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Ethnobotany
The Desert Smells Like Rain, A Naturalist in O'odham Country
• Gary Paul Nabhan
CULTURAL PORTRAIT •
2002 •
PAPER
• 148 PAGES
An ethnobotany, natural history and portrait of the Tohono O'odam (or Papago) people of the desert southwest. A talented writer, Nabhan conveys the everyday life of a traditional desert people in this sympathetic, unsentimental book. Originally published in 1982, it includes a history of government land management practices in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.
(USW275, $17.95) |
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The Green Pharmacy
• James A. Duke
NATURAL HISTORY •
1999 •
PAPER
• 507 PAGES
An A to Z catalog of ailments and the herbal remedies that heal them. Full of facts on the ecology and traditional uses of medicinal plants by a leading ethnobotanist who has conducted much of his research in the Upper Amazon of Peru. Each chapter begins with an anecdote of an encounter with a patient and leads to easy "how-to" instructions for treating the health condition. The chapters cover minor and serious complaints, ranging from bad breath to depression, high cholesterol to wrinkles, morning sickness to viral infections.
(AMZ40, $21.95) |
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Light at the Edge of the World
• Wade Davis
CULTURAL PORTRAIT •
2007 •
PAPER
• 192 PAGES
Wade Davis, an ethnobotanist and popular science writer, surveys what he calls the "ethnosphere": the global diversity of peoples and cultures. He travels from the Arctic to the Amazon to Borneo, taking notes on world-views and customs.
(WLD34, $14.95) |
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One River, Explorations and Discoveries in the Amazon
• Wade Davis
TRAVEL NARRATIVE •
1997 •
PAPER
• 537 PAGES
Wade Davis has written a lyrical, meticulously researched book of discovery. One River is both a biography of his mentor, the director of the Harvard botanical museum Richard Schultes, and the story of his own botanical adventures throughout South America with colleague Tim Plowman. It's a sprawling tale of explorers, botanical secrets, and larger-than-life personalities. This unconventional book is, in part, a testimonial to Schultes, a legendary teacher and explorer who single-handedly created the discipline of ethnobotany. More than that, it's a magnificently written chronicle of five decades of botanical exploration (including some pretty wild experiments with native hallucinogens).
(AMZ22, $18.00) |
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Plants of the Gods: Their Sacred, Healing and Hallucinogenic Powers
• Richard Evans Schultes
• Albert Hofmann
NATURAL HISTORY •
2001 •
PAPER
• 192 PAGES
An illuminating guide to indigenous peoples and their use of hallucinogenic plants, co-authored by the father of ethnobotany and discoverer of LSD. With hundreds of photographs, maps and drawings, it documents the ecology, chemistry, and especially the social history of hallucinogens. Excellent.
(AMZ38, $29.99) |
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Rainforest Remedies: One Hundred Healing Herbs of Belize
• Michael J. Balick
• Rosita Arvigo
NATURAL HISTORY •
1993 •
PAPER
• 255 PAGES
An ethnobotanist who has lived and worked in Central and South America, Balick and co-author Arvigo present 100 traditional herbs of Belize along with the culture and lore surrounding their use in traditional medicine. Each is accompanied by a black-and-white line drawing. Balick is also the author of Plants, People and Culture (AMZ37), an excellent overview of the science of ethnobotany.
(BLZ10, $17.95) |
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Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice
• Mark Plotkin
TRAVEL NARRATIVE •
1994 •
PAPER
• 328 PAGES
• FAVORITE
This is the stuff of adventure movies. Like Russ Mittermeir and Wade Davis, Mark Plotkin is the student of the extraordinary Richard Schultes at Harvard University, a pioneer in the field of ethnobotany. In this marvelous book Plotkin recounts his work documenting the use of medicinal plants among remote tribes in the Northwest Amazon of Suriname, Venezuela, Guyana and French Guiana. The book is a portrait of people and their environment, a tale of adventure and -- most of all -- a moving example of science in the service of preservation. He reminds us, "every time a shaman dies, it is as if a library burned down."
(AMZ15, $16.00) |
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Vine of the Soul, Medicine Men, Their Plants, and Rituals in the Colombian Amazon
• Richard Evans Schultes
• Robert F. Raffauf
CULTURAL PORTRAIT •
2004 •
PAPER
• 282 PAGES
Written by Schultes, the father of ethnobotany, with a colleague, this book features 150 photographs along with a detailed and authoritative text describing the many uses of plant substances.
(AMZ59, $29.95) |
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