Participants at the Herbarium display led by Juliet Anderson.

What is the relationship between nature (plant specimens) and artistic representations?

The visit to the University Herbarium provided an opportunity to focus on individual plants, their medicinal properties historically and in the present, their symbolic value, and their counterparts in medieval Arabic and Persian plant illustrations. It also facilitated discussions on movement and trade of plants (and plant knowledge) across the Islamic world and beyond. Some highlights from the visit included specimens of the fig plant, mandrake, safflower, and mastica (pistachio).