Ethnobotany Books - Page 3

An Ancient Egyptian Herbal

Lise Manniche

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Fascinating, fun & full of information! 5 out of 5 stars.
16 of 16 people found this review helpful.

This is one of my all-time favorite research books on ancient Egypt. For anyone interested in the use of plants, perfumes, cosmetics, and/or medicines in ancient Egypt, this book is a must! Dr. Manniche talks about every plant used in ancient Egypt that has been identified, and also talks about the gardens so beloved by the ancient Egyptian people. I developed a talk on Egyptian cosmetics for use as a museum docent, and much of it is heavily based on Dr. Manniche's book.

Editorial Review:

The ancient Egyptians were skilled in the use of herbs and spices for medicines, cooking, cosmetics, perfumes, and many other purposes. Drawing on texts written by the Egyptians and their neighbors, and on works by classical authors and the Copts, Lise Manniche has reconstructed a herbal of 94 species of plants and trees used from before the pharaohs to the late Coptic period. Each plant is named in Latin and English, and where known in ancient Egyptian, Greek, and modern Arabic. An account is given of the plants' special properties, with authentic recipes for cosmetics and cures. In her introduction the author discusses the many uses the ancient Egyptians made of herbs and flowers, and the importance of plants for funerary and festive occasions.

The History and Folklore of North American Wildflowers

Timothy Coffey

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

The History and Folklore of North American Wildflowers 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.

If you find yourself wondering about wildflowers and how they were appreciated by those many generations before us, then this is a wonderful book to add to your library. I found various aspects of this book to be helpful, including the biographical notes on Pliny the Elder, Peter Kalm and many others. The author also lists regional names for plants; for instance Garlic Mustard is also known as Sauce-Alone. The book is easy to read, and gives interesting historical information from various sources on the medicinal and other uses of wildflowers. The line drawings add a nice touch. Keep in mind that the book is geared toward history and is not meant as a guide for identifying plants. Good companion books to this would be any of the Peterson's Field Guides to Wildflowers and/or Medicinal Plants.

Rare, perhaps soon-to-be lost, botanical esoterica 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

There are things in this book I have never heard anywhere else. It is an unusual compilation of historical plant literature, which like much ethnobotany could one day simply vanish from the collective conscience.

The historical anecdotes are wide-ranging and memorable, e.g. Arrow Arum tubers were a staple food of mid-Atlantic Indian tribes; Jimsonweed's strongly hallucinogenic alkaloids were a favorite tool of medieval "wenches... so skilled in [the] dosing of it, that they [could] make a man mad for as many hours as they [pleased];" the Pawnee Indians swore by a perfume made of crushed Columbine seeds...

I cringe at the thought of how much plant knowledge was once commonly known and used, yet now stands on the brink of extinction. I liken it to a pile of never-published Bach or Vivaldi manuscripts rotting away in some attic, when they instead could bring joy to millions.

Editorial Review:

This highly entertaining reference book presents the popular lore, social history, and practical uses of nearly seven hundred native flowers.

Seed to Civilization: The Story of Food

Charles Heiser

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Fun with food 4 out of 5 stars.
16 of 16 people found this review helpful.

What are the major plants and animals on which humans subsist? Where do these plants and animals come from? This book addresses these and other questions related to food. It does so in a highly readable format, assuming no prior botanical or zoological knowledge. It organizes the discussion along chapter topics such as "Grasses: The staff of live." Learn that yams have served as a source of steroid hormones, that sugar is a grass from the South Pacific and observe how cauliflower, kale and brussels sprouts all derive from a single plant species. On the down side, this book's treatment of genetic engineering is outdated and the faith given to improvements in crop production not well reconciled with a concluding chapter on food problems, e.g. pesticide use. But these weaknesses are outweighed to the reader seeking a concise, interesting overview of the foods on which we subsist.

About the Book 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This is not a book about hunger. Rather it concerns mostly the plants and animals that stand between us and starvation. The subject can be called ethnobiology, the study of plants and animals in relation to humans. Ecology, the study of organisms in relation to their environment, is another of our concerns. In this case we are the organisms and the part of the environment of interest to us is the plants and animals that provide our food.

In this book I begin with some consideration of the origin of agriculture and why plants and animals were domesticated. The bulk of the book is concerned with basic food plants and animals, and covers where and when they were first domesticated as well as why and how they are used. I have, however, not hesitated to stray from the principal subjects from time to time when I have felt that the digression would be of general interest to my readers. There is, for example, some mention of the uses of plants and animals for purposes other than food. In this edition I have extensively revised several chapters, completely rewritten the last two, and increased the number of plants treated. In addition, I have incorporated some new photographs.

Only one chapter is given to the discussion of animals and its focus is on those most important as food. As I am a botanist, some may think that I have neglected animals in favor of plants, but in defense I can point out that we get all of our carbohydrates and nearly three-fourths of our protein from plant sources. Moreover, nearly all of the food we get from animals is in turn derived from plants. After all, life depends on photosynthesis; chlorophyll has been referred to as the green blood of the earth. The last chapter concerns current and future food problems and, perhaps, some controversial topics ..

The book has been written with the general reader in mind and no particular background in biology should be necessary Jor understanding

most of the topics. I had once assumed that the readers of a book such as this would have an elementary knowledge of human nutrition, but, judging from recent news releases, that assumption was unjustifiable, for malnutrition is not confined to the poor and uneducated but extends to the affluent and "educated" as well. Therefore, a brief treatment of nutrition is given (Chapter 3).

Although I have not tried to include all of my sources, there is a fairly extensive and updated bibliography at the end of the book. This is included primarily for those readers who would like to pursue any sub­ject in greater detail. Although I expect the same plants and animals to continue to serve as our principal foods for a long time to come, our detailed knowledge concerning them will change as research makes more information available. Perhaps this is nowhere more true than in the realm of prehistory, for the next archaeological investigation may uncover new information regarding the "invention" of agriculture and the earliest domesticated plants and animals.

There are a number of individuals to whom I am indebted for their advice. My thanks to all of them, particularly Gregory Anderson, Vir­ginia Flack, Gunder Hefta, Jorge Soria, and my wife, Dorothy. Thanks also to those who supplied the illustrations.

The Sacred Mushroom Seeker: Essays for R. Gordon Wasson (Historical Ethno and Economic Botany Series Vol 4)

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Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

A unique and compelling contribution 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 5 people found this review helpful.

This is a one-of-a-kind tribute to R. Gordon Wasson, widely credited as the primary founder of ethnomycology, whose history-making investigations into fungi across culture led him to the trail of the sacred mushrooms of Mesoamerica. The contributions by various authors are excellent, and the production superb. It features high-quality reproductions of historic photographs of mushroom ceremonies of the Mazatec (some originally published in LIFE magazine), along with some breath-taking pictures never-before-seen. Interesting, informative highlights come one after the other, from a nice assortment of Wasson's highly accomplished colleagues. This is a distinguished work that cannot be praised too highly, and will grow in stature with time. It was fittingly published as #11 in Wasson's Ethnomycological Studies, and goes well on the shelf alongside the others in that series. Very well done, and highly recommended for those with serious interest in this fascinating and important subject.

Editorial Review:

A celebration of the life and pioneering work of the eminent mycologist and scholar R. Gordon Wasson.

A legendary figure in the field of ethnobotany, R. Gordon Wasson's trail-blazing work on hallucinogenic mushrooms with the Mexican curandera Maria Sabina in the 1950s brought increased scholarly attention to the importance of psychoactive plants in the spiritual life of indigenous peoples and had a profound influence well beyond the academic world. His accessible writings helped popularize these discoveries, forming the ground for the social revolution of the following decade. With the growing interest in the role of psychoactive plants in society today, the work of R. Gordon Wasson and the example set by the man himself, so well illustrated here, takes on increasing importance. 

Wild Rice and the Ojibway People

Thomas, Jr. Vennum

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Editorial Review:

Wild rice has always been essential to life in the Upper Midwest and neighboring Canada. In this far-reaching book, Thomas Vennum, Jr., uses travelers' narratives, historical and ethnological accounts, scientific data, historical and contemporary photographs and sketches, his own field work, and the words of Indian people to examine the importance of this wild food to the Ojibway people. He details the technology of harvesting and processing, from seventeenth-century reports though modern mechanization. He explains the important place of wild rice in Ojibway ceremony and legend and depicts the rich social life of the traditional rice camps. And he reviews the volatile issues of treaty rights and litigations involving Indian problems in maintaining this traditional resource.

A staple of the Ojibway diet and economy for centuries, wild rice has now become a gourmet food. With twentieth-century agricultural technology and paddy cultivation, white growers have virtually removed this important source of income from Indain hands. Nevertheless, the Ojibway continue to harvest and process rice each year. It remains a vital part of their social, cultural, and religious life.

Ethnobotany of the Gitksan Indians of British Columbia (Mercury Series)

Harlan I. Smith

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Heavenly Highs: Ayahuasca, Kava-Kava, DMT, and Other Plants of the Gods

Peter Stafford

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Editorial Review:

Heavenly Highs introduces the world of enthobotanicals used by shamans and psychedelic explorers. Included are explanations of DMT, found in psychedelic snuff; Amazonian ayahuasca, a bitter beverage that triggers visionary experiences with plant gods; Ibogain, a yellowish root ingested by indigenous peoples to achieve visionary experiences; and Belladona, Yohimbe, and Kava-Kava. Noted psychedelic scholar Peter Stafford profiles each group in detail. Photographs, illustrations, tables, and charts are included.

Soma: The Divine Hallucinogen

David L. Spess

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Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The definitive work on the ancient Hindu soma rituals mentioned in the Vedas and debated by scholars for decades.

• The first book to identify the mysterious soma plant.

• A breakthrough book that reenvisions the role of psychoactive plants in religion.

Soma has been shrouded in mystery for centuries. It is simultaneously a sacred hallucinogenic plant used in secret rituals, a personified God, and an important cosmological principle. Summarizing all previous research on the subject, David Spess goes far beyond his predecessors and shows that soma provides an important key to the understanding of the earliest systemized methods of medicine, psychology, magic, rejuvenation, longevity, and alchemy. Most significant is that his intensive research provides the most compelling case yet for actual identification of the plants that served as the basis for the divine hallucinogen Nelumbo nucifera, the sacred lotus of India, as well as some members of the Nymphaea genus. 

With the renewed interest in the ritual use of psychoactive substances, shamanism, psychic phenomena, and alternative modalities of healing, Soma provides a much needed bridge between Eastern and Western esoteric traditions. Contained within the enigmatic verses about soma in the Rig Veda is a secret about ourselves and the nature of our relationship to the world and cosmos. Soma makes this knowledge available to us once again.

Healing Herbs of the Upper Rio Grande: Traditional Medicine of the Southwest

L. S. M. Curtin

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Excellent guide to herbal uses of native Southwestern plants 5 out of 5 stars.
10 of 10 people found this review helpful.

Living in the Southwestern Chihuahuan desert, I am always on the search for sources of information regarding local flora and particularly ethnobotanical uses of plants. This is an excellent guide originally published in 1947 and edited by Michael Moore who I consider to be an expert on herbal uses of native southwestern plants. For anyone interested in this subject, a fabulous resource to have in your library!

from the Medical Herbalism journal 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

Laura Curtin lived and worked among the curanderas and Native Americans of Northern New Mexico during the early part of the twentieth century. She fell in love with the plants and their lore, and later, at the prompting of a friend, decided to record them. Healing Herbs was first published in 1947, at a time when interest in traditional healing in Northern New Mexico was in decline. It helped preserve traditional information for a new generation -- when editor Michael Moore arrived in Santa Fe in the 1960s he found copies of Curtin's book as a prized possession in many traditional households. The book is unique in the literature of ethnobotany in that it was written essentially by an insider in the tradition, rather than by an observer doing interviews.

Montana Native Plants & Early Peoples

Jeff Hart

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Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Ethnobotany of Montana 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Excellent 1996 re-issue of Jeff Hart's 1976 work published by the Montana Historical Society, with over 60 plants (from trees to lichens) used by Montana's Indian tribes for food, medicine, shelter, and crafts. Well-illustrated; essential for those interested in Montana history and the great outdoors. Many of these plants are becoming harder and harder to find with the boom in Montana's development, and conservation efforts need to focus more on the preservation of these often overlooked ethnobotanical treasures of the Treasure State.

Editorial Review:

From alders to yellowbells, 60 Montana plants are featured in this guide. It describes how Native Americans and other early inhabitants of the area used these plants for food, medicine, and religious rituals. Each illustrated entry also gives a detailed description of the plant and its habitat and range.