Best of
Plants

1996

One River


Wade Davis - 1996
    In the 1970s, he sent two prize students, Tim Plowman and Wade Davis, to follow in his footsteps and unveil the botanical secrets of coca, the notorious source of cocaine, a sacred plant known to the Inca as the Divine Leaf of Immortality.A stunning account of adventure and discovery, betrayal and destruction, One River is a story of two generations of explorers drawn together by the transcendent knowledge of Indian peoples, the visionary realms of the shaman, and the extraordinary plants that sustain all life in a forest that once stood immense and inviolable.

The Magic School Bus Gets All Dried Up: A Book About Deserts


Joanna Cole - 1996
    Frizzle's class is building a wonderful diorama of the desert, but learning about such a harsh environment has gotten Phoebe worried. What happens to all the animals in the desert without any water to sustain them in the scorching heat? Ties in with the PBS-TV series beginning in October 1995. Full color.

Sacred Plant Medicine: The Wisdom in Native American Herbalism


Stephen Harrod Buhner - 1996
    Indigenous peoples the world over have been able to gather knowledge of plant uses by communicating directly with plants and honoring the sacred relationship between themselves and the plant world. In Sacred Plant Medicine Stephen Harrod Buhner looks at the long-standing relationship between indigenous peoples and plants and examines the techniques and states of mind these cultures use to communicate with the plant world. He explores the sacred dimension of plant and human interactions and the territory where plants are an expression of Spirit. For each healing plant described in the book, Buhner presents medicinal uses, preparatory guidelines, and ceremonial elements such as prayers and medicine songs associated with its use.

Flora Britannica


Richard Mabey - 1996
    Indeed, Flora Britannica is the definitive contemporary flora, an encyclopaedia of living folklore, a register – a sort of Domesday Book.It is unique in that it is not a botanical flora but a cultural one – an account of the role of wild plants in social life, arts, custom and landscape. It is also unique in that information has been supplied by the people themselves. Five years of intensive original research have aroused popular interest and ‘grassroots’ involvement on an exceptional scale. People all over Britain – both rural and urban – have been encouraged to record and celebrate the cultural dimensions of their own flora, and to send their memories and anecdotes, observations and regional knowledge to Flora Britannica.The result is a nationwide record of the popular culture, domestic uses and social meanings of our wild plants. It is both useful and delightful – superbly written by one of the most outstanding English authors on natural history and illustrated with nearly 500 photographs. Including trees and ferns, it covers 1,000 species, many of them in considerable detail. A new flora for the people, Flora Britannica is a testimony to the continuing relationship between nature and human beings, and a celebration that the seasons and the landscape, local character and identity, still matter in Britain.

Plants of Southern Interior British Columbia and the Inland Northwest


Roberta Parish - 1996
    Detailed species descriptions are combined with concise drawings and color photographs to make plant identification easy.

Brother Cadfael's Herb Garden: An Illustrated Companion to Medieval Plants and Their Uses


Robin Whiteman - 1996
    Now, with this beautifully illustrated book, Cadfael fans can spend a typical year with their favorite monk, following him on his rounds as Shrewsbury's apothecary and healer, visiting his garden', and learning more about hundreds of herbs -- many of which are still cultivated today. Here is a succinct history of herbal remedies and monastic herb gardens like Cadfael's, as well as a complete A-to-Z guide to the medical uses for every herb and plant mentioned in the Ellis Peters books. For anyone intrigued by Brother Cadfael's medieval universe -- or interested in the recent boom in herbal remedies -- Brother Cadfael's Herb Garden is a marvelous guide to greater knowledge.

Weeds of the West


Tom D. Whitson - 1996
    This easy-to-use guide contains brilliant color photographs showing the early growth stages, mature plants and features for positive identification of each weed discussed. Learning to identify unwanted plants around the home, farm or ranch will be much easier with this book published by the Western Society of Weed Science.

Mushrooms


Thomas Læssøe - 1996
    Featuring more than 500 full-color illustrations and photographs, along with detailed annotations, Smithsonian Handbooks make identification easy and accurate.

Nature Aquarium World-Book 3


Takashi Amano - 1996
    hard cover book

Nature Aquarium World-Book2


Takashi Amano - 1996
    A companion volume to Nature Aquarium World, Book 1, featuring aquariums up to 50 gallons.

Tree Wisdom: The definitive guidebook to the myth, folklore and healing power of Trees


Jacqueline Memory Paterson - 1996
    This beautiful illustrated book is the result of eight years exhaustive research into the myths, magic and healing power of trees.It has comprehensive information on all the main species of tree and written in an easy to use and accessible style by an Arch-druidess.This book contains all the practical information you need to identify each tree as it changes throughout the year and includes:comprehensive physical and descriptions and botanical informationthe legends and myths surrounding each treethe healing powers and magical properties of the individual tree

The Scots Herbal: Plant Lore of Scotland


Tess Darwin - 1996
    A treasury of folklore, magic and science.

Noah's Wife: The Story of Naamah


Sandy Eisenberg Sasso - 1996
    Take two of every kind of living plant....Work quickly. The rains begin tomorrow."From award-winning author Sandy Eisenberg Sasso, a new story which lights our spiritual imaginations.When God tells Noah to bring the animals of the world onto the ark, God also calls on Naamah, Noah's wife, to save each plant on Earth.Entrusted with this task, Naamah sets off to every corner of the world, discovering a fabulous array of growing things, and gathering seeds, bulbs, cuttings, spores, and roots. She fills a room on the ark with every type of plant--from amaryllis, soybeans, and wheat to lilies, moss, and even dandelions. Then, after 40 long days and nights on the ark, the most important part of Naamah's work begins.In this new story, based on an ancient text, Naamah's wisdom and love for the natural harmony of the earth inspires us to use our own courage, creativity, and faith to carry out Naamah's work today.

Plant Technology of First Peoples in British Columbia: Including Neighbouring Groups in Washington, Alberta, and Alaska


Nancy J. Turner - 1996
    She also shows how plant materials were effectively used in many other ways, such as for decoration and ornamentation, as scents, cleansing agents and insect repellents, and in recreational activities.Over the millennia, the First Peoples have become highly skilled in the arts of working with plant materials. Turner describes more than a hundred of these plants, their various uses and their importance in the material cultures of First Nations. Each description has a colour photograph of the plant to aid in its identification.

How Flowers Changed the World


Loren Eiseley - 1996
    Gerald Ackerman's color floral portraits provide a visual counterpoint to the wondrous text. Two-color text & printed endpapers. 19 color photos.

People with Dirty Hands: The Passion for Gardening


Robin Chotzinoff - 1996
    From a New York City Green Guerrilla to the Texas Rose Rustlers and a Colorado tomato fanatic, Chotzinoff serves up colorful profiles of americanca’s quirkiest, most fervent gardeners.

Soil Science and Management


Edward J. Plaster - 1996
    The emphasis on sustainable soil use and conservation prepares students to deal with today's enviromental issues, such as soil and water conservation, nutrient management, sustainable agriculture, and related topics. An appendix familiarizes horticultural majors with basic chemistry concepts to provide the foundation for further study in soil science.

Berries, Nuts, and Seeds (Young Naturalist Field Guides)


Diane L. Burns - 1996
    Children learn to identify a variety of different plant, animal and insect species.-- Helps children identify different species.-- Includes scrapbook pages, for notes or drawings.-- Features detailed true-to-life illustrations.

America's Deserts: Guide to Plants and Animals


Marianne D. Wallace - 1996
    A detailed guide to the plants and animals of the four desert regions of North America (Chihuahuan, Great Basin, Sonoran, and Mojave).

Herbs and Healing Plants of Britain & Europe


Dieter Podlech - 1996
    

The Old Farmer's Almanac Book of Garden Wisdom


Cynthia Van Hazinga - 1996
    This is a wonderfully entertaining resource book as well as a great gift for anyone from those who dabble in the garden to the greenest thumb. Photos.

A Seed Grows (My First Look at)


Pamela Hickman - 1996
    In A Seed Grows, follow the growth of a plant, from a peek inside a sprouting seed to the harvest of the fruit. The book suggests ways parents and children can explore nature without disturbing it."

Cultivating Women, Cultivating Science: Flora's Daughters and Botany in England, 1760 to 1860


Ann B. Shteir - 1996
    This elegant book is essential reading for anyone interested in plants and science." -- Londa Schiebinger, NatureIn Cultivating Women, Cultivating Science, Ann B. Shteir explores the contributions of women to the field of botany before and after the dawn of the Victorian Age. She shows how ideas during the eighteenth century about botany as a leisure activity for self-improvement and a "feminine" pursuit gave women unprecedented opportunities to publish their findings and views. By the 1830s, however, botany came to be regarded as a professional activity for specialists and experts -- and women's contributions to the field of botany as authors and teachers were viewed as problematic. Shteir focuses on John Lindley, whose determination to form distinctions between polite botany -- what he called "amusement for the ladies" -- and botanical science -- "an occupation for the serious thoughts of man" -- illustrates how the contributions of women were minimized in the social history of science. Despite such efforts, women continued to participate avidly in botanical activities at home and abroad, especially by writing for other women, children, and general readers.At a time of great interest in the role of women in science, this absorbing, interdisciplinary book provides a new perspective on gender issues in the history of science. Cultivating Women, Cultivating Science rediscovers the resourceful women who used their pens for their own social, economic, and intellectual purposes."Her lively assortment of womenspeaks to the diversity of a scientific world in some ways more pervasive of everyday society than our own, and... a complex ecology of women in science."--Abigail Lustig, William and Mary Quarterly"Shteir's book bears reading and rereading, not merely because it is filled with a wide array of detail, but because it attempts to suggest a texture of women's lives in the nineteenth century that is far too poorly known."--Alan Rauch, Nineteenth Century Studies

The Collector's Garden: Designing With Extraordinary Plants


Ken Druse - 1996
    400 color photos.

The Shrubs & Woody Vines of Florida: A Reference and Field Guide


Gil Nelson - 1996
    in the number of plants -- about 4,000 species -- that cover its landscape-- An easy-to-use field guide with line drawings and color photos-- Useful to professional botanists as well as landscape architects and homeowners

Forest Plants of Central Ontario


Brenda Chambers - 1996
    Detailed species descriptions are combined with precise drawings and excellent colour photographs to make the plants of our region easy to identify. Forest Plants of Central Ontario includes: * Edible plants * Native uses of plants * Wildlife uses of plants * Related or similar species * 440 colour photographs * 407 illustrations. * Whether you are an avid naturalist or an armchair explorer, you are bound to find this beautifully illustrated guide an essential addition to your backpack or library.