9781476755526 |
(hardcover) |
1476755523 |
Available:*
Library | Material Type | Call Number | Shelf Location | Status | Item Holds |
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Searching... Ute Pass Library | Book | 635.9 BUCH | Nonfiction | Searching... Unknown | Searching... Unavailable |
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Summary
Summary
Cultural history at its best-the engaging, lively, and definitive story of the beauty, sexuality, ecology, myths, lore, and economics of the world's flowers, written by a passionately devoted author and scientist, and illustrated with his stunning photographs.
Flowers, and the fruits that follow, feed, clothe, sustain, and inspire all humanity. They have done so since before recorded history. Flowers are used to celebrate all-important occasions, to express love, and are also the basis of global industries. Americans buy ten million flowers a day and perfumes are a worldwide industry worth $30 billion dollars annually. Yet, we know little about flowers, their origins, bizarre sex lives, or how humans relate and depend upon them.
Stephen Buchmann takes us along on an exploratory journey of the roles flowers play in the production of our foods, spices, medicines, perfumes, while simultaneously bringing joy and health. Flowering plants continue to serve as inspiration in our myths and legends, in the fine and decorative arts, and in literary works of prose and poetry. Flowers seduce us-and animals, too-through their myriad shapes, colors, textures, and scents. And because of our extraordinary appetite for more unusual and beautiful "super flowers," plant breeders have created such unnatural blooms as blue roses and black petunias to cater to the human world of haute couture fashion. In so doing, the nectar and pollen vital to the bees, butterflies, and bats of the world, are being reduced. Buchmann explains the unfortunate consequences, and explores how to counter them by growing the right flowers. Here, he integrates fascinating stories about the many colorful personalities who populate the world of flowers, and the flowers and pollinators themselves, with a research-based narrative that illuminates just why there is, indeed, a Reason for Flowers .
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Buchmann (The Forgotten Pollinators), a biologist specializing in pollination ecology, uses his eighth book to enthuse about the importance that flowers have played in human civilization. While his excitement is both palpable and contagious, and while some of his anecdotes are fascinating (for example, some flowers might be losing their scents because of climate change), the book doesn't work well as a whole because Buchmann only has time to touch lightly on all of his myriad topics. The section on the modern flower industry is captivating, as he discusses the worldwide movement of flowers and the centrality of the Amsterdam auction house where every day millions of flowers are flown in, sold, and then redistributed around the globe. Unfortunately most other sections do not meet the standard he sets there; too often they read merely like interesting, eclectic lists of subjects that have some passing relationship to flowers. Few readers, for instance, will be surprised to learn that artists have painted flowers for centuries or that such paintings have occurred across many cultures. A modest number of photographs are included, but the book would be more accessible had other descriptions been paired with pictorial examples. Buchmann's passion is not matched by the content. Photos. (Aug.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
Flowers: showy, demure, exotic, ordinary. What would we do without them? Nothing, it turns out. Flowers and their resultant fruit are the ultimate source of the food we eat and the clothes we wear. But they do more than meet the physical needs of humans and other creatures; they also uplift spirits, inspire art, and symbolize the very essence of human nature. Buchmann, a prolific and ardent pollination ecologist, peels back the petals to reveal fascinating aspects of floriculture. From beetle and butterfly pollination to pleasure gardens both ancient and contemporary, from production flower farming to roadside stands, the cultivation and appreciation of flowers crosses all economic, political, and cultural strata of society. Whether one actively raises roses in one's backyard, artfully arranges lilies in a vase, or thrills to the first sign of tulips in the spring, it is hard to imagine a world without the beauty and benefits of flowers. Intensely researched, well paced, intricately detailed, and delightfully accessible, Buchmann's exploration of this trove of living sensory delights is a boon to both casual and committed flower lovers.--Haggas, Carol Copyright 2015 Booklist
Choice Review
True to its title, this work sets out to cover both flower biology and the many different ways flowers are useful or desired in our lives. It begins by discussing the structures and functions of flowers as plant reproductive organs and how they variously coevolved with insects. Flowers attract insects with food, scents, and even warmth, and in turn the insects transfer pollen from flower to flower. Buchmann (Univ.of Arizona), a pollination ecologist and coauthor with G. Nabhan of The Forgotten Pollinators (CH, Jan'97, 34-2735), makes use of his expertise to elaborate on the many ways flowers achieve pollination. Further sections focus on how flowers have been appreciated, grown, and used in many cultures worldwide, historically and in the present. The author describes how flowers are eaten or used in perfumes; their roles in literature, mythology, and art; and finally, floral uses in science and medicine. Although the book contains a wealth of detail, the author's erudite but very accessible writing style makes it eminently readable and entertaining. Black-and-white illustrations add interest. The "Notes and Sources" section provides detailed suggestions for further reading on specific topics, and appendixes provide statistics, recipes, and lists of conservation organizations. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All horticultural and botanical library collections. --Marit S. Taylor, University of Colorado Denver
Library Journal Review
Flowering plants feed, clothe, heal, and brighten our lives. Buchmann (ecology & environmental biology, Univ. of Arizona; Letters from the Hive), a pollination ecologist specializing in bees, shares stories of the biology of flowers, along with their myriad relationships with humans and other animals. In accessible language, Buchmann offers information about flower anatomy, flowers' past and present uses by humankind, the evolution of blossoming plants, pollinators and pollination, flowers in art and literature, plant breeding, the floral industry, and the language of flowers. Entire books have been written on many of Buchmann's topics, thus readers seeking more details about a specific subject would do well to look elsewhere, and there are unfortunately too few photographs. VERDICT This well-researched book is best for those interested in an overview of the many aspects of flowers, both biological and cultural.-Sue O'Brien, Downers Grove P.L., IL © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Excerpts
Excerpts
The Reason for Flowers PREFACE Most open by dawn's first light or unfurl their charms as the day progresses. Others unwrap their diaphanous petals, like expensive presents, after dark, waiting for the arrival of beloved guests under a radiant moon. We know them as flowers. They are nature's advertisements, using their beauty to beguile and reward passing insects or birds or bats or people willing to attend to their reproduction. The beauty of their shapes, colors, and scents transforms us through intimate experiences in our gardens, homes, offices, parks and public spaces, and wildlands. Importantly, flowers feed and clothe us. Their fruits and seeds keep the world's 7.2 billion people from starvation. Flowers represent our past along with our hope for a bright future. Before recorded history, all cultures collected, used, and admired flowers not only for utilitarian purposes, but for their elusive fragrances and ephemeral forms that, ironically, symbolized recurring vigor and even immortality. They have enthralled and seduced us, exploiting entire civilizations to enhance their sex lives and spread their seeds. We give and receive flowers as tributes, and to commemorate life's many triumphs and everyday events. Flowers accompany us from cradle to grave. As spices, they flavor our foods and beverages. We harvest their delicate scents, combining them into extravagantly expensive mixtures, for perfuming our bodies to evoke passion and intrigue. Some yield a woven textile for every purpose, like the valuable fibers surrounding cottonseeds that began their development inside the ovary of a fertilized flower. Flowers inspired the first artists, writers, photographers, and scientists, just as they do today on street corners, in florist shops and farmers' markets, in books, paintings, sculptures, and commercial advertising. They moved online with ease. Arguably, because of the sustaining role they undoubtedly played in the lives of our hominid ancestors, we might not be here if there were no flowers, a love affair, begun early. Once captivated by them, I observed nature's infinite palette of garden blooms and California wildflowers in the chaparral-clothed canyons near my boyhood home. The honey bees I kept visited flowers for their rewards of nectar and pollen. The bees fed upon the pollen and converted the nectar into delicious, golden, thick honey I drizzled atop slices of hot toast at breakfast. As a child, finding and observing bees of all kinds on wildflowers became my passion and quest across California's wildlands. The bees showed me the way, leading to a lifelong dedication to flowering plants. As a pollination ecologist, and entomologist, my professional career has focused on flowers and their animal visitors. Using 35 mm film and making silver gelatin prints of blossoms has been an abiding interest since my teenage years. Today, I carry a 35 mm digital camera and close-up lenses to photograph flowers and their pollinators. (I have selected some favorite floral portraits and included them in this book.) Having written books on bees, I knew a different kind of book must follow, one that traces humankind's fascination with and use of flowers for every imaginable purpose and delight, since prehistory across all continents and cultures. There is much that we fail to appreciate in flowers, especially the roles they play in human affairs. Why do they make us happy and lift our spirits? Many people insist they heal our bodies and minds. You are about to undertake a journey into the secretive world of flowers, animals, and humanity. I want you to see and smell like a hungry bee, and a hummingbird, but also like a plant breeder, flower farmer, importer of cut blooms, or a floral biologist. Together, we will explore the industry and economics of the global production, distribution, and sales of container plants and cut blooms. As you join me, consider keeping a single flower or a colorful bouquet close by, as your botanical muse along our shared path of discovery. Excerpted from The Reason for Flowers: Their History, Culture, Biology, and How They Change Our Lives by Stephen Buchmann All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.Table of Contents
Preface | p. ix |
Part I Sexuality and Origins | |
1 Attracting Attention | p. 3 |
2 Flowers and Their Ancestors | p. 25 |
3 The Pollinators | p. 44 |
Part II Growing, Breeding, and Selling | |
4 Pleasure Gardens Ancient and Modern | p. 81 |
5 Flowers for Eternity | p. 105 |
6 Best of Show | p. 124 |
7 Arriving by Jumbo Jet | p. 150 |
Part III Foods, Flavors, Scents | |
8 Eating Flowers | p. 167 |
9 A Little Dab behind the Ear | p. 186 |
Part IV Flowers in Literature, Art, and Myth | |
10 The Secret Language of Flowers | p. 209 |
11 Flowers on the Page | p. 221 |
12 Flower Power: The Meaning of Flowers in Art | p. 240 |
Part V Flowers in the Service of Science and Medicine | |
13 The Flower and the Scientist | p. 265 |
14 Good for What Ails Us: Healing Our Bodies and Minds | p. 286 |
Acknowledgments | p. 303 |
Appendix 1 Flower Statistics | p. 306 |
Appendix 2 Cooking with Flowers: Selected Recipes | p. 308 |
Appendix 3 After Bringing Them Home: Caring for Your Cut Flowers | p. 310 |
Appendix 4 Online Resources for Wildflower and Pollinator Conservation Organizations | p. 312 |
Notes and Sources | p. 313 |
Photo and Art Credits | p. 322 |
Index | p. 323 |