Botany
Botany studies plants: their identification, physiology and uses, including medicinal ones. In The Apothecary Diaries the herb garden and the plant-based pharmacopoeia are everywhere: toxic plants, healing plants, thornapple, balsam, and the active compounds extracted from them.
Entries in this discipline
Aconite
In The Apothecary Diaries, aconite poisons even through honey. We explain aconitine, its action on nerves, and why it shows no mercy.
Amaryllis
Only after long soaking, and never risk-free: lycorine causes vomiting and cramps. Why soaking is not enough, and the warning in The Apothecary Diaries.
Anthocyanins
In The Apothecary Diaries, Maomao reveals why blue roses are impossible. We explain anthocyanins, their response to pH, and their antioxidant property.
Datura
In The Apothecary Diaries, datura is used to induce sleep and feign death. We explain its alkaloids, its toxicity, and its role in the history of anesthesia.
The Dandelion
In The Apothecary Diaries, Maomao identifies dandelion as a medicinal herb. We explain its diuretic properties, its inulin, and its culinary uses.
Emmenagogue and Abortive Plants
Mostly they poisoned first: jasmine, mugwort, rue and chili stimulate the uterus only at doses toxic to the mother. The pharmacology and history behind them.
Four O'Clock Flower
Partly: four o'clock flower seeds hold a protein that ends pregnancy in mice, never tested in women. Mechanism, toxicity and the limits of court lore.
Ginger
Gingerol triggers the same heat receptor as chili and widens skin vessels, without raising core temperature. Fresh vs dried ginger, and Maomao's warming pastilles.
Kudzu
Its root gives kuzu, a thickening starch, and ge gen, a fever remedy. Why an over-strong infusion turns to glue, and why the vine invades everything outside Asia.
Mandarin Peel
Partly real: chen pi's hesperidin and limonene act on digestion and blood vessels. What lab studies show, what is still tradition, and why aged peel differs.
Morning Glory
The seeds are: purgative, and psychoactive at high doses. White morning glory can be mistaken for far more toxic datura. Why, how they differ, and the Asian uses.
Mugwort
In The Apothecary Diaries, mugwort is one of the court's medicinal herbs. We explain its uses and artemisinin, Tu Youyou's antimalarial drug (Nobel 2015).
Nicotine and Tobacco
In The Apothecary Diaries, macerated tobacco serves as a poison. We explain nicotine, its acute toxicity, and why diluting a poison can make it worse.
Oxalic Acid
Sharper than lemon's citric acid. Why oxalis, sorrel and rhubarb stay edible, and when oxalates start forming kidney stones.
Perfume Extraction
In The Apothecary Diaries, Maomao distills roses. We explain steam distillation, enfleurage, terpenes, and why natural perfume costs so much.
Photoperiod and Flowering
How plants measure night length via phytochrome to decide when to flower. Short-day plants, long-day plants, and horticultural forcing explained.
Physic Garden
The physic garden is the cradle of plant-based pharmacopoeia. Monasteries, universities, imperial China: the history of a centuries-old place of knowledge.
Rhododendron and Mad Honey
In The Apothecary Diaries, a tainted honey and a burned plant cause poisoning. We explain rhododendron's grayanotoxins and the famous mad honey.
Silver Vine
In The Apothecary Diaries, silver vine sends cats into a trance. We explain matatabi, its iridoids, and their dual role as sedative and mosquito repellent.