H.R. Totten is appointed a Botany instructor who, with Dr. Coker, plants a physic garden in Coker Arboretum, and teaches, among other courses, pharmaceutical botany prior to receiving his Ph.D. in Botany in 1923. Drs. Coker and Totten pursue further development of the physic garden with seeds and roots donated by Dr. Stockberger of the USDA's Drug and Poisonous Plant Investigation as a response to a shortage of raw drug plants from Europe during and after WWI.
By 1928, what becomes Dr. Totten's "drug garden", a teaching and research site which he curates, contains 200 drug plant species, and is selected by the USDA as one of the best drug gardens in the U.S. ( After WWII, drugs derived from plants began to be synthesized in labs and pharmacy students no longer needed to know about the uses and preparation of medical plants).
The drug garden fell into a state of neglect. However, UNC continued to support the importance of and need for a collection of medical plants. In 1952, when the NCBG was established, plans included a drug garden for pharmacy students and drug plant research. See 1973, for realization of the plan. (This description is from Dot Wilbur-Brooks, 1997.)
ID: 8Modified by: KnauffLast Update: 2020-01-03Publish: 1