USES & ABUSES OF PLANT-DERIVED

1. Auflage 2010
ISBN: 978-0-19-537001-0
Verlag: OXFORD UNIV PR

Buch, Englisch, 400 Seiten, Format (B × H): 163 mm x 244 mm, Gewicht: 514 g

Plants provide the food, shelter, medicines, and biomass that underlie sustainable life. One of the earliest and often overlooked uses of plants is the production of smoke, dating to the time of early hominid species. Plant-derived smoke has had an enormous socio-economic impact throughout human history, being burned for medicinal and recreational purposes, magico-religious ceremonies, pest control, food preservation, and flavoring, perfumes, and incense.

In ten illustrated chapters, this global compendium documents and describes approximately 2,000 global uses for over 1,400 plant species. The Uses and Abuses of Plant-Derived Smoke is accessibly written and provides a wealth of information not only on human uses, but also on conservation issues and the role of smoke, fire, and heat in promoting seed germination in biodiversity hot spots. Divided into nine main categories of use, the compendium lists plant-derived smoke's the
medicinal, historical, ceremonial, ritual and recreational uses. Plant use in the production of incense and to preserve and flavor foods and beverages is also included. Each entry includes full binomial names and family, an identification of the person who named the plant, as well as numerous references to and other
scholarly texts. Of particular interest will be plants such as Tobacco (Nicotiana tabaccum), Boswellia spp (frankincense), and Datura stramonium (smoked as a treatment for asthma all over the world), all of which are described in great detail.

In addition, this is one of the first ethnobotanical books to include a section on plant conservation. It addresses issues of over-harvest and invasiveness, the two primary conservation concerns with human-exploited species.

Zielgruppe

Ethnobotanists, ethnopharmacologists and members of the medical professional. Users and manufacturers of incense and aromatherapists. Professionals and academics interested in smoking foods and beverages to both preserve and flavor them. People with a general or casual interest in the ethnobotanical and other uses of plants.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Pennacchio, Marcello

Jefferson, Lara

Havens, Kayri

Weitere Mitwirkende

Sollenberger, David

Fachgebiete

• Medizin | Veterinärmedizin Medizin | Public Health | Pharmazie | Zahnmedizin Medizinische Fachgebiete Pharmakologie, Toxikologie
• Sozialwissenschaften Ethnologie | Volkskunde Ethnologie Ethnomedizin
• Naturwissenschaften Biowissenschaften Humanbiologie Physische Anthropologie, Paläoanthropologie, Evolutionäre Anthropologie
• Geowissenschaften Umweltwissenschaften Umweltschutz, Umwelterhaltung
• Naturwissenschaften Biowissenschaften Botanik Pflanzenreproduktion, Verbreitung, Genetik

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Foreword
Preface and acknowledgments
Introduction
Fire and Smoke
Medicinal Uses for Plant-derived Smoke
Purification
Evil and Medicine
Magico-religious and Ceremonial Uses
Incense
Incense producing plants
Recreational Uses
Assassinations
Pest Control
Perfumes, Flavoring and Preservation
Veterinary uses
Toxic and obnoxious smoke
Smoke signals
Bibliography
Glossary
Index of scientific names
Subject index

Über Autor(innen)

Marcello Pennacchio is a medical botanists with over ten years of experience in research and teaching in this area. He has published approximately 30 peer-reviewed journal articles, including a comprehensive review of plants that produce cardioactive agents.

Lara V. Jefferson, is a restoration ecologist. She too has written scholarly journal articles and has presented her work at various conferences all over the world. Her main research interests are invasive plant species and using smoke to promote seed germination. She is currently the manager for environmental approvals with an Australian mining company.

Kayri Havens, is the Medard and Elizabeth Welch Director of the Division for Plant Biology and Conservation at the Chicago Botanic Garden. Dr Havens has also written scholarly journal articles and recently co-authored and co-edited a book on conservation, titled Ex-situ Plant Conservation (Island Press).