Theophrastus's Enquiry into Plants or Historia Plantarum was, along with his mentor Aristotle's History of Animals, Pliny the Elder's Natural History and Dioscorides's De materia medica, one of the mo
The frontispiece to an illustrated 1644 edition, Amsterdam
Title page of Sir Arthur Hort's edition with parallel Greek and English text, 1916
Boy in Sudan with date palm spathe for artificial pollination, as described by Theophrastus
Aleppo pines, like these at ancient Olympia, yielded wood suitable for shipbuilding, according to Theophrastus in Book 5.
De materia medica
Videos
De materia medica is a pharmacopoeia of medicinal plants and the medicines that can be obtained from them. The five-volume work was written between 50 and 70 CE by Pedanius Dioscorides, a Greek physic
Historia Plantarum (Theophrastus)
…φυτῶν ἱστορία, Peri phyton historia) was, along with his mentor Aristotle's History of Animals, Pliny the Elder's Natural History and Dioscorides's De materia medica, one of the most important books of natural history written in ancient times, and like them it was influential in the Renaissance. Theophrastus looks…
Cover of an early printed version, Lyon, 1554
Dioscorides receives a mandrake root. Vienna Dioscurides manuscript, early 6th century.
Blackberry. Vienna Dioscurides, early 6th century
Mandrake (written 'ΜΑΝΔΡΑΓΟΡΑ' in Greek capitals). Naples Dioscurides, 7th century.