) bans its use for ingestion 'no dose permitted' but allow it to be prescribed by a herbal practitioner on a one-to-one consultation. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Cucurbita pepo L., Cucurbitaceae. Distribution: Mexico (extinct) This species is one of the oldest cultivated plants, first grown 11,000 years ago in Mexico, but extinct in the wild. Varieties are selectively bred for their taste, colour and shape. The seeds, ground to a powder are used to kill intestinal tape-worms (Lewis & Elvin-Lewis, 2003). This is a 200-year-old cultivar whose seed has been conserved by the Amish of Pennsylvania, USA. The rind is very thick, but the taste is delicious. This is a 200-year-old cultivar whose seed has been conserved by the Amish of Pennsylvania, USA. The rind is very thick, but the taste is delicious. Seeds approved for use in making herbal medicines in the UK (Herbal Medicine legislation 2013) Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.