He was a botanical scientist who highly contributed in the scientific analysis of plants in a period when the use of plants for medical use oscillated between magical rituals and official cures.

In 1539 he became professor at the University of Bologna, and his fame rose to such a point that he was asked by Cosimo I dei Medici to transfer to Pisa where he started the first university botanical garden, which soon became famous throughout Europe.

Thanks to his studies in Pisa he wrote the first 'Index Seminum' of the history of botanical science.