Download or read book Plants People and Culture written by Michael J Balick and published by Garland Science. This book was released on 2020-08-19 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Is it possible that plants have shaped the very trajectory of human cultures? Using riveting stories of fieldwork in remote villages, two of the world’s leading ethnobotanists argue that our past and our future are deeply intertwined with plants. Creating massive sea craft from plants, indigenous shipwrights spurred the navigation of the world’s oceans. Today, indigenous agricultural innovations continue to feed, clothe, and heal the world’s population. One out of four prescription drugs, for example, were discovered from plants used by traditional healers. Objects as common as baskets for winnowing or wooden boxes to store feathers were ornamented with traditional designs demonstrating the human ability to understand our environment and to perceive the cosmos. Throughout the world, the human body has been used as the ultimate canvas for plant-based adornment as well as indelible design using tattoo inks. Plants also garnered religious significance, both as offerings to the gods and as a doorway into the other world. Indigenous claims that plants themselves are sacred is leading to a startling reformulation of conservation. The authors argue that conservation goals can best be achieved by learning from, rather than opposing, indigenous peoples and their beliefs. KEY FEATURES • An engrossing narrative that invites the reader to personally engage with the relationship between plants, people, and culture • Full-color illustrations throughout—including many original photographs captured by the authors during fieldwork • New to this edition—"Plants That Harm," a chapter that examines the dangers of poisonous plants and the promise that their study holds for novel treatments for some of our most serious diseases, including Alzheimer’s and substance addiction • Additional readings at the end of each chapter to encourage further exploration • Boxed features on selected topics that offer further insight • Provocative questions to facilitate group discussion Designed for the college classroom as well as for lay readers, this update of Plants, People, and Culture entices the reader with firsthand stories of fieldwork, spectacular illustrations, and a deep respect for both indigenous peoples and the earth’s natural heritage.

Download or read book Plants Have So Much to Give Us All We Have to Do Is Ask written by Mary Siisip Geniusz and published by U of Minnesota Press. This book was released on 2015-06-22 with total page 431 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mary Siisip Geniusz has spent more than thirty years working with, living with, and using the Anishinaabe teachings, recipes, and botanical information she shares in Plants Have So Much to Give Us, All We Have to Do Is Ask. Geniusz gained much of the knowledge she writes about from her years as an oshkaabewis, a traditionally trained apprentice, and as friend to the late Keewaydinoquay, an Anishinaabe medicine woman from the Leelanau Peninsula in Michigan and a scholar, teacher, and practitioner in the field of native ethnobotany. Keewaydinoquay published little in her lifetime, yet Geniusz has carried on her legacy by making this body of knowledge accessible to a broader audience. Geniusz teaches the ways she was taught—through stories. Sharing the traditional stories she learned at Keewaydinoquay’s side as well as stories from other American Indian traditions and her own experiences, Geniusz brings the plants to life with narratives that explain their uses, meaning, and history. Stories such as “Naanabozho and the Squeaky-Voice Plant” place the plants in cultural context and illustrate the belief in plants as cognizant beings. Covering a wide range of plants, from conifers to cattails to medicinal uses of yarrow, mullein, and dandelion, she explains how we can work with those beings to create food, simple medicines, and practical botanical tools. Plants Have So Much to Give Us, All We Have to Do Is Ask makes this botanical information useful to native and nonnative healers and educators and places it in the context of the Anishinaabe culture that developed the knowledge and practice.

Download or read book Lessons from Plants written by Beronda L. Montgomery and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2021-04-06 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An exploration of how plant behavior and adaptation offer valuable insights for human thriving. We know that plants are important. They maintain the atmosphere by absorbing carbon dioxide and producing oxygen. They nourish other living organisms and supply psychological benefits to humans as well, improving our moods and beautifying the landscape around us. But plants don’t just passively provide. They also take action. Beronda L. Montgomery explores the vigorous, creative lives of organisms often treated as static and predictable. In fact, plants are masters of adaptation. They “know” what and who they are, and they use this knowledge to make a way in the world. Plants experience a kind of sensation that does not require eyes or ears. They distinguish kin, friend, and foe, and they are able to respond to ecological competition despite lacking the capacity of fight-or-flight. Plants are even capable of transformative behaviors that allow them to maximize their chances of survival in a dynamic and sometimes unfriendly environment. Lessons from Plants enters into the depth of botanic experience and shows how we might improve human society by better appreciating not just what plants give us but also how they achieve their own purposes. What would it mean to learn from these organisms, to become more aware of our environments and to adapt to our own worlds by calling on perception and awareness? Montgomery’s meditative study puts before us a question with the power to reframe the way we live: What would a plant do?

Download or read book Physiological Ecology of North American Plant Communities written by Brain F. Chabot and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 704 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although, as W.D. Billings notes in his chapter in this book. the development of physiological ecology can be traced back to the very beginnings of the study of ecology it is clear that the modern development of this field in North America is due in the large part to the efforts of Billings alone. The foundation that Billings laid in the late 1950s came from his own studies on deserts and subsequently arctic and alpine plants, and also from his enormous success in instilling enthusiasm for the field in the numerous students attracted to the plant ecology program at Duke University. Billings' own studies provided the model for subsequent work in this field. Physiological techniques. normally confined to the laboratory. were brought into the field to examine processes under natural environmental conditions. These field studies were accompanied by experiments under controlled conditions where the relative impact of various factors could be assessed and further where genetic as opposed to environmental influences could be separated. This blending of field and laboratory approaches promoted the design of experiments which were of direct relevance to understanding the distribution and abundance of plants in nature. Physiological mechanisms were studied and assessed in the context of the functioning of plants under natural conditions rather than as an end in itself.

Download or read book Studies of Mexican and Central American Plants written by Joseph Nelson Rose and published by . This book was released on 1911 with total page 70 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The North American Guide to Common Poisonous Plants and Mushrooms written by Nancy J. Turner and published by Timber Press. This book was released on 2009-09-01 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: If people knew how many poisonous plants are commonly found in homes and gardens, they'd be shocked. Plants as common as monkshood, castorbean, and oleander are not just dangerous, they're deadly. The North American Guide to Common Poisonous Plants and Mushrooms is a comprehensive, easy-to-use handbook. The book is split into four main categories: mushrooms, wild plants, ornamental and crop plants, and houseplants. Each plant entry includes a clear photograph to aid the task of identification, a description of the plant, notes on where they commonly occur, and a description of their toxic properties. Plants are listed by common name to assist the non-specialist.

Download or read book North American Wildland Plants written by James L. Stubbendieck and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2017-05 with total page 555 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: North American Wildland Plants contains descriptions of the salient characteristics of the most important wildland plants of North America. This comprehensive reference assists individuals with limited botanical knowledge as well as natural resource professionals in identifying wildland plants. The two hundred species of wildland plants in this book were selected because of their abundance, desirability, or poisonous properties. Each illustration has been enhanced with labels pointing to key characteristics to facilitate the identification of unknown plants. Each plant description includes plant characteristics, an illustration of the plant with enlarged parts, and a general distribution map for North America. Each species description includes nomenclature; life span; origin; season of growth; inflorescence, flower or spikelet, or other reproductive parts; vegetative parts; and growth characteristics. Brief notes are included on habitat; livestock losses; and historic, food, and medicinal uses. This third edition contains additional refinements in the nomenclature, distribution, illustrations, and descriptions of plants.

Download or read book Little Big Bend written by Roy Morey and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A photographic and descriptive guide to the diverse plant life of the Big Bend region of Texas, including uncommon or rare species such as orchids.

Download or read book Studies of Mexican and Central American Plants No 5 written by Joseph Nelson Rose and published by . This book was released on 1906 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Native Plants for New England Gardens written by Mark Richardson and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2018-03-01 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Native plants are drought tolerant, disease resistant, wildlife friendly, and environmentally sound. Experts increasingly encourage gardeners to use natives exclusively. This handy and practical guide focuses on 100 great native flowers, ground covers, shrubs, ferns, and grasses that will thrive in New England gardens. The presentation is aimed at gardeners, who want concise, practical information. It will also include material on the importance and desirability of using native plants. The heart of this book is 100 two-page spreads, one for each species. The spreads will include facts about the plant of use to a gardener (not a botanist)—where it grows best, when it blooms, the soil conditions in which it thrives, its appeal to wildlife, sunlight requirements, how high it grows, how to propagate it, and how to avoid any problems particular to the species. Each spread will also feature two color photos.

Download or read book The Poetics of Plants in Spanish American Literature written by Lesley Wylie and published by University of Pittsburgh Press. This book was released on 2020-12-08 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Poetics of Plants in Spanish American Literature examines the defining role of plants in cultural expression across Latin America, particularly in literature. From the colonial georgic to Pablo Neruda’s Canto general, Lesley Wylie’s close study of botanical imagery demonstrates the fundamental role of the natural world and the relationship between people and plants in the region. Plants are also central to literary forms originating in the Americas, such as the New World Baroque, described by Alejo Carpentier as “nacido de árboles.” The book establishes how vegetal imaginaries are key to Spanish American attempts to renovate European forms and traditions as well as to the reconfiguration of the relationship between humans and nonhumans. Such a reconfiguration, which persistently draws on indigenous animist ontologies to blur the boundaries between people and plants, anticipates much contemporary ecological thinking about our responsibility towards nonhuman nature and shows how environmental thinking by way of plants has a long history in Latin American literature.

Download or read book Native American Medicinal Plants written by Daniel E. Moerman and published by Timber Press (OR). This book was released on 2009 with total page 799 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Describing the medicinal uses of over 2,700 plants by 218 Native American tribes, the author organizes his extensive research into eighty-two categories--including contraceptives, gastrointestinal aids, sedatives, toothache remedies, and more--and provides indexes arranged by tribe, usage, and common name, as well as 150 line drawings.

Download or read book Keepers of Life written by Michael J. Caduto and published by Fulcrum Publishing. This book was released on 1998 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This interdisciplinary curriculum in botany and plant ecology focuses on environmental and stewardship issues using the framework of Native American stories as an introduction to the topics.

Download or read book Native American Food Plants written by Daniel E. Moerman and published by Timber Press. This book was released on 2010-10-27 with total page 456 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Based on 25 years of research that combed every historical and anthropological record of Native American ways, this unprecedented culinary dictionary documents the food uses of 1500 plants by 220 Native American tribes from early times to the present. Like anthropologist Daniel E. Moerman’s previous volume, Native American Medicinal Plants, this extensive compilation draws on the same research as his monumental Native American Ethnobotany, this time culling 32 categories of food uses from an extraordinary range of species. Hundreds of plants, both native and introduced, are described. The usage categories include beverages, breads, fruits, spices, desserts, snacks, dried foods, and condiments, as well as curdling agents, dietary aids, preservatives, and even foods specifically for emergencies. Each example of tribal use includes a brief description of how the food was prepared. In addition, multiple indexes are arranged by tribe, type of food, and common names to make it easy to pursue specific research. An essential reference for anthropologists, ethnobotanists, and food scientists, this will also make fascinating reading for anyone interested in the history of wild and cultivated local foods and the remarkable practical botanical knowledge of Native American forbears.

Download or read book Fruits of Eden written by Amanda Harris and published by University Press of Florida. This book was released on 2015-04-28 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At the turn of the nineteenth century—when most food in America was bland and brown and few people appreciated the economic potential of then-exotic foods—David Fairchild convinced the U.S. Department of Agriculture to finance overseas explorations to find and bring back foreign cultivars. Fairchild traveled to remote corners of the globe, searching for fruits, vegetables, and grains that could find a new home in American fields and in the American diet. In Fruits of Eden, Amanda Harris vividly recounts the exploits of Fairchild and his small band of adventurers and botanists as they traversed distant lands—Algeria, Baghdad, Cape Town, Hong Kong, Java, and Zanzibar—to return with new and exciting flavors. Their expeditions led to a renaissance not only at the dinner table but also in horticulture, providing diversity of crops for farmers across the country. Not everyone was supportive, however. The scientific community was concerned with invasive species, and World War I fanned the flames of xenophobia in Washington. Adversaries who believed Fairchild’s discoveries would contaminate the purity of native crops eventually shut down his program, but his legacy lives on in today’s modern kitchen, where navel oranges, Meyer lemons, honeydew melons, soybeans, and durum wheat are now standard.

Download or read book Keeping it Living written by Douglas Deur and published by University of Washington Press. This book was released on 2005 with total page 417 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Keeping It Living brings together some of the world'smost prominent specialists on Northwest Coast cultures to examinetraditional cultivation practices from Oregon to Southeast Alaska. Itexplores tobacco gardens among the Haida and Tlingit, managed camasplots among the Coast Salish of Puget Sound and the Strait of Georgia,estuarine root gardens along the central coast of British Columbia,wapato maintenance on the Columbia and Fraser Rivers, and tended berryplots up and down the entire coast. With contributions from a host of experts, Native American scholarsand elders, Keeping It Living documents practices ofmanipulating plants and their environments in ways that enhancedculturally preferred plants and plant communities. It describes howindigenous peoples of this region used and cared for over 300 speciesof plants, from the lofty red cedar to diminutive plants of backwaterbogs.

Download or read book Physiological Ecology of North American Desert Plants written by Stanley D. Smith and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 287 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Following a description of the physical and biological characterization of the four North American deserts together with the primary adaptations of plants to environmental stress, the authors go on to present case studies of key species. They provide an up-to-date and comprehensive review of the major patterns of adaptation in desert plants, with one chapter devoted to several important exotic plants that have invaded these deserts. The whole is rounded off with a synthesis of the resource requirements of desert plants and how they may respond to global climate change.