The Long History of the Use of Plants

Posted by Sharon Falsetto Dec 13, 2008

Plants are often taken for granted in our gardens and varied landscapes and habitats around the world; but how much thought is given to the long use of plants in our society?

I have written several articles relating to the history of various aspects of the history of plants. The history of the greenhouse shows that we have been fascinated with plants for centuries from the humble vegetable to the more exotic species of the world which were brought back to Europe by plant explorers such as Joseph Banks. A more focused history on medicinal herbs, shows that medical herbs have had many uses by many societies over the centuries.

Plants have been a 'fashion' item of sorts over the years too; plants were often used for their fragrances, in addition to their medicinal values, and evidence has been discovered in pompeii, indicating that ancient pompeiians were frequent users of many plants such as rose, lavender and lily in the making of ancient perfumes. It became the fashion to create still rooms to enable the easy preparation of medicinal recipes and aromatice perfumes at home. The Victorians made it fashionable to give tussie mussies, small posies of flowers which were discreetly passed between lovers; the Victorians also made botanical art popular too.

The most popular flower throughout history must be the rose; roses have had many uses and meanings but are probably most associated with love. Rose essential oil and the actual flower of rose are known to have aphrodisiac properties. There are many, many varieties of cultivated roses throughout the world today, although the ancient roses relate back to the Far East.

So, next time you give the gift of a flower, plant or perfume, for whatever occasion, give some thought as to the history of the ancestors of that flower or plant or the ingredients of a perfume! You never know, it may just have a really interesting story to tell...