Grasses and grasslands are of increasing interest to conservationists, biologists, and gardeners. There are more than 300 species of native California grasses and they are found in almost every climate--from cool, wet forests to hot, dry deserts. Native grasses are also important in land restoration, as they improve soil quality, increase water infiltration, and recycle nutrients. Their deep roots can tap soil water, allowing them to stay green year-round and act as fire buffers around residences. Native grasses also provide vital habitat to many species of insects, birds, reptiles, and mammals. Despite all of this, grasslands remain one of the most underprotected of California's vegetation types, and native grasslands have undergone the greatest percentage loss of any habitat type in the state. Grasses are also among the most difficult plants to identify. Organized alphabetically, Field Guide to Grasses of California covers the more common native and naturalized grasses, and features over 180 color illustrations to help identify them.

Not since Lee's Flora of the Clyde Area (1933) has there been a Flora covering Glasgow. This is the first ever Flora of the Glasgow area that relates how plants have changed over time. It is based on the results of some fifteen years' intensive research by members of the Glasgow Natural History Society and other field botanists working under the direction of Professor Jim Dickson, Dr Peter Macpherson and Keith Watson. The survey led to discoveries of many special plants, including some thought to be extinct, and revealed sites of great scientific and conservation interest. The book also uncovers some little known aspects of the city's natural, social and economic history and their bearing on wild plants. The Changing Flora of Glasgow is generously illustrated with photographs, maps, and paintings, many of them in colour, and including several sequences to show places and perspectives as they are now and how they were some 250 years ago. It combines immaculate scholarship with an accessible, entertaining style. An essential reference work for botanists and plant lovers, it will also be a much-read possession in homes in Glasgow and surrounding areas. With The Changing Flora of Glasgow, you can: *Discover how and why Glasgow's flora has changed since records began *Consult a catalogue of 1500 species *Identify plants previously thought extinct *Compare Glasgow's plant life with that of other European cities *Explore current conservation issues *Enjoy the lavish illustrations

Beech, birch, ash, sycamore, oak. Maple, mango, hawthorn, cherry. Scots pine and Japanese cedar . . . The company of trees is different from that of any other living thing. This is a story of the humans who love trees. From tree sitters to nature lawyers, from climbers to climate strikers, from planters to pruners, from forest therapists to trauma survivors, from city gardeners to rewilders. These are voices of passion, sorrow, anger, nurture, solace and wonder. Trees are our past and our present - our future, too. FOR THE LOVE OF TREES is about why trees matter and what we owe them. It's about our humanity, our devotion and our sheer awe.

'Lyrical and beautiful and feels like a haven in a cynical world - exactly the book we all need to read right now' Catherine Simpson, author of One Body: A Retrospective, When I Had A Little Sister and Truestory 'A book of passionate resistance to everything in modern life that wants us to stay neat and small and fearful' Tanya Shadrick, author of The Cure For Sleep An intimate weaving of memoir and herbal folklore, All My Wild Mothers is a story of rewilding our wastelands and the transformation that can happen when we do. At seven months pregnant, Victoria Bennett was looking forward to new motherhood and all that was to come. But when the telephone rang, the news she received changed everything. Her eldest sister had died in a canoeing accident. Five years later, struggling with grief, the demands of being a parent-carer for her young son, and the impact of deeper austerity, life feels very different to the future she had imagined. A move to a new social housing estate in rural Cumbria offers Victoria and her family a chance to rebuild their lives. Constructed over an industrial site, at first the barren ground seems an unlikely place to sow the seeds of a new life. She and her son set about transforming the rubble around them into a wild apothecary garden. Daisy, for resilience. Dandelion, for strength against adversity. Red campion, to ward off loneliness. Sow thistle, to lift melancholy. Borage, to bring hope in dark and difficult times. Stone by stone, seed by seed, All My Wild Mothers is the story of how sometimes life grows, not in spite of what is broken, but because of it. 'An exciting new voice in nature writing' Cal Flyn, Sunday Times Writer of the Year, and author of Islands of Abandonment and Thicker Than Water

In "Unbowed, " Nobel Prize winner Wangari Maathai recounts her extraordinary journey from her childhood in rural Kenya to the world stage. When Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement in 1977, she began a vital poor people's environmental movement, focused on the empowerment of women, that soon spread across Africa. Persevering through run-ins with the Kenyan government and personal losses, and jailed and beaten on numerous occasions, Maathai continued to fight tirelessly to save Kenya's forests and to restore democracy to her beloved country. Infused with her unique luminosity of spirit, Wangari Maathai's remarkable story of courage, faith, and the power of persistence is destined to inspire generations to come.

Flora's orchids is a guide to the world's orchids. Descriptions include information on the type of plant, temperature requirements, ideal aspect, average height and spread, flowering season, and any special characteristics or needs. The introduction deals with the history and taxonomy of orchids, cultivation and propagation techniques, pests and diseases, and conserving orchids in the wild. At the back of the title is a handy reference table that shows climate and cultivation information for each species in the title at a glance.

Soil Nematodes of Grasslands in Northern China presents research on China's temperate grasslands, providing the findings and results of a large field survey along a transect across the northern temperate grassland. It examines nematode distribution patterns along the transect from trophic group and family, to genus level, also evaluating their relationship with climatic conditions, plant biomass and soil parameters. The book then presents detailed taxonomy information of nematodes to genus or species level, providing keen insights into nematode diversity along the grassland transect in north China. Final sections review the advances and perspectives for the research of soil ecology on soil nematodes in China, including recent major discoveries of soil microbial diversity and eco-function during this field survey. This work will help researchers predict the impact of global change drivers on below ground soil biota and better understand the functioning and services they provide in terrestrial ecosystems.

For thousands of years humans have variously worshipped trees, made use of them, admired them, and destroyed them- and poets have long chronicled the relationship. In this collection, Robert Frost's "Birches," Marianne Moore's "The Camperdown Elm," Gerard Manley Hopkins's "Binsey Poplars," and Zbigniew Herbert's "Sequoia" stand tall beside Eugenio Montale's "The Lemon Trees," Yves Bonnefoy's "The Apples," Bertolt Brecht's "The Plum Tree," D. H. Lawrence's "The Almond Tree," and A. E. Housman's "Loveliest of Trees." Whether showing their subjects being planted or felled, cherished or lamented, towering in forests or ?owering in backyards, the poems collected here pay lyrical tribute to these majestic beings with whom we share the earth.

This complete guide to the crisp, precise finish of botanical painting marries traditional technique with contemporary style and includes sections on colour, drawing, continuous tone, composition and dissection. Michael Lakin makes botanical art approachable with simple exercises and a variety of step-by-step instructional approaches, making this a fantastic guide for aspirational beginners.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2019 WAINWRIGHT BOOK PRIZE LONGLISTED FOR THE 2019 POLARI FIRST BOOK AWARD 'This is a book to get lost in . . . A disturbing trauma narrative, it's also a work of delightfully low, pants-dropping comedy, and a learned meditation' Guardian 'A brave and beautiful book, electrifying on sex and nature, religion and love. No one is writing quite like this' Olivia Laing 'Turns the nature memoir genre upon its head . . . is a book full of poetry and pathos. More than anything it is a bold and beautiful study of how to be a true modern man' Ben Myers, Spectator At a crossroads in his life, the demons Luke Turner has been battling since childhood are quick to return - depression and guilt surrounding his identity as a bisexual man, experiences of sexual abuse, and the religious upbringing that was the cause of so much confusion. It is among the trees of London's Epping Forest where he seeks refuge. Away from a society that struggles to cope with the complexities of masculinity and sexuality, Luke begins to accept the duality that has provoked so much unrest in his life - and reconcile the expectations of others with his own way of being.

Learn to identify wildflowers in Colorado with this handy field guide, organized by color. With this famous field guide by professional nature photographer Don Mammoser and award-winning author and naturalist Stan Tekiela, you can make wildflower identification simple, informative, and productive. There's no need to look through dozens of photos of wildflowers that don't grow in Colorado. Learn about 200 of the most common and important species found in the state. They're organized by color and then by size for ease of use. Fact-filled information contains the particulars that you want to know, while full-page photographs provide the visual detail needed for accurate identification. Book Features 200 species: Only Colorado wildflowers! Simple color guide: See a purple flower? Go to the purple section Fact-filled information and stunning professional photographs Icons that make visual identification quick and easy Nature Notes, including naturalist tidbits and facts This new edition includes updated photographs, expanded information, and even more expert naturalist insights. Grab Wildflowers of Colorado Field Guide for your next outing-to help you positively identify the wildflowers that you see.

Live life in full bloom. This beautiful book features your favourite flowers grouped by their purpose - for love, for joy, for luck, for calm, to console, and to celebrate. Discover their traditional meanings, holistic benefits, and when flowers are in season so that they can be sourced locally with a minimal carbon footprint. By creating thoughtful personal bouquets or choosing a flower for its meaning, its natural energy, or holistic property, you can bring the benefits of the natural world back into your home, your workplace, and into the lives of loved ones. Find out why you should give Foxgloves to celebrate a new job, Lilacs for joy, or Chrysanthemums for luck, and become fluent in the secret language of flowers.

This practical pocket field guide, published in association with the Wildlife Trusts, includes more than 160 species of trees from Britain and the near Continent. Each species account contains accurate artworks that show details of mature trees, leaves, growth patterns and other interesting features. A concise written account outlines further essential information, such as size, description, habitat, and distribution to help you identify trees. The easy-to-follow layouts and illustrations help in quick and precise identification, making this book an invaluable reference source. It is compact enough to fit in the pocket, yet packed with essential information for the natural history enthusiast.

World-renowned anthropologist and ethnopharmacologist Christian Ratsch provides the latest scientific updates to this classic work on psychoactive flora by two eminent researchers.

- Numerous new and rare color photographs complement the completely revised and updated text.

- Explores the uses of hallucinogenic plants in shamanic rituals throughout the world.

- Cross-referenced by plant, illness, preparation, season of collection, and chemical constituents.

- First edition sold 33,000 copies.

Three scientific titans join forces to completely revise the classic text on the ritual uses of psychoactive plants. They provide a fascinating testimony of these "plants of the gods," tracing their uses throughout the world and their significance in shaping culture and history. In the traditions of every culture, plants have been highly valued for their nourishing, healing, and transformative properties. The most powerful of those plants, which are known to transport the human mind into other dimensions of consciousness, have always been regarded as sacred. The authors detail the uses of hallucinogens in sacred shamanic rites while providing lucid explanations of the biochemistry of these plants and the cultural prayers, songs, and dances associated with them. The text is lavishly illustrated with 400 rare photographs of plants, people, ceremonies, and art related to the ritual use of the world's sacred psychoactive flora.

Leaves are all around us in backyards, cascading from window boxes, even emerging from small cracks in city sidewalks given the slightest glint of sunlight. Perhaps because they are everywhere, it's easy to overlook the humble leaf, but a close look at them provides one of the most enjoyable ways to connect with the natural world. A lush, incredibly informative tribute to the leaf, Nature's Fabric offers an introduction to the science of leaves, weaving biology and chemistry with the history of the deep connection we feel with all things growing and green. Leaves come in a staggering variety of textures and shapes: they can be smooth or rough, their edges smooth, lobed, or with tiny teeth. They have adapted to their environments in remarkable, often stunningly beautiful ways from the leaves of carnivorous plants, which have tiny "trigger hairs" that signal the trap to close, to the impressive defense strategies some leaves have evolved to reduce their consumption. (Recent studies suggest, for example, that some plants can detect chewing vibrations and mobilize potent chemical defenses.) In many cases, we've learned from the extraordinary adaptations of leaves, such as the invention of new self-cleaning surfaces inspired by the slippery coating found on leaves. But we owe much more to leaves, and Lee also calls our attention back to the fact that that our very lives and the lives of all on the planet depend on them. Not only is foliage is the ultimate source of food for every living thing on land, its capacity to cycle carbon dioxide and oxygen can be considered among evolution's most important achievements and one that is critical in mitigating global climate change. Taking readers through major topics like these while not losing sight of the small wonders of nature we see every day if you'd like to identify a favorite leaf, Lee's glossary of leaf characteristics means you won't be left out on a limb Nature's Fabric is eminently readable and full of intriguing research, sure to enhance your appreciation for these extraordinary green machines.

Bring trees to life like you've never seen before as The Tree Book invites you on an enchanting and illustrated journey into the astonishingly diverse growth of woodland wildlife in the world around us. Trees have been a part of human history from the very beginning. Used for shelter, tools, fuel, and food, they also help supply the atmosphere with oxygen and form astonishingly diverse ecosystems, as well as some of the world's most beautiful landscapes. Now the intricate world of leafy woodlands and abundant rainforests is revealed in this extensive visual guide to trees, exploring their key scientific traits and their ecological importance, as well as their enduring significance in human history and culture. From ancient oaks and great redwoods to lush banyans and imposing kapoks, The Tree Book reveals the anatomy, behaviours, and beauty of these incredible plants and habitats in detail. A must-have volume for budding botanists, this divine nature book showcases the rich diversity of trees, combining bewildering facts about spindles, spruces and more, with dazzling landscape photography of the endless species of trees found in forests and woodland all around the globe. Explore this fascinating book on trees to discover: -A historical overview of the cultural influence of trees and their ecological importance -Striking photography to accompany the profound explanations of tree biology and behaviour -A clear and comprehensible guide to ecology from both a historical and scientific point of view. With recent media coverage on climate change highlighting the global importance of our woodlands and rainforests, there's no better time than right now to immerse yourself in this extensive horticultural handbook for an illuminating blend of the science, culture, and history of trees dating back to the beginning of time. Let DK plant the seed of curiosity with this fantastic forest book, and watch as it blossoms into a life-long love of ecology, proving the ideal gift for naturalists or those with a soft-spot for nature photography. Combining natural history and a scientific overview with a wider look at the history, uses, symbolism, and mythology of trees, this book is a new kind of guide to these fascinating organisms.