Hortus Malabaricus is a 17th-century Latin botanical treatise documenting the varieties and medicinal properties of the flora of the Malabar coast. It was compiled in 12 volumes by Hendrik van Rheede, the Governor of Dutch Malabar from 1669 to 1676. Fr. Matheus of St. Joseph OCD a distinguished herbalist, was an Italian Carmelite Missionary and Van Rheede's friend.
Frontispiece of volume 3
A Preface page, in which names of Carmelite Father Joannis Matthaei, the Brahmin physicians Ranga Bhat, Vinayaka Pandit, and Appu Bhat and the Ayurveda vaidya (Ayurveda practitioner) Itti Achuden are mentioned.
Hendrik Adriaan van Rheede tot Drakenstein was a military man and a colonial administrator of the Dutch East India Company and naturalist.
Hendrik van Rheede
Frontispiece of volume 1