Stephen Spitewinter
@spitewinter.bsky.social
🌱 #History, #Botany, #Plants, #Gardening, #Art, #Allotment, Economic & Social History, Small-scale food production, Cricket. Mending old things and restoring old houses. Location 🇬🇧
I reply to comments on my posts, but not often to DMs
I reply to comments on my posts, but not often to DMs
#plants #history #botany #art 🌱
Coffea arabica - Coffee Plant
Source of the stimulant Caffeine (and you'd be surprised how many medications contain it). Isolated by Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge, c1819.
The long, colourful history of coffee - goats, kings, popes...
www.aboutcoffee.org/origins/hist...
Coffea arabica - Coffee Plant
Source of the stimulant Caffeine (and you'd be surprised how many medications contain it). Isolated by Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge, c1819.
The long, colourful history of coffee - goats, kings, popes...
www.aboutcoffee.org/origins/hist...
November 27, 2025 at 6:24 AM
#plants #history #botany #art 🌱
Coffea arabica - Coffee Plant
Source of the stimulant Caffeine (and you'd be surprised how many medications contain it). Isolated by Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge, c1819.
The long, colourful history of coffee - goats, kings, popes...
www.aboutcoffee.org/origins/hist...
Coffea arabica - Coffee Plant
Source of the stimulant Caffeine (and you'd be surprised how many medications contain it). Isolated by Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge, c1819.
The long, colourful history of coffee - goats, kings, popes...
www.aboutcoffee.org/origins/hist...
#plants #history #botany #art ☠️
Atropa belladonna - Deadly Nightshade
🧵/1
Deadly means just that - don't mess with it. Another Solanaceae, heavily laced with Atropine. Atropine was used as a cosmetic in the Early Modern Period (for dilating pupils) and is still a useful medication but...
🧵/next
Atropa belladonna - Deadly Nightshade
🧵/1
Deadly means just that - don't mess with it. Another Solanaceae, heavily laced with Atropine. Atropine was used as a cosmetic in the Early Modern Period (for dilating pupils) and is still a useful medication but...
🧵/next
November 26, 2025 at 5:12 AM
#plants #history #botany #art 🌳
Cinchona officinalis - Brown Peru Bark (many others)
Origin tropical S #America, many varieties of Cinchona but all are a source of the #medicine Quinine, the treatment for Malaria.
Originally presented as Tonic Water, still a popular mixer - just add London Gin 🥂
Cinchona officinalis - Brown Peru Bark (many others)
Origin tropical S #America, many varieties of Cinchona but all are a source of the #medicine Quinine, the treatment for Malaria.
Originally presented as Tonic Water, still a popular mixer - just add London Gin 🥂
November 25, 2025 at 9:09 AM
#plants #history #botany #art 🌱
Salix alba - Common Willow
Common to temperate N Hemisphere. One of the original sources of the #medicine Salicin which is NOT Aspirin. Aspirin was synthesised from Salicin (extracted from Meadowsweet) by Bayer c1897.
Salicin ref:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salicin
Salix alba - Common Willow
Common to temperate N Hemisphere. One of the original sources of the #medicine Salicin which is NOT Aspirin. Aspirin was synthesised from Salicin (extracted from Meadowsweet) by Bayer c1897.
Salicin ref:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salicin
November 24, 2025 at 9:46 AM
You can put an extra 2000 characters in the ALT box but it doesn't open unless you attach a picture. (Leftmost of the three buttons at the bottom.
November 22, 2025 at 11:36 AM
You can put an extra 2000 characters in the ALT box but it doesn't open unless you attach a picture. (Leftmost of the three buttons at the bottom.
#plants #history #botany #art
This may be the last Autumnal theme for this year. The evenings in 🇬🇧 have been dark and cold this week, and snow is falling not far to the north of me.
Enjoy your weekend!
Konstantin Korovin (1861-1939)
'Autumn in a Russian village'
Early C20th
Oils on Panel
This may be the last Autumnal theme for this year. The evenings in 🇬🇧 have been dark and cold this week, and snow is falling not far to the north of me.
Enjoy your weekend!
Konstantin Korovin (1861-1939)
'Autumn in a Russian village'
Early C20th
Oils on Panel
November 21, 2025 at 5:07 AM
#plants #history #botany #art #medicine #livingfossil 🌱
Ephedra distachya - Sea Grape
Ancient plant that has changed little in the last 100 million years. Source of the stimulant Ephedrine, first isolated by Nagayoshi Nagai c1885.
Cambridge Botanic ref:
www.botanic.cam.ac.uk/learning/tra...
Ephedra distachya - Sea Grape
Ancient plant that has changed little in the last 100 million years. Source of the stimulant Ephedrine, first isolated by Nagayoshi Nagai c1885.
Cambridge Botanic ref:
www.botanic.cam.ac.uk/learning/tra...
November 20, 2025 at 12:34 PM
#plants #history #botany #art #medicine #livingfossil 🌱
Ephedra distachya - Sea Grape
Ancient plant that has changed little in the last 100 million years. Source of the stimulant Ephedrine, first isolated by Nagayoshi Nagai c1885.
Cambridge Botanic ref:
www.botanic.cam.ac.uk/learning/tra...
Ephedra distachya - Sea Grape
Ancient plant that has changed little in the last 100 million years. Source of the stimulant Ephedrine, first isolated by Nagayoshi Nagai c1885.
Cambridge Botanic ref:
www.botanic.cam.ac.uk/learning/tra...
#plants #history #botany #art 🌱
Papaver somniferum - Opium Poppy
Victorian drug of choice (Laudanum, Opium diluted in alcohol) exploited by the 🇬🇧East India Company.
Original source of the #medicine Morphine, the greatest advance in pain relief.
Good read:
herbaria.plants.ox.ac.uk/bol/plants40...
Papaver somniferum - Opium Poppy
Victorian drug of choice (Laudanum, Opium diluted in alcohol) exploited by the 🇬🇧East India Company.
Original source of the #medicine Morphine, the greatest advance in pain relief.
Good read:
herbaria.plants.ox.ac.uk/bol/plants40...
November 19, 2025 at 8:54 AM
Always a good read...
November 18, 2025 at 9:19 AM
Always a good read...
Always a good read...
November 18, 2025 at 9:15 AM
Always a good read...
#plants #history #botany #art 🌱
Datura stramonium - Jjimson Weed, Devil's Trumpet.
Origin Isthmus of Darien & Mexico, spread world wide.
It's a Solanaceae and an original source of the #medicine (s) atropine, hyoscyamine, and scopolamine. (There are others.)
refs
www.rhs.org.uk/plants/5355/...
Datura stramonium - Jjimson Weed, Devil's Trumpet.
Origin Isthmus of Darien & Mexico, spread world wide.
It's a Solanaceae and an original source of the #medicine (s) atropine, hyoscyamine, and scopolamine. (There are others.)
refs
www.rhs.org.uk/plants/5355/...
November 18, 2025 at 8:37 AM
#plants #history #botany #art 🌱
Digitalis purpurea - Common Foxglove
Original source of the cardiac #medicine Digoxin / Digitalin.
First clues from William Withering in 1785 who used it to treat Dropsy. Digoxin was isolated c1930 by Dr Sydney Smith.
General ref:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digitalis
Digitalis purpurea - Common Foxglove
Original source of the cardiac #medicine Digoxin / Digitalin.
First clues from William Withering in 1785 who used it to treat Dropsy. Digoxin was isolated c1930 by Dr Sydney Smith.
General ref:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digitalis
November 17, 2025 at 12:22 AM
They worked hard and did a vital job at a time of grave danger to our way of life. It was a time when my mother and grandmother had to queue for half an hour to buy a couple of onions.
I am proud of them.
I am proud of them.
November 15, 2025 at 12:53 PM
They worked hard and did a vital job at a time of grave danger to our way of life. It was a time when my mother and grandmother had to queue for half an hour to buy a couple of onions.
I am proud of them.
I am proud of them.
#plants #history #botany #art 🍆
Friday has crept up on me again - weather forecast for the weekend is awful. I'm just going to stay home and stare at #vegetables 🙁
James Peale (1749-1832)
Balsam Apple and Vegetables
Oils on Canvas c1820s.
Original at the Met -
www.metmuseum.org/art/collecti...
Friday has crept up on me again - weather forecast for the weekend is awful. I'm just going to stay home and stare at #vegetables 🙁
James Peale (1749-1832)
Balsam Apple and Vegetables
Oils on Canvas c1820s.
Original at the Met -
www.metmuseum.org/art/collecti...
November 14, 2025 at 1:21 AM
#plants #history #botany #art 🍆
Friday has crept up on me again - weather forecast for the weekend is awful. I'm just going to stay home and stare at #vegetables 🙁
James Peale (1749-1832)
Balsam Apple and Vegetables
Oils on Canvas c1820s.
Original at the Met -
www.metmuseum.org/art/collecti...
Friday has crept up on me again - weather forecast for the weekend is awful. I'm just going to stay home and stare at #vegetables 🙁
James Peale (1749-1832)
Balsam Apple and Vegetables
Oils on Canvas c1820s.
Original at the Met -
www.metmuseum.org/art/collecti...
Sadly, no.
Surnames are more random than you may think. They are a relatively recent addition to human history and grew from the need to define individuals in a growing social environment. Think Law, Money and Taxes. The earliest are probably clan or tribe names.
Continues in the ALT text...
Surnames are more random than you may think. They are a relatively recent addition to human history and grew from the need to define individuals in a growing social environment. Think Law, Money and Taxes. The earliest are probably clan or tribe names.
Continues in the ALT text...
November 13, 2025 at 12:48 PM
Sadly, no.
Surnames are more random than you may think. They are a relatively recent addition to human history and grew from the need to define individuals in a growing social environment. Think Law, Money and Taxes. The earliest are probably clan or tribe names.
Continues in the ALT text...
Surnames are more random than you may think. They are a relatively recent addition to human history and grew from the need to define individuals in a growing social environment. Think Law, Money and Taxes. The earliest are probably clan or tribe names.
Continues in the ALT text...
#plants #history #botany #art 🌱
Rhopalostylis sapida - Nīkau
It's coming up to summer in the S Hemisphere. This is Nīkau, #NewZealand 's only native palm.
And this is a link to Nīkau in the Motutapu Island Restoration project web site:
Read all about it 🙂 -
www.motutapu.org.nz/news/nikau--...
Rhopalostylis sapida - Nīkau
It's coming up to summer in the S Hemisphere. This is Nīkau, #NewZealand 's only native palm.
And this is a link to Nīkau in the Motutapu Island Restoration project web site:
Read all about it 🙂 -
www.motutapu.org.nz/news/nikau--...
November 13, 2025 at 7:15 AM
#plants #history #botany #art 🌱
Rhopalostylis sapida - Nīkau
It's coming up to summer in the S Hemisphere. This is Nīkau, #NewZealand 's only native palm.
And this is a link to Nīkau in the Motutapu Island Restoration project web site:
Read all about it 🙂 -
www.motutapu.org.nz/news/nikau--...
Rhopalostylis sapida - Nīkau
It's coming up to summer in the S Hemisphere. This is Nīkau, #NewZealand 's only native palm.
And this is a link to Nīkau in the Motutapu Island Restoration project web site:
Read all about it 🙂 -
www.motutapu.org.nz/news/nikau--...
#plants #history #botany #art 🌼
Gentiana asclepiadea - Willow Gentian
In the N Hemisphere the winter days are shortening quickly. I think it's time for something bright. Willow gentian should have finished flowering by now but you may find some seed pods.
RHS HowTo
www.rhs.org.uk/plants/7765/...
Gentiana asclepiadea - Willow Gentian
In the N Hemisphere the winter days are shortening quickly. I think it's time for something bright. Willow gentian should have finished flowering by now but you may find some seed pods.
RHS HowTo
www.rhs.org.uk/plants/7765/...
November 12, 2025 at 11:10 AM
#plants #history #botany #art 🌼
Gentiana asclepiadea - Willow Gentian
In the N Hemisphere the winter days are shortening quickly. I think it's time for something bright. Willow gentian should have finished flowering by now but you may find some seed pods.
RHS HowTo
www.rhs.org.uk/plants/7765/...
Gentiana asclepiadea - Willow Gentian
In the N Hemisphere the winter days are shortening quickly. I think it's time for something bright. Willow gentian should have finished flowering by now but you may find some seed pods.
RHS HowTo
www.rhs.org.uk/plants/7765/...
Good try, but it's a place-name. A village on the moor between Matlock and Chesterfield. 🙂
November 10, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Good try, but it's a place-name. A village on the moor between Matlock and Chesterfield. 🙂
There you go 😂
I thought it may have been a profound comment on drugs/eye surgery at first... I now suspect - with some other things I've read - the with 40M users accounts Bluesky may be technically creaking a bit.
Have a good day 🙂
I thought it may have been a profound comment on drugs/eye surgery at first... I now suspect - with some other things I've read - the with 40M users accounts Bluesky may be technically creaking a bit.
Have a good day 🙂
November 10, 2025 at 4:56 PM
There you go 😂
I thought it may have been a profound comment on drugs/eye surgery at first... I now suspect - with some other things I've read - the with 40M users accounts Bluesky may be technically creaking a bit.
Have a good day 🙂
I thought it may have been a profound comment on drugs/eye surgery at first... I now suspect - with some other things I've read - the with 40M users accounts Bluesky may be technically creaking a bit.
Have a good day 🙂
#plants #history #botany #art 🌱
Drosera rotundifolia - Round-Leaved Sundew
A reminder of how adaptable plants are in even the most unlikely of environments. Common to Northern Hemisphere, all continents.
A good, short article from the 🇬🇧 Wildlife Trust:
www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-exp...
Drosera rotundifolia - Round-Leaved Sundew
A reminder of how adaptable plants are in even the most unlikely of environments. Common to Northern Hemisphere, all continents.
A good, short article from the 🇬🇧 Wildlife Trust:
www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-exp...
November 10, 2025 at 8:21 AM
#plants #history #botany #art 🌱
Drosera rotundifolia - Round-Leaved Sundew
A reminder of how adaptable plants are in even the most unlikely of environments. Common to Northern Hemisphere, all continents.
A good, short article from the 🇬🇧 Wildlife Trust:
www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-exp...
Drosera rotundifolia - Round-Leaved Sundew
A reminder of how adaptable plants are in even the most unlikely of environments. Common to Northern Hemisphere, all continents.
A good, short article from the 🇬🇧 Wildlife Trust:
www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-exp...
#plants #history #botany #art
Papaver Rhoeas - Common Poppy
Remembrance Sunday in 🇬🇧.
The guns of 1914 - 1918 fell silent, and we wear poppies. We pay our respects to all those who have served and fallen in the defence of our freedom.
In Flanders Fields
www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47380/...
Papaver Rhoeas - Common Poppy
Remembrance Sunday in 🇬🇧.
The guns of 1914 - 1918 fell silent, and we wear poppies. We pay our respects to all those who have served and fallen in the defence of our freedom.
In Flanders Fields
www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47380/...
November 9, 2025 at 8:29 AM
#plants #history #botany #art
Papaver Rhoeas - Common Poppy
Remembrance Sunday in 🇬🇧.
The guns of 1914 - 1918 fell silent, and we wear poppies. We pay our respects to all those who have served and fallen in the defence of our freedom.
In Flanders Fields
www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47380/...
Papaver Rhoeas - Common Poppy
Remembrance Sunday in 🇬🇧.
The guns of 1914 - 1918 fell silent, and we wear poppies. We pay our respects to all those who have served and fallen in the defence of our freedom.
In Flanders Fields
www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47380/...
#plants #trees #history #botany #art 🌳
Have a good weekend, get out into the woods and enjoy a little solitude if you can. 🙂
Sergei Vinogradov 1869-1938 USSR
'A walk through the woods in Autumn'
Oils on Canvas c1925 (?)
Short bio and other works:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_...
Have a good weekend, get out into the woods and enjoy a little solitude if you can. 🙂
Sergei Vinogradov 1869-1938 USSR
'A walk through the woods in Autumn'
Oils on Canvas c1925 (?)
Short bio and other works:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_...
November 7, 2025 at 3:08 AM