The Botanical Library
Explore the botany, chemistry, history and uses of individual plants, bringing together scientific evidence, traditional knowledge and the stories that surround them.
Plants have been used for food, medicine, fragrance, craft and ritual for thousands of years, yet useful information about them is often fragmented across scientific literature, historical texts, traditional knowledge and commercial sources. The Botanical Library brings these threads together.
Each monograph examines one botanical in depth, combining modern evidence with historical and cultural context. The aim is not simply to reduce a plant to a list of uses, but to understand it as a biological organism, a source of chemical compounds, a cultural material and a practical ingredient.
The collection will continue to grow over time, with new monographs added regularly and existing entries reviewed as knowledge and evidence develop.
Lavandula angustifolia
Few botanical ingredients have become as culturally familiar as lavender (Lavandula angustifolia Mill.), yet few are as widely misunderstood. Best known for its distinctive fragrance and long association...
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The Library is growing
New monographs are added regularly as we build a deeper and increasingly interconnected collection of botanical knowledge.
