314 books match the query 'Plants' and 11 start with m

cover of Macrolichens of the Pacific Northwest, Second Ed.

Macrolichens of the Pacific Northwest, Second Ed.

Bruce McCune

Oregon State University Press, 2009

A key component in healthy ecosystems, lichens can be found in almost any natural habitat in the Pacific Northwest. This comprehensive guide to the region’s macrolichens is intended for use by beginners as well as specialists: weekend naturalists will be able to identify specimens and recognize the great diversity of lichens, while lichenologists and mycologists will gain greater knowledge of the distribution and abundance of various species.

This revised and expanded edition of Macrolichens of the Pacific Northwest includes 116 new species and 176 additional illustrations and incorporates an understanding of macrolichens that has advanced tremendously in the past decade.

Macrolichens of the Pacific Northwest includes keys to 113 genera and 586 species of Oregon and Washington macrolichens—all the macrolichens known or expected to occur in the two states. The keys also provide reasonable coverage for lichens of Idaho and Montana, inland to the Continental Divide. Color photographs and detailed descriptions are provided for 246 species, emphasizing lichens prevalent in forested ecosystems.

The illustrated glossary and introductory material cover the terminology needed to identify macrolichens and provide information on collection and handling. The biology, ecology, and air-quality sensitivity of lichens are discussed; regional air-quality sensitivities are provided for 184 species.

Macrolichens of the Pacific Northwest will prove invaluable to anyone seeking to identify lichens or to better understand these organisms and their vital role in the natural world.

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cover of Meanings of Maple: An Ethnography of Sugaring

Meanings of Maple

An Ethnography of Sugaring

Michael Lange

University of Arkansas Press, 2017

In Meanings of Maple, Michael A. Lange provides a cultural analysis of maple syrup making, known in Vermont as sugaring, to illustrate how maple syrup as both process and product is an aspect of cultural identity.

Readers will go deep into a Vermont sugar bush and its web of plastic tubes, mainline valves, and collection tanks. They will visit sugarhouses crammed with gas evaporators and reverse-osmosis machines. And they will witness encounters between sugar makers and the tourists eager to invest Vermont with mythological fantasies of rural simplicity.

So much more than a commodity study, Meanings of Maple frames a new approach for evaluating the broader implications of iconic foodways, and it will animate conversations in food studies for years to come.
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cover of Medicines That Feed Us: Plants, Healing, and Sovereignty in a Toxic World

Medicines That Feed Us

Plants, Healing, and Sovereignty in a Toxic World

Stacey A. Langwick

Duke University Press, 2026

Medicines That Feed Us examines the relationship between toxicity and remedy in the face of the intertwined health and environmental crises that are shaping life in the twenty-first century. Through ethnographic work with organizations that use plant-based healing and sustainable farming practices in Tanzania, Stacey A. Langwick asks what it means to heal in a toxic world. Expanding on the Kiswahili phrase dawa lishe, or medicines that feed us, Langwick describes the potency of plant medicines in therapeutic projects that address bodies and environments together. These efforts challenge biomedicine’s intense focus on the internal dynamics of biological bodies and its externalization of the modern agricultural, industrial, and land management practices that impact it. Dawa lishe is not a call to return to the traditional, but an invitation to join contemporary experiments in how we know, use, and govern therapeutic plants. Medicines That Feed Us offers alternative ways of living and dying, growing and decaying, composing and decomposing which acknowledge the interdependence of bodily and ecological health.
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cover of Michigan Ferns and Lycophytes: A Guide to Species of the Great Lakes Region

Michigan Ferns and Lycophytes

A Guide to Species of the Great Lakes Region

Daniel D. Palmer

University of Michigan Press, 2018

Michigan’s ferns and lycophytes are among the state’s most fascinating plants. The species in these groups exhibit incredibly diverse life cycles and an amazing array of morphology. Some species such as the Bracken fern are widespread and aggressive, dominating forest understories throughout much of northern Michigan, while other species are exceedingly rare and adapted to life solely in harsh niche habitats where little else can grow.

Unlike the well-studied flowering plants and gymnosperms, Michigan’s ferns and lycophytes have long lacked a reliable, up-to-date guidebook, and this book fills that gap. Covering all 120 taxa found in the state, it features detailed keys, species descriptions, and range maps alongside precise illustrations. Readers learn about the etymology of species’ common and scientific names as well as interesting facts about their historic uses by humans and place within the Michigan ecosystem. The book also provides information on the challenging taxonomy of many ferns and lycophytes, with special attention given to the species likely to hybridize and those prone to misidentification. This is a must-have reference for anyone who wishes to learn about these important components of the Great Lakes flora.
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cover of Michigan Shrubs and Vines: A Guide to Species of the Great Lakes Region

Michigan Shrubs and Vines

A Guide to Species of the Great Lakes Region

Burton V. Barnes, Christopher W. Dick, and Melanie E. Gunn

University of Michigan Press, 2016

Shrubs and vines are some of the most diverse and widespread plants in the Great Lakes Region. Michigan Shrubs and Vines is the must-have book for anyone who wishes to identify and learn about these fascinating plants. Presented in the same attractive, easy-to-use format as the classic Michigan Trees, the book gives detailed descriptions of 132 species, providing concise information on key characters, habitat, distribution, and growth pattern. Precise line drawings accompany each species description and illustrate arrangement and characteristics of leaves, flowers, and fruits in addition to stem structure to assist with reliable year-round identification. A thorough introduction covers the features and forms of shrubs and vines as well as their natural history, their role in landscape ecosystems, and their occurrence in regional ecosystems of North America and plant communities of the Great Lakes. This long awaited companion to Michigan Trees will appeal to botanists, ecologists, students, and amateur naturalists alike.

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cover of Michigan Trees, Revised and Updated: A Guide to the Trees of the Great Lakes Region

Michigan Trees, Revised and Updated

A Guide to the Trees of the Great Lakes Region

Burton V. Barnes and Warren H. Wagner, Jr.

University of Michigan Press, 2004

Now in its tenth decade of publication, Michigan Trees has been, since it was first introduced in 1913, the must-have reference book for anyone who wants to know about the trees of this unique North American region.

In this new and updated edition, several new species have been added to the lineup, as well as sections on tree ecology and fall color. Written and illustrated in a style that appeals at once to academic botanists and armchair arborphiles alike, Michigan Trees gives readers everything they need to know for identifying trees in the Great Lakes state. Included with each description are fascinating notes and asides (for example, this tidbit on the jack pine: "Parklike or savanna stands in north-central Michigan are prime habitat for the rare Kirtland's warbler that breeds nowhere else in the world."). Also includes a tree key and identification section illustrated with elegantly simple line drawings that reveal the tiny, signature details that make each tree unique.

Burton V. Barnes is Professor of Forestry at the University of Michigan. Formerly a research forester, he is best known for his research and publications in forest ecology and forest genetics.

Warren H. Wagner, Jr. was a world authority on ferns. He had been Professor Emeritus of Botany and Natural Resources at the University of Michigan before his death at the age of 80 in 2000.

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cover of Midwestern Native Shrubs and Trees: Gardening Alternatives to Nonnative Species: An Illustrated Guide

Midwestern Native Shrubs and Trees

Gardening Alternatives to Nonnative Species: An Illustrated Guide

Charlotte Adelman, Bernard L. Schwartz

Ohio University Press, 2016

In this companion volume to the bestselling The Midwestern Native Garden: Native Alternatives to Nonnative Flowers and Plants, Charlotte Adelman and Bernard L. Schwartz offer another indispensible guide to replacing nonnative plants with native alternatives. This time, their subject is the native woody species that are the backbone of our gardens and landscapes. Among other ecological benefits, native shrubs and trees provide birds and butterflies with vital food and reproductive sites that nonnative species cannot offer. And they tend to be hardier and easier to maintain. The authors provide a comprehensive selection of native woody alternatives that, season by season, provide effects similar to those of nonnative shrubs and trees used for ornamental purposes and shade. These plants are suitable for all garden styles, provide blooms and fall color, and have the same cultivation requirements as their nonnative counterparts. Nature notes alert readers to the native species’ unique ecological roles. Unlike other gardening guides, Midwestern Native Shrubs and Trees goes beyond mere suggestion to provide gardeners with the tools they need to make informed, thoughtful choices. Knowing which native species to plant for desired effects empowers landscapers and gardeners to take on a greater role in protecting our midwestern environment.
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cover of Molds, Mushrooms, and Mycotoxins

Molds, Mushrooms, and Mycotoxins

Clyde M. Christensen

University of Minnesota Press, 1975

Molds, Mushrooms, and Mycotoxins was first published in 1975. Minnesota Archive Editions uses digital technology to make long-unavailable books once again accessible, and are published unaltered from the original University of Minnesota Press editions.

As Professor Christensen has made evident in his earlier books, including The Molds and Man,fungi are significantly interesting in their life-styles and in the many ways in which they affect man. Here he continues his exploration of the lives of the fungi and their relation to man, focusing on the harmful or dangerous effects which certain molds, mushrooms, and other fungi can have on human beings.

The first several chapters deal with fungi that are toxic in one way or another: either the fungi themselves are toxic when consumed, as with poisonous mushrooms and ergot, or the fungi secrete toxic compounds that diffuse into the substance on which they grow, making that substance toxic when eaten. He discusses hallucinogenic as well as poisonous mushrooms and provides extensive information about mycotoxins in human and animal foods, which are recently discovered health hazards.

Other chapters deal with fungus spores, which are a major cause of respiratory allergies, and with fungi which are predators or parasites of insects and nematodes. A chapter is devoted to fungus infections of man and animals, which at times constitute a serious public health problem. Another chapter discusses the nature, cause, and prevention of wood decay in trees and buildings. In a final chapter the author discusses some aspects of organic evolution in general as a background for presenting theories and facts on the evolution of fungi. He summarizes some of the ways in which fungi enter into our lives and economy, and looks to the role of fungi in the future.

The illustrations, in both black and white and color, show some of the fungi and processes that are discussed.

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cover of Mountains Of Memory: A Fire Lookout'S Life

Mountains Of Memory

A Fire Lookout'S Life

Don Scheese

University of Iowa Press, 2001

In Mountains of Memory, seasoned wilderness dweller Don Scheese charts a long season of watching for and fighting fires in Idaho's River of No Return Wilderness&151the largest federal wilderness area in the mainland United States. An inspiring tale of self-discovery,Mountains of Memory paints a complex portrait of the natural, institutional, and historical forces that have shaped the great forested landscapes of the American West.

A student of nature writing as well as a fire lookout with over a decade of experience, Scheese recounts his life at the top of the world, along with daring adventures such as backpacking and mountaineering in the Bighorn Crags and kayaking down the Middle Fork of the Salmon River. All the while, he touches upon the mysterious and powerful realities of the wilderness around him and stunning dawns visible within the glass cage perched on a 9,000-foot mountain, stirring flashes of lightning visible all around the dark landscape as the radio crackles with reports of strikes observed and fires spotted, long-awaited trips down the mountain to civilization for cold beer and hot pizza.
In the tradition of Edward Abbey and Gary Snyder, Don Scheese offers readers a meditation on the meaning and value of wilderness at the beginning of the twenty-first century.
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cover of Moveable Gardens: Itineraries and Sanctuaries of Memory

Moveable Gardens

Itineraries and Sanctuaries of Memory

Edited by Virginia D. Nazarea and Terese V. Gagnon

University of Arizona Press, 2021

Moveable Gardens explores how biodiversity and food can counter the alienation caused by displacement. By offering in-depth studies on a variety of regions, this volume carefully considers various forms of sanctuary making within communities, and seeks to address how carrying seeds, plants, and other traveling companions is an ongoing response to the grave conditions of displacement in today’s world. The destruction of homelands, fragmentation of habitats, and post-capitalist conditions of modernity are countered by thoughtful remembrance of tradition and the migration of seeds, which are embodied in gardening, cooking, and community building.

Moveable Gardens highlights itineraries and sanctuaries in an era of massive dislocation, addressing concerns about finding comforting and familiar refuges in the Anthropocene. The worlds of marginalized individuals who live in impoverished rural communities, many Indigenous peoples, and refugees are constantly under threat of fracturing. Yet, in every case, there is resilience and regeneration as these individuals re-create their worlds through the foods, traditions, and plants they carry with them into their new realities.

This volume offers a new understanding of the performances and routines of sociality in the face of daunting market forces and perilous climate transformations. These traditions sustained our ancestors, and they may suffice to secure a more meaningful, diverse future. By delving into the nature of nostalgia, burrowing into memory and knowledge, and embracing the specific wonders of each deeply rooted or newly displaced community, endlessly valuable ways of being and understanding can be preserved.

Contributors: Guntra A. Aistara, Aida Curtis, Terese V. Gagnon, John Hartigan Jr., Tracey Heatherington, Taylor Hosmer, Hayden S. Kantor, Melanie Narciso, Virginia D. Nazarea, Emily F. Ramsey, Krishnendu Ray, David Sutton, James R. Veteto, Marc N. Williams

 
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cover of Multiplicity in Unity: Plant Subindividual Variation and Interactions with Animals

Multiplicity in Unity

Plant Subindividual Variation and Interactions with Animals

Carlos M. Herrera

University of Chicago Press, 2009

Plants produce a considerable number of structures of one kind, like leaves, flowers, fruits, and seeds, and this reiteration is a quintessential feature of the body plan of higher plants. But since not all structures of the same kind produced by a plant are identical—for instance, different branches on a plant may be male or female, leaf sizes in the sun differ from those in the shade, and fruit sizes can vary depending on patterns of physiological allocation among branches—a single plant genotype generally produces a multiplicity of phenotypic versions of the same organ.

Multiplicity in Unity uses this subindividual variation to deepen our understanding of the ecological and evolutionary factors involved in plant-animal interactions. On one hand, phenotypic variation at the subindividual scale has diverse ecological implications for animals that eat plants. On the other hand, by choosing which plants to consume, these animals may constrain or modify plant ontogenetic patterns, developmental stability, and the extent to which feasible phenotypic variants are expressed by individuals.

An innovative study of the ecology, morphology, and evolution of modular organisms, Multiplicity in Unity addresses a topic central to our understanding of the diversity of life and the ways in which organisms have coevolved to cope with variable environments.

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