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Plants are brilliant chemists that produce everything from colors, flavors, and medicines. They can also create deadly toxins! Have you ever wondered why they produce such a dizzying array of compounds, and why they work on us like they do? Find out more when Dr. Eric Tepe explains about the hows and whys of plant toxins found in everything from potatoes and castor beans to beautiful rhododendrons and how these plants protect themselves through such lethal ways.

Registration Required.

Dr. Eric Tepe is Associate Professor of Botany and curator of the Margaret H. Fulford Herbarium at the University of Cincinnati. His research focuses on plant systematics, including taxonomy, phylogenetics, biogeography, and diversification of “giant genera” – those with over 1,000 species such as Piper (Piperaceae) and Solanum (Solanaceae). He also studies evolution of ant-plant associations. He graduated from The Ohio State University with a double major in Botany and Spanish and went on to obtain his PhD in Botany at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. A native to Ohio, Eric lived in Venezuela and Argentina as a child, and developed a passion for traveling. His research takes him frequently to Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador, or Panama where he is always on the lookout not just for plants.  

Sometimes it takes a village to create a green space, make fresh produce available in a food desert, and provide educational opportunities.   In just a few years, the Betts Longworth Historic District Group with support from the Development Fund West End and army of volunteers have beautified a community-owned parking lot and transformed its borders into a foraging garden where neighbors can help themselves to strawberries, carrots, tomatoes and a host of other fruits and vegetables. 

Meanwhile, across the street, students at Hays-Porter School are building on their science curriculum and learning how to reap what they sow, make a difference, and help their community.  With an emphasis on environmentally friendly equipment and hydroponics, they are using technology to garden sustainably. Join members of the Betts Longworth Historic District Group for a tour of the Betts Longworth Historic Group Garden and Hays Porter School Garden and learn more about urban gardening and these exciting and inspiring projects.

Beautiful but poisonous plants are often used as garden ornamentals, potted plants, and even florist flowers, yet most people are unaware of the dangers posed by the toxins derived from them. In Murderous Plants, Barney Lipscomb takes you on an enchanting journey through the cultural, historical and mythological aspects of poisonous plants. Past and present uses of classical “herbs” in murders, suicides, executions, accidental poisonings, as well as agents of bioterrorism, will be discussed. Increase your knowledge of toxic plants, know what to do in case of suspected poisoning, and discover the most important factor in poisoning prevention.

Sold Out.

Barney L Lipscomb is the director of the Botanic Research Institute of Texas Press and Library and is the Leonhardt Chair of Texas of Texas Botany. After earning degrees from Cameron University (B.S. Biology) and University of Arkansas, Fayetteville (M.S. Botany), Lipscomb was the herbarium botanist and curator for Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. He became the assistant editor of the botanical journal Sida, Contributions to Botany and co-founded Sida, Botanical Miscellany. Lipscomb has co-authored numerous books on Texas flora. Interested in researching poisonous plants, he actively serves on the board of consultants for the North Texas Poison Center.

 

Native plants have always been part of the medicinal “tool kit,” used by Indigenous people, settlers, immigrants as well as doctors and researchers. Even today, upwards of 40% of the medicines we use are plant based. When high tech science collides with nature, the results are remarkable! Ongoing research peels away the layers of the anecdotal uses of our native plants and substantiates many as beneficial medicines. This presentation looks at the history of a sampling of Ohio’s Native Plants and their role in providing medicine then and now. 

Registration Required.

As a naturalist, speaker and writer Carol Mundy taught for the University of Cincinnati and Hamilton County Park District, leading classes on urban wildlife issues, native plants, weed identification and the historical uses of plants. She continues to offer lectures and workshops in her “retirement.” One of her favorite botanical projects was the design of the historical medicine display for The Ohio Governors’ Residence Heritage Garden & Lloyd Medicinal Garden. Carol is the recipient of the Citation for Horticulture Education from the Garden Club of Ohio and the long-time host of a weekly radio program “Outdoor Life” on WMKV radio in Cincinnati. The show features unique topics and interviews tying together nature, science, art and culture.

 

 

Plant names such as hemlock, wolf’s bane, and belladonna provoke a poetic menace that is well deserved. This summer, our poisonous plants exhibition, Pick Your Poison,  highlights the most notorious noxious plants and connects them with health effects ranging from the inconvenient to the downright deadly. Poisonous plants are indeed linked to allergies, addiction, cognitive impairment, seizures, and worse. But did you know that plant-derived poisons save many more lives than they take? Join us as we explore both the destructive and curative aspects of fatal flowers and venomous vegetables. By showcasing heart-stopping plant illustrations from as early as the 16^th century, we spotlight the contradictions and mysteries of poisonous plants, explore pharmacology’s debt to toxicology, and help you identify the potential dangers lurking in your backyard!

Free and open to the public. Light refreshments.

Flowers are the most beautiful aspects of plants, long appreciated for their shapes, colors, and fragrances. An often-overlooked aspect of flowers is their traditional medicinal uses, many of which are being confirmed by modern scientific research. From the lowly chamomile to treat Peter Rabbit’s upset stomach to more sophisticated medicinal applications, flowers can be good medicine. This presentation reviews medicinal flowers, some of which have graced the covers of the American Botanical Council’s journal HerbalGram and discusses the history of this publication as it describes the growth of the modern herbal medicine movement. We’ll kick the evening off with a celebration of the anniversaries of the American Botanical Council and HerbalGram.

Registration Required. Doors open at 6:00 p.m. Refreshments.

Mark Blumenthal is the founder and Executive Director of the American Botanical Council (ABC). He is the Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of HerbalGram, an award winning international, peer-reviewed quarterly journal. Blumenthal has appeared on over 600 radio and television shows and has written over 700 articles, reviews and book chapters for many major publications. He has been a leader in the concern for more rational regulations of herbal and natural product manufacturing, and education on plant-based medicines for over 40 years.

Build your own bouquet in this colorful workshop! Nola Lee, owner of Petri’s Floral in Bellevue, leads us through the art of bouquet building and flower arranging. The floral offerings have been directly inspired by botanical illustrations in the Lloyd’s collection! All workshop attendees will take home their creations in a green ceramic vase. Space is limited, so book your spot now!

 

Running along Hamilton Avenue in Cincinnati’s Northside neighborhood lies a forest that has been left undeveloped since pioneer days. This 25-acre forest, known as Buttercup Valley Nature Preserve, is home to numerous 100’ tall trees that are nearly 200 years old. Beneath these great beings lives an exquisite plant community of wildflowers. These flowers, collectively known as “Spring Ephemerals”, bloom briefly in the spring before going dormant again as they become shaded out in the summer and they require mature, undisturbed forests like Buttercup Valley to exist. Join Naturalist, Horticulturist, and former President of Northside Greenspace Inc., Greg Torres for a guided hike through this woods to learn more about this these unique flowers living in a very special forest.

The earliest illustrated Caribbean botanicals remain among the most remarkable artworks from the 17th and 18th centuries and retain historical value for their identification of indigenous plant and insect species. In conducting this work, European botanists depended on enslaved people to carry equipment, clear forest paths, gather specimens, and identify plant uses.  Although the accompanying narratives sometimes acknowledge the involvement of unnamed workers and the medicinal use of plants by local people, those contributions are masked by the splendor and scientific objectivity of the illustrations.

Illustrated botanical works with  information on rare exotic specimens helped legitimize the colonial regimes in financing their printing. As the illustrations excelled in botanical exactitude, they obscured the skills of African herbalists on whose unseen labor these landmark books depended. This is the botanical color line, where these books’ qualities concealed the conditions of their production and secured the publications’ status as the epitome of the benefits derived from colonial rule. Join 2023 Lloyd Library Artist-in-Residence Mark Harris, as he addresses how the structure of Caribbean economies ensured this duality and how we should look at these illustrations today. 

Watch on YouTube.

Mark Harris is a Professor of Art at the University of Cincinnati. He has an MA in Painting from the Royal College of Art, London, and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Goldsmiths College, London. His artwork and writing concern the visual culture and literature of intentional communities and avant-garde groups.