Reviews
Does the Garden of Eden contain magic medicine trees?
The Ethnobotany of Eden: Rethinking the Jungle Medicine Narrative by Robert Voeks 2018. University of Chicago Press. I suspect that most of us who’ve tried
Reviews
Three kinds of algae? Blooming marvellous news!
Bloom: From food to fuel, the epic story of how algae can save our world by Ruth Kassinger 2019. Elliott & Thompson. As a Botanist, especially
Reviews
Read all about it: Plants that get their own back on animals
Carnivorous Plants by Dan Torre 2019. Reaktion Books Ltd. In the same way that it’s become something of a tradition that books about seeds should
Plant Cuttings
Tirpitz and the science of conflict ecology…
It has been said that, in war, truth is the first casualty. As understandable as it may be to tell lies, create and perpetuate falsehoods and
Reviews
Primroses and primulas aplenty
Primrose by Elizabeth Lawson, 2019. Reaktion Books Ltd. To the uninitiated, it may seem rather improbable that anybody can write 288 pages about the primrose. After
Plant Cuttings
Final course: ‘Coffee’… *
Or, rather, something to ponder as you finish your meal, maybe with a coffee. Whatever your food(s) of choice, you need the right equipment – e.
Plant Cuttings
3rd course: Cereal and fern (and meat and fat…) **
Teeth are one source of evidence for food preferences [see previous course/post], but how can you be sure that what is found in the mouth
Plant Cuttings
2nd course: Cereals, nettles and conifers (and fish…) ****
Famously, humans will have a go at eating anything, which is why they’re considered to be omnivores, and they are therefore omnivorous *. However, information concerning
Plant Cuttings
1st course: Seagrass ****
What’s the one dietary fact everybody knows about sharks? Correct, they eat human beings – as graphically shown in the creature feature film sensation of 1975,
Plant Cuttings
Food, glorious food! ***, ****
Plants provide animals [and it is acknowledged that the following listing is somewhat human-biased] with many things: e.g. medicines; building materials; oxygen; useful chemicals
Reviews
Visually stunning: Flora for juvenile – and adult – fauna
Flora: Inside the Secret World of Plants by DK [Dorling Kindersley] with contribution by Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, 2018. Dorling Kindersley. Dorling Kindersley’s Flora: Inside
Reviews
From Emerald Planet to Eden with Prof. Beerling
Making Eden by David Beerling, 2019. Oxford University Press. Almost 12 years ago I reviewed David Beerling’s previous book The Emerald Planet. I was very