Second edition of the work by Friar Esteban de Villa, first published in 1636. The author was a Benedictine monk, pharmacist, and writer who practiced pharmacy at the Hospital of San Juan de Burgos during the 17th century.
“Ramillete de Plantas” includes general information about plants, the use of simples, distillation methods for obtaining medicinal waters and oils, and a recipe book of the usual compounds of the period. It also contains a section devoted to astrology, describing the importance attributed to the stars, equinoxes, and hours of the day in the gathering of plants, which was believed to influence their therapeutic virtues.
This work was highly influential in its time in the botanical and pharmaceutical fields, as medicinal preparations in the 17th century continued to be predominantly plant-based.