What was the first book recording the medicinal uses of plants published in 512 A.D?

• A. Herbal
• B. De Materia Medica
• C. Hortus Malabaricus
• D. The Canon of Medicine

Answer: (A)

Think about how early medical knowledge was organized. A Herbal is a book that collects plants used for healing in one place, with notes on what each plant does and how to use it. Around 512 A.D., one of the earliest such compilations appeared, making it the first known book that records the medicinal uses of plants in a structured, reference format. That’s why this option is the best match for the question: it represents the earliest type of work that systematically documents plant-based remedies for medical use.

The other works listed are important in the history of medicine and pharmacology, but they come from different contexts or later periods. Hortus Malabaricus is a 17th-century botanical catalog focused on the Malabar coast; The Canon of Medicine is Avicenna’s 11th-century medical encyclopedia; De Materia Medica by Dioscorides is an ancient text about medicinal plants but predates the medieval herbal tradition cited by the question.