BiblioVault - Books about Botany

An Illustrated Guide to Arizona Weeds

Kittie F. Parker

University of Arizona Press, 1972

Everything needed to recognize, effectively combat--and defeat--weeds. Comprehensive manual covers identification, new species and problems, land-use factors, and control methods. Illustrations by Lucretia B Hamilton.

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An Illustrated Guide to Arizona Weeds

Kittie F. Parker

University of Arizona Press

Everything needed to recognize, effectively combat--and defeat--weeds. Comprehensive manual covers identification, new species and problems, land-use factors, and control methods. Illustrations by Lucretia B Hamilton.

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An Illustrated Guide to Iowa Prairie Plants

Paul Christiansen

University of Iowa Press, 1999

Iowa is the only state completely within the tallgrass prairie formation. Thanks to rich soil, adequate rainfall, and warm summer temperatures, hundreds of species combine to produce a diverse and colorful and ever-changing landscape. Using text and maps by Paul Christiansen and newly created drawings by Mark Müller, this first comprehensive guide to the prairie plants native to Iowa provides all the information necessary for identifying and distinguishing even the most similar species.

Species are described from the ground up: stem, leaf, bud, flower, fruit, and habitat. The time of flowering and fruiting is given for the central part of Iowa. Where several species are closely related, a common member of the group is fully described, and the other species are compared with the first. Each species is paired with a distribution map. The superbly detailed illustrations, all of which were drawn specifically for this handbook, capture the general shape of each plant as well as its characteristic features. A guide to family identification, information about extant and restored prairies in Iowa, and a glossary are also included.

Farmers who settled Iowa in the 1800s viewed the great green sea of grasses and wildflowers as a challenge to be replaced with cropfields and pastures. Today we realize that the prairie is an addictive, restorative, aesthetically satisfying place for study and recreation. An Illustrated Guide to Iowa Prairie Plants is designed to enable those who want to go beyond the most common plants to identify all native species and to learn more about their distribution, structure, and natural history.

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Imperial Nature

Joseph Hooker and the Practices of Victorian Science

Jim Endersby

University of Chicago Press, 2008

Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817–1911) was an internationally renowned botanist, a close friend and early supporter of Charles Darwin, and one of the first—and most successful—British men of science to become a full-time professional. He was also, Jim Endersby argues, the perfect embodiment of Victorian science. A vivid picture of the complex interrelationships of scientific work and scientific ideas, Imperial Nature gracefully uses one individual’s career to illustrate the changing world of science in the Victorian era.
By analyzing Hooker’s career, Endersby offers vivid insights into the everyday activities of nineteenth-century naturalists, considering matters as diverse as botanical illustration and microscopy, classification, and specimen transportation and storage, to reveal what they actually did, how they earned a living, and what drove their scientific theories. What emerges is a rare glimpse of Victorian scientific practices in action. By focusing on science’s material practices and one of its foremost practitioners, Endersby ably links concerns about empire, professionalism, and philosophical practices to the forging of a nineteenth-century scientific identity.

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The Important Plant Areas of Mozambique

Edited by Iain Darbyshire, Sophie Richards, and Jo Osborne

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, 2023

An assessment of fifty critical sites for plant conservation.

The Important Plant Areas of Mozambique is based on the Mozambique TIPAs project run in collaboration between Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Mozambique’s Agricultural Research Institute (Instituto de Investigação Agrária de Moçambique – IIAM), and the University Eduardo Mondlane. Drawing on information from the TIPAs database, The Important Plant Areas of Mozambique includes color maps and photographs, site descriptions, and tables to present information on the botanical significance, habitat, and geology of the region. The book will also address conservation issues and ecosystem services to promote Mozambique’s critical plant sites and inform conservation leaders in government, NGOs, universities, and local communities about Mozambique’s threatened habitats.

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In Search of Lost Roses

Thomas Christopher

University of Chicago Press, 2002

Once upon a time—before the 1860s—people loved old roses like "Pearl of Gold," "Marchionesse of Lorne," or "Autumn Damask." Then along came the hybrid tea roses, which were easier to arrange, more dramatic, and longer-blooming, and the old roses were all but forgotten. Now the lovely, subtle-hued, richly perfumed old roses are making a comeback, thanks to the efforts of a stubborn band of eccentric characters who rescued them from back alleys, ramshackle cottages, and overgrown graveyards across the country. Thomas Christopher tells us the fascinating stories of the old roses—how they were created and made their way to America—and the unforgettable people who "rustle" them from abandoned lots and secret gardens today, revelling in the mystery of an "unknown yellow."

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In Splendid Isolation

A History of the Willie Commelin Scholten Phytopathology Laboratory, 1894-1992

Patricia E. Faasse

Amsterdam University Press, 2009

For almost a hundred years, the Willie Commelin Scholten laboratory was the hub of phytopathology research in the Netherlands, where generations of students learned the principles of plant pathology. In Splendid Isolation reconstructs the history of this unique institution, from its beginnings as a small private laboratory in the late nineteenth century to its final days as a renowned university research center. This unique volume chronicles how the laboratory’s scientific reputation spread far beyond the country’s borders as it diagnosed and researched thousands of plant diseases.

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In the Name of Plants

From Attenborough to Washington, the People behind Plant Names

Sandra Knapp

University of Chicago Press, 2022

A vividly illustrated meeting with thirty plants and their inspiring namesakes

Shakespeare famously asserted that “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” and that’s as true for common garden roses as it is for the Megacorax, a genus of evening primroses. Though it may not sound like it, the Megacorax was actually christened in honor of famed American botanist Peter Raven, its name a play on the Latin words for “great raven.”

In this lush and lively book, celebrated botanist Sandra Knapp explores the people whose names have been immortalized in plant genera, presenting little-known stories about both the featured plants and their eponyms alongside photographs and botanical drawings from the collections of London’s Natural History Museum. Readers will see familiar plants in a new light after learning the tales of heroism, inspiration, and notoriety that led to their naming. Take, for example, nineteenth-century American botanist Alice Eastwood, after whom the yellow aster—Eastwoodia elegans—is named. Eastwood was a pioneering plant collector who also singlehandedly saved irreplaceable specimens from the California Academy of Sciences during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Or more recently, the fern genus Gaga, named for the pop star and actress Lady Gaga, whose verdant heart-shaped ensemble at the 2010 Grammy Awards bore a striking resemblance to a giant fern gametophyte. Knapp’s subjects range from Charles Darwin’s grandfather, Erasmus Darwin (Darwinia), and legendary French botanist Pierre Magnol—who lends his name to the magnolia tree—to US founding figures like George Washington (Washingtonia) and Benjamin Franklin (Franklinia). Including granular details on the taxonomy and habitats for thirty plants alongside its vibrant illustrations, this book is sure to entertain and enlighten any plant fan.

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Induced Responses to Herbivory

Richard Karban and Ian T. Baldwin

University of Chicago Press, 1997

Plants face a daunting array of creatures that eat them, bore into them, and otherwise use virtually every plant part for food, shelter, or both. But although plants cannot flee from their attackers, they are far from defenseless. In addition to adaptations like thorns, which may be produced in response to attack, plants actively alter their chemistry and physiology in response to damage. For instance, young potato plant leaves being eaten by potato beetles respond by producing chemicals that inhibit beetle digestive enzymes.

Over the past fifteen years, research on these induced responses to herbivory has flourished, and here Richard Karban and Ian T. Baldwin present the first comprehensive evaluation and synthesis of this rapidly developing field. They provide state-of-the-discipline reviews and highlight areas where new research will be most productive. Their comprehensive overview will be welcomed by a wide variety of theoretical and applied researchers in ecology, evolutionary biology, plant biology, entomology, and agriculture.

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