High on a hill on the south side of Louisville, Kentucky, a massive Tudor Gothic Revival building still stands as a testament to past struggles with a deadly disease. The structure was once part of the sprawling complex of Waverly Hills Sanatorium, established in 1910 for the treatment of tuberculosis. Waverly Hills expanded rapidly, with racially segregated facilities housing up to five hundred patients a day by World War II before new medical developments led to the institution's closure...

For almost seventy-five years, Agnes Chase's First Book of Grasses has been the classic guide to the structure of this complex group of plants. Clearly written and copiously illustrated with line drawings, the book is accessible to those with little or no botanical training, yet it also is respected by botanists as an authoritative introduction to agrostology.Last updated in 1959, the book now has been thoroughly revised to reflect current scientific knowledge, nomenclatur...

Aan essay by American transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau that was first published in 1849. In it, Thoreau argues that individuals should not permit governments to overrule or atrophy their consciences, and that they have a duty to avoid allowing such acquiescence to enable the government to make them the agents of injustice. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Disobedience_(Thoreau)

The book that helped make Michael Pollan, the New York Times bestselling author of Cooked and The Omnivore’s Dilemma, one of the most trusted food experts in AmericaIn 1637, one Dutchman paid as much for a single tulip bulb as the going price of a town house in Amsterdam. Three and a half centuries later, Amsterdam is once again the mecca for people who care passionately about one particular plant—though this time the obsessions revolves ...

*** Original and Unabridged Content. Made available by GOLDEN CLASSIC PRESS***Synopsis:Insectivorous Plants is a book by British naturalist and evolutionary theory pioneer Charles Darwin, first published on 2 July 1875 in London. Part of a series of works by Darwin related to his theory of natural selection, the book is a study of carnivorous plants with specific attention paid to the adaptations that allow them to live in difficult conditions. It includes illustrations by D...

In ancient Ireland there were 365 different parts to the body, and a different plant to cure each part. So the wild plants of Ireland are bound up in our culture and folklore from the earliest times. To arry a four-leaved shamrock brings luck in gambling, while putting nine ivy leaves under her pillow means a girl will dream of her future husband. Here plants are described in seasonal order, a perspective dating back to our ancestors. Different aspects of plant folklore are examined follow...

“A beautifully illustrated reference book covers the origins, ecology and history of popular garden plants.” —Shelf AwarenessThe oldest rose fossil was found in Colorado and dates to 35 million years ago. Marigolds, infamous for their ability to self-seed, are named for an Etruscan god who sprang from a ploughed field. And daffodils—an icon of spring—were introduced to Britain by the Romans more than 2,000 years ago. Every garden plant has an origination s...

"This combination of history, mythology, lore, science and sheer entertainment takes us on a tour of the world's most unusual plants." — Sacramento BeeThe Big, Bad Book of Botany introduces a world of wild, wonderful, and weird plants. Some are so rare, they were once more valuable than gold. Some found in ancient mythology hold magical abilities, including the power to turn a person to stone. Others have been used by assassins to...

This practical field guide describes and illustrates in colour 90 common and widespread wetland plants found in Queensland, and gives a distribution map for each species. To assist those readers who are keen to learn more, the book includes a series of keys to help identify those species that are not illustrated in the book but which may be encountered in the field. The keys also help to identify closely related species. There is also a glossary of technical terms. Creating artificial wetland...

Often growing far above the ground, "air plants" (or epiphytes) defy many of our common perceptions about plants. The majority use their roots only for attachment in the crowns of larger, usually woody plants—or to objects such as rocks and buildings—and derive moisture and nutrients from the atmosphere and by collecting falling debris. Only the mistletoes are true parasites. Epiphytes are not anomalies and there are approximately 28,000 species—about 10 percent of the hig...

Nature is full of fascinating stories, stories that attract our attention at a young age and keep us amazed throughout our entire lives. The need to understand nature draws us back to its simple beauty again and again, yet underneath this simplicity lies a complex web of associations and patterns. The Nature Handbook does what no other field guide does: explores and explains nature through these connecting patterns, revealing them to the many different types of nature lovers. All ...

This beautifully illustrated field guide covers 504 of the most common fruiting plants found in Australia's eastern rainforests, as well as a few species that are rare in the wild but generally well-known. These spectacular plants can be seen from Cape York to Victoria, with some species also found in the Northern Territory, Western Australia and overseas. Rainforest fruits are often beautifully coloured, and in this guide the species are arranged by colour of ripe fruit, then by size and for...