Timed to coincide with the Oxford Botanic Garden’s 400th anniversary, a major new exhibition follows the fascinating evolution of plant sciences at the University of Oxford. It takes visitors from botany’s beginnings, through to its refashioning as a respectable intellectual discipline at the end of the 17th century, and right up to the present day, examining the beneficial impacts botanical research has had on the world.
Through a mixture of dried plants, illustrations, manuscripts and rare books, botany is brought to life. A 12th-century illustration of the mandrake plant –a potent hallucinogen historically used in spiritual practices – is a particular highlight. The “Bobart the Elder Herbarium”, a tome stuffed with dried specimens that became the foundation of the university’s plant collections, also features.
Roots to Seeds
Bodleian Libraries, Oxford / Until 24 October / visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk