Medicinal Plants and Gardens: Matthaei Botanical Gardens & Nichols Arboretum

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Exhibition from January 24–May 3, 2015

This exhibition celebrates the upcoming 2015 opening of the new Medicinal Garden at the University of Michigan’s Matthaei Botanical Gardens. The earliest botanical garden at the University was a pharmaceutical garden established in 1897 just off the Diag, at the heart of Central Campus. The new garden, developed in partnership with the College of Pharmacy and Medical School faculty, will continue that legacy, aiming to explore the botanical origins of historical and current medicines, and to promote a better understanding of the profound relationship between plants and human health.

Preceding the garden’s opening, this exhibition at UMMA will feature rarely seen archival plant specimens, deposited by pharmaceutical companies at the University Herbarium, along with newer herbarium specimens that reveal the captivating forms of these medicinal plants. These dried and pressed plant specimens will be accompanied by the presentation of the few remaining historic images of the original pharmaceutical garden, as well as a drawing of the layout of new garden at Matthaei, which is uniquely organized according to the systems of the human body that these medicinal plants are used to treat.

This exhibition is part of the U-M Collections Collaborations series, co-organized by and presented at UMMA and designed to showcase the renowned and diverse collections at the University of Michigan. The U-M Collections Collaborations series is generously supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

University of Michigan Museum of Art
525 South State Street
Ann Arbor, MI 4810

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