RCP Garden podcast
Situated in the grounds of the Royal College of Physicians' headquarters near Regent's Park, London, the medicinal garden was extensively replanted in 2005 and features over 1,300 species of plant. The RCP garden of medicinal plants is unique in that almost every one has a link to medicine. Podcasts inspired by the RCP medicinal garden tell the stories behind the plants it contains and explore their connections with medicine. Presented by Professor Anthony Dayan, RCP garden fellow.
Episodes
30 episodes
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.
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10:02
Meadowsweet and the origin of aspirin
A pretty plant that was very important in the discovery and naming of that most popular medicine aspirin.
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7:09
Cornflower or Bachelors Button
This beautiful flower carries the weight of many traditions. It is also under threat because of changes in farming practices.
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7:15
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.
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7:27
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Naked Ladies – Beauty and Poison
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.
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16:32
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.
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9:54
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.
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7:27
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 ...
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10:42
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 pr...
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Season 2
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Episode 3
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7:05
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 en...
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Season 2
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Episode 2
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10:06
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 rem...
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Season 2
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Episode 1
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7:20
The Daffodil: Symbol and medicine
The latest episode of the RCP Medicine podcast describes the daffodil.
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9:01
Poppies part 2: Science, opium and other poppies
Poppies part 2: Science, opium and other poppies
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8:42
Poppies part 1: The opium poppy and its products
Poppies Part 1: The Opium Poppy and Its Products by Professor Anthony Dayan
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14:02
Aquilegia: beauty and toxicity.
RCP Garden podcast talks about Aquilegia: Beauty and Toxicity.
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4:59
Butterbur: a plant with a tangled history
Butterbur: a plant with a tangled history by Professor Anthony Dayan
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8:15
Scurvy grass: an old cure for a dread disease
Scurvy grass: an old cure for a dread disease by Professor Anthony Dayan
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9:43
