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Re: Favorite authors
Gary Paul Habhan wrote "Enduring Seeds" about the need to preserve native
crops and genetic diversity.
CArolyn Jabs wrote "The Heirloom Gardener" about why heirlooms are important.
Aldo Leopold wrote "A Sand County Alamanac" a collection of essays about the
environment and ecologocial balance, long before this sort of thing became
trendy.
Brad and Vena Angier wrote "We Like It Wild" about their adventures
homesteading in British Columbia in the 50's.
Peter Farb wrote "Man's Rise To Civilization" which looks at the various
social orders used by various New World peoples.
Article 25290 of rec.gardens:
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From: dmiller@theory.lcs.mit.edu (Dick and Jill Miller)
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: Re: Bat House
Date: 12 Jan 1994 21:38:51 GMT
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In article: <1994Jan12.053833.106389@zeus.aix.calpoly.edu>
dlord@cymbal.aix.calpoly.edu (D.Lord) asked:
>I've been following the BAT thread with interest, especially the post
>from Maryland about dimensions.
>But, does it work? I would like to know if any bats actually live in
>these houses before I invest the time and energy constructing one.
>Anyone else had positive experience with a BAT house?
>I read somewhere that you should install the house on the EAST side of
>the residence, at least 25 feet above the ground. Any wisdom would bew
>appreciated.
I've had a bat house for several years and no bats. HOWEVER, I recently
learned that my homemade house is not well designed and in the wrong
location. The best book I've seen on the subject is "America's
Neighborhood Bats", by Merlin D. Tuttle, Univ. of Texas Press, 1988, ISBN
0-292-70403-8 or 0-292-70406-2 (I suppose one is paperback, one
hardcover). One hint I've gotten recently is that bats find roosts by
the smell of bat guano, therefore one should spray/smear some guano on a
new house to make it more attractive to bats. Now all I need is a source
of bat guano! :')
--Jill
Contact below (NOT at theory.lcs.mit.edu):
--
A. Richard & Jill A. Miller | MILLER MICROCOMPUTER SERVICES |
InterNet: dmiller@im.lcs.mit.edu | 61 Lake Shore Road |
Voice: 508/653-6136, 9am-9pm -0500(EST)| Natick, MA 01760-2099, USA |
MMSFORTH: The cure for the common code.| 42 18'00.79" N, 71 22'27.68" W|
Article 1571 of alt.folklore.herbs:
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From: klier@cobra.uni.edu
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.herbs
Subject: New Tyler book on herbal remedies
Message-ID: <1994Jan12.175211.21425@cobra.uni.edu>
Date: 12 Jan 94 17:52:11 -0600
Organization: University of Northern Iowa
Lines: 12
In the past, I've found Varro E. Tyler's 1987 "New Honest Herbal" an
excellent guide to herbal remedies that work, or don't work, and the
pharmacological bases, and pitfalls of the remedies. I telnetted
to Library of Congress to get the publication year, and found a new
book by him, Herbs of Choice, 1994, published by Pharmaceutical Products
Press (ISBN 1-56024-895-5). Tyler is/was (?) a pharmacology prof in
Indiana with a strong interest in herbal and home remedies. The 1987
book was especially good about including contraindications, and
possible drug interactions: I hope the 1994 book will have similar
information (I just placed an order about 5 min ago!).
Kay Klier Biology Dept UNI
Article 2229 of bionet.plants:
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From: lacroix@UPEI.CA (Christian Lacroix)
Newsgroups: bionet.plants
Subject: Biology of Plants (5th edition)
Date: Fri, 14 Jan 1994 16:17:36 GMT
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I'm interested to find out the cost of the following text at your institution
Biology of Plants (5th edition)
by Raven, Evert, and Eichhorn
This book is listed at $81.75 (Canadian funds) in our bookstore.
You can respond directly to: LACROIX@UPEI.CA
Christian Lacroix
Department of Biology
University of Prince Edward Island
Charlottetown, PEI
Canada
Article 2230 of bionet.plants:
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From: Potter Wickware <wick@netcom.com>
Newsgroups: bionet.plants
Subject: Re: ethnobotany
Date: 14 Jan 1994 17:04:56 -0000
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Original-To: Cynthia <camurphy@acsu.buffalo.edu>
You ought to check out Tales of the Shaman's Apprentice, by Plotkin,
which is in the stores now. There are lots of suggestive leads in this
book. You could contact Plotkin himself for that matter. He was at
Harvard and maybe still is. You could also contact Lisa Conte or her
colleagues at Shaman Pharaceuticals in Northern California for current leads.
P Wickware
Oakland, CA
On Fri, 14 Jan 1994, Cynthia wrote:
> I am looking for programs in graduate study (MS/PhD) in Ethnobotany.
> The Peterson's guides haven't been much help. :) I've surmised
> that this may be partly due to the interdisciplinary nature of the,
> erm, discipline. I've been given one tip regarding the Smithsonian's
> ethnobotany program which is probably affiliated with some university,
> and have a number of books and journals at my disposal of Ethnobotany
> papers on various areas of the world, but would still appreciate
> any advice about graduate departments that anyone might happen to
> know a bit about.
>
> I don't have a degree in Bio but I do have a Bachelor's, and
> a lot of background in Biology and other sciences, as well as
> anthro and American Studies, and have done a lot of personal
> research into medicinal & other plants.
>
> thank you
>
> Cynthia Murphy
> camurphy@acsu.buffalo.edu
> aa009@freenet.buffalo.edu
>
>
Article 2296 of bionet.plants:
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From: "Jean Gerrath" <JGERRATH@evbhort.uoguelph.ca>
Newsgroups: bionet.plants
Subject: Secondhand bookshops
Date: 27 Jan 1994 18:42:27 -0000
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Original-To: plant-biology@net.bio.net
In response to the request about second hand bookshops specializing
in botanical history and illustrations, I might be able to help a
bit. Last May, while visiting London for a few days, I literally
stumbled upon the big annual Antiquarian book sale at the Russell
Hotel, Russell Square. The whole main floor and ballroom were jammed
with stalls of antiquarian books, and many dealers had biologically-
oriented books. I certainly didn't see all the stalls, but one of
the dealers I talked to specializes in Darwin. His name is:
M. E. Korn, 47 Tetherdown, London N10 1NH
Tel: 081-883 5251.
He must be just one of dozens. Have you ever just wandered along
Charing Cross Road? There are lots of shops there that sell
botanical illustrations of varying quality and price. Happy hunting.
Jean Gerrath
Department of Horticultural Science
University of Guelph
Guelph, Ontario, Canada
Article 25590 of rec.gardens:
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From: richardk@indirect.com (Richard Keightley)
Subject: Re: Chinese Medicinal Herbs
References: <2h9ska$sue@gaia.ucs.orst.edu>
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chozinsa@ava.bcc.orst.edu (Ann Chozinski) writes:
>I am looking for resources that describe the culture of Chinese herbs.
>does anyone know of an English-written source, or english speaking resource
>who would know the specifics on culture and production of these herbs?
>a book? a person? a university that deals with this?
The University of California Botanical Garden, above the UC Berkley
Stadium has a Chinese Medicinal Herb Garden. The phone number of the book
and plant store there is 415-642-3343.
Chinese Herbal Medicine by Daniel Reid, 1986, 1992 Shambala Publications
Boston, MA 02116. ISBN 0-87773-398-8 has many illustrations but little on
cultivation.
Please post the results of your search
--
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Richard Keightley email: richardk@indirect.com
Scottsdale, Arizona fax: (602) 443-8196
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Article 2368 of bionet.plants:
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From: p8443882@aix00.csd.unsw.OZ.AU (David Orlovich)
Subject: Re: Plant Taxonomy Textbooks?
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A good plant systematics text is Plant Taxonomy and Biosystematics by
Clive A. Stace. It ISN'T a book about plant identification but it has
lots of systematics - phylogenetics theory suitable for the undergraguate
student. I think the publisher is Academic Press but I don't have a copy
with me to check.
David Orlovich.
Article 1885 of alt.folklore.herbs:
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From: murphye@fraser.sfu.ca (Douglas George Murphy)
Subject: review: Med.Plants of the Pacific West
Message-ID: <murphye.760992955@sfu.ca>
Keywords: medicinal plants, herbs, herb identification, book review
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I highly recommend Michael Moore's MEDICINAL PLANTS OF THE PACIFIC WEST
to anyone on or near the west coast. This is a very useful book for US$19.95.
Beautiful line drawings by Mimi Kamp for each plant and over 30 small
colour plates assist identification.
The plant monographs are:
aconite, alum root, amole lily, angelica, arnica, balsam poplar,
balsam root, baneberry, bergamot mint, betony, bidens, bittersweet,
black cohosh, bleeding heart, blueberry, brook mint, buckbean,
buckwheat bush, bunchberry, california bay, california bayberry,
california buckeye, california mugwort, california poppy, california
snakeroot, california spikenard, desert milkweed, devil's club, european
pennyroyal, false solomon's seal, figwort, fireweed, goldthread,
hawthorn, hedge nettle, horehound, hummingbird sage, hypericum,
inside-out flower, labrador tea, lemon balm, licorice fern, lomantium,
madrone, maidenhair fern, manzanita, matilija poppy, mormon tea, nettle,
oregon grape, oxeye daisy, pearly everlasting, peppermint, pitcher sage,
prickly poppy, red cedar, red root, redwood, salal, sarsaparilla,
silk tassel, spearmint, stream orchid, sweet root, trillium, urva ursi,
valerian, vanilla leaf, western coltsfoot, western pasque flower,
western peony, western skunk cabbage, white sage, wild ginger, yarrow,
yellow pond lily, yerba buena, yerba del lobo, yerba reuma, and yerba santa.
There is one appendix that briefly describes another hundred or so plants
in about 20 pages and another that lists plants by therapeutic use in 8
pages. In addition, there is a good glossary of almost 30 pages.
A 5 page list of selected references and an index of plant names follow.
The following excerpt is the devolved for email and sans line drawing
version of the monograph for Maidenhair Fern - pg 174-176.
copyright 1993 Michael Moore so buy the book, eh?
>MAIDENHAIR FERN
>Adiantum pedatum (Polypodiaceae)
>OTHER NAMES Five-Finger Fern; Culantrillo
>
>APPEARANCE To describe this lovely is almost redundant. The fronds form
>colonies that arise from creeping, scaly rootstalks, and the individual
>fronds splay out palmately and fanlike from 1- to 2-foot shiny black or
>brown wire-stems. The colonies and the places they grow evoke images of
>salamanders, deva-magic, and the cool shade of the world before Man.
>The fronds are kind of groovy too: water won't wet them. There are two
>other species you may encounter. In warm, clean canyons of coastal
>California you may find California Maidenhair (A. jordanii); it is
>irregular-leaved, dark brown, shiny stemmed, and with the leaflets
>(pinnules) shaped like little fans that are more broad than long.
>The European Venus-hair fern (A. capillus-veneris) is to be found
>occasionally, with greater ferny side stems and leaflets more long than
>broad. I don't like gathering it, as a rule, only because of its relative
>scarcity.
>HABITAT Our primary Maidenhair Fern can be found throughout the Pacific
>Coast, from central California (the San Francisco Bay Area and the Sierra
>Nevada) north to Alaska and east through cool forests, from near the beaches
>to the middle mountains. Cool, damp, shady, and clean is the ticket. The
>California Maidenhair is found mostly in the coastal mountains, from Santa
>Cruz to San Diego, rarely east of the Central Valley, up warm, wet canyons,
>near seeps and Monkey Flowers.
>
>CONSTITUENTS Filicine, filcinal, adiantone, adipedifol (hopanetype tri-
>terpenes); b-sitosterol, stigmasterol, campesterol (phytosterols); mucilage,
>and tannin.
>
>COLLECTING Gather the frond and stems, removed at ground level, bundle,
>and dry Method A. The bundles look so nice hanging around the house on
>hooks that sometimes it's tempting to leave them up as decorations until they
>are needed. Sadly, they fade rather quickly, so store them in the the dark,
>away from the appreciative glances of friends.
>
>STABILITY If stored in the dark, Maidenhair Fern is stable for at least two
>years.
>
>PREPARATION Standard Infusion, 1 to 4 fluid ounces, or just any old way
>you want.
>
>MEDICINAL USES Maidenhair Fern is a gentle remedy and is not for the
>heroic of inclination. It does work quite nicely, however, for a variety of
>common imbalances. It is astringent, hemostatic,and slightly stimulant to
>to mucus membrane functions. The widest use is for coughing and
>heaviness in the lungs, either from an actual bronchial infection or from
>tiredness or weakness in those who seem to show every little problem by
>wheezing, gurgling, and throat clearing. I have found it helps to drink a cup
>of the tea in the morning if you are particularly susceptible to smog and air
>pollution. In Europe and Latin America it has a long history of stimulating
>slow and crampy menses to organize. It seems most effective for young
>women and those having trouble getting back on cycle after birthing, nursing,
>or coming off birth control pills.
> In a far subtler fashion, Maidenhair Fern combines well with Horsetail,
>another botanical source of silica, for strengthing, over a period of time,
>chronic stress on connective tissues, particularly in filtering organs. This
>makes it helpful for liver weakness, especially from alcohol, early
>borderline emphysema, and kidney weaknesses that might, in time, become overt
>renal failure. It has mild vasopressor and diuretic effects in rats.
>
>OTHER USES The tea, either infusion or decotion, is an exellent Hair rinse,
>adding some body (particularly in sun-dried or over-processed conditions)
>and, with Chamomile or Yarrow added to the tea, some sheen and, dare I
>say it, luster.
from: Michael Moore, 1993. MEDICINAL PLANTS OF THE PACIFIC WEST.
Red Crane Books, 826 Camino de Monte Rey, Santa Fe,
New Mexico 87501.
ill. by Mimi Kamp
ISBN 1-878610-31-7
Article 1867 of alt.folklore.herbs:
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From: bk19@cornell.edu (Brij Kothari)
Newsgroups: alt.education.research,alt.folklore.herbs
Subject: Recent Book of Medicinal Plants
Followup-To: alt.education.research
Date: 10 Feb 1994 03:22:55 GMT
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Keywords: Ethnobotany; Medicinal Plants; Indigenous Knowledge;
Participatory
Action Research; Ecuador;
"Nucanchic Panpa Janpicuna" or "Plantas Medicinales del Campo" is
the name of a bilingual (Quichua-Spanish) book that documents more than 120
medicinal plants used in the indigenous communities of La Esperanza,
Angochagua, and Caranqui, Imbabura, Ecuador. The investigation for this
project was undertaken primarily by two campesino volunteers from every
participating community, under the auspices of the Union de Organizaciones
y Comunidades Indigenas de Angochagua, La Esperanza, y Caranqui
(UNOCIAE-C).
The illustrated bilingual edition was developed primarily for the
campesinos of the region. It includes drawings and latin names of most of
the plants and icons to pictorially represent methods of remedy preparation
and use. An attempt was made to maintain the flavor of the languages, as
spoken and understood by the campesinos concerned.
Future extensions of the project include the creation of a garden
of medicinal plants in each community. Funding for the creation and
maintenance of the gardens is expected to be generated by proceeds from the
sale of this book. The book will be sold within the communities, below
printing cost.
The book was published jointly by ABYA-YALA and colegio
SINT-TRUIDEN (Belgium). If anyone is interested in more info or a copy
($10.00), please contact Brij Kothari at (607) 255-0504; 277-3761, or
e-mail: bk19@cornell.edu
All proceeds go to the communities.
Article 7806 of misc.rural:
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From: claird@sugar.NeoSoft.COM (Cameron Laird)
Newsgroups: sci.bio,alt.books.reviews,rec.arts.books,misc.rural,rec.gardens,bionet.agroforestry
Subject: Xylophilia (was: Biggest thing alive) [LONG]
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In article <ttuomasj.53.2D59EB32@silvia.helsinki.fi>,
TOMI TUOMASJUKKA (MMVAR) <ttuomasj@silvia.helsinki.fi> wrote:
.
.
.
>Dunno 'bout that, but as far as I know, the biggest living organism on
>earth is 'General Sherman', the massive giant sequia (a tree) in California.
>I don't remember the latin name of the species, might be something like
>Sequiadendron something (giganteum ?).
>
>General is roughly 80 meters high, the perimeter is about 65 meters at
>ground level (not sure if I remember right) and its volume is about 1200
>cubic meters!!! I doubt that any fungus could beat that.
.
.
.
It's not quite so rotund as your memory has it; I can't find
any estimate for General Sherman's circumference that tops
150 feet, and I'm a bit skeptical of that. *Sequoiadendron
giganteum* has many specimens that top 2000 tons, ten times
the weight of the largest whales. One of the spectacular
aspects of this species is that their habit is rather lonely;
they grow without other trees nearby, so that "You can stand
back and see the whole monstrous vegetable: its untapering
shaft going up like a road to the tangle of heavy branches
that make its head--perhaps 100 feet of lively sprouting
above 200 feed of simple, unadorned log." Some have a first
"branch [that is] alone bigger than the biggest elm tree in
the world ..."
The quotations are from
Johnson, Hugh
1984 Hugh Johnson's Encyclopedia of Trees.
Gallery Books, New York City
a marvelous coffee-table book. As the dust jacket says,
it
is a fully illustrated guide to all the
major garden and forest trees . . . an
unforgettable journey through a magnif-
icent and intricate world of natural
beauty, and an unmatched work of refer-
ence for gardeners and tree lovers.
The *Encyclopedia* shows the world of
trees in thorough and loving detail:
the structure and life cycle of trees,
their place in history and ecology,
forestry past and present, the use of
trees in garden and landscape design,
tree planting and care.
Forming the heart of the *Encyclopedia*
is a visually beautiful omnibus of deci-
duous and coniferous trees--more than
six hundred species--illustrated with
close to a thousand full-color photo-
graphs and drawings and accompanied by a
text that sparkles with fascinating facts
and tree lore.
It's true. The dust jacket completely jumps the track, though,
when it quotes a former Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens
as of the opinion that
Hugh Johnson .... writes without prejudice
or inhibition, eager to share his vivid en-
joyment and his remarkable understanding.
If you start his book with a feeling for
trees, I don't see how you can finish it
without loving them.
There's nothing wrong with this, either, except for the "without
prejudice" phrase; how could dendrology possibly be an arena for
the display of prejudice? In fact, the *Encyclopedia* answers
that question, too. Johnson is gloriously prejudiced, prejudiced
about trees. Moreover, his prejudices are, well, correct.
Johnson is best known as a wine critic. His physiognomy, though,
rather suggests a rugby player whose teammates think he's a bit
too enthusiastic about the rough and tumble. In any case, he's
lusty in his affections, and forthright in his writing. Cheerful
personal views fill his *Encyclopedia*:
I feel obliged to mention what to me is the
ugliest tree in the world--the weeping
wellingtonia. This freak from a French nur-
sery has branches that grow straight
downwards, as near the trunk as they can get.
. . . To grow one seems to me rather like
exhibiting Siamese twins.
. . . The larch is one of the fastest-grow-
ing of all trees; certainly the fastest to
make strong and heavy wooed with almost oak-
like qualities. . . . Possibly more
important than any of the species, however,
is a hybrid, the fruit of a union romantically
formed at a ducal seat in the highlands of
Scotland. . . . The 4th Duke was so smitten
with the larch that he planted 17,000,000 of
them.
For a non-fanatic to write of rhododendrons
at all is foolhardy, but to try to distinguish
those that should be called trees, at least
without long experience in the Himalayas, is
almost suicidal. There never was a rhododen-
dron with the sort of long straight trunk
that would tempt a forester, that is certain.
Yet who would call a plant 90 feet high, how-
ever curving and many-stemmed, a shrub?
What can you grow that gives a garden such a
sense of established well-being as a fig tree
or a mulberry? I've no doubt it is just wit-
less harking back to a three-quarters-mythical
past: the fig-tree mentioned so often in the
Bible and popping out from under every fallen
marble frieze in the ruins of the classical
world, and the mulberry appearing from China
in the Dark Ages--maybe long before--and with
it the Secret of Silk. . . . Mulberries are
gastronomically neglected. They are somehow
not quite right as fruit, combining the ex-
tremes of squashiness and pippiness ...
He continues for another three hundred pages. These in-group
jokes and flamboyance are the sort of thing that make a re-
viewer instinctively reach for such adjectives as "cloying"
and "fanatical". Johnson is better than that. Read him your-
self, and you'll find that his overadrenalized prose actually
delivers on its promise to entertain and communicate with
accuracy. When he compares the flowering ashes to "the velvet-
framed bosom of Nell Gwynn ...", it turns out that there's
some artistic justification for his almost-over-wrought prose.
I've narrowed follow-ups; I encourage others to make their own
adjustments.
--
Cameron Laird
claird@Neosoft.com (claird%Neosoft.com@uunet.uu.net) +1 713 267 7966
claird@litwin.com (claird%litwin.com@uunet.uu.net) +1 713 996 8546
Article 7820 of misc.rural:
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From: claird@sugar.NeoSoft.COM (Cameron Laird)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.books,misc.rural,alt.books.reviews,rec.gardens,bionet.agroforestry,bionet.plants
Subject: Re: Xylophilia (was: Biggest thing alive)
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Date: 17 Feb 1994 14:18:28 -0600
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In article <2jtehs$o8v@sugar.neosoft.com>, I <claird@sugar.NeoSoft.COM> wrote:
> .
> .
> .
[lots of stuff about]
> Johnson, Hugh
> 1984 Hugh Johnson's Encyclopedia of Trees.
> Gallery Books, New York City
>
>a marvelous coffee-table book. As the dust jacket says,
.
.
.
For somewhat more sedate coverage of the same topic, see
Hora, Bayard, consultant editor
1981 The Oxford Encyclopedia of
Trees of the World. Oxford
University Press, Oxford
My exuberance about *... Johnson's ...* perhaps obscured the
fact that there's some sense in his idiosyncrasies. He writes
for the enthusiast, and particularly one with an estate he'd
like to populate dramatically. I gave myself a *Taxodium di-
stichum* for my birthday one year, before they became so
fashionable in that area, based solely (well, almost) on his
description of its virtues and charms. My current land-hold-
ings still barely top one acre, but Johnson inspires marvelous
fantasies.
*The Oxford Encyclopedia ...* shares the same format--both
profile botanical families in roughly 200 pages of sumptuously-
illustrated cataloguing, with fifty pages of introduction,
extensive reference sections, and so on--but *... Oxford ...*
strikes a somewhat more formal tone. Its categories are a bit
finer, and its range a bit more universal, while Johnson allows
himself the luxury of devoting more space to his favorites.
*... Oxford ...* is more didactic: more of its illustrations
are the sort one would find in an identification key, it is
more earnestly culturologic and keeps a focus on economic
value. Johnson includes a photograph only when it has
artistic merit apart from its botanical significance; *all*
his trees look dramatic, in one way or another. Johnson has
a dozen pages on "Tree Planting and Care"; *... Oxford ...*
devotes about the same amount to a *Scientific American*-level
introduction to the biology of trees. The best decision, once
one has decided where in one's library to shelve these--they're
both over 11-1/2 inches high--is simply to purchase both.
--
Cameron Laird
claird@Neosoft.com (claird%Neosoft.com@uunet.uu.net) +1 713 267 7966
claird@litwin.com (claird%litwin.com@uunet.uu.net) +1 713 996 8546