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Plant portraits

The beautiful and mysterious illustrations in medieval herbals convey a wealth of knowledge about the plants they portray.

  • Article

Hunting lost plants in botanical collections

A bark specimen at Kew recalls the story of a South American man who harvested the most potent source of the only effective malaria treatment available in the late 1800s. Killed for his work and forgotten by history, Manuel Mamani was a victim of the colonial juggernaut.

  • In pictures

Mandrake medicine and myths

There’s a lot of plant lore about the mandrake, going back to ancient times. Find out more about how this unremarkable-looking plant got its magical reputation.

  • Article

Illuminated manuscripts, illuminating medicines

From rare bugs to exorbitantly priced plant parts, find out more about the artistic and medical uses of pigments from the past.

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Images

  • Shanjiang (Alpinia japonica), medicinal plant. Chinese, 1655
  • Duruo (Pollia japonica), medicinal plant. Chinese, 1655
  • Quinine plant from medicinal plants by Robert Bentley, 1880.
  • Adder's tongue (Ophioglossum vulgatum L.): fertile stem with description of the plant and its medicinal uses. Coloured line engraving by J. Basire, the younger, c. 1759, after T. Sheldrake.
  • 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.
  • Alkanet (Anchusa tinctoria L.): flowering stem with separate leaf and floral segments and description of the plant and its medicinal uses. Coloured line engraving by C. H. Hemerich, c. 1759, after T. Sheldrake.
  • Morning glory (Ipomoea purpurea (L.) Roth.): flowering stem with separate floral segments and a description of the plant and its medicinal uses. Coloured line engraving by C.H. Hemerich, c.1759, after T. Sheldrake.
  • Haemanthus albiflos Jacq. Amaryllidaceae. Paintbrush plant. Distribution: South Africa. Used as a cough medicine and as a charm to ward off lightning (Pooley, 1998). Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Clivia miniata Regel Amaryllidoideae Kaffir lily, Natal lily. Named for Lady Charlotte Clive, Duchess of Northumberland Distribution: South Africa. A toxic plant containing the cytotoxic chemical, Lycorine. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Senecio pulcher Hook.&Arn. Asteraceae Distribution: South America. It has not attracted attention as a medicinal or toxic plant but members of the genus Senecio contain pyrrolizidine alkaloids that are toxic to the liver and may cause liver cancer. A traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) product, Qianbai Biyan Pian, contains Senecio scandens which contains the unsaturated pyrrolizidine alkaloids, senecionine and seneciphylline. This is now a banned drug. (Safety of Herbal Medicinal Products, July 2002, Medicines Control Agency). Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
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Events

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Perspective Tour with Kim Walker

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