Botany: Physic gardens

Sam Lane and Melanie Robb explain how centuries-old 'physic gardens' can contribute to 21st century plant science

The Biologist 63(1) p28-30

Almost 2,000 years ago, the physician Pedanius Dioscorides described hundreds of plant species with medicinal properties in his seminal work, De Materia Medica. It led to the spread of botanical knowledge throughout Europe, and in its wake a growth in the documentation, collection and use of valuable plants. Gardens containing medically useful plants began to play an important role as a resource for students, doctors and apothecaries, and the name 'physic' garden emerged in reference to the plants having a physical benefit on the body....

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