Lowcountry Lecture: Revisiting F.P. Porcher’s 1863 Resources of Southern Fields and Forests

Tuesday, March 18, 6:30 pm

Lecture: Revisiting F.P. Porcher’s 1863 Resources of Southern Fields and Forests: Insights into Forgotten Medical Botany of the Southeast

George Hanna, Research Assistant Professor of Public Health Sciences, MUSC Center for Environmental and Biomedical Panomics

In 1863, Dr. Francis Peyre Porcher, an MUSC Physician, was commissioned by the Surgeon General of the Confederacy to produce his seminal work, “Resources of Southern Fields and Forest, A Medical Botany of Southern States”—a body of knowledge now relegated to the status of “forgotten books.” However, the time of its publication was the height of the American Civil War and the South had been under a brutal blockade since 1861, which became famously referred to as “Scott’s Great Snake.” Here, at a time of dire need, Porcher describes the practical and medicinal uses, with direct clinical reports, of nearly 500 species of plants, focusing on those native to the Southeast US. Thoughtful reappraisal of this extensive body of knowledge through the lens of modern medicinal chemistry may reveal unutilized sources of life-saving therapeutics growing in our own yards, parks, farms, and forests. The goal of this project is to carefully annotate Porcher’s reports, prioritize species for collection, and initiate the creation of a living research herbarium throughout South Carolina.

Lectures are typically held the 3rd Tuesday of each month at 6:30 PM, and tasty snacks will be provided during post-lecture socializing (BYO non-alcoholic beverage or water bottle).  We will meet in The Citadel's Duckett Hall Auditorium, 2 Jones Ave, Charleston, SC 29403.  (This is next door to our 2024 location, Byrd Hall). Enter Duckett Hall from Jones Ave and go up the short steps to the Auditorium on your left. Free parking is available after 5:00 PM in the parking lot south of Richardson Street, accessible from Mims Ave.