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Books > Sport & Leisure > Natural history, country life & pets > Plant life: general
Mosses, liverworts, and hornworts are found throughout the world in a variety of habitats. They flourish particularly well in moist, humid forests, filling many ecological roles. They provide seedbeds for the larger plants of the community and homes to countless arthropods, they capture and recycle nutrients that are washed with rainwater from the canopy, and they bind the soil to keep it from eroding. This photo-based field guide to the more common or distinctive bryophytes of northeastern North America gives beginners the tools they need to identify most specimens without using a compound microscope. Ralph Pope's inviting text and helpful photographs cover not only the "true" mosses but also the Sphagnaceae (the peat mosses), liverworts, and hornworts. The heart of any field guide is the ability to narrow down a large number of possibilities to a single species, and this book does that with a variety of keying strategies. Traditional dichotomous keys are included, and there are also "quick" keys based on habitat and special morphological characteristics. The organization of the species pages is by plant family, an arrangement likely to resonate with readers with some plant background or botanical interest. Mosses, Liverworts, and Hornworts also features information on collecting, preserving, and identifying specimens to help hikers, naturalists, botanists, and gardeners find their way into this beautiful miniature world. Sections on bryophyte biology and ecology provide taxonomic and ecological context.
Arkansas boasts more than 70 kinds of mammals, close to 115 reptiles and amphibians and more than 155 butterflies in addition to 400 bird species. This beautifully illustrated guide highlights over 140 familiar and unique species and includes an ecoregion map featuring prominent wildlife-viewing areas. Laminated for durability, this lightweight, pocket-sized folding guide is an excellent source of portable information and ideal for field use by visitors and resident alike. Made in the USA.
The state flower, the magnolia, is one of thousands of species of plants growing in the diverse ecosystems found throughout Louisiana. This beautifully illustrated guide highlights over 140 familiar and unique species of trees, shrubs and wildflowers and also includes an ecoregion map featuring prominent botanical sanctuaries. Laminated for durability, this lightweight, pocket-sized folding guide is an excellent source of portable information and is ideal for field use by visitors and residents alike. Made in the USA.
The Botanical Bible tells the story of plants and flowers, beginning with an overview of the plant kingdom and the basics of botany, then offering strategies for gardening with purpose. Later chapters introduce seasonal eating, the healing properties of plants and the world of botanical art. This stunning gift book is part history, part science, part beauty book, part cookbook and part art book. It will appeal to anyone wanting to use plants and flowers in modern life, whether they are an accomplished gardener or are simply yearning for a more natural life. This comprehensive guide to plants, flowers and botanicals covers a host of practical uses, features vintage illustrations alongside the work of current artists, and is sure to be an inspiration to anyone interested in the natural world.
"If you're looking for a dose of wonder in your reading life, I recommend this beautiful book about the magic of fig trees."-Book Riot Over millions of years, fig trees have shaped our world, influenced our evolution, nourished our bodies and fed our imaginations. And as author and ecologist Mike Shanahan proclaims, "The best could be yet to come." Gods, Wasps and Stranglers weaves together the mythology, history and ecology of one of the world's most fascinating-and diverse-groups of plants, from their starring role in every major religion to their potential to restore rainforests, halt the loss of rare and endangered species and even limit climate change. In this lively and joyous book, Shanahan recounts the epic journeys of tiny fig wasps, whose eighty-million-year-old relationship with fig trees has helped them sustain more species of birds and mammals than any other trees; the curious habits of fig-dependent rhinoceros hornbills; figs' connection to Krishna and Buddha, Jesus and Muhammad; and even their importance to Kenya's struggle for independence. Ultimately, Gods, Wasps and Stranglers is a story about humanity's relationship with nature, one that is as relevant to our future as it is to our past.
The Great Wood of Caledon - the historic native forest of Highland Scotland - has a reputation as potent and misleading as the wolves that ruled it. The popular image is of an impassable, sun-snuffing shroud, a Highlandswide jungle infested by wolf, lynx, bear, beaver, wild white cattle, wild boar, and wilder painted men. Jim Crumley shines a light into the darker corners of the Great Wood, to re-evaluate some of the questionable elements of its reputation, and to assess the possibilities of its partial resurrection into something like a national forest. The book threads a path among relict strongholds of native woodland, beginning with a soliloquy by the Fortingall Yew, the one tree in Scotland that can say of the hey-day of the Great Wood 5,000 years ago: 'I was there.' The journey is enriched by vivid wildlife encounters, a passionate and poetic account that binds the slow dereliction of the past to an optimistic future.
The Burren and the Aran Islands are renowned worldwide for their beautiful wild flowers and plants. Charles Nelson has selected 136 of the most widely occurring plus a number of special plants. By illustrating each plant with a colour photograph, showing it in the wild alongside space to record the place and date of discovery, this becomes a souvenir of rambles in search of wild flowers. Introduced by short chapters on the region plus user instructions, the photographs are grouped according to flower colour and pages are colour-coded so one can flick to the appropriate section.
We are a nation of gardeners, and we take pleasure in tending our backyards. But this pleasure sits uneasily with our knowledge that the places where most of us live are running out of water. We suspect that our lawns and many of our plants from the damp climates of northern European gardens are too demanding of scarce supplies, but can't imagine our streets and gardens without them. The Old Country opens our eyes, and minds, to other possibilities. It does so by telling us stories about our natural landscape. George Seddon believes that the better we understand the delicacy and beauty of our natural environment, the more 'at home' we will feel as Australians. This passionate, wise and witty book, enriched with breathtakingly beautiful illustrations, suggests that the answers to our water problems lie here, at home.
For the next generation of pot smokers, Green: A Marijuana Journal allows the forgetful to keep track of the endless strains of pot that are increasingly available. The journal contains a primer on marijuana basics and journaling pages for tracking and evaluating each delivery method, strain, and overall experience. *Also ties to and supports the magnum opus of pot strain guides, Green
An insightful assessment of the nation's flora, following Mike Dilger's quest to find 1,000 plant species over the course of a year. For most of 2020, Mike Dilger's normal day-job of travelling to the four corners of the British Isles to film wildlife for The One Show all but disappeared, limiting his daily wildlife fixes to those short walks to and from home with son and dog. With his wings clipped, he couldn't shake the feeling he was missing out and even felt he was suffering from some form of 'nature deficit disorder'. But as spring slowly turned to summer, the simple pleasure of getting to know the wild plants on his own local patch turned his daily exercise from being somewhat tedious to utterly enthralling. Realising how little he knew about the wild plants just beyond his doorstep became the catalyst for reigniting a long-buried botanical passion. With the arrival of 2021 and a third lockdown, Mike decides to pack an eye lens and plant book alongside his trusty binoculars to see as many of our wild plants as possible, with 1,000 species the steep target. With the 'plant race' running for an entire calendar year, he joins up with other hardcore botanists, pointing him towards good sites with impressive plant lists and even precise coordinates for twitching for a small, select range of marquee species. During the course of the year he meets up with the resilient reserve wardens and courageous conservationists tasked with protecting some of the nations' richest botanical sites, and experiences first-hand the many difficulties associated with saving our rarest and most charismatic plants.
Learn how to grow and dry flowers, plants and herbs to createdried floral arrangements that will breathe fresh life and style into your home without breaking the bank!In this contemporary reimagining of a timeless craft, Ann Lindsay Mitchell guides you through the method of drying flowers in three achievable steps: growing, drying and arranging. This excellent source of practical advice is explored through an encyclopaedic list of flowers and foliage with specific information on how to grow, cut and dry them to best effect. From coffee table posies and large arrangements to hand tied-gift bunches and wedding bouquets, beautiful photography accompanies guidance to creating arrangements with your newly dried flowers. Filled with delicate watercolour illustrations alongside stunning photography of both simple and elaborate floral arrangements, Forever Flowers is an exceptional guide to growing, drying and arranging. Suitable for both experienced professionals and hopeful newcomers to the art of drying flowers, the information in the book is an invaluable resource for all to reference and return to. Anyone can create everlasting arrangements for friends, home or occasions that can be cherished for years to come.
Philosophia Botanica (The Science of Botany), by Carl Linnaeus, was originally published in Latin in Stockholm and Amsterdam in 1751. It is a greatly expanded revision of his Fundamenta Botanica (Foundations of Botany) of 1736, summarizing his work on the classification and taxonomy of plants while adding substantial new material. The book represents a critical stage in the evolution of binomial nomenclature, with a single word to describe the genus and another for the species. Special importance is attached to accurate description of the parts of plants, and to the correct use of technical terms. There are also explanations of the effects of soil and climatic conditions on plant growth. The book includes 10 original engravings, with 167 figures showing the shapes of leaves and other parts of the plant, and 6 short memoranda describing Linnaeus' botanical excursions, detailing his ideas for garden and herbarium construction, and outlining what is required of a botanist and his pupils. There are also indexes of technical terms, genera, and subjects. The first full English translation of this classic work since 1775, this beautiful book will be highly attractive to botanists and all those interested in the history of science.
Through words and photographs, environmental scientist Gretchen C. Daily and photographer Charles J. Katz describe how one relict tree-the magnificent Ceiba pentandra in Sabalito, Costa Rica-carries physical and spiritual importance. The people in the town of Sabalito call the tree la ceiba, a term said to be derived from a Taino word referring to a type of wood used for making canoes in the West Indies. Ceiba evokes times and places where people hollowed out the great cylindrical trunks and glided along languid rivers winding through lush tropical forest. Today the tree is known by different names in regions ranging from southern Mexico and the Caribbean to the southern edge of the Amazon Basin and in western Africa. The ceiba has survived what is probably the highest rate of tropical deforestation in the world. It is a legendary and vital tree in centuries-old forests in places like Costa Rica that were once almost completely forested (98 percent in the mid-twentieth century) and decades later have suffered devastating deforestation (34 percent by 1980). One Tree grew out of a conversation between photographer Chuck Katz and acclaimed ecologist Gretchen Daily about the relict tree-a single tree that remains standing in a pasture, for example, after the forest has been cleared from the land, and takes on iconic importance for the animals, plants, and people in the ecosystem. During a trip the authors took to Costa Rica, Katz focused his lens on the ceiba and a story was born. In descriptive language interwoven with scientific fact, Daily discusses the tree's historical and natural history and the ceiba species in general. She touches on the science of the Costa Rican rainforest and its deforestation and the cultural traditions, legends, and folklore of forests and relict trees. Katz's photographs of the massive tree and the village that takes care of it create an intimate work celebrating the visual and biological intricacies of trees.
Did you know that the number of Oklahoma wildflowers species ranks third in the nation, behind California and Texas? The state tree, the redbud, is one of thousands of species of plants growing in the diverse ecosystems found throughout the state. This beautifully illustrated guide highlights over 140 familiar and unique species of trees, shrubs and wildflowers and also includes an ecoregion map featuring prominent botanical sanctuaries. Laminated for durability, this lightweight, pocket-sized folding guide is an excellent source of portable information and ideal for field use by visitors and residents alike. Made in the USA.
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