Renaissance Period & Dittany of Crete...
Gerard
John Gerard the 17th century English botanist and herbalist was famous for his herbal garden and his great work The Herbal (1633). In it he describes Dittany of Crete in old English as Dittanie of Candie and gives it the Latin name of Dictamnum creticum.
"It prevaileth much against all wounds, and especially those made with invenomed weapons, arrows...it draweth forth also splinters of wood, bones, or such like."
He also describes what he names as Fraxinella (like an ash) or Bastard Dittanie.
"Bastard Dittanie is a very rare and gallant plant...garnished with leaves...like the leaves of the Ash tree, but blacker, thicker, and more full of juice, of an unpleasant savor...loathsome...almost like the smell of a goat...."
Bastard Dittanie is now known variously as Dictamnus albus, False Dittany, White Dittany, Burning Bush and Gas-plant.
Dittanie of Candie - Bastard Dittanie
described and illustrated by John Gerard
Dittany of Crete is illustrated to the left of False Dittany in this reproduction of Gerard's work.
Culpepper
Another famous English herbalist and botanist was Nicholas Culpepper (1616 – 1654). His published books, The English Physician (1652) and the Complete Herbal (1653), described in detail the medicinal and pharmaceutical information of herbs and plants. He described Dittany, as a treatment for poisoned weapons, to draw out splinters and broken bones, and to drive away 'venomous beasts'.
Dapper
The Dutch physician and writer Olfert Dapper (c.1635 – 1689) depicted the scene of the wild Cretan goat known as Kri Kri healing its wounds by eating Dittany in his work Nauwkeurige Beschrijving der eilanden in de in de Archipel der Middellantsche Zee.
Kri Kri eating Dittany of Crete
Other scholars of the Renaissance have made reference to Dittany but probably referred to Dictamnus albus known as False Dittany or White Dittany.