History of botany voyages to distant lands instigating another phase of encyclopaedic plant identification, nomenclature, description and illustration, "flower painting" possibly at its best in this period of history. Plant trophies from distant lands decorated the gardens of Europe's powerful and wealthy in a period of enthusiasm for natural history, especially botany (a preoccupation sometimes referred to as "botanophilia") that is never likely to recur. Often such exotic new plant imports (primarily from Turkey), when they first appeared in print in English, lacked common names in the language. During the 18th century botany was one of the few sciences considered appropriate for genteel
Botany 2000 the newsletter, the UNESCO Botany 2000-Asia program sponsors occasional workshops on the taxonomy, ethnobotany and chemistry of various plant families, as well as training courses in herbarium techniques and curation. Botany 2000-Africa is implemented by UNESCO's Nairobi Office and deals with the conservation and use of the medicinal flora of Africa. Some of the activities of the Botany 2000-Africa program are published in: S. Edwards and Z. Asfaw (Editors): "The Status of Some Plant Resources in Parts of Tropical Africa". Botany 2000: East and Central Africa; NAPRECA Monograph Series No. 2. Published by "Natural Products Research Network for Eastern and