A garden hidden in Paris

The Faculty of Pharmacy at Paris Cité University, near the Jardin du Luxembourg on the Left Bank, houses a botanical garden covering nearly three thousand five hundred square metres.

Students learn plants from year two

Pharmacy students begin their studies welcomed into the garden.From their second year, they work in the laboratory with plant samples cut on site.By their second year, students must identify one hundred twenty plant species.

“When they start their pharmacy studies, the students are welcomed into the garden.”

Bridging science and tradition

France stopped issuing herbalist certification in nineteen forty-one, and the debate between those fearing alternative medicine without scientific basis and those regretting lost traditional knowledge remains heated. The Faculty of Pharmacy draws on both practices.

Plants are the source of medicines

Willow bark was known for its anti-inflammatory, antipyretic and analgesic properties reducing fever and pain. Aspirin was derived from it. Pharmacognosy, the applied science studying medicinal substances of natural origin, is central to pharmacy training.

“Willow bark was known for its anti-inflammatory, antipyretic and analgesic properties [reducing fever and pain].”

Toxicity determines use and danger

The garden organises plants by toxicity as well as botanical classification.Some plants are toxic at any dosage, while others contain substances that at certain doses can be used medicinally.

Pharmacists remain the safest guide

Plant identification apps are fairly reliable, but mushroom apps remain inaccurate and should not be trusted to classify safe specimens.