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Naked Ladies – Beauty and Poison podcast
The Autumn Crocus is known for its beautiful flowers and as the source of colchicine, the oldest drug to treat gout, but be aware it is also poisonous if eaten.
Date
19 January 2021, 10:00 am
In this series
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10 min
Silver Birch (Betula pendula)
The Silver Birch combines beauty and old and new medicinal uses with a history of magic and large scale industrial uses.
Date
14 May 2021, 3:00 pm
Meadowsweet and the origin of aspirin
A pretty plant that was very important in the discovery and naming of that most popular medicine aspirin.
Date
13 April 2021, 11:00 am
Cornflower or Bachelors Button
This beautiful flower carries the weight of many traditions. It is also under threat because of changes in farming practices.
Date
08 March 2021, 4:00 pm
Oil of Wintergreen
This popular aromatic and soothing oil came originally from a Canadian plant that has now been widely naturalised in many countries. The active principle is the same as that in aspirin.
Date
12 February 2021, 1:00 pm
Beauty and Poison Together
A much loved plant with a long classical history that has recently provided a medicine based on a Bulgarian peasant tradition.
Date
04 December 2020, 3:00 pm
Yellow Gentian - the Bitter Beautiful
The Gentian is attractive to many because it has beautiful yellow flowers but is also an old herbal medicine and it is attractive as an appetite stimulant for us and as a food source for certain butterflies and other insects.
Date
09 November 2020, 2:00 pm
Thorn Apple; a dangerous plant with many names and magical uses
The Thorn Apple, or Jimson’s Weed, Datura stramonium has at least 7 other names in English. Like many other members of the Solanaceae family it contains powerful chemicals that can disturb the mind and change the activity of many systems in the body. Historically there are many instances in which its actions were exploited for medical and even political purposes but it is now considered too dangerous and has been replaced by safer drugs. It was even something witches took before flying.
Date
14 October 2020, 12:00 pm
Common Agrimony or Sticklewort
Once regarded as a ‘heal all’ herb useful in treating everything from sleeplessness to musket wounds this attractive plant is still used as a yellow dye and food flavouring and is accepted in the EU as a treatment for sore throats, digestive problems and by some for wounds.
Date
27 August 2020, 4:00 pm
Horseradish or armoracia? A hot plant with a tangled history
Studying the history of how we use horseradish is difficult because it has often been confused with the radish and types of mustard. Many like its pepperiness with meat and fish, a taste imported from Central and Eastern Europe but known and enjoyed, even mixed with wine, in classical Greek and Roman times. It has become an important symbol in at least one major religion. It is not a registered herbal medicine but many claims have been made about its therapeutic uses.
Date
28 July 2020, 5:00 pm
The garden during lockdown
In this podcast Jane Knowles, RCP Head Gardener, describes how she looked after this unique garden on her own for several months during the lockdown in London.
Temperatures reached record highs and the sun shone relentlessly and this remarkable weather was glorious for some but not always easy for the gardener. She describes the birds and insects that were active in the garden in April – June 2020, some of which can be heard in the background as her talk was recorded in the garden.
Date
25 June 2020, 2:00 pm
The Daffodil: Symbol and medicine
The latest episode of the RCP Medicine podcast describes the daffodil.
Date
18 November 2019, 4:47 pm
Poppies part 2: Science, opium and other poppies
Poppies part 2: Science, opium and other poppies
Date
21 October 2019, 10:33 am
Poppies part 1: The opium poppy and its products
Poppies Part 1: The Opium Poppy and Its Products by Professor Anthony Dayan
Date
21 October 2019, 10:32 am
Aquilegia: beauty and toxicity.
RCP Garden podcast talks about Aquilegia: Beauty and Toxicity.
Date
01 October 2019, 12:38 pm
Marigold – colour and confusion
Marigold – Colour and Confusion by Professor Anthony Dayan
Date
02 September 2019, 12:45 pm
Paeony; beauty and history
Paeony; beauty and history by Professor Anthony Dayan
Date
16 August 2019, 11:27 am
Butterbur: a plant with a tangled history
Butterbur: a plant with a tangled history by Professor Anthony Dayan
Date
30 May 2019, 3:37 pm
Scurvy grass: an old cure for a dread disease
Scurvy grass: an old cure for a dread disease by Professor Anthony Dayan
Date
30 May 2019, 3:32 pm
The carrot: a familiar vegetable
The carrot: a familiar vegetable by Professor Anthony Dayan
Date
11 April 2019, 1:00 am
Flax or linseed: a plant with many different uses
Flax or linseed: a plant with many different uses by Professor Anthony Dayan
Date
01 April 2019, 1:00 am
Greater plantain: herbal medicine, a food and now a weed
Greater plantain: herbal medicine, a food and now a weed by Professor Anthony Dayan
Date
19 March 2019, 12:00 am
Parsley: eating and healing
Parsley: eating and healing by Professor Anthony Dayan
Date
06 March 2019, 12:00 am
Physalis: the bladder cherry
Physalis: the bladder cherry by Professor Anthony Dayan
Date
22 February 2019, 12:00 am
Fennel: a food, a herbal medicine and a scientific quandary
Fennel: a food, a herbal medicine and a scientific quandary by Professor Anthony Dayan
Date
14 February 2019, 12:00 am
Looking back at 2018 and forward into 2019
Looking back at 2018 and forward into 2019 by Professor Anthony Dayan
Date
07 February 2019, 12:00 am