Rośliny krain zmyślonych — o zielnikach i wytwarzaniu miejsc

Abstrakt

Plants of imaginary lands: About herbaria and creating places

This article is an attempt at applying a critical and affirmative perspective in reflection about herbaria and their creators. The historical connections of herbaria with practices related to violence in certain places and economically driven treatment of plants, including colonialism, are juxtaposed with concepts of creating the identity of an individual in association with the love of a place. The author presents the profiles of Father Władysław Michał Zaleski and Eliza Orzeszkowa, discussing their botanical albums created over the years. The reflection on herbaria and their creators presented in the text embeds the practice of creating botanical collections in the context of contemporary problems related to the degradation of the natural environment, indicating that the value lost by hobby herbals created within the production of scientific knowledge is also an opportunity to create a bond with the natural environment.