Medicinal Virtues of New World Plants
Nicholas Monardes, a physician from Seville, imported plants from the New World, studied their medicinal qualities, and published information about the newly discovered plants. He is best known for a popular medical history that included a lengthy description extolling the virtues of tobacco. Quickly translated into English in 1577, Joyfull Newes Out of the Newe Found World claimed that tobacco was an ideal “hearbe” long familiar to American Indians, who taught its virtues to Spanish explorers. In addition to tobacco, Monardes included in his publication some of the first illustrations and descriptions of sassafras, barley, sunflower, passion flower, and balsam.
Nicholas Monardes, a physician from Seville, imported plants from the New World, studied their medicinal qualities, and published information about the newly discovered plants. He is best known for a popular medical history that included a lengthy description extolling the virtues of tobacco. Quickly translated into English in 1577, Joyfull Newes Out of the Newe Found World claimed that tobacco was an ideal “hearbe” long familiar to American Indians, who taught its virtues to Spanish explorers. In addition to tobacco, Monardes included in his publication some of the first illustrations and descriptions of sassafras, barley, sunflower, passion flower, and balsam.