Herbal Medicine Awareness Week: Guided Walk

Participants enjoyed finding out about the 17th-18th-century plants at the Queen's Anne Gardens.  The plants were labelled with notes about the then Herbalists:

Gerard wrote a famous Herbal (published 1597), where he stated that Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis), "driveth away all melancholie and sadnesse"; while Parkinsons later stated in 1629 that the infused oil of Hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis) "doth comfort benummed sinews and joints".  Parkinsons also used Lady's mantle (Alchemilla  vulgaris) for "such mades or women that have overgreat flagging breasts", an use that has not been lost.