Wellcome uses cookies.

Read our policy
Wellcome Collection homepage
All
Stories
Images
Catalogue
Events
17 results
  • Men and boys in an Italian garden preparing the horses and hounds to go hunting. Engraving by J.P. Le Bas after C. Parrocel.
  • 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.
  • A gathering of many different animals with a large walled classical Italian-style garden behind and a banner bearing the book title above. Etching by W. Hollar, 1663, after himself.
  • 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.
  • Zantedeschia aethiopica (L)Spreng. Calla lily, Arum lily. Half hardy annual. Distribution: South Africa. The genus name commemorates Giovanni Zantedeschi (1773-1846) an Italian physician and botanist. Born in Molina he studied medicine in Verona and Padua. He corresponded with the German botanist, Kurt Sprengel, who named the genus Zantedeschia in his honour in 1826, separating it from Calla, where, as C. aethiopica, it had been previously described by Linnaeus. He had broad interests, including the effect of different parts of the spectrum of light on plant growth, reporting in 1843, that red, orange and yellow light are heliotropically inactive. The botanic museum in Molina is dedicated to his memory. Aethiopica, merely means 'African'. The leaves are used as a warm poultice for headaches in ‘muthi’ medicine. It has become an invasive weed in parts of Australia. It was introduced, as a greenhouse plant, to Europe in the mid-17th century, where the long lasting flowers are popular in flower arranging and for weddings and funerals – a curious combination (Oakeley, 2012). Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Vicia faba L. Fabaceae. Broad beans, Fava bean. Distribution: N. Africa, SW Asia. Culpeper (1650) writes: 'Fabarum. Of Beans. Of Bean Cods (or Pods as we in Sussex call them) being burned, the ashes are a sovereign remedy for aches in the joints, old bruises, gout and sciaticaes.’ The beans are perfectly edible for the majority, but 1% of Caucasians, predominantly among Greeks, Italians and people from the Eastern Mediterranean regions, have a genetic trait in that they lack the ability to produce the enzyme glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase. As a consequence, eating broad beans or even inhaling the pollen, causes a severe haemolytic anaemia a few days later. This condition is known as favism. The whole plant, including the beans, contains levodopa, a precursor of dopamine, and some patients with Parkinsonism report symptomatic improvement after commencing on a diet that contains these beans regularly. A case of neuroleptic malignant-like syndrome (fever, rigidity, autonomic instability, altered consciousness, elevated creatine phosphokinase levels) consequent on abrupt discontinuation of a diet containing plenty of broad beans, has been described in a patient with Parkinsonism. This is usually seen when patients abruptly discontinue L-dopa therapy. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • A nobleman and his wife view their garden through a window under the words "kalendarium hortense". Etching.
  • A large renaissance water garden with angels in the clouds above. Etching.
  • Genoa, with the aid of Arethusa, Alcimus, and Cosmus, introduces the lemon tree into Italy, thanks to the warm air of the Ligurian coast. Engraving by G.F. Greuter after G. Reni.
  • Anchusa azurea 'Loddon Royalist'
  • God creates man in the Garden of Eden. Coloured etching, 17--.
  • Saint Augustine of Hippo: he suffers from toothache. Collotype (?), 1907, after Benozzo Gozzoli.
  • A border of plants from a Roman garden in the 1st century A.D., with the main plants labelled. Photograph.
  • Callicarpa bodinieri var giraldii 'Profusion'
  • The hospital of San Michele at the port of Ripa grande, Italy. Engraving by D. Montaigu after J. Barbault.
  • A married woman attending a health resort as a cover for a love-affair does not drink the curative water but pours it back into the basin of a fountain. Colour lithograph, 1914.