France, Oct. 18 -- Accessed by passing between majestic buildings designed in the late 19th century by famed architect Charles Laisne - as well as others added during the 1960s - the botanical garden covers nearly 3,500 square metres.

In the warmer months, students eat lunch at picnic tables in the shadow of the laboratory building, recognisable by its dozens of chimneys.

"When they start their pharmacy studies, the students are welcomed into the garden," says lecturer and researcher Florence Chapeland-Leclerc. "From their second session with us, they work in the lab with samples cut on site." Heated debate over herbalism

Relations between the pharmacy and herbalism sectors have long been fraught.

France stopped issuing herbalist cert...