#herball

frontispiece to Peter Treveris, The grete herball (1529)

Why was the #tomato considered poisonous for centuries? #Worthing

The first British reference to a tomato appeared in Henry Lyte’s A nieuwe Herball (1578), a direct translation of a Dutch work, and it is unlikely that he actually grew one. John Gerard certainly did, planting seeds from Spain, Italy, and “other hot countries” in his garden in Holborn, he reported in his Herball (1597). Two varieties, one red and the other yellow, of what he called Pomum Aureum…

Should you pick #Snowdrops and put them in a vase?

Snowdrops were not indigenous to Britain, possibly introduced to this country by Italian monks in the 15th century or as early as the Roman occupation. By the time John Gerard wrote his Herball, published in 1596, snowdrops were well established as garden plants, “maintained and cherished…for the beauty and rareness of the flowers, and sweetness of their smell”, so much so that he had to remind…