The article marks the 250th anniversary of the publication of William Withering's book The Botanical Arrangement of All the Vegetables Growing Naturally in Great Britain in 1776. William Withering was born on 17 March 1741 in Wellington, Shropshire, the second child of Hesther and Edrismund Withering. Otec sa vo svojom testamente označil za „lekára a chirurga“ alebo „lekárnika z Wellingtonu“. On his mother's side, Withering had a medical family: grandfather George Hector fathered Samuel Johnson, uncle Brooke Hector was a doctor in Lichfield, and another uncle George and cousin Edmund were surgeons. Nie je preto prekvapením, že otec chcel, aby sa syn vyučil v lekárskej profesii.