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  • Ricinus Communis, Castor oil plant
  • Ricinus Communis, Castor Oil plant
  • Ricinus Communis (Castor Oil Plant)
  • Those who named the plants: Adam, Solomon, Theophrastus, and Dioscorides. Oil paintings.
  • Ancon, Panama Canal Zone: a mosquito oil plant interior showing rows of barrels. Photograph, 1910.
  • Fatsia japonica (Thunb.) Decne. & Planch. Araliaceae False castor oil plant. Distribution: Japan, South Korea. Not even in the same family as the castor oil plant, Ricinus communis. An ornamental plant, Fatsia from the Japanese word for 'eight' hachi referring to the eight-lobed leaf. The sap can cause dermatitis. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Castor oil plant (Ricinus communis): flowering and fruiting stem, leaf and fruit sections. Coloured lithograph after M. A. Burnett, c. 1847.
  • Ricinus communis L. Euphorbiaceae Castor oil plant. Palma Christi. Distribution: Mediterranean, E Africa, India. The seeds themselves are pretty, brown, bean-like usually with gold filigree markings on them, and the interior of the seed is the source of castor oil. The outer coat of the seed is the source of the poison ricin, famous (infamous) for the umbrella murder of Georgi Markov on Waterloo Bridge in 1978. The KGB are alleged to have killed Georgi Markov, a dissident Bulgarian journalist, with a pellet containing 0.28mgm of ricin fired into his leg using a specially adapted air gun in an umbrella. While his symptoms were those of ricin poisoning, no ricin was ever found in the pellet that was extracted from his leg. Two seeds, chewed and ingested are said to be fatal, but most people vomit and get rid of the toxin. Ducks are resistant to ricin, and need to ingest more than 80 to be fatal! In Peru the leaves are used as a tea for stomach ache, although they contain small amounts of ricin. It is called Palma Christi in early herbals because of the five pointed leaves, which schematically represent a hand. It is a monotypic genus in the spurge family. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Ricinus communis L. Euphorbiaceae Castor oil plant. Palma Christi. Distribution: Mediterranean, E Africa, India. The seeds themselves are pretty, brown, bean-like usually with gold filigree markings on them, and the interior of the seed is the source of castor oil. The outer coat of the seed is the source of the poison ricin, famous (infamous) for the umbrella murder of Georgi Markov on Waterloo Bridge in 1978. The KGB are alleged to have killed Georgi Markov, a dissident Bulgarian journalist, with a pellet containing 0.28mgm of ricin fired into his leg using a specially adapted air gun in an umbrella. While his symptoms were those of ricin poisoning, no ricin was ever found in the pellet that was extracted from his leg. Two seeds, chewed and ingested are said to be fatal, but most people vomit and get rid of the toxin. Ducks are resistant to ricin, and need to ingest more than 80 to be fatal! In Peru the leaves are used as a tea for stomach ache, although they contain small amounts of ricin. It is called Palma Christi in early herbals because of the five pointed leaves, which schematically represent a hand. It is a monotypic genus in the spurge family. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Ricinus communis L. Euphorbiaceae Castor oil plant. Palma Christi. Distribution: Mediterranean, E Africa, India. The seeds themselves are pretty, brown, bean-like usually with gold filigree markings on them, and the interior of the seed is the source of castor oil. The outer coat of the seed is the source of the poison ricin, famous (infamous) for the umbrella murder of Georgi Markov on Waterloo Bridge in 1978. The KGB are alleged to have killed Georgi Markov, a dissident Bulgarian journalist, with a pellet containing 0.28mgm of ricin fired into his leg using a specially adapted air gun in an umbrella. While his symptoms were those of ricin poisoning, no ricin was ever found in the pellet that was extracted from his leg. Two seeds, chewed and ingested are said to be fatal, but most people vomit and get rid of the toxin. Ducks are resistant to ricin, and need to ingest more than 80 to be fatal! In Peru the leaves are used as a tea for stomach ache, although they contain small amounts of ricin. It is called Palma Christi in early herbals because of the five pointed leaves, which schematically represent a hand. It is a monotypic genus in the spurge family. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Ricinus communis L. Euphorbiaceae Castor oil plant. Palma Christi. Distribution: Mediterranean, E Africa, India. The seeds themselves are pretty, brown, bean-like usually with gold filigree markings on them, and the interior of the seed is the source of castor oil. The outer coat of the seed is the source of the poison ricin, famous (infamous) for the umbrella murder of Georgi Markov on Waterloo Bridge in 1978. The KGB are alleged to have killed Georgi Markov, a dissident Bulgarian journalist, with a pellet containing 0.28mgm of ricin fired into his leg using a specially adapted air gun in an umbrella. While his symptoms were those of ricin poisoning, no ricin was ever found in the pellet that was extracted from his leg. Two seeds, chewed and ingested are said to be fatal, but most people vomit and get rid of the toxin. Ducks are resistant to ricin, and need to ingest more than 80 to be fatal! In Peru the leaves are used as a tea for stomach ache, although they contain small amounts of ricin. It is called Palma Christi in early herbals because of the five pointed leaves, which schematically represent a hand. It is a monotypic genus in the spurge family. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Planters Foods Limited : manufacturers of margarine, compound, edible fats, refined oils, and other high-class food preparations : registered office & works, Brombro Port, Cheshire.
  • Camellia sasanqua Thunb. Theaceae. Christmas camellia. Camellia commemorates Georg Josef Kamel (1661-1706), Jesuit pharmacist from Moravia (Czech Republic) who worked in the Philippines and sent plants to John Ray in England (Oakeley, 2012) Evergreen shrub. Distribution: Japan and China. Leaves are used in Japan to make tea (normally made from C. sinensis) and the seeds to make the edible tea seed oil. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Prostanthera ovalifolia R.Br. Lamiaceae Alpine anise bush, Oval leaf Mintbush, Purple mintbush. Woody shrub. Distribution: Australia. Minty flavoured leaves used in jams and jellies. Various essential oils are produced from commercially grown P. ovalifolia (cis-dihydroagarofuran, kessane, 1,8-cineole which is also known as eucalyptol, p-cymene,) and P. cuneata also contains eucalyptol. Concentrations of essential oils in the plants vary according to the clonal variety, growing conditions and time of year. Aboriginal peoples used Prostanthera leaves in medicinal ointments and washes, but one species, P. striatiflora, was used to poison waterholes to kill visiting emu (Hegarty, 2001). Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Illicium verum Hook.f. Illiciaceae Chinese Star Anise Distribution: China. Illicium anisatum Japanese Star Anise. Distribution Japan. Illicium verum is used as a spice in Asian cooking and for Star Anise tea. The distilled oil is added to cough mixture used by children. Introduced to Europe in 1588 (Pharmacographia Indica, 1890). Illicium anisatum syn. religiosum, has been confused with it (Lindley, 1838, Bentley 1861) but is poisonous and was used to make incense in Japanese and Chinese temples. It was called Skimi by Kaempfer. The seed pods of both species contain shikimic acid (the name being derived from the Japanese word for the plant - shi-kimi) from which Tamiflu, the antiviral drug was synthesised. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Nigella sativa L. Ranunculaceae Love-in-the-mist, Black Cumin, Nutmeg flower, Roman Coriander. Distribution: SW Asia. Culpeper (1650) writes: ‘Nigella seeds, boyled in oil, and the forehead anointed with it, ease pains in the head, take away leprosie, itch, scurf, and helps scald-heads, inwardly taken they expel worms, they provoke urine and the terms, help difficulty of breathing: the smoke of them (being burned) drives away serpents and venomous beasts.’ The seeds are used as a spice, but as might be expected as a member of the family Ranunculaceae, the buttercups, the plant contains a highly poisonous glycoside, in this case called melanthin. The amount of toxicity present in spices is clearly insufficient to cause problems when used as such. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Nigella sativa L. Ranunculaceae Love-in-the-mist, Black Cumin, Nutmeg flower, Roman Coriander. Distribution: SW Asia. Culpeper (1650) writes: ‘Nigella seeds, boyled in oil, and the forehead anointed with it, ease pains in the head, take away leprosie, itch, scurf, and helps scald-heads, inwardly taken they expel worms, they provoke urine and the terms, help difficulty of breathing: the smoke of them (being burned) drives away serpents and venomous beasts.’ The seeds are used as a spice, but as might be expected as a member of the family Ranunculaceae, the buttercups, the plant contains a highly poisonous glycoside, in this case called melanthin. The amount of toxicity present in spices is clearly insufficient to cause problems when used as such. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Paris quadrifolia L. Trilliaceae Herb Paris Distribution: Europe and temperate Asia. This dramatic plant was known as Herb Paris or one-berry. Because of the shape of the four leaves, resembling a Burgundian cross or a true love-knot, it was also known as Herb True Love. Prosaically, the name ‘Paris’ stems from the Latin ‘pars’ meaning ‘parts’ referring to the four equal leaves, and not to the French capital or the lover of Helen of Troy. Sixteenth century herbalists such as Fuchs, who calls it Aconitum pardalianches which means leopard’s bane, and Lobel who calls it Solanum tetraphyllum, attributed the poisonous properties of Aconitum to it. The latter, called monkshood and wolfsbane, are well known as poisonous garden plants. Gerard (1633), however, reports that Lobel fed it to animals and it did them no harm, and caused the recovery of a dog poisoned deliberately with arsenic and mercury, while another dog, which did not receive Herb Paris, died. It was recommended thereafter as an antidote to poisons. Coles (1657) wrote 'Herb Paris is exceedingly cold, wherupon it is proved to represse the rage and force of any Poyson, Humour , or Inflammation.' Because of its 'cold' property it was good for swellings of 'the Privy parts' (where presumably hot passions were thought to lie), to heal ulcers, cure poisoning, plague, procure sleep (the berries) and cure colic. Through the concept of the Doctrine of Signatures, the black berry represented an eye, so oil distilled from it was known as Anima oculorum, the soul of the eye, and 'effectual for all the disease of the eye'. Linnaeus (1782) listed it as treating 'Convulsions, Mania, Bubones, Pleurisy, Opththalmia', but modern authors report the berry to be toxic. That one poison acted as an antidote to another was a common, if incorrect, belief in the days of herbal medicine. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Peucedanum oreoselinum (L.) Munch.: flowering and fruiting stem with separate leaf, flower, fruit and seed. Coloured etching by M. Bouchard, 1778.
  • A workshop in which oils are made from trees, nuts, berries etc. for foodstuffs and medicines. Woodcut by J. Amman.
  • Alepol brand sodium hydnocarpate / Burroughs Wellcome & Co. (The Wellcome Foundation Ltd.).
  • Alepol brand sodium hydnocarpate / Burroughs Wellcome & Co. (The Wellcome Foundation Ltd.).
  • Alepol brand sodium hydnocarpate / Burroughs Wellcome & Co. (The Wellcome Foundation Ltd.).
  • Alepol brand sodium hydnocarpate / Burroughs Wellcome & Co. (The Wellcome Foundation Ltd.).
  • Damask (Hesperis matronalis L.): flowering and fruiting stem with separate floral segments, fruit and seeds. Coloured etching by M. Bouchard, 177-.
  • Sweet marjoram (Origanum majorana L.): flowering stem with separate floral segments. Coloured etching by M. Bouchard, 1775.
  • Thyme (Thymus vulgaris L.): entire flowering plant with separate floral segments. Coloured etching by M. Bouchard, 1775.
  • Jasmine (Jasminum species): flowering stem. Watercolour.
  • Hyssop (Hyssop officinalis L.): flowering stem with separate leaves and floral segments and a description of the plant and its uses. Coloured line engraving by C.H. Hemerich, c.1759, after T. Sheldrake.
  • Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Miller): flowering and fruiting stems with separate node and floral and fruiting segments. Coloured etching by M. Bouchard, 1778.