Franz Eugen Köhler’s Medizinal-Pflanzen or Medicinal Plants was published in 1887 in Germany. It comes in four volumes and includes over 300 detailed, beautiful, botanical illustrations of plants. Below we supply 88 from Volume 1. The book was written by Kohler but the pictures were drawn by artists L. Müeller and C.F. Schmidt. They were then rendered in chromolithography by a certain K. Gunther. Chromolithography was the number one technique for printing in colour for around a decade between the mid-18th and 19th Centuries. This process required a skilled lithographer to draw the original painting, by hand, in reverse, onto limestone slabs and later zinc plates. They would then somehow ink this with a colour and use that to print onto paper. They then repeated this for all the other colours they needed, using a different stone for each one. The colours would overprint each other until the original image was recreated. What a faff. Printing methods started to get a little easier after this one. Wikipedia has a great timeline of the History of Printing.
It is 75 years since the death of the author which in most of Europe denotes it is the Public Domain. That means all images are copyright free.
The original species title is written below exactly as it is printed on the picture. Where we think the currently accepted name differs significantly for the plant we have checked it against The Catalogue of Life or The Plant List and have written it in brackets. The common or vernacular name or names comes after that.
Click on the image below to download a higher resolution PDF.
Hagenia abyssinica Willd., Kosso
Pinus silvestris L., Scotch pine
Potentilla Tormentilla Schrnk. (Potentilla erecta (L.) Räuschel), Tormentil
Erythroxylon Coca Lam. (Erythroxylum coca) Cocaine
Chondrus crispus Lyngb. Gigartina mamillosa J. Ag., (Chondrus crispus Stackh.) Irish moss
Aspidium filix mas Sw., (Dryopteris filix-mas (L.) Schott), Male fern
Cinchona officinalis Hook. fil., Quinine Bark Tree
Cinchona succirubra Pav. (Cinchona pubescens Vahl), Quinine
Cinchona Calisaya Wedd., Quinine
Cinnamomum zeylanicum Breyn. (Cinnamomum verum J. S. Presl), Cinnamon
Cinnamomum Cassia Blume. (Cinnamomum cassia (L.) Presl) Chinese cassia or Chinese cinnamon
Cinnamomum Camphora F. Nees et Eberm., (Cinnamomum camphora (L.) J. Presl), Camphor tree
Tussilago farfara L., Coltsfoot
Pilocarpus pinnatifolius Lem., Pilocarpus, Jaborandi
Dammara alba Rumph., (Agathis dammara (Lamb.) Rich. & A. Rich.), Amboina pitch tree
Podophyllum peltatum L., Mayapple
Aconitum Napellus L., Venus’ chariot
Cetraria islandica Acharius., Iceland Lichen
Achillea Millefolium L., Common Yarrow
Artemisia Absinthium L., Absinthium
Mentha piperita L., (Mentha × piperita L.), Peppermint
Mentha viridis L. var. crispata Schrader. (Mentha spicata L.) , Spearmint
Melissa officinalis L., Balm mint or Common Balm
Taraxacum officinale Web., Common dandelion
Matricaria Chamomilla L., Chamomile
Rhamnus cathartica L., Common buckthorn
Digitalis purpurea L., Foxglove
Platanthera bifolia Rchb., Lesser butterfly orchid
Orchis militaris L. Military orchid
Lavandula vera D. C. (Lavandula angustifolia Mill.) Lavender
Malva silvestris L. Common mallow
Humulus Lupulus L., Common hop
Thymus vulgaris L., Thyme
Cochlearia officinalis L., Common scurvygrass
Juglans regia L., Walnut
Populus nigra L., Lombardy poplar
Beta vulgaris L. var. Rapa Dum., (see comment below)
Abies alba Miller., Silver fir
Juniperus communis L., Common juniper
Melilotus officinalis Desr., Ribbed melliot or Yellow sweetclover
Vitis vinifera L., Grape
Mallotus philippinensis Müller Arg. (Mallotus philippensis (Lam.) Müll.Arg.), Kamala tree
Lycopodium clavatum L., Running clubmoss
Artemisia Cina Berg., Wormseed or Santonica
Valeriana officinalis L., Common valerian
Citrus Limonum Risso., (Citrus limon (L.) Burm. f. ), Lemon
Sambucus nigra L., Elder
Verbascum phlomoides L., Orange mullein
Rubus Idaeus L., Raspberry
Althaea officinalis L., Marshmallow
Larix decidua Miller., European larch or Common larch
Symphytum officinale L., Common comfrey
Thymus Serpyllum L., Wild thyme
Salvia officinalis L. , Sage
Papaver somniferum L., Opium poppy
Citrus vulgaris Risso. (Citrus aurantium L.), Orange
Prunus Cerasus L., Sour cherry
Pirus Malus L., (Malus pumila Mill.) Apple
Cydonia vulgaris Pers., (Cydonia oblonga Mill.), Quince
Fagus silvatica L., European beech
Nicotiana rustica L., Mapacho Aztec tobacco
Quercus sessiliflora Sm. (Quercus petraea (Matt.) Liebl. ) Sessile oak or Durmast oak
Quercus pedunculata Ehrh. (Quercus robur L.) English oak
Viscum album L., Mistletoe
Cnicus benedictus L., Blessed thistle
Viola tricolor L., Wild pansy or Heartsease
Laurus nobilis L., Bay or Laurel
Daphne Mezereum L., Paradise plant
Colchicum autumnale L., Autumn crocus, Meadow saffron
Ruta graveolens L. , Common rue
Datura Stramonium L., Jimsonweed, Datura
Erythraea Centaurium Pers. (Centaurium erythraea Rafn,), Common centaury
Chelidonium majus L., Greater celandine
Rhamnus Frangula L. (Frangula alnus Mill. ) Alder buckthorn
Althaea rosea Cav., (Alcea rosea L.), Hollyhock
Nicotiana Tabacum L., Cultivated tobacco
Acorus Calamus L., Sweet flag, calamus
Linum usitatissimum L., Common flax or Linseed
Tilia ulmifolia Scop., (Tilia cordata Mill.), Littleleaf linden
Brassica juncea Hook fil. Et Thoms., Chinese mustard
Brassica nigra Koch, Black mustard
Cannabis sativa L., Marijuana
Arnica montana L., Mountain arnica
Hyoscyamus niger L., Henbane
Atropa Belladonna L., Deadly nightshade or Belladonna
Brassica Napus oleifera D.C. var. hiemalis Döll., (Brassica napus subsp. napus L.) , Rapeseed
Picea excelsa Lk., (Picea abies var. abies), Norway spruce
Lactuca virosa L., Wild lettuce
Re: Beta vulgaris L.var Rapa dum: You state under the picture that you don’t know what this is. I looked it up and its common name is called “Mangold” and it is listed as a poisonous plant of new Zealand if that interests anyone.
Thanks Nancy, can you tell us your source? On Wikipedia, if you type in Mangold you get Beta vulgaris L. But this species includes many cultivated varieties. If we look up Beta vulgaris L. Wikipedia tells us it has three subspecies and all cultivated varieties fall under Beta vulgaris L. var vulgaris, a grouping that contains all beets grown for their thickened tubers rather than their leaves. So Mangold would be one of these for sure. But the name Beta vulgaris L. var Rapa Dum. I can’t find a reference for (in theplantlist, catalogueoflife or IPNI) and in the picture there is no thickened tuber!
Are prints available? I would love to have!
I would like to give you the exact source but it has been a few weeks and I don’t remember the exact place I found the answer. I can tell you that is was some site within the department of agriculture’s poisonous plants database is where I found this exact variety listed as a poisonous plant that originated in new zealand, so it did come from some old archives from the dept of agriculture. I will see if I can find it again and give you the link
Ok, sorry that I couldn’t tell you the exact source in previous post, and I actually was mistaken when I said I found it in old archives of Dept of Agriculture. It was actually found in the old archives of the FDA. Anyway, here is the link where I found this plant http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/plantox/detail.cfm?id=6714
And this is a copy and paste from the part about this plant off the page. I hope this will help you out with identifying the plant. Otherwise, I know nothing more about it than what I found here.
FDA Poisonous Plant Database
FDA #: F23887
GRIN #: mobot9 10
COMMON NAME: mangold
STANDARD COMMON NAME:
FAMILY: Chenopodiaceae
LATIN NAME: Beta vulgaris var. rapa
STANDARD PLANT NAME: Beta vulgaris L. var. rapa Dum.
I don’t think that all the plants in that FDA database are poisonous. Directly under the mangold entry there is the following, which includes all cabbages, broccoli, etc etc. I imagine the database has all plants, and their levels of toxicity, even if that level is zero. Which makes sense, because if you left out the non poisonous plants, when you looked something up you wouldn’t know if it was non-toxic or just missing.
COMMON NAME:
STANDARD COMMON NAME:
FAMILY: Brassicaceae
LATIN NAME: Brassica
STANDARD PLANT NAME: Brassica sp.
[…] Müeller, L., & Schmidt, C. F. (2014). Rubus idaeus [Image]. Retrieved from http://plantcurator.com/medicinal-plants-german/ […]
[…] Köhler’s Medizinal-Pflanzen or Medicinal Plants, Franz Eugen, 1887, Germany. This is the source of the beautiful vintage plant illustration of the flax plant. In the public domain. Found on the web site: Plant Curator. […]
The actual german book these plants come from calls the Beta vulgaris rapa dum the ‘Runkelrube’ or Mangold which from this website: http://www.plantnames.unimelb.edu.au/Sorting/Beta.html#vulgaris-vulgaris
states this version as Beta vulgaris var. Rapa dum f. rubra from the Crassa Group of beet names . . . if that helps anyone.
Hi, I am a designer making an exhibition at a cider production farm. We need some beautiful illustrations with regards to apples & the changing seasons. Is this something you could help us with?
Have, or will these books be republished? They deserve to be.