‘Inestimable importance’: 500-year-old cache of pressed flowers reveals new secrets

Thousands of specimens from the 1500s show huge changes to Bologna's flora due to climate crisis and migration, say researchers

A collection of pressed flowers taken from the hillsides of Bologna 500 years ago is unlocking knowledge about how the climate crisis and human migration is changing landscapes in northern Italy.

Picked between 1551 and 1586 by the Renaissance naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi, the 5,000 delicately cut and dried plants form one of the richest collections of its time.