Many plants grown in the period would have had more than one use and often one of the uses would have been medicinal. In the medicinal border plants with primarily a medicinal (physick) use are shown. They include angelica, mandrake, henbane, lungwort, foxglove, selfheal and comfrey. The plants were used in a variety of ways: in a dried form, infused in drinks, the seeds eaten, or as poultices placed upon the body. The plants’ names often reflected the part of the body or illness treated, eg comfrey is also known as ‘knitbone’ and ‘bruisewort’, indicating its use for applying to bruises, sprains and fractures.
| Botanical Name | Common Names |
| Angelica archangelica | Angelica |
| Anthyllis vulneraria | Kidney vetch, Cats claws, Fingers and thumbs |
| Aphanes arvensis | Parsley piert, Breakstone parsley |
| Apium graveolens | Wild celery, smallage |
| Artemesia pontica | Roman wormwood |
| Asarum europaeum | Asarabacca, Hazelwort, European wild ginger, Wild spikenard |
| Cynoglossum officinale | Hounds Tongue |
| Delphinium consolida | Larkspur |
| Digitalis purpurea | Foxglove |
| Echium vulgare | Vipers bugloss |
| Filipendula ulmaria | Meadowsweet |
| Glycyrrhiza glabra | Liquorice |
| Hyoscyamus niger | Henbane. Stinking nightshade. Black henbane |
| Inula helenium | Elecampane, Velvet dock, Cure all, Scabwort |
| Levisticum officinale | Lovage |
| Linaria purpurea | Purple toadflax |
| Linaria vulgaris | Common toadflax |
| Lythrum salicaria | Purple loosestrife |
| Malva moschata | Muskmallow |
| Mandragora officinarum | Mandrake. Devil’s apple. Love apple |
| Marrubium vulgare | Horehound white |
| Nicotiana tobacum | Tobacco |
| Ononis repens | Restharrow |
| Onopordum acanthium | Cotton thistle, Scotch thistle |
| Phyllitis scolopendrium syn. Asplenium scolopendrum | Hart’s tongue fern |
| Plantago media | Hoary plantain |
| Prunella vulgaris | Self heal |
| Salvia verbenaca | A wild clary sage |
| Sempervivum tectorum | House Leek |
| Symphytum officinale | Comfrey |
| Tanacetum parthenium aurea | Golden feverfew |
| Tanacetum vulgare var. crispum | Tansy curly |
| Verbena officinalis | Vervain |