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HomeExploreHealth & FitnessPlants Behind Modern Medicines
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The flower bed and the pharmacy share some unlikely history. These photographs show the plants behind medicines such as digoxin, paclitaxel, and quinine, including species that supplied the original compounds and others that helped point researchers toward a new drug.

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Images23

1
Woolly Foxglove
Woolly Foxglove: Brown veins mark the pale tubular flowers of woolly foxglove (Digitalis lanata). This is the foxglove…
2
Opium Poppy
Opium Poppy: Scarlet petals with dark centers mark this Papaver somniferum. The species is the historical botanical source…
3
Pacific Yew
Pacific yew (Taxus brevifolia) has flat evergreen needles. Its bark supplied the compound that became paclitaxel, a cancer…
4
White Willow
White Willow: Deep furrows run down the trunk of this white willow (Salix alba). Willow bark yielded salicin in the…
5
Red Cinchona
Red Cinchona: The small, pink-tinged flowers belong to red cinchona (Cinchona pubescens). It is one of several Andean…
6
Common Snowdrop
Common Snowdrop: The white flower hangs down like a bell. Common snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis) contains galantamine, the…
7
Autumn Crocus
Autumn Crocus: The pale lilac flowers of autumn crocus (Colchicum autumnale) appear in fall. This species supplied…
8
Happy Tree
Happy Tree: The clustered fruits of Camptotheca acuminata hang above the leaves in this photograph from Lucca’s botanical…
9
American Mayapple
American Mayapple: A white mayapple flower peeks out beneath the foliage. American mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum) supplied…
10
Tea Plant
Tea Plant: The tea plant (Camellia sinensis) has white flowers with a cluster of yellow stamens. Its leaves supply the…
11
Madagascar Periwinkle
Madagascar Periwinkle: The ornamental flowers of Madagascar periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus) make it a familiar garden…
12
Sweet Wormwood
Sweet wormwood (Artemisia annua) has finely divided leaves. Tu Youyou and her team identified it as the source of…
13
Meadowsweet
Meadowsweet: Clusters of creamy white flowers top meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria). Its older botanical name, Spiraea…
14
Deadly Nightshade
Deadly Nightshade: The muted purple bells belong to deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna). The plant contains atropine, a…
15
Silver Birch
Silver Birch: The pale, peeling bark belongs to silver birch (Betula pendula). It is one of two birch species, along with…
16
Dragon’s Blood Tree
Dragon’s Blood Tree: This South American tree, Croton lechleri, is one of several plants called dragon’s blood. The FDA…
17
Cannabis
Cannabis: This specimen shows the flowers of Cannabis sativa. The species supplied cannabidiol, the active ingredient in…
18
Brazilian Jaborandi
Brazilian Jaborandi: This leafy shrub is Brazilian jaborandi (Pilocarpus microphyllus). The species contains pilocarpine…
19
Chili Pepper
Chili Pepper: This white flower belongs to Capsicum annuum, a species that includes hot chili varieties. The capsaicin in…
20
Indian Snakeroot
Indian Snakeroot: Small flowers cluster above the leaves of Indian snakeroot (Rauvolfia serpentina). The plant yielded…
21
Coca
Coca: The plant photographed in a Peruvian botanical garden is Erythroxylum coca. Coca leaves were the original botanical…

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