Skip to main content
597 results
  • Yellow mustard (Sinapis alba L.): flowering and fruiting stem with separate root, floral segments, fruit and seeds. Coloured etching by M. Bouchard, 177-.
  • Circassian Tree or Red Sandalwood Tree (Adenanthera pavonina L.): branch with flowers and pods, separate opened pod, seeds and flowers. Coloured line engraving.
  • Fever bark (a species of Croton): branch with flowers and fruit, separate flower, fruit and seeds and sections of fruit. Coloured line engraving.
  • East Indian Screw Tree (Helictores isora L.): branch with flowers and fruit, separate dehisced fruit and sectioned fruit with seeds. Coloured line engraving.
  • Rock or wall cress (Arabis thaliana): entire flowering plant with separate floral segments, opened fruit and seeds. Coloured etching by M. Bouchard, 177-.
  • Cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata L.): large leafy head with separate flowering stem, opened fruit and seeds. Coloured etching by M. Bouchard, 177-.
  • The Chelsea Physic Garden, London: two men at work in a laboratory drying and sorting seeds for research on medicinal herbs. Photograph, 1921.
  • A shrunken head, Jivaro Indian, Ecuador, S.America. Short hair, necklet and ear pendants of coix seeds. Lips sewn together, no threads hanging.
  • E. & T. Pink : manufacturers of jams, jellies, marmalade, pickles & sauces, spices, chemicals, paper, rice, seeds ... Staple Street, Boro, London.
  • Indian Snakeroot or Java Devilpepper (Rauvolfia serpentina (L.) Kurz): flowering and fruiting branches, root, inflorescence and sectioned fruit with seeds. Coloured line engraving.
  • A species of the genus Amaranthus: flowering stem with separate part of stem, leaf, fruit and seeds. Coloured etching by M. Bouchard, 177-.
  • Men lie sleeping under a tree; one sows seeds; representing the biblical parable of the sower. Etching by F. Keller after J.F. Overbeck.
  • Five figures showing fruit, pericarps and seeds of a gooseberry, fir cone and wallflower. Coloured etching by F. Sansom, c. 1802, after S. Edwards.
  • China rose or Shoe flower (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis L.): branch with flowers and fruit and separate flower, dissected fruit and seeds. Coloured line engraving.
  • Horse chestnuts (Aesculus hippocastanum L.): seeds (conkers) and their shells, with a poem about them. Etching with drypoint by A. Taiée after himself, c.1875.
  • Garden rocket (Eruca vesicaria (L.) Cav. subsp. sativa (Miller) Thell.): flowering and fruiting stem with separate fruit and seeds. Coloured etching by M. Bouchard, 177-.
  • A plant (Saraca declinata Miq.) related to the asoka tree: flowering and fruiting shoot with separate numbered flowers, seeds and germinating seed. Chromolithograph by P. Depannemaeker, c.1885, after B. Hoola van Nooten.
  • Madwort (Asperugo procumbens L.): flowering and fruiting stem arising from earth mound with separate sectioned flower and fruit with seeds. Coloured etching by M. Bouchard, 1774.
  • Bluebeard (Salvia viridis L.): two entire flowering stems numbered 1 and 2, with separate segments of flower, fruit and seeds. Coloured etching by M. Bouchard, 1775.
  • Four figures showing pericarp and seeds in fruits of an apple and a milkweed plant (Asclepias syriaca). Coloured etching by F. Sansom, c. 1802, after S. Edwards.
  • Travels in Peru and India : while superintending the collection of chinchona plants and seeds in South America, and their introduction into India / by Clements R. Markham.
  • Custard apple or Bullock's heart (Annona reticulata L.): fruiting branch with sections of fruit and seeds. Chromolithograph by P. Depannemaeker, c. 1885, after B. Hoola van Nooten.
  • Custard apple or Sweetsop (Annona squamosa L.): fruiting branch with sections of fruit, flowers and seeds. Chromolithograph by P. Depannemaeker, c. 1885, after B. Hoola van Nooten.
  • A man scatters seeds; representing the Biblical parable of the sower; here referring to the "ministry of the word", preaching. Etching by C. Murer after himself, c. 1600-1614.
  • Dirty Vlas the organ-grinder demonstrating that people who spit or crack sunflower-seeds spread tuberculosis and are therefore enemies of the people's health. Colour lithograph by T. Pashkov, 192-.
  • Dirty Vlas the organ-grinder demonstrating that people who spit or crack sunflower-seeds spread tuberculosis and are therefore enemies of the people's health. Colour lithograph by T. Pashkov, 192-.
  • 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.
  • Albizia julibrissin Durazz. Fabaceae. Persian silk tree. Called 'shabkhosb' in Persian, meaning 'sleeping tree' as the pinnate leaves close up at night. Tropical tree. Named for Filippo degli Albizzi, an Italian naturalist, who brought seeds from Constantinople to Florence in 1749, and introduced it to European horticulture. The specific epithet comes from the Persian 'gul-i abrisham' which means 'silk flower'. Distribution: South Africa to Ethiopia, Senegal, Madagascar, Asia. Bark is poisonous and emetic and antihelminthic. Various preparations are widely used for numerous conditions and the oxitocic albitocin is abortifacient. However, studies on the seeds and bark of other Albizia species in Africa, demonstrate it is highly toxic, half a kilogram of seeds given to a quarter ton bull, killed it in two hours (Neuwinger, 1996). A useful tree for controlling soil erosion, producing shade in coffee plantations, and as a decorative shade tree in gardens. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Albizia julibrissin Durazz. Fabaceae. Persian silk tree. Called 'shabkhosb' in Persian, meaning 'sleeping tree' as the pinnate leaves close up at night. Tropical tree. Named for Filippo degli Albizzi, an Italian naturalist, who brought seeds from Constantinople to Florence in 1749, and introduced it to European horticulture. The specific epithet comes from the Persian 'gul-i abrisham' which means 'silk flower'. Distribution: South Africa to Ethiopia, Senegal, Madagascar, Asia. Bark is poisonous and emetic and antihelminthic. Various preparations are widely used for numerous conditions and the oxitocic albitocin is abortifacient. However, studies on the seeds and bark of other Albizia species in Africa, demonstrate it is highly toxic, half a kilogram of seeds given to a quarter ton bull, killed it in two hours (Neuwinger, 1996). A useful tree for controlling soil erosion, producing shade in coffee plantations, and as a decorative shade tree in gardens. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Helianthus annuus L. Asteraceae Sun flower Distribution: Peru to Mexico. The seeds are a source of linoleic acid, a polyunsaturated fat which as part of one's diet is given to reduce coronary artery and cerebrovascular disease, but recently a study has found an increased death rate (BMJ2013