originally posted: June 27, 2003 | by chelsie

Brazilian waterweed (Egeria densa Planchon) is a graceful plant added to aquaria to oxygenate the water. The plant was named for a nymph, a nature spirit worshipped by the ancient Sabines in the early years of the Roman Empire. [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: June 20, 2003 | by chelsie

The wallflower (Cheiranthus cheiri Linnaeus) is a member of the Brassicaceae, the mustard family. Native to southern Europe, the wild type is yellow flowering, domesticated varieties range in color from yellow to deep red. The genus designation was built from the Greek, cheiros, meaning hand and anthus meaning flower. Small bouquets of the fragrant flowers were often carried by ladies and this fashion is believed the reasoning for the generic name. [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: June 13, 2003 | by chelsie

In his second volume of The Herbal or General Historie of Plants, John Gerard was most upset with an apparent error on the part of Pliny the Elder, "Pliny...putteth the herbe in the feminine gender, naming it Euphorbia..." Of course, he corrected Pliny, "...we are faine in English to use the Latine word, and to call both the herbe and juyce by the name of Euphorbium..." (In Gerard's day, any plant considered "barren", "unworthy", or "having no use" were given the feminine forms of Latinized names.) [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: June 6, 2003 | by chelsie

Ichthyotoxins are chemicals which are particularly poisonous to fish. The toxins occur naturally in numerous species of plants. Adding chopped or macerated plant materials to bodies of water to ease catching fish was a widespread practice. Anthropologists have recorded the use of ichthyotoxic [ik' thee o tox ic] plants from areas as diverse as Africa, India, Southeast Asia, the Oceanic and Pacific Islands, and the Americas. [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: May 30, 2003 | by chelsie

Lupulus was a controversial plant. Some believed the plant "engendered melancholy". Some considered the flowers a contaminant of ale, even if its use preserved the product. According to Mrs. Grieve, during the reign of Henry VIII (1509 to 1547), the English Parliament was petitioned against its use, "'a wicked weed that would spoil the taste of the drink and endanger the people'." (A Modern Herbal, 1931, reprinted 1996, Barnes and Noble) [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: May 23, 2003 | by chelsie

Tonics were considered any remedy which improved the tone or vigor of the stomach and intestines, or the muscles in general and hence preserved or improved overall health. Non-medicinal tonics included such activities as exercise in the open air, vigorous massages, steam rooms, and cold baths. Medicinal tonics called vegetable extracts, were taken internally and were of two types. The first acted on the stomach and 'improved' digestion like willow, dandelion, chamomile, and gentian. The second supplied some needed vitamin or mineral. (Century Unabridged Dictionary, 1889) [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: May 16, 2003 | by chelsie

"There be sundry sorts of herbes contained under the name of Sanicle, and yet not one of them agreeing with our common Sanicle, called Diapensia, in any one respect, except in the vertues, whereof no doubt they tooke that name; which number doth dayly increase, by reason that the later writers have put downe more new plants, not written of before by the Antients...." (John Gerard, The Herbal or General Historie of Plants, 1633 edition) [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: May 9, 2003 | by chelsie

When John Gerard originally wrote The Herbal in 1597 he wrote of four galingales (Cyperus longus and other species). Thomas Johnson added two more 'galingale' sedges (Cyperus species) and the "true galingales, greater and lesser" in 1633. [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: May 2, 2003 | by chelsie

During the Middle Ages, peonies (genus: Paeonia) were magical plants, feared as much as they were loved for their medicinal uses. John Gerard believed most peony legends were nonsense, but he also felt the plants were valuable treatments. He mentioned, "...these herbs tooke the name of Peionie, or Paean...who first found out and taught the knowledge of this herbe unto posteritie." [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: April 25, 2003 | by chelsie

One of the earliest known uses and cultivation of flax comes from archaeological evidence of the lake dwellers in Switzerland. The prehistoric peoples plaited the fibers into cordage for nets and lines, made ropes for carrying heavy items and controlling animals, and wove the fibers into crude clothing. It is considered that the lake dwellers could not have constructed their homes or erected dolmens and menhirs (stone memorials) without the use of ropes and cords. ("Lake Geneva" and "Flax", 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica) [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: April 18, 2003 | by chelsie

The ancient Teutonic religion believed in two races of gods. The elder Vanir were wise, benevolent, and famed for their magic, fruitfulness, and foresight. The Norns, goddesses of destiny, were members of the Vanir. The younger Aesir, ruled by Odin, were warriors. [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: April 11, 2003 | by chelsie

Dyer's wood or woad (Isatis tinctoria Linnaeus) was the source of a blue dye since the Celts. Woad was known in Latin as isatis and guaisdium. Linnaeus retained the first for its botanical designation; the second is believed the source of its common name. [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: April 4, 2003 | by chelsie

Hester Pooks Tradescant, widow of John Tradescant the Younger, was found dead this morning, apparently drowned in a garden pool at her home in Vauxhall in South Lambeth. She was the last family member to own the estate of the famous Tradescants, gardeners to nobility and collectors of curiosities. Hester spent the final years of her life fighting for her rights to the Museum Tradescantium, commonly known as Tradescant's Ark--the fabulous collection of artifacts. [Click here to read more...]