With some 6,000 species of plants, Texas has
extraordinary botanical wealth and diversity. Learning
to identify plants is the first step in understanding
their vital role in nature, and many field guides have
been published for that purpose. But to fully appreciate
how Texas's native plants have sustained people and
animals from prehistoric times to the present, you need
"Remarkable Plants of Texas".In this intriguing book,
Matt Warnock Turner explores the little-known facts - be
they archaeological, historical, material, medicinal,
culinary, or cultural - behind our familiar botanical
landscape. In sixty-five entries that cover over eighty
of our most common native plants from trees, shrubs, and
wildflowers to grasses, cacti, vines, and aquatics, he
traces our vast array of connections with plants. Turner
looks at: how people have used plants for food, shelter,
medicine, and economic subsistence; how plants have
figured in the historical record and in Texas folklore;
how plants nourish wildlife; and, how some plants have
unusual ecological or biological characteristics.
Illustrated with over one hundred color photos and
organized for easy reference, "Remarkable Plants of
Texas" can function as a guide to individual species as
well as an enjoyable natural history of our most
fascinating native plants.
|
|