#plants #history #botany #art 🌱 Theobroma cacao - Cacao Tree - Cocoa Beans It's a dark day in 🇬🇧 today. N Hemisphere year-end treat? First known c. 3000bce in Central America and brought to Europe from 1650 onward. Short history of our favourite fun food - research.reading.ac.uk/research-blo...

#plants #history #botany #art 🧳 Well, after a very sad weekend the good news is that there are only 6 days until the Northern Winter Solstice. 👍 That's when I'm going to take a few weeks off, switch off the news feeds on my 'phone and try to recover from the last few years. Have a good week!

#plants #botany #history #art 🌳 Ilex aquifolium - Common Holly Another pagan new-year fertility symbol. I have one of these in my garden. I didn't intend to but I think it arrived with one of the Blackbirds that nest in the Laurel. Woodland Trust page - www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-...

#plants #Brown #Bondi #art This has been a bad weekend. I ask of the bigots - whatever your mistaken beliefs - STOP. I am in my twilight years - let me live them in peace. Spare me from news of your senseless destruction. You have made a Covenant with Death and with Hell you are in Agreement.

#plants #history #botany #art Viscum album - Mistletoe A very turn-of-year plant. A tolerated parasite of apple trees and yes, I have often been Wassailing and woken with a fine hangover. Oxford Herbaria herbaria.plants.ox.ac.uk/bol/plants40... Wassail! www.nationaltrust.org.uk/discover/his...

#plants #history #botany #art Anthurium andraeanum - Anthurium, Flamingo Flower (many more) It's the New Year Red & Green tradition again and these are in my local supermarkets as gifts. Origins Columbia/Ecuador. Illustration R. Horticole c1871. RHS basic care - www.rhs.org.uk/plants/1349/...

#plants #history #botany #art Cinnamomum verum syn. C. zeylanicum - True Cinnamon Not to be confused with C. cassia which is related but not as good. Excellent winter spice. Simple How-To for mulled wine 🙂 - www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/mull... Good article from Kew - www.kew.org/plants/cinna...

#plants #history #botany #art Phoenix dactylifera - Date Palm A N Hemisphere New Year tradition is dried fruits and I'm fond of Dates. Illus. Michel Descourtilz, Antilles c1827 Loads of happy date recipies - www.bbc.co.uk/food/date Everything you could want to know - www.kew.org/plants/date-...

#plants #history #botany #art Picea abies - Norway Spruce A Norse and Germanic new year tradition. Norway Spruce the tree of choice for decoration because of its pleasing and elegant shape. 🇬🇧🇳🇴 We stand by our friends - the gift of Norwegian Spruce since 1947 - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trafalg...

#plants #history #botany #art Well, it's another early Monday morning in Europe and I hope the weekend weather was kind to you. (Mine wasn't.) 13 days to the Winter Solstice! The days will be longer - eventually - and we can plan for the New Year.

#plants #history #botany #art Picea abies - Norway Spruce A Norse and Germanic new year tradition. Norway Spruce the tree of choice for decoration because of its pleasing and elegant shape. 🇬🇧🇳🇴 We stand by our friends - the gift of Norwegian Spruce since 1947 - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trafalg...

#plants #history #botany #art Boswellia sacra - Frankincense A scrubby tree native to the harsh conditions of the Horn of Africa and SE Arabian Peninsula. Valuable sap is harvested for incense and perfume, used in rituals for many millennia. Quick history: www.laphamsquarterly.org/roundtable/b...

#plants #botany #history #art Zingiber officinale - Ginger Origins in SE Asia and first recorded in Analects of Confucius c475 BCE. Now a world spice, completely domesticated and rarely seen in the wild. How to make crystallised Ginger, a seasonal gift: fromthelarder.co.uk/homemade-cry...

#plants #history #botany #art Ficus carica - Fig Tree Origins Middle East from Turkey to Pakistan, cultivated from ancient times. Easy to dry and store. Figs always appear in my home at year-end. About the Fig Tree - www.kew.org/plants/fig Figgy Pudding 🙂 www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/figg...

#plants #history #botany #art Good Morning All! I hope that you had a good weekend if it was possible. It is December 1st and just 20 days to count until the Winter Solstice in the N Hemisphere. I'll spend the time looking at some plants that have entered our traditions for the Turn of the Year.

#plants #history #botany #art Schlumbergera, (Epiphyllanthus) genus - Christmas Cacti Extending the pagan tradition of red berries & green leaves for decoration at the turn of the year. Origin Brazil, early C19th, Illustration c1887. A background article www.gardeningknowhow.com/tbt/history-...

#plants #history #botany #art William James Muller 1812-1845 The Apothecaries' Garden, Chelsea Oils on Canvas c1842. (The Apothecaries' Garden later became The Physic Garden) Have a good weekend, wherever you are! All about the Chelsea Physic Garden www.chelseaphysicgarden.co.uk/about/history/

#plants #history #botany #art Do you have a long weekend ahead? Were you interested in the story of medicinal plants I've posted? If you have access to iPlayer, Prime Video or BritBox then you may want to watch the late, great Dr Michael Mosely's 3-part history. www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...

#plants #history #botany #art 🌱 Coffea arabica - Coffee Plant Source of the stimulant Caffeine (and you'd be surprised how many medications contain it). Isolated by Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge, c1819. The long, colourful history of coffee - goats, kings, popes... www.aboutcoffee.org/origins/hist...

#plants #history #botany #art ☠️ Atropa belladonna - Deadly Nightshade 🧵/1 Deadly means just that - don't mess with it. Another Solanaceae, heavily laced with Atropine. Atropine was used as a cosmetic in the Early Modern Period (for dilating pupils) and is still a useful medication but... 🧵/next

#plants #history #botany #art 🌳 Cinchona officinalis - Brown Peru Bark (many others) Origin tropical S #America, many varieties of Cinchona but all are a source of the #medicine Quinine, the treatment for Malaria. Originally presented as Tonic Water, still a popular mixer - just add London Gin 🥂

#plants #history #botany #art 🌼 Good morning! Only a few weeks to go until the year-end and I for one will need a rest break. We live in interesting times 🙁 A few more useful medical plants this week, then on to something lighter as we run up to the New Year.

#plants #history #botany #art 🌱 Salix alba - Common Willow Common to temperate N Hemisphere. One of the original sources of the #medicine Salicin which is NOT Aspirin. Aspirin was synthesised from Salicin (extracted from Meadowsweet) by Bayer c1897. Salicin ref: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salicin

#plants #history #botany #art 🌳 Highgate Cemetery, North London 🇬🇧. Karl Marx rises to glare down at the ruins of Victorian society. One final view of Autumn 2025. I don't usually post photographs but a good friend took it today and the last leaves are still hanging.

#plants #history #botany #art This may be the last Autumnal theme for this year. The evenings in 🇬🇧 have been dark and cold this week, and snow is falling not far to the north of me. Enjoy your weekend! Konstantin Korovin (1861-1939) 'Autumn in a Russian village' Early C20th Oils on Panel

#plants #history #botany #art #medicine #livingfossil 🌱 Ephedra distachya - Sea Grape Ancient plant that has changed little in the last 100 million years. Source of the stimulant Ephedrine, first isolated by Nagayoshi Nagai c1885. Cambridge Botanic ref: www.botanic.cam.ac.uk/learning/tra...

#plants #history #botany #art 🌱 Papaver somniferum - Opium Poppy Victorian drug of choice (Laudanum, Opium diluted in alcohol) exploited by the 🇬🇧East India Company. Original source of the #medicine Morphine, the greatest advance in pain relief. Good read: herbaria.plants.ox.ac.uk/bol/plants40...

#plants #history #botany #art 🌱 Datura stramonium - Jjimson Weed, Devil's Trumpet. Origin Isthmus of Darien & Mexico, spread world wide. It's a Solanaceae and an original source of the #medicine (s) atropine, hyoscyamine, and scopolamine. (There are others.) refs www.rhs.org.uk/plants/5355/...

#plants #history #botany #art 🌱 Digitalis purpurea - Common Foxglove Original source of the cardiac #medicine Digoxin / Digitalin. First clues from William Withering in 1785 who used it to treat Dropsy. Digoxin was isolated c1930 by Dr Sydney Smith. General ref: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digitalis

#plants #history #botany #art 🌱 Well, Monday got here! (He said, whist putting away a mop and bucket.) Storm Claudia got trapped squarely over my house by two opposing pressure systems for 48 hours. Wet, wet, wet... 🙁 Everyone else in 🇬🇧 OK? Let's have a good week. Plant Medicines and Poisons?

#plants #history #botany #art 🍆 Friday has crept up on me again - weather forecast for the weekend is awful. I'm just going to stay home and stare at #vegetables 🙁 James Peale (1749-1832) Balsam Apple and Vegetables Oils on Canvas c1820s. Original at the Met - www.metmuseum.org/art/collecti...

#plants #history #botany #art 🌱 Rhopalostylis sapida - Nīkau It's coming up to summer in the S Hemisphere. This is Nīkau, #NewZealand 's only native palm. And this is a link to Nīkau in the Motutapu Island Restoration project web site: Read all about it 🙂 - www.motutapu.org.nz/news/nikau--...

#plants #history #botany #art 🌼 Gentiana asclepiadea - Willow Gentian In the N Hemisphere the winter days are shortening quickly. I think it's time for something bright. Willow gentian should have finished flowering by now but you may find some seed pods. RHS HowTo www.rhs.org.uk/plants/7765/...

#plants #history #botany #art 🌱 Overnight the user accounts total went past +38,000,000 of you since I signed up 2 years ago. Thank you all for being pleasant, intelligent & friendly people. Such a change! I'm a little busy today. Have a good day!

#plants #history #botany #art 🌱 I hope you all had a good weekend. My local weather forecast is for at least 14 days of tepid British drizzle. I'd better find something useful to do indoors. 🙁

#plants #history #botany #art 🌱 Drosera rotundifolia - Round-Leaved Sundew A reminder of how adaptable plants are in even the most unlikely of environments. Common to Northern Hemisphere, all continents. A good, short article from the 🇬🇧 Wildlife Trust: www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-exp...

#plants #history #botany #art Papaver Rhoeas - Common Poppy Remembrance Sunday in 🇬🇧. The guns of 1914 - 1918 fell silent, and we wear poppies. We pay our respects to all those who have served and fallen in the defence of our freedom. In Flanders Fields www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47380/...

#plants #trees #history #botany #art 🌳 Have a good weekend, get out into the woods and enjoy a little solitude if you can. 🙂 Sergei Vinogradov 1869-1938 USSR 'A walk through the woods in Autumn' Oils on Canvas c1925 (?) Short bio and other works: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_...

Today's #OnlineArtExchange is most dramatic artworks ⚡🌟 We're starting with some theatrical portraits 👉 https://artuk.org/discover/stories/hamming-it-up-a-closer-look-at-the-genre-of-theatrical-portraits 'Dame Ellen Terry, as Lady Macbeth' by Reginald Grenville Eves (1876–1941) 📷 Eden herb

#plants #history #botany #art 🌱 Good Morning, All... I'm now fitted with newly repaired eyesight and it's good to see you! 🧐 Sir George Clausen, R.A. 1852-1944 'Ploughing on an Autumn day' Pencil, Watercolour, Ink and Gouache, c1925 Short bio and other works: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_...

#plants #trees #history #botany #art 🌲 Larix decidua - European Larch A favourite of commercial timber planters. Tough, deciduous and withstands very low temperatures. My thanks to wbfmorningstar.bsky.social 🙂 Guide to identifying common forestry (I need one...) ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/an...

#plants #history #botany #art 🌱 Good Morning, All. Monday is sweeping across the globe and I wish you all a happy week to come. I won't be around this week - I'm going to have eye surgery and I may have to take it easy for a few days. See my posts for today.

#plants #history #botany #art 🌱 Erythroxylum coca - Coca (shrub) 🧵/1 And so here's the plant that's making my eye surgery possible. It gets a bad name but it's where most modern local anaesthetics originate. I've posted it before but I've a special interest this week. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca

If you are celebrating Bonfire Night this weekend, wherever you live in the world, please check for Wildlife before lighting! 🔥🦔 If you live in the UK please check for hedgehogs as they will make a home in an unlit bonfire pile 🪵🦔🍂 #bonfire #bonfirenight #hedgehog #nature #wildlife #halloween #hogs

I just noticed. Well done everybody!

#plants #history #botany #art Friday has arrived in Europe. Walk in the park. Have a good weekend! Abram Anshelevich Manievich (1883-1942) Bronx River Park (Sometimes listed as Bronx Park - not the same, I know.) Oils on canvas c1923 Short bio. & views of other works: arthive.com/artists/2398...

#plants #gardening #roses #botany #history #art 🌼 Rosa × odorata - Tea Rose Comtesse de Nadaillac Roses come and go, this one is still with us after 150 years. Comtesse de Nadaillac was bred by Jean-Baptiste André (fils) Guillot (1827-1893) in France, c1871. This illustration published c1889.

#plants #history #botany #history #art 🌼 Kniphofia uvaria - Torch Lily, Red Hot Poker Split & gift clumps of K.uvaria with friends for free new plants in bright, #bee & #pollinator friendly gardens. Origins S #Africa C19th, published c1841 How to propagate: www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/grow-...

#plants #ferns #history #botany #art 🌱 Struthiopteris spicant syn. Blechnum spicant - Deer Fern, Hard Fern. Hardy, attractive and very adaptable ancient fern common from #Nordic countries to #Iran, and #Pacific NW seaboard from #Alaska to #California. Grow ferns - www.rhs.org.uk/plants/types...

#plants #botany #history #art Good Morning All! Monday morning has dawned despite my best efforts to stop it. I hope you all had a good weekend and spent some quality time on yourselves.