Opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) image in public domain. By Patrick Hunt – Any history of the opium poppy, in this case Papaver somniferum or the “sleep-bringing” poppy, must be replete with its known medical use and perhaps equally its less scientific lore. Why it has been known as the “sacred […]
Tag: Ethnobotany
Otzi the Iceman’s Medicine Kit Included Sloe Berries (Prunus Spinosa)
By Patrick Hunt – Otzi the Iceman from the Alpine Tyrol, found at the Similaun-Tisjoch summit of the Otztal Alps in 1991, is now the most famous mummy of all time, eclipsing the mummy of Ramses II from New Kingdom Egypt (circa 1300 BCE) not only in what science can […]