The Ethnobotany of Warfare – Plants have played a fundamental role in warfare, not just as poisons and medicines but as ships, chariots, weapons and wound bandages. This episode traces this history from the time of primate clobbering each other with sticks to potential new battlefield medicines from plants. 

Sources:

Hughes, J.D. Pan’s Travail. Johns Hopkins Press, 1996.

Majno, Guido. The Healing Hand: Man and Wound in the Ancient World. Harvard University Press, 1975. 

Perlin, J. Forest Journey: The Role of Wood in the Development of Civilization. Harvard Press, 1991.

Plotkin, Mark J. “The Ethnobotany of Warfare,” Herbalgram: 101: 48-57.