"Plants of the Qur’ān: History and Culture" - book review by Katherine Tyrrell

"Plants of the Qur’ān, History and Culture" is a unique book. It's the first serious illustrated botanical, historical and cultural study of plants of the Middle East named in the Qur’ān.

I've got an extremely extensive library of books about botanical art across a range of topics. Some are scientific, some focus on plants relating to a particular place, some relate to notable past masters of botanical illustration.

However, I don't think I've ever seen one before which is

  • rooted in an ethnobotanical survey looking at how the plants have been used in daily lives in different places for different purposes over time
  • grounded in scientific, taxonomic and etymological research by a leading botanist - Dr Shahina Ghazanfar, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, (Linnean Medal (Botany) 2021)
  • beautifully illustrated by a notable contemporary botanical illustrator working from life. Sue Wickison is an award-winning botanical illustrator who recently received the Linnean Society's Jill Smythies Award for Botanical Illustration in 2023.


Read more about their project and partnership below.

The main section of the book highlights thirty of the plants most prominent in the Qur’ān, with details on where the plant is mentioned in the Qur’ān text, detailed etymology, cultural history, and botanical description.

The Qur’an is a religious text that influences the lives of some 1.8 billion people who adhere to the Islamic faith. The main section of the book highlights thirty of the plants most prominent in the Qur’ān, with details on where the plant is mentioned in the Qur’ān text, detailed etymology, cultural history, and botanical description.

While the contents of this new book are extremely well researched and very learned ( with a very impressive reference section and bibliography) it is worth noting that it is also extremely accessible to a wider audience and in particular those interested in

    • the botany of plants of the Middle East - notably in relation to familiar food plants including ginger, garlic, dates, pomegranate, olives, grapes, onions, lentils etc.
    • the history and role of plants in Islamic culture and the Qur’ān
    • their use in relation to food, medicine, beauty, fragrance and shade.
    • the development of a record of native plants

As such it's going to have a very wide audience - way beyond the scientists and botanical art fans.

This is currently reflected in the popularity of the associated exhibition at The Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art at Kew.

Since it opened at the beginning of April, there have been lots and lots of visitors to see Sue Wickison's botanical paintings, in part driven by the wide coverage the exhibition has received in the press and on social media.

​The comments book at the front desk is also very complementary and conveys how impressed people are by the paintings - and the context in terms of culture, history and place.

I was in heaven as I walked through Sue Wickison's Plants of the Qur'an. Outstanding!
Absolutely beautiful paintings with lots of information. Thoroughly enjoyable.
~​visitors to the exhibition

A collaborative enterprise in art and science

Two women are responsible for this project and this book. Special mention must also be made of Dr Gwilym Lewis of Kew Gardens who was the 'matchmaker' for this very productive partnership.


Their collaboration over the last six years has resulted in a very impressive exhibition and a very impressive book.
This stunning book brings the plants of the Qur’ān to life. Combining art and science, the plants are beautifully portrayed by artist Sue Wickison, and their fascinating stories revealed by botanist Shahina Ghazanfar.
Dr Shirley Sherwood OBE

The book has been written by an accomplished botanist, natural historian and field naturalist with a distinguished publication record.
Dr Shahina A. Ghazanfar (Linnean Medal (Botany) 2021) is a Senior Botanist and an Honorary Research Associate at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and a Gibbs Fellow at Newnham College, University of Cambridge.

She undertook in-depth research for this book which has led to new findings in relation to:

  • knowledge about the historical and cultural significance of these plants, and their traditional and present uses,
  • unpicking the taxonomy and etymology and hence the development of local as well as scientific names in relation to specific plants.

She has also provided

  • a detailed exploration of the context in which they are mentioned in the Qur’ān and other religious texts
  • ​scientific descriptions of what the plants look like - in terms of flora, fruit, leaves and morphological structures and forms


The plants and the book have been beautifully illustrated and brought to life by Sue Wickison who lives in New Zealand. She is a former scientific illustrator at Kew who has contributed to various scientific publications and has been awarded an RHS Gold Medal and, in 2023, the Jill Smythies Award for botanical illustration by the Linnean Society. See Sue Wickison to receive The Jill Smythies Award 2023.

Sue's paintings have been drawn from living specimens in the wild and cultivation - mainly from the United Arab Emirates and Oman - and at home in New Zealand where she was able to grow some of the plants from seed collected on her various travels.

​One notable feature of her paintings is how much larger they are than conventional botanical paintings for scientific publications.

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