Synopses & Reviews
Did you know that the smell of sassafras blowing offshore convinced Columbus he was near land? Or that the American sycamore, which has the largest tree trunk in the eastern forest, can live for 500 to 600 years? Or that in the period before the American Revolution, patriots designated a sycamore tree in each colony as a "Liberty Tree" a meeting place for plotting against the British?
These facts are just a few of thousands you'll find inBotanica North America, an encyclopedia of the wonderfully diverse North American native plants by noted Canadian garden writer Marjorie Harris. This charming compendium is filled with more than 420 entries that provide essential information on each plant's physical attributes, natural history, common uses, and ethnobotany. There are also fascinating, often surprising anecdotes about plants you won't find anywhere else. From the Eastern forest to the desert, this beautifully written volume roves across the continent exploring how climate and plant life have affected, aided, and inspired us, from the first Native Americans to North Americans living in the twenty-first century: "The lonely majesty of a wind-swept jack pine has inspired generations of poets and painters," Harris writes. "These trees endure in spite of terrible weather...a jack pine forest has a dense, closed canopy with an understory of cherry, blueberry, hazels, bracken, and sweet fern along with trailing arbutus."
Comprehensive and engaging, Botanica North America is also filled with lush photographs of plants in their natural habitat and insightful quotes from a variety of gardening experts and amateurs, from naturalist Rachel Carson to famed conservationist John Muir.
Here is a reference no gardener or environmentalist should be without.
Review
"Quotations, poems, and excerpts from books and articles are scattered through the text and well documented." Booklist
Review
"A pleasure to dip into, this book would be most useful for those interested in the lore and history of native plants of North America." Library Journal
About the Author
Marjorie Harris is Canada's foremost gardeningwriter. She is the author of many books, including Favorite Garden Tips, Seasons of My Garden, The Canadian Garden Collection, and In the Garden: Thoughts on ChangingSeasons. She is a gardening columnist for the Globe and Mail and editor in chief of Gardening Life magazine. She lives in Toronto.