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Archive for the ‘Science Library’ Category

Potatoes & Food Chains

Posted in ArtPlantae Books, general botany on August 3, 2009|

Helping you become better acquainted with the plants in your world has always been one of ArtPlantae’s objectives. One of the favorite topics around here is economic botany (i.e., the origin and domestication of plants). Always interesting, this subject defines the role plants play in our lives like no other subject. It is real-world, everyday, practical botany. We’re into that. This is why the economic botany category in the bookstore was renamed “Plants & YOU”. The phrase “economic botany” wasn’t particularly “everyday” and caused too many people to scratch their heads and ask, “What’s that?”

For your reading pleasure, the following titles have been added to the Plants & YOU category at ArtPlantae Books:

Food Chains: From Farmyard to Shopping Cart
Features case studies documenting the handling of food from farmyard to grocery store.

Potato: A History of the Propitious Esculent
Photojournalist, John Reader, traces this popular tuber from its domestication in Peru 8,000 years ago to its current status as the world’s fourth largest food crop.

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Alexander Von Humboldt’s Botanical Discoveries & Prints

Posted in botanical art, botanical art books, general botany on July 27, 2009|

In 1799, naturalist and scholar Alexander Von Humboldt embarked on a five-year expedition to explore the Americas. He was accompanied by Aimé Bonpland, a French botanist, and together they described the plants they observed during their journey. Their botanical findings have been described by H. Walter Lack in Alexander Von Humboldt: The Botanical Exploration of the Americas. This title was published in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of Von Humboldt’s death.

The Library of Congress has posted a webcast of a lecture about Alexander Von Humboldt, also in commemoration of his death. This presentation is 80 minutes in length and is worth every viewing minute. Von Humboldt was an accomplished researcher. He has been described as “the last universal scholar” in the natural sciences, meaning he was the last person to have command over the information in his fields of study. View “Alexander Von Humboldt in the United States, 1859-2009”.

If you don’t have 80 minutes to watch a video and would prefer to read a summary about Von Humboldt, view the summary posted on the website of Humboldt State University here.

Alexander Von Humboldt: The Botanical Exploration of the Americas is available at ArtPlantae Books.

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Fruitarians, Hunters, Politics & You

Posted in ArtPlantae Books, book review, general botany on July 27, 2009|

Most of us do not know a fruit hunter, much less a durianarian and their passion for durians. And what about fruitarians and their all-fruit diet? You might think you have very little in common with passionate individuals such as these, but you would be wrong. The common thread that ties us together is the global fruit industry and all its forms, from the produce section of markets to fruit drinks in the beverage aisle to agricultural checkpoints at airports and along highways. TheFruitHunters

Adam Leith Gollner traveled the world to interview fruit hunters, growers, enthusiasts, researchers, and vendors to explore the fruit industry. He explains how fruit makes it to our grocery store and why the selection of fruit at our local market is so uninspiring. He explains how the kiwi made it big and lets us in on fruit varieties that may become available in the near future. Gollner describes his encounters with fruit hunters so vividly, you will feel as if you experienced the “fruit underworld” yourself. To make the experience even more complete, Gollner has posted photos of his adventures online. View these photos after you have started to read The Fruit Hunters to help visualize the people and places described in the book.

Gollner is a writer who has written for The New York Times, Gourmet, Bon Appetit, and Good magazine. The Fruit Hunters is his first book.

Cover, paperback edition, 2013

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Flowering Shrubs Are Focus of New Sierra Guide

Posted in general botany on June 8, 2009|

FloweringShrubsYosemite_sm Author and artist, Shirley Spencer, has lived in the Sierra Nevada mountains for thirty years. An artist all her life, her passion for the flora of the Sierra Nevada mountains is captured in a new field guide featuring 40 flowering shrubs. Detailed descriptions of each shrub are paired with an original watercolor painting created by Spencer herself. This field guide also boasts a glossary, a section about plant morphology, and clear descriptions of each of the distribution areas found in Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada.

At 5″ x 7.5″, this handy guide is the perfect companion for botanical artists and plein air painters.

See this new title at ArtPlantae Books.

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Workshops for Gardeners & Naturalists

Posted in gardening, general botany, Learning Opportunities on June 3, 2009|

The Gateway Science Museum and the Friends of the Chico State Herbarium sponsor many wonderful classes throughout the year. Below is a list of what’s coming up next on the calendar. To view a full listing of classes and to obtain registration information, go here.

Introduction to the Willows of California (SALICACEAE) – June 13
This workshop is in danger of being canceled because of low enrollment. This class will be canceled by the close of business next Monday if enrollment remains low. Please send in your registration right away, and let the Gateway museum office know that it is in the mail so we can count you at COB Monday if your registration hasn’t arrived yet (gateway@csuchico.edu or (530) 898-3511). Only paid registrations can count towards the minimum enrollment.
Flora of the Western Great Basin – June 21-28
Home Composting: From Basic to Advanced – June 27
Introduction to the Sunflowers (ASTERACEAE) – Sept. 12
Oak Woodland Ecology and Management – October 10

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Illustrated Roadside Field Guides

Posted in general botany on February 23, 2009|

The Federal Highway Administration provides illustrated roadside guides to vegetation managers and maintenance crews to assist them in the identification of common roadside plants, both native and invasive. These folded and laminated guides fit conveniently into the glove compartment of any car. Three of the five available guides are listed below. A detailed description of the plants in each guide can be found in Science Library > Field Guides.

U.S. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration. Roadside guides for vegetation managers. Artists contributing to the FHA roadside guides are: Wendy Brockman, Dorie Gallagher, Marilyn Garber, and Vera Ming Wong. Download these FHA instructions about how to request guides and how to purchase other references.

Common Roadside Invasives: A Roadside Field Guide to Showy Herbaceous Weeds. PUB. NO FHWA-EP-02-003.
A guide for roadside vegetation managers and maintenance personnel to assist in the identification and control of invasive plants in their respective areas.
Common Roadside Invasives: A Roadside Field Guide to Non-native Trees, Shrubs, and Vines. National Field Guide. PUB. NO FHWA-HEP-07-021. A guide identifying 60 common weedy trees, shrubs, and vines.
Common Native Roadside Wildflowers: A Roadside Field Guide for the Western Region. PUB. NO FHWA-HEP-05-047. A guide identifying 100 native forbs and grasses. Introduced plants that have been naturalized are not included in this guide.

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Sweet Peas and Calico Patterns in “Curtis’s Botanical Magazine”

Posted in botanical art, general botany on February 2, 2009|

Now in Science Library > Journals:

Curtis’s Botanical Magazine. 2008. Volume 25(4): 285-388. Martyn Rix, editor. Blackwell Publishing for the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
This issue contains information, illustrations and color plates of the plants listed below. Artists’ names are in parentheses. Lathyrus transsylvanicus (Georita Harriott); Lathyrus roseus (Georita Harriott); Lathyrus neurolobus (Georita Harriott); Lathyrus heterophyllus (Georita Harriott); Lathyrus latifolius (Georita Harriott); Lathyrus vestitus (Georita Harriott); Vicia americana (Georita Harriott). Also in this issue are the following articles and book reviews: An Introduction to the Genus Lathyrus L. by Gregory Kenicer; Lathyrus at Weaver’s Cottage, West Wickham, Cambridge, and the Species Illustrated in Curtis’s Botanical Magazine by Sylvia Norton; William Kilburn’s Calico Patterns, Copyright and Curtis’s Botanical Magazine by E. Charles Nelson; Jelena and Robert De Belder – Generous as Nature Herself (book review) by Susyn Andrews; Treasures of Botanical Art by Shirley Sherwood and Martyn Rix (book review) by Victoria Matthews; Atlas of the Vegetation of Madagascar (book review) by Graham Duncan.