used Linnaeus’s name Zephyranthes atamasco, with a more technical drawing.

When the first Europeans arrived in the New World, they viewed all “plants” as potential “herbs.” For example, in the late 1500s and early 1600s, a person could find 300 to 400 medicinal and culinary herbs in a single English garden. Virtually none was “just” decorative. All levels of society were permeated by this obsession because people’s health and food depended on their knowledge of plants. Among the many species that Europeans considered medicinal are “Lilies,” “Amaryllis,” and “Crocus.”