HUNTIA A Journal of botanical History VolUme 12 NUmber 1 2005 Hunt Institute for botanical Documentation Carnegie mellon University Pittsburgh The Hunt Institute for botanical Documentation, a research division of Carnegie mellon University, specializes in the history of botany and all aspects of plant science and serves the international scientific community through research and documentation. To this end, the Institute acquires and maintains authoritative collections of books, plant images, manuscripts, portraits and data files, and provides publications and other modes of information service. The Institute meets the reference needs of botanists, biologists, historians, conservationists, librarians, bibliographers and the public at large, especially those concerned with any aspect of the North American flora. Huntia publishes articles on all aspects of the history of botany, including exploration, art, literature, biography, iconography, and bibliography. 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Hunt Institute for botanical Documentation Carnegie mellon University 5000 Forbes Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3890 Telephone: 412-268-2434 email: [email protected] Web site: http://huntbot.andrew.cmu.edu/ HIbD/Publications/HI-Pubs/Pub-Huntia.shtml editor Scarlett T. Townsend book reviews and Announcements editor Charlotte A. Tancin Associate editors Gavin D. r. bridson T. D. Jacobsen Angela l. Todd Frederick H. Utech James J. White Designer Lugene b. bruno Photographer Frank A. reynolds Printed and bound by Hoechstetter Printing, Pittsburgh, PA © 2005 Hunt Institute for botanical Documentation All rights reserved ISSN 0073-4071 HuntiA 12(1) 2005 Book Reviews and Announcements Allen, David E. and Gabrielle Hatfield. Medicinal Plants in Folk Tradition: An Ethnobotany of Britain & Ireland. Portland, Oreg. and Cambridge, England: timber Press, 2004. 431 p., 31 color photos, 57 black and white illustrations, map. $29.95 (u.S.), $39.95 (Canadian). iSBn 0-88192-638-8 (hardcover). More than fifteen years in the making, this book traces folk medicinal uses (and a few domestic uses) of plants that grow wild in Britain, ireland and the isle of Man. the combined subject backgrounds of the authors — David E. Allen in archaeology, anthropology, history and philosophy of science, and botany, and Gabrielle Hatfield in botany, folklore, and the history of medicinal plant use in Britain — bring the sort of expertise and multifaceted understanding to the project that are needed in order to try to comprehensively trace these traditions. they have worked from the basic premise that the history of Western medicine generally has ignored the traditional use of local plants by a largely illiterate populace. Operating beyond the framework of written and printed herbals, people have built up a body of include the scientific name, common names, main knowledge through generations of trial and error and geographical areas where the plant is found worldwide, transmitted it by word of mouth, so that it is largely and a narrative description of how the plant has been excluded in the written record prior to the 19th century. used in specific geographic areas in Britain or ireland. naturally this presents challenges for those working notes at the end of each chapter direct the reader to the to document these traditions. Although many people information sources. the book includes an appendix have collected and reported traditions in more limited on veterinary remedies, a list of reference sources that geographic areas, no one has brought that information includes printed works and unpublished sources, and together to try to provide a more comprehensive three indexes of folk uses, scientific names and vernacular overview of folk medicine in Britain and ireland before names. this. this is a fascinating look at a large body of information the first chapter, “Herbs without the herbals,” on medicinal plant use by “common folk,” representing provides a historical background. the next chapter traditions going back hundreds of years. the text will provides a brief “introduction to the compendium of interest readers from many subject backgrounds, and it uses” to familiarize the reader with the organization may also provide a model for similar types of endeavors of the material to follow. the majority of the text is in other subject areas. arranged systematically by families according to the Cronquist classification. A typical species entry might — Charlotte tancin, Librarian 91 92 HuntiA 12(1) 2005 Bennett, Masha. Pulmonarias and the Borage Family. Portland, Oreg.: timber Press, 2003. 240 p., illus. (mostly color), maps. $39.95. iSBn 0-88192-589-6 (hardcover). Masha Bennett, a botanist, horticulturalist and naturalist, shares her enthusiasm for the Boraginaceae with us in Pulmonarias and the Borage Family. Having studied this plant family of approximately 150 genera and 2,500 species for six years on three continents, Bennett has now undertaken to familiarize readers with the often unexploited gardening potential within this group of plants, beyond commonly grown plants such as heliotrope, forget-me-not, comfrey and borage. this work was first published in 2003 in London by Batsford, and now it has been published in north America by timber Press. in her introduction to the Boraginaceae, Bennett discusses geography and ecology, pollination and fruit dispersal, as well as nomenclature, morphology, Chapter two presents other genera of the Boraginaceae cultivation and propagation. Having established that in cultivation, following the same format as the previous foundation, she spends the next 50 pages on pulmonarias, chapter. Chapter three lists genera rarely found in plants that were known in western Europe as lungworts cultivation, which Bennett presents in the hope of because the spotted leaves resembled diseased lungs stimulating the curiosity of gardeners. and so were thought to contain cures for pulmonary the book also includes seven appendixes and an infections. After discussing the botany and horticulture index. the appendixes are “Boraginaceae: Full list of of Pulmonaria, she presents information on numerous genera and synonyms,” “useful addresses,” “Glossary species in cultivation as well as others that are rare or of botanical and horticultural terms,” “Bibliography,” not in cultivation, including scientific name, synonyms, “Hardiness zones,” “Common names in English,” and common names, nomenclature notes, description, “Existing Pulmonaria cultivars not described in this distribution, habitats, time of flowering, associated book.” the index is divided into three sections, which list plants, and availability. Color photographs illustrate Boraginaceae, other plants, and animals (such as various some entries, with line drawings occasionally provided bees, which are important pollinators for this group). for detail. — Charlotte tancin, Librarian Cannon, John and Margaret Cannon. Dye Plants and Dyeing. illustrated by Gretel Dalby-Quenet. Portland, Oreg.: timber Press in association with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, 1994. vi, 128 pp., 48 color illus. $19.95. iSBn 0-88192-572-1 (paper). John Cannon, former keeper of botany at the natural History Museum, London, and his wife Margaret, a botanical researcher and fiber artist specializing in dyeing, spinning and weaving, combined their interest in the scientific properties of plants with their own experience working with natural dyes. this book is a practical and easy-to-reference guide for students, or those more experienced, who are interested in growing or collecting plant materials for creating natural dyes, and the information is relevant for dyers living in western Europe, north America, Australia, and new Zealand. Reviews and Announcements 93 What sets this book apart from others on the same the information for dyeing fiber is specific to wool, subject is that the text contains accurate botanical which is most frequently used by amateur dyers. the information (the common name, binomial and family book includes descriptions of the equipment needed for name) on 48 plants used to extract natural dyes. dyeing; the different parts of the plant (flowers, leaves, included are detailed descriptions of the plants and the fruits, barks, roots, etc.) used for natural dyestuffs; the parts that are used for dyeing, their native habitat and preparation methods for dye baths; and a list of mordants cultivation, a short history of the dye use, and current (with the abbreviations used throughout the text). At the recommendations for using the plant material to achieve back of the book are measurement conversion tables; specific colors. Facing each page of descriptive text an international list of supply sources; a reading list; a is one of Gretel Dalby-Quenet’s botanically accurate checklist of