A full-color illustrated guide to the natural history of the most poisonous plants on earth This richly illustrated book provides an in-depth natural history of the most poisonous plants on earth, covering everything from the lethal effects of hemlock and deadly nightshade to the uses of such plants in medicine, ritual, and chemical warfare. Featuring hundreds of color photos and diagrams throughout, Plants That Kill explains how certain plants evolved toxicity to deter herbivores and other threats and sheds light on their physiology and the biochemistry involved in the production of their toxins. It discusses the interactions of poisonous plants with other organisms--particularly humans-and explores the various ways plant toxins can target the normal functioning of bodily systems in mammals, from the effects of wolfsbane on the heart to toxins that cause a skin reaction when combined with the sun's rays. This intriguing book also looks at plants that can harm you only if your exposure to them is prolonged, the ethnobotany of poisons throughout human history, and much more. A must for experts and armchair botanists alike, Plants That Kill is the essential illustrated compendium to these deadly and intriguing plants. Provides an authoritative natural history of the most poisonous plants on earth Features hundreds of color illustrations throughout Looks at how and why plants produce toxins Describes the effects of numerous poisonous plants, from hemlock and deadly nightshade to poppies and tobacco Explains poisonous plants' evolution, survival strategies, physiology, and biochemistry Discusses the uses of poisonous plants in medicine, rituals, warfare, and more

A beautifully illustrated reference to more than 100 flowering plant families.

"Flowering Plants: A Pictorial Guide to the World's Flora" is a comprehensive source of botanical information. More than 100 flowering plant families are profiled with authoritative text and featured in more than 700 beautiful artworks.

The book is divided into the two flowering plant groups: the dicotyledons, or dicots, which typically have two leaves in the seed's embryo, and the monocotyledons, or monocots, which typically have one leaf in the seed's embryo. This handsome reference includes familiar ornamentals, such as carnations, begonias and daffodils, as well as plants that are not as well known for their flowers, such as milkweed, ginseng and tea.

Each entry is presented across two or more pages and includes a full page of detailed color illustrations that show the plant's anatomy, with all parts labeled in Latin and English. The expert text describes the plant's physical features, distribution and economic uses. Also included is a classification list of all plant families.

An easily navigated reference, "Flowering Plants: A Pictorial Guide to the World's Flora" is ideal for gardeners, horticulturalists and anyone interested in botany.

Also known as "The Natural Remedy Bible," "The Herb Book" provides a comprehensive resource for building a livelier, healthier, happier life. More than 2,000 listings offer remedies for ragged nerves, nightmares, and coughing fits as well as suggestions for adding spice to recipes, coloring fabrics, freshening breath, and a host of other benefits. Complete and concise descriptions of herbs, illustrated by more than 275 line drawings, offer the most comprehensive catalog of "miracle plants" ever published.
Written by an expert and pioneer in the field, this easy-to-use reference features three parts. The first presents introductory historical information and background for using the rest of the book. The second part features individual numbered listings of medicinal plants with their botanical descriptions and uses. The third part emphasizes the variety of uses for the plants listed in Part 2, including mixtures for medicinal treatments, nutritious and culinary plants, cosmetic and aromatic purposes, plant dyes, and other applications. The book concludes with a captivating look at plant-related astrology, lore, and legends.

This magnificent compendium is the fourth in a series of catalogues describing selections of rare books and other material in the Oak Spring Garden Library, a collection assembled by Mrs. Rachel "Bunny" Lambert Mellon. Herbaria describes sixty-three books and manuscripts about herbs and includes exquisite illustrations selected from the works themselves. Spanning the fourteenth to nineteenth centuries, and featuring works by Brunfels, Culpeper, Monardes, and Linnaeus, among others, this authoritative catalogue will prove fascinating to botanists, bibliophiles, garden historians, and herbalists alike.

Trees are one of humanity's most constant and most varied companions. From India's sacred banyan tree to the fragrant cedar of Lebanon, they offer us sanctuary and inspiration - not to mention the raw materials for everything from aspirin to maple syrup. In Around the World in 80 Trees, expert Jonathan Drori uses plant science to illuminate how trees play a role in every part of human life, from the romantic to the regrettable. Stops on the trip include the lime trees of Berlin's Unter den Linden boulevard, which intoxicate amorous Germans and hungry bees alike, the swankiest streets in nineteenth-century London, which were paved with Australian eucalyptus wood, and the redwood forests of California, where the secret to the trees' soaring heights can be found in the properties of the tiniest drops of water. Each of these strange and true tales - populated by self-mummifying monks, tree-climbing goats and ever-so-slightly radioactive nuts - is illustrated by Lucille Clerc, taking the reader on a journey that is as informative as it is beautiful.

Lianas (woody vines) are iconic symbols of tropical forest ecosystems around the world. Forest climbers take advantage of the biologically-expensive architecture of trees to gain relatively inexpensive access to the light-rich canopy. The evolution of a climbing habit has occurred in many unrelated plant groups using twining and clasping shoots or specialised structures such as tendrils, hooks, spines, adhesive roots, and novel stem anatomy. In recent decades, the significance of lianas to tropical forest diversity (up to 40% of species), abundance (up to 45% of stems), and forest gap dynamics has been increasingly recognised. Although they are often considered pests in commercial forestry, woody climbers are important to many traditional peoples as medicines, subsistence fibres and non-timber forest products. Largely due to the inaccessibility of their flowers and fruits, lianas and other climbers remain among the most poorly documented life-forms in the tropics. The Lianas of the Guianas Fieldguide aims to provide an overview and advance understanding of woody climber diversity in the forests of Guyana, French Guiana, and Suriname. The guide will facilitate learning and identification of woody climbers for specialists and non-specialists with an image-rich format, simplified terminology, a mostly vegetative family and genus key, artistic icon guides, and common names and uses. The growth-forms covered include woody lianas, subwoody lianas, liana-like hemi-epiphytes, tree-like hemi-epiphytes, and climbing shrubs. Chapters are organised alphabetically by plant family and names follow the APG III classification. Approximately 55 families, 170 genera, and 500 more common species are described in the main text, with ± 1300 species (including herbaceous climbers) in a comprehensive checklist. This is one of the first such guides to include predictive genera and species distribution model maps, with a comprehensive set of maps made available on-line. The Lianas of the Guianas Fieldguide will serve as an attractive and useful tool for those concerned with the biodiversity of the Guianan Shield and the neotropics at large. Lianas (woody vines) are iconic symbols of tropical forest ecosystems around the world. Forest climbers take advantage of the biologically-expensive architecture of trees to gain relatively inexpensive access to the light-rich canopy. The evolution of a climbing habit has occurred in many unrelated plant groups using twining and clasping shoots or specialised structures such as tendrils, hooks, spines, adhesive roots, and novel stem anatomy. In recent decades, the significance of lianas to tropical forest diversity (up to 40% of species), abundance (up to 45% of stems), and forest gap dynamics has been increasingly recognised. Although they are often considered pests in commercial forestry, woody climbers are important to many traditional peoples as medicines, subsistence fibres and non-timber forest products. Largely due to the inaccessibility of their flowers and fruits, lianas and other climbers remain among the most poorly documented life-forms in the tropics. The Lianas of the Guianas Fieldguide aims to provide an overview and advance understanding of woody climber diversity in the forests of Guyana, French Guiana, and Suriname. The guide will facilitate learning and identification of woody climbers for specialists and non-specialists with an image-rich format, simplified terminology, a mostly vegetative family and genus key, artistic icon guides, and common names and uses. The growth-forms covered include woody lianas, subwoody lianas, liana-like hemi-epiphytes, tree-like hemi-epiphytes, and climbing shrubs. Chapters are organised alphabetically by plant family and names follow the APG III classification. Approximately 55 families, 170 genera, and 500 more common species are described in the main text, with ± 1300 species (including herbaceous climbers) in a comprehensive checklist. This is one of the first such guides to include predictive genera and species distribution model maps, with a comprehensive set of maps made available on-line. The Lianas of the Guianas Fieldguide will serve as an attractive and useful tool for those concerned with the biodiversity of the Guianan Shield and the neotropics at large.

This classic botanical handbook, originally compiled by the late William S. Justice and C. Ritchie Bell, pairs hundreds of color photographs with descriptions of the wild flowers and flowering trees, shrubs, vines, herbs, and weeds found in North Carolina and many other eastern states, from Delaware to Georgia. Entries include information on habitat, range, size, months of bloom, and features for identification. For this new edition, Bell and Anne H. Lindsey have included too additional species and expanded the information in previous entries to address developments in the field of plant conservation, providing comments on endangered and protected species, medicinal uses, the cultivation of species in a wild garden, and the commercial availability of nursery-grown natives.

A compact guide featuring nearly 400 wild flowers of Kenya and northern Tanzania, grouped for ease of use according to colour. The book includes the most widespread and commonly encountered species as well as some unusual flowers found in more remote areas.

Plants range from hardy succulents to spectacular epiphytic orchids and shaggy mountain lobelias, each concisely presented with reference to key features and typical habitat. Additional notes indicate whether a given species has particular ecological, medicinal or cultural value.

Southern Africa is home to more than 2,000 introduced (not indigenous) trees. These non-native species are encountered daily and form a familiar part of our urban landscapes, growing successfully in parks, gardens, along road sides, and in other open spaces. This guide features nearly 600 of the most common and familiar of these and, using the same model of identification as FG Trees of Southern Africa, facilitates ID based on leaf and stem features.

The book provides the country of origin for each species and offers key information on cultivation and uses. Each entry is supported by colour images that depict key features, and a shaded map that shows the plant’s cold tolerance (where the species can grow). An essential guide for landscapers and gardeners as well as tree enthusiasts who will struggle to find these trees in their guide to indigenous trees.

The Cape Fold Mountains, which lie at the southern tip of Africa as ranges paralleling the western and southern Cape coastlines, together with the valleys between, and the plains reaching from their feet to the sea, are home to the Cape Floral Region - one of only six Floral Kingdoms in the world. More than 9000 different plant species grow naturally in this small area and nearly 70 per cent of them are found nowhere else in the world. The Fynbos biome supports one of the richest and most varied types of plant cover in the world. Together with the restios, heaths and proteas, there is a huge wealth of annuals, herbs and shrubs from many other families like the daisy, mesemb and pea families, as well as an unusually rich assortment of bulbs. This guide covers more than 400 of those wildflowers that are most likely to attract the visitor's attention. Each species is illustrated and described, with information on its common and scientific names, habitat, distribution map, flowering times and local uses. Introductory chapters provide background on the Cape Floral Region and the birds, insects, spiders, reptiles and mammals that also make their home here. A travel adviser at the back of the title provides information on National Parks, nature reserves and other prime flower viewing destinations in the area, with contact details and recommended routes, to enable visitors to make the most of their visit to the area.

"Edible Forest Gardens" is a groundbreaking two-volume work that spells out and explores the key concepts of forest ecology and applies them to the needs of natural gardeners in temperate climates. Volume I lays out the vision of the forest garden and explains the basic ecological principles that make it work. In Volume II, Dave Jacke and Eric Toensmeier move on to practical considerations: concrete ways to design, establish, and maintain your own forest garden. Along the way they present case studies and examples, as well as tables, illustrations, and a uniquely valuable "plant matrix" that lists hundreds of the best edible and useful species.

Taken together, the two volumes of "Edible Forest Gardens" offer an advanced course in ecological gardening-one that will forever change the way you look at plants and your environment.What is an edible forest garden?An edible forest garden is a perennial polyculture of multipurpose plants. Most plants regrow every year without replanting: perennials. Many species grow together: a polyculture. Each plant contributes to the success of the whole by fulfilling many functions: multipurpose. In other words, a forest garden is an edible ecosystem, a consciously designed community of mutually beneficial plants and animals intended for human food production. Edible forest gardens provide more than just a variety of foods. The seven F's apply here: food, fuel, fiber, fodder, fertilizer, and "farmaceuticals," as well as fun. A beautiful, lush environment can be a conscious focus of your garden design, or a side benefit you enjoy

This plant glossary includes all descriptive terms used in floras, plant field guides and monographs. This is an essential companion for anyone working with plant descriptions, plant identification keys, floras, monographs and field guides. In this second edition 4,500 botanical terms are described with accompanying illustrations, including a new section on vegetation terms and an updated colour section. 'Catnip for the garden geek...this fascinating, authoritative volume may seduce even the most casual browser.' The New York Times, 27 May 2010

‘In Clive, we have an ever-fascinating guide to Britain’s heathery districts, not only marvelling at the wildlife of such wild places, but also celebrating their diverse origins, uses and cultural resonances’ - ANDREW BYFIELD Heathlands are so much more than simply purple carpets of heather. They are ancient landscapes found throughout Britain that support a complex of inter-related species and an immense diversity of habitats. They also possess a unique human history defined by the struggle between pastoralism and the competing demands of those who seek exclusive use of the land. In this latest addition to the British Wildlife Collection, Clive Chatters introduces us to Britain’s heathlands and their anatomy. He then takes the reader on a geographical heathland tour – from the maritime sub-arctic of the Shetlands to the mild wetness of the Atlantic coast – with an in memoriam nod to those heaths that have been erased from common memory and understanding. He concludes with a review of how people have perceived and used heathland wildlife over the ages, and sets out a future vision for this iconic landscape, its unique habitats and the species that live there. Most of our heaths are pale shadows of their former selves. However, Chatters argues, it is not inevitable that the catastrophic losses of the recent past are the destiny of our remaining heaths. Should we wish, their place in the countryside as an integral part of British culture can be secured.

A radical proposal for how a tiny organism can transform our understanding of human relations Serving as both a guide and companion publication to the conceptual art project of the same name, The Lichen Museum explores how the physiological characteristics of lichens provide a valuable template for reimagining human relations in an age of ecological and social precarity. Channeling between the personal, the scientific, the philosophical, and the poetic, A. Laurie Palmer employs a cross-disciplinary framework that artfully mirrors the collective relations of lichens, imploring us to envision alternative ways of living based on interdependence rather than individualism and competition. Lichens are composite organisms made up of a fungus and an alga or cyanobacteria thriving in a mutually beneficial relationship. The Lichen Museum looks to these complex organisms, remarkable for their symbiosis, diversity, longevity, and adaptability, as models for relations rooted in collaboration and nonhierarchical structures. In their resistance to fast-paced growth and commodification, lichens also offer possibilities for humans to reconfigure their relationship to time and attention outside of the accelerated pace of capitalist accumulation. Drawing together a diverse set of voices, including personal encounters with lichenologists and lichens themselves, Palmer both imagines and embodies a radical new approach to human interconnection. Using this tiny organism as an emblem through which to navigate environmental and social concerns, this work narrows the gap between the human and natural worlds, emphasizing the notion of mutual dependence as a necessary means of survival and prosperity.

Dieses Lehrbuch der Geobotanik behandelt eine der grossen Teildisziplinen der Pflanzenkunde. Dargestellt werden

• Geschichte der Geobotanik und aktuelle Forschungstrends
• Floristik, Arealkunde und Phylogeographie
• Vegetationskunde
• Floren- und Vegetationsgeschichte
• Pflanzenokologie
• okologische Anpassungen und Lebensstrategien der Pflanzen
• Vegetationsgebiete der Erde, mit Schwerpunkt Mitteleuropa
• botanische Aspekte von Natur- und Umweltschutz.

Das Buch vermittelt bewahrtes geobotanisches Grundlagenwissen ebenso wie die in jungerer Zeit erarbeiteten Aspekte der Geobotanik. Es schliesst die anwendungsbezogenen Bereiche der Vegetationskunde und des Naturschutzes ein und greift uber in die Geowissenschaften und in die Land- und Forstwirtschaft.

Die 3. Auflage wurde detailliert uberarbeitet und erweitert. Die Berucksichtigung von aktuell publizierter Literatur auch zu spezielleren Themen erhoht den Nutzen des Buches auch als Handbuch und Nachschlagewerk fur Fortgeschrittene."

Wandering the woods in search of mushrooms is one of life's great pleasures. But be careful to pick the right ones With "Edible Mushrooms" in your backpack, you'll know to pick only the safest, most delicious chanterelles, truffles, morels, and more. Author Barbro Forsberg presents forty edible species and reveals how, when, and where to find them--knowledge gained over the course of four decades spent mushrooming in the woods.
Discover such aspects of mushrooming as:
Characteristics of edible mushrooms, per species
Cooking, cleaning, and drying the day's bounty
Edible, inedible, or toxic? Photographs and descriptions for what to pick and what to avoid
Poisonous varieties and how to recognize them
All content has been verified by a professional mycologist. Plus, nature and educational photographs illustrate how mushrooms grow, the environments where you can expect to find them, and the ways in which the same species may vary from one sample to the next. So whether you're an experienced mushroom hunter or a novice to the art, with "Edible Mushrooms" you can confidently recognize, pick, and eat the tastiest wild mushrooms.

Determining which family a plant belongs to is a crucial horticultural skill. Organizing plants by family provides a framework for thinking about plant characteristics and for arranging thousands of plant names in a coherent and predictive pattern. This is especially important now, as advances in DNA analysis have recently altered much of the world of botanical taxonomy. In Temperate Garden Plant Families, Peter Goldblatt and John C. Manning teach readers how to identify the most horticulturally important temperate plant families. Introductory information includes an overview of family classification, plant nomenclature, and plant morphology. The comprehensive A-Z of plants includes profiles that include information on the number of species and genera, plant form, flowers, fruit, and a short description. Each profile is illustrated with colour photographs and botanical illustrations. This comprehensive identification guide is for botany and horticultural professionals, nurserymen, advanced gardeners, and students of botany and horticulture.

Nestled within our green and pleasant land lies pockets of emerald trees. Their roots search deep into the ground and the branches reach high towards the sun. For centuries some of these have stood watching and listening to the human creatures living among them, hearing their stories and remembering. What mysteries could these woodlands tell if the trees could speak? Stories of brave deeds and foolish, star-crossed lovers, of monsters, giants and witches, hobs and kings. Discover the secrets of our forests in this engaging collection of folk tales.

You'll learn how to take stock of your woods; use axes, bow saws, chainsaws, and other key tools; create pasture and silvopasture for livestock; prune and coppice trees to make fuel, fodder, and furniture; build living fencing and shelters for animals; grow fruit trees and berries in a woodland orchard; make syrup from birch, walnut, or box elder trees; and much more. Whether your property is entirely or only partly wooded, this is the guide you need to make the best use of it.

Even before the Hebrews passed on their legend of the tree of knowledge, humans were collecting seeds and striplings from trees for shade, to cultivate fruit, and to worship as deities of natural forces. In Shade and Ornamental Trees Hui-Lin Li traces this relationship across the continents and over time to relay an organic history of the world's civilizations.

**SHORTLISTED FOR THE GARDEN MEDIA AWARDS, INSPIRATIONAL BOOK OF THE YEAR** The lotus, lily, sunflower, opium poppy, rose, tulip and orchid: seven flowers, each with its own story full of surprises and secrets, each affecting the world around us in subtle yet powerful ways. But what is the nature of their power and how did it develop? Why have these particular plants become the focus of gardens, literature and art? In order to find the answers, author and horticultural historian Jennifer Potter tracks this septet of flowers across the globe as she examines the influence they have had on civilizations through the ages. These are both histories and detective stories, full of incident and unexpected revelations. Here are the flowers of life and death; of purity and passion; of greed, envy and virtue; of hope and consolation; of the beauty that drives men wild. All seven demonstrate the enduring ability of flowers to speak metaphorically - if we could only decode what they have to say.