The History of Domestic Plant Medicine

The debt medicine owes to botany is not commonly appreciated. In the past, medicine relied almost entirely on plants, and even today, many western medicines are plant derived. Despite this, historians have largely neglected the study of domestic medicine, practised by the ordinary person and passed down through generations, in favour of 'official medicine'. The History of Domestic Plant Medicine brings together manuscripts, letters, diaries, personal oral interviews and other primary evidence to produce a detailed picture of the medicinal use of native plants in Britain from 1700 to the present day. Recording for posterity this neglected aspect of our heritage, it is a valuable contribution to the study of the folklore of modern Britain and a fascinating piece of social history.

Gabrielle Hatfield is a professional botanist and an acclaimed historian of plant medicine. Having studied botany at Cambridge, she earned her PhD at Edinburgh in plant medicine. She is the writer of numerous volumes on herbal medicine and folk remedies, and has been awarded the Michaelis-Jean Ratcliff Prize and the John Thackray Medal.