2020 Plant Talk 1: Introduction
March 21, 2020
Hey plant enthusiasts! Wishing all the best in the coming spring in the northern hemisphere or in the southern hemisphere for your fall! Of course we are living in an unprecedented time due to the current Covid 19 pandemic. i have wanted to start a blog for awhile. Thinking to defer further thoughts on true viral spread and others ideas not exactly germane to basic botany and an introduction to this course to a blog format in the next few days.
Here in this class we have a chance to feed our passion for the natural world and plants in particular. This is also an opportunity to collaboratively add to our collective pool of botanical knowledge. This knowledge is a crucial piece to any future sustainability as well as a whole lot of fun when employed appropriately. Grateful you are choosing to spend some of your time with me!
The text for this class is Botany in a Day 6th ed. by Thomas Elpel (Elpel 2013). This handy resource covers over 100 families and 1000 genera of plants. The majority of all the common plants and many uncommon ones of the northern temperate world are encompassed at least at the genus and family level. Near the end of this year we will discuss further which families are not covered. The most recent edition has more information and an updated classification reflecting a lot of the changes that have occurred over the last ten to twenty years. Botany in a Day now mostly conforms with the changes wrought by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG) (Chase and Reveal 2009; Group 2009; Haston et al. 2009; The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group 2016). You might want to update and pass along your 5th edition (2004) to some person or organization just beginning their botanical journeying. However, the fifth edition will still be serviceable if you find it to be necessary as your textbook for this course. Many other resources are also cited as the classes are posted to prompt and inspire further study and dependability of information.
The online class here is a continuation of a course Frank Cook offered through email for 9 years. Frank passed away over ten and a half years ago and i have picked up the torch while also bringing this class to a website format. i strive to continue the work of Frank in a proactive way, honoring his past contributions, current inspiration and the evolving needs of our community of plant people. More on Frank can be found under the About Us tab on this website and at www.plantsandhealers.org. The support of numerous friends has allowed both Frank’s work and my own work to continue. i also function as the Executive Director of Plants and Healers International which is a non-profit established to continue the work of Frank as well. Much more information in this regard can be seen at the website above.
A complimentary and very active Facebook group by the name Botany Everyday has grown to over 11,000 people from around the world! Oh Life In The Modern Age… (LITMA) for short. Currently photo albums from each of the later classes will still be posted to Facebook and i will be working to move them to a more open platform like Flickr as time goes on. Speaking of here is a photo album from this time of year where i live outside Asheville, NC. Would love to see some of your nice and clear pictures too!
7 song, the great Northeastern botanical educator has contributed quite a bit to the Facebook group over time in particular. 7 Song has formally instructed many folks who are now considered amazing teachers in their own right including the afore mentioned Frank Cook, as well as Juliet Blankespoor and Corey Pine Shane among others. 7 Song and i have mostly interacted with each other on plant walks at the annual National Rainbow Gatherings held in a National Forest in a different state each year around July 4th. Further info on the Rainbow Gathering can be found at the following website www.welcomehome.org. Plant walks happen at Rainbow almost every day. All classes at Rainbow are also offered on a voluntary basis. This is one of the best possible chances to learn botany intensively for free. This year it will be held in the Northwest somewhere in Idaho. For various reasons i will not be in attendance though.
Our Role of Engagement in This Adventure and the Power of Intention!
i encourage your direct participation in this endeavor. What’s going on around you? The more you read, follow the suggested exercises and provide feedback, the more we will all learn together. We are all busy by default in today’s society. So, feel free to come and goes as needed. Know that the world of botany is always there to explore further. A lot of information is offered. Receive what intrigues you and leave the rest…
However, please decide now what type of commitment you can bring to this class. Try to honor that commitment by reading, reviewing, reflecting and getting out in nature. Pick at least one place that you will visit regularly, (weekly to at least monthly). There you will witness the cycling of the seasons in a conscious and observant way. Pick a few places if possible that represent different ecotypes which you can visit seasonally. Try to read the posts and suggested section of text as much as possible. Write to me of your intentions. This will help secure your commitment and also give me a sense of who is on the journey this year.
My intentions for this year are to integrate Frank’s commentary from past classes more, add more plant family monographs under the Plant Families tab and cover new categories of ethnobotanical/ecological interest in the classes including Spiritual Uses of plants, Wetland, Carnivorous, and Desert plant groups as well as more information and photos for other classes especially featuring a deep expansion of the Neotropical botany class.
General Information
All identified species have a distinct two part scientific name that is used by botanists all over the world. The first part is the genus or generic name. The second part is the species or specific name. The genus is always capitalized and the species is not. Both names are usually underlined or italicized. i will try when possible to link the scientific names mentioned to the incredible database hosted by the United States Department of Agriculture http://plants.usda.gov/java/ An example is (Daucus carota). This is the name for the cultivated carrot. The USDA database hosts a plethora of information including pictures, distribution maps, invasiveness, nativity, habitat and some uses. Unfortunately, their taxonomic recognition can be out of date at the family and genus level. Intriguingly, it is incredibly granular at the sub-species and variety level.
Plants that share a genus name are similar but often differ in leaf shape, size, habitat, color, palatability or other characteristics. Plants that have the same species name often look almost exactly the same but may still look rather different due to selective breeding. (Daucus carota) is also the name for the wild plant known as Queen Anne’s Lace.
Modern family names for plants take part of the name of a typical genus in the family and then add aceae to the ending. For example, the name of the Celery (Apium graveolens) family is Apiaceae. In the notations below sp. = one species and spp. = multiple species of the same genus. i tend to select common names for families that are linked to the typic genus they are named after. i also tend to capitalize most parts of plant names. My reasoning is that the plants are just as important as people who always have their names capitalized. However, my name and the i that signify me are not capitalized in remembrance of the need for humbleness.
Often it is possible to guess whether a plant is edible, medicinal, or poisonous simply by the family it is in. However, this is not always the case. One example is the Celery family mentioned above which contains many vegetables and spices as well as some of the most poisonous plants in the world! Learning the scientific names of plants helps to aid certainty in identification. Many plants that are very different share the same common names such as the Eastern Hemlock tree (Tsuga canadensis) in the Pine family (Pinaceae) and the deadly Poison Hemlock plant (Conium maculatum) in the Celery family.
Approximately 350,000 species of flowering plants have been named in the world. Scientists have grouped these into around 14,500 genera and those are divided into around 400+ flowering plant families. The World Flora Online website www.worldfloraonline.org and the somewhat older but more user friendly Plant List www.plantlist.org, are good global authorities of the current scientific consensus on classification delineation. Another approximately 35,000 species 200+ families of plants that are precursors to the flowering ones have been named as well. These plants include Conifers, Ferns, Lycopods, Mosses, Hornworts, Liverworts and others. Importantly… You will know something significant about the majority of plants that you see in the temperate world if you learn the top 30 most diverse/useful families around you!!!
In southern Appalachia where i spend most of my time a profusion of plants have been blooming for a bit or are starting to bloom including Apricots/Cherries/Plums (Prunus spp.), Asian Magnolias (Magnolia spp.), Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis), Bluets (Houstonia spp.), Bridal Veil Spiraea (Spiraea prunifolium), Daffodils (Narcissus spp.), Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale), Cresses/Toothworts (Dentaria/Cardamine spp.), Camellia spp., Forsythia, Grape Hyacinth (Muscari sp.), Henbit (Lamium purpureum), Honesty (Lunaria sp.), Hyacinth (Hyacinthus spp.), Pears (Pyrus spp.), Periwinkle (Vinca sp.), Poor Person’s pepper (Lepidium sp.), Purple Archangel (Lamium purpureum), Ragwort (Packera spp.), Snowdrops (Galanthus sp.), Wild Mustards (Brassica spp.) and the rare White Forsythia (Abeliophyllum distichum). What plants have you noticed recently?
The world contains many thousands of edible plants (Facciola 1998; Fern 2000; Mabberley 2017; Sturtevant and Hedrick 1972; Wiersema and León 2013). North America has at least 4,000 edible species of plants alone (Couplan, 1998). Many indigenous groups have traditional uses of hundreds of local plants on the continuum between food and medicine (Moerman, 1998). Yet, 75% of the world’s calories come from only 12 plants (Groombridge and Jenkins 2002).
The great proportion of all nutrients and calories come from Wheat (Triticum spp.), Corn (Zea mays), and Rice (Oryza spp.) (Cunningham and Cunningham 2017). Staples can vary from region to region. In the tropics Sweet Potatoes (Ipomoea batatas), Cassava (Manihot esculenta) and Sugar Cane (Saccharum officinarum) are staples. Barley (Hordeum vulgare), Oats (Avena sativa), Rye (Lolium sp.), Soybeans (Glycine max) and Potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) are staples of temperate places in the world. Drought tolerant crops like Millets (Panicum miliaceum, Eleusine coracana, Echinochloa esculenta, Pennisetum glaucum) and Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) are staples in Africa.
The vast majority of foods come from very few crops but many groups from Asia to Africa and Latin America still have fairly recent to current use of hundreds of plants on the spectrum from food to medicine where they live (Bletter 2007; Burkill 2004; Bussmann and Sharon 2006; Duke, Bogenschutz-Godwin, and Ottesen 2009; García-Serrano and Del Monte 2004; Hadjichambis et al. 2008; Kang et al. 2012; Kidane et al. 2015; Łuczaj 2012; Łuczaj et al. 2014; Mabberley 2017; Pardo-de-Santayana, Pieroni, and Puri 2010; Rivera et al. 2007; Sánchez-Mata and Tardío 2016; Shiu-ying 2006)
When picking wild plants make sure that you get the plants positively identified. The classic saying is “When in Doubt Leave it Out” Know what part to use (Leaves, Roots, Flowers, Fruits). Also know how to use (Decocted, Dried, Fresh, Infused, Steamed, Sautéed, Tea, Tinctured) and what time of year to harvest. It is often easiest to start by going out with experienced people. Green Deane is one of the most well known foragers in the USA and he has list of other foraging instructors from around the country at his website as well as a lot of good videos. A good guide is also essential! Cited here are a few sources for the east coast but every region has their own (Brill and Dean 1994; Duke and Foster 1999; Horn et al. 2005; Peterson 1978).
Good books are typically found pretty easily by sellers online. However, you can look under the reading lists in the linked suggested reading part of the resources section if you want more detailed ideas from the website here.
Regarding safety it is important to take the time to know the few really TOXIC plants as much as choice edibles! Don’t pick by roadsides or other chemically intensive areas.
Regarding ethics, if you only need the top then leave the roots of perennials. Don’t over harvest, use all of your senses and give thanks!!!
Thank you for all that have donated to the cause. i encourage everyone to donate as they are able ($100 suggested for the year-long length of the class). Your contributions whether monetary, commentary or energetic greatly help me continue this crucial work of ethnobotanical research and education. This class continues by donation in the spirit of Frank but i still have almost $8,000 in student loans as my cost portion of my $70,000 academic education, let alone the cost of the many thousands of hours of personal travel and experience that is reflected here. Recent expenses have totaled in the thousands of dollars for mechanical repairs of my car alone. Not to mention the financial blow of having a multitude of in person activities canceled from the recent Covid-19 pandemic.
Please be as generous as possible and in the words of Frank…
“Give what you can receive what you need”
For the next class we will cover pages 1-3 and both inside covers of the text Botany In a Day.
It will be posted on March 31st.
Below are items to think about/comment on…You can put them in the box below or send me an email at marc@botanyeveryday.com
Looking forward to hearing from you!
Thanks, marc
Why are you taking this class?
What are five plants you hold closely?
What food is ready for harvest around you right now?
What are a few plants blooming around you right now?
Please let me know your thoughts in general and anyway i can help this class serve you best.
Thanks, marc
Literature Cited
Bletter, Nathaniel
2007 A Quantitative Synthesis of the Medicinal Ethnobotany of the Malinké of Mali and the Asháninka of Peru, with a New Theoretical Framework. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 3: 36.
Brill, Steve, and Evelyn Dean
1994 Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants in Wild (and Not so Wild) Places. New York: Hearst Books.
Burkill, H. M.
2004 Useful Plants of West Tropical Africa: General Index, vol.6. 2nd edition.
Bussmann, Rainer W., and Douglas Sharon
2006 Traditional Medicinal Plant Use in Northern Peru: Tracking Two Thousand Years of Healing Culture. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 2: 47.
Chase, Mark W., and James L. Reveal
2009 A Phylogenetic Classification of the Land Plants to Accompany APG III. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 161(2): 122–127.
Cunningham, William, and Mary Cunningham
2017 Environmental Science. 14th edition. McGraw-Hill Education.
Duke, James A, Mary Jo Bogenschutz-Godwin, and Andrea R Ottesen
2009 Duke’s Handbook of Medicinal Plants of Latin America. Boca Raton: Taylor & Francis.
Duke, James A., and Steven Foster
1999 A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs: Of Eastern and Central North America (Peterson Field Guides). 1st edition. New York: Houghton Mifflin.
Elpel, Thomas
2013 Botany in a Day: The Patterns Method of Plant Identification. 6th edition. Pony, MT: HOPS Press, LLC.
Elpel, Thomas J
2004 Botany in a Day: The Patterns Method of Plant Identification. 5th edition. Pony, MT: HOPS Press.
Facciola, Stephen
1998 Cornucopia II: A Source Book of Edible Plants. Vista, CA: Kampong Publications.
Fern, Ken
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García-Serrano, Carlos Ramos, and Juan Pablo Del Monte
2004 The Use of Tropical Forest (Agroecosystems and Wild Plant Harvesting) as a Source of Food in the Bribri and Cabecar Cultures in the Caribbean Coast of Costa Rica. Economic Botany 58(1): 58–71.
Groombridge, Brian, and Martin Jenkins
2002 World Atlas of Biodiversity: Earth’s Living Resources in the 21st Century. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Group, The Angiosperm Phylogeny
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Hadjichambis, Andreas CH., Demetra Paraskeva-Hadjichambi, Athena Della, et al.
2008 Wild and Semi-Domesticated Food Plant Consumption in Seven Circum-Mediterranean Areas. International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition 59(5): 383–414.
Haston, Elspeth, James E. Richardson, Peter F. Stevens, Mark W. Chase, and David J. Harris
2009 The Linear Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (LAPG) III: A Linear Sequence of the Families in APG III. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 161(2): 128–131.
Horn, Dennis, David Duhl, Thomas E Hemmerly, and Tavia Cathcart, eds.
2005 Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians: The Official Field Guide of the Tennessee Native Plant Society. Edmonton, Canada: Lone Pine Pub.
Kang, Yongxiang, Łukasz Łuczaj, Sebastian Ye, Shijiao Zhang, and Jin Kang
2012 Wild Food Plants and Wild Edible Fungi of Heihe Valley (Qinling Mountains, Shaanxi, Central China): Herbophilia and Indifference to Fruits and Mushrooms. Acta Societatis Botanicorum Poloniae 81(4): 405–413.
Kidane, Berhane, L. J. G. van der Maesen, Zemede Asfaw, M. S. M. Sosef, and Tinde van Andel
2015 Wild and Semi-Wild Leafy Vegetables Used by the Maale and Ari Ethnic Communities in Southern Ethiopia. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution 62(2): 221–234.
Łuczaj, Łukasz
2012 Ethnobotanical Review of Wild Edible Plants of Slovakia. Acta Societatis Botanicorum Poloniae 81(4): 245–255.
Łuczaj, Łukasz, Katija Dolina, Norma Fressel, and Stjepan Perković
2014 Wild Food Plants of Dalmatia (Croatia). In Ethnobotany and Biocultural Diversities in the Balkans Pp. 137–148. Springer, New York, NY. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4939-1492-0_8, accessed July 17, 2017.
Mabberley, David J.
2017 Mabberley’s Plant-Book: A Portable Dictionary of Plants, Their Classification and Uses. 4th edition. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Pardo-de-Santayana, Manuel, Andrea Pieroni, and Rajindra K. Puri
2010 Ethnobotany in the New Europe: People, Health and Wild Plant Resources. Berghahn Books.
Peterson, Lee
1978 A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants of Eastern and Central North America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Rivera, Diego, Concepción Obón, Cristina Inocencio, et al.
2007 Gathered Food Plants in the Mountains of Castilla–La Mancha (Spain): Ethnobotany and Multivariate Analysis. Economic Botany 61(3): 269–289.
Sánchez-Mata, María de Cortes, and Javier Tardío, eds.
2016 Mediterranean Wild Edible Plants: Ethnobotany and Food Composition Tables. Springer.
Shiu-ying, Hu
2006 Food Plants of China. Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press.
Sturtevant, Lewis E., and U. P. Hedrick
1972 Sturtevant’s Edible Plants of the World. New York: Dover Publications.
The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group
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Wiersema, John H., and Blanca León
2013 World Economic Plants: A Standard Reference. 2nd edition. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.