New College, Belsize, London. Wood engraving by C.D. Laing after B. Sly, 1851.

Libertia grandiflora Sweet, Iridaceae. Tukauki, mikoikoi, New Zealand satin flower. Herbaceous perennial. Distribution: New Zealand. Named for Marie Libert, Belgian botanist (1782-1863). No medicinal use. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.

Conference : recent developments in prevention and therapy through Maharishi ayur-veda towards a disease-free society : new approaches to the prevention and treatment of heart disease, chronic disorders, cancer, AIDS : Royal College of Physicians, London, Monday 17 October 1988 / World Medical Association for Perfect Health - Great Britain.

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.

Plectranthus argentatus S.T.Blake Lamiaceae Silver spurflower. Herbaceous perennial. Distribution: Queensland and New South Wales, Australia. Little is known of its chemical constituents. It does contain many novel diterpenoids in its leaf glands (Alder, A.C. et al, Helvetica Chimica Acta, 2004, 67(6): 1523 – 1530).This genus has had some species from the genus Coleus incorporated into it, and these form a separate clade on phylogenetic analysis. The species in the ‘Coleus’ clade have a higher incidence of medicinal usage, being used to treat digestive, skin, infective and respiratory problems. They contain monoterpenoids, sesquiterpenoids, and diterpenoids. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.

Solanum laciniatum Aiton Solanaceae. Kangaroo Apple. Evergreen shrub. Distribution: New Zealand and the east coast of Australia. It contains steroidal saponins that can be converted into steroids, including progesterone, oestrogens, cortisone, prednisolone etc. In 1943, Professor Russell Marker discovered a method of obtaining an unsaturated steroidal saponine, diosogenin, from Mexican yam (Dioscorea mexicana), which can easily and cheaply be converted into steroids, such as prednisone and progesterone, reducing the price of steroid production to a fraction (0.5%) of its former cost. For 20 years drug companies showed little interest, and it was only as a result of Professor Marker forming his own company, and the concerted efforts of several gynaecologists, physiologists and birth-control advocates, that the contraceptive pill was ‘born’ in 1960. 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.

The anatomy of humane bodies epitomized. Wherein all the parts of man's body with their actions and uses, are succinctly described, according to the newest doctrine of the most accurate and learned modern anatomists / By a Fellow of the College of Physicians, London [i.e. T. Gibson].

The London Hospital, Whitechapel: the medical college and nursing home. Wood engraving by E. G. after F. Watkins, 1887.

The British College of Health, Hamilton Place, near Pentonville Road. Wood engraving, 1840.

Medical Graduates' College, Chenies Street

Matthias Buchinger, a phocomelic man. Engraving after M. Buchinger, 1724.

Leptospermum scoparium 'Red Damask'

Edmund Watson (1696-1774), physician at Stockport. Oil painting attributed to Hamlet Winstanley.

Sir Astley Paston Cooper. Oil painting after Sir Thomas Lawrence.

A fortune-teller reading the palm of a soldier. Oil painting by Pietro Della Vecchia.

Platanus orientalis subsp insularis

Larynx and trachea with malignant disease of the thyroid gland

Primula sieboldii 'Long Acre hybrids'

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