Beja's hidden Ethnobotany Museum

If you pass by Beja, don't miss its Ethnobotany Museum (Museu botanico), located inside the Escola Superior Agraria. And if you have the privilege of a guided tour with Luis Mendonça de Carvalho, you will learn fascinating things about all sorts of vegetable ivory (here, a piece from Ecuador), about the art of Helena Henriques, an artist from the Açores, who crafts flowers and other marvels from miolo de figueira, about how material originating from plants contributed to saving people in the Titanic (here, a safety vest made of cork and cotton), about the Barong Tagalong, the national shirt in the Philippines, made of Pina fibers, about sea beans, about pieces made of Sea coconut, about Marylin Monroe's relationship with plants, etc. Luis also has a fascinating blog: Etnobiodoversidade. Not to be missed!