A medical bouquet. Poppies, cinchona and willow.

The poppy, the cinchona tree and the willow tree have all provided medicines of undoubted value during past millennium and form a "medical bouquet" worthy of consideration as this century ends. The use of these plants by ancient peoples has gradually evolved into a more informed understanding and application of the compounds initially isolated and purified from their extracts. There has been a Scottish contribution to the medical history of all three plants.