Pathologists' display of plant power wins at Chelsea

The Royal College of Pathologists won a silver gilt (second grade) medal at the Chelsea flower show for a second year running this week for its display on the contribution that plants make to medicine. The display focused on six plants, the drugs derived from them, the diseases they treat, and the role pathologists play in diagnosing and monitoring the diseases.

Credit: ROYAL COLLEGE OF PATHOLOGISTS

The plants on display included foxgloves, from which digoxin is obtained to treat heart disease; periwinkle, which produces vincristine, used to treat myeloma; tea tree, which produces antiseptic oil for a variety of ailments; yew, which produces paclitaxel, used to treat ovarian cancer; willow, from which aspirin is used to treat clotting; and Chinese wormwood, which produces artemisinin, used to treat malaria.