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Physalis alkekengi L. Rosaceae Chinese lantern, Winter Cherry, Bladder Cherry. Distribution: C & S Europe, W. Asia to Japan Culpeper: In his English Physitian of 1652 writes: Winter Cherry ...are of great use in physic ...’ and recommends them for almost all kidney and urinary problems. In particular he seems to advocate the use of green berries in beer, for preventing kidney stones lodging in the ureters. It is called ‘aikakengi’ in the College’s Pharmacopoeia Londinensis of 1618. Belonging to the family Solanaceae, all its parts are poisonous except the ripe fruit. The green fruit and the rest of the plant contain atropinic compounds and will produce a dry mouth, rapid heart beat, hallucinations, coma and death if enough is taken. As the atropine is only present in the unripe fruit eating one will make the mouth go dry (and it has the most unpleasant taste), but it will also relax the smooth muscle in the wall of the ureter which helps passage of ureteric stones. Culpeper’s observations on its usefulness are supported by more modern observations. When ripe, the orange fruit inside its skeletal outer ‘lantern’ is edible, free of atropine, and delicious. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
Dr Henry Oakeley- Books
The way we eat now : how the food revolution has transformed our lives, our bodies, and our world / Bee Wilson.
Wilson, BeeDate: 2019- Digital Images
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Lactuca sativa (Garden lettuce)
Rowan McOnegal- Digital Images
- Online
Fraxinus excelsior (Ash)
Rowan McOnegal- Digital Images
- Online
Passiflora caerulea (Common Passion flower)
Rowan McOnegal- Digital Images
- Online
Foeniculum vulgare (Fennel)
Rowan McOnegal- Digital Images
- Online
Crataegus monogyna (Hawthorn or May-tree)
Rowan McOnegal- Digital Images
- Online
Levisticum officinale or Ligusticum sp (Lovage)
Rowan McOnegal- Archives and manuscripts
Mariculture administrative material (Mariculture's case for continuing to sell products from Cholonia Mydas)
Date: 1973-1975Reference: PP/AMO/F/1/6Part of: Amoroso, Professor Emmanuel Ciprian CBE, FRCP, FRS (1901-1982)- Digital Images
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Vicia faba (Broadbean). Also called horsebean
Sue Snell- Digital Images
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Jin gua'er (a kind of pumpkin), Chinese woodcut
- Digital Images
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Luconghua (Hemerocallis), Chinese woodcut, 1582
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Famine Relief Herbal (1593): Lotus root