Chelsea Physic Garden, Botanical garden in Chelsea, England.
Chelsea Physic Garden is a botanical garden in Chelsea, London, housing over 5,000 plant species across roughly 3.8 acres of land. The collections are divided into sections devoted to medicinal, edible, and historically important specimens.
The Worshipful Society of Apothecaries founded this garden in 1673 to grow medicinal plants and train pharmacists and herbalists in London. In the 19th century the collections expanded and a palm house was added, which still stands today.
The name comes from 'physic', an old English word for medicine and healing, reflecting the original purpose of the site. Today visitors can walk among themed beds that organize plants by their use or origin.
A Victorian palm house shelters tropical specimens from cold weather and offers views of warmth-loving species year-round. Pathways between the beds are mostly level and pass through shaded as well as sunny sections.
Some of the beds display plants that form the basis for common medicines today, making the link between old herbalism and modern pharmacy visible. A protected area grows rare species that hardly exist in the wild anymore.
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