Posts Tagged ‘Renaissance botany’
Lobelia’s namesake: Mathias de l’Obel and the botanical tale of beauty and toxicity
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. March 3, 1616 Dearest reader, On this day, the botanically inclined world welcomes the arrival of Mathias de l’Obel (“ma-TEE-us dew Lew-bell”), a Flemish physician whose gentle wisdom forever changed our understanding of…
Read MoreThe Father of Modern Botany: Hieronymus Bock’s Journey Through German Gardens and Herbs
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. February 21, 1554 Dearest reader, On this day, the world of gardening suffered the loss of Hieronymus Bock, the German botanist, physician, and Lutheran minister who gently drew botany out of medieval shadows…
Read MoreThe Botanist Who Bridged the Ages: Valerius Cordus and the Sweet Oil of Vitriol
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. February 18, 1515 Dearest reader, On this very day, we celebrate the birth of Valerius Cordus — German physician, botanist, and pharmacologist extraordinaire. If history ever found a luminary to stand beside Theophrastus…
Read MoreLeonard Mascall: Early Pioneer of Gardening Knowledge and Household Management
An Author of Household Management May 10, 1589 Today is the anniversary of the burial of the English author, translator, and Clerk to the Kitchen of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Leonard Mascall – who was buried at Buckinghamshire. Mascall published several books; all were aimed at household management. In 1572 Leonardpublished A Booke of the Arte…
Read MoreMathias de l’Obel: The Flemish Botanist Who Distinguished Monocots and Dicots
Lovely Lobelia March 3, 1616 Today is the birthday of the  Flemish physician and botanist Mathias de l’Obel (“ma-TEE-us dew Lew-bell”). Mathias practiced medicine in England. And among his accomplishments, Mathias was the first botanist to recognize the difference between monocots and dicots. Today we remember Mathias de l’Obel (“LEW-bell”) with the Lobelia plant. Before…
Read MoreLeonhart Fuchs and the Herbal Masterpiece Historia Stirpium
Inspiration for Fuchsia Today is the birthday of the German botanist Leonhart Fuchs. Leonard and his wife had ten children. The genus Fuchsia is named after Fuchs. Leonhart published the first drawing of a corn plant. He also drew one of the first illustrations of the pumpkin plant. It took Leonard 31 years to write…
Read MoreSir Walter Raleigh: Prisoner, Scientist, and Apothecary Gardener at the Tower of London
Prisoner of the Tower of London On this day in 1618, Sir Walter Raleigh was executed. On the orders of King James, Raleigh had been a special prisoner at the Tower of London for thirteen years. During his time in the tower, Raleigh was allowed to tend a small apothecary garden in the courtyard below.…
Read MoreValerius Cordus: The Brilliant Young Herbalist Who Shaped Botany
The Herbal of Valerius Cordus Today is the anniversary of the death of the German botanist Valerius Cordus who died on this day in 1544. Cordus was the author of one of the most influential herbals in history. In fact, centuries later, the botanist Thomas Archibald Sprague re-published “The Herbal of Valerius Cordus” with his…
Read MoreSeeds, Specimens, and a Fatal Flaw: The Legacy of Andrea Cesalpino
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. June 6, 1519 On this day, the botanical world received one of its most illustrious minds—Andrea Cesalpino was born in Arezzo, Italy. While his contemporaries were fumbling about with alphabetical arrangements or obsessing…
Read More