#ethnobotany — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #ethnobotany, aggregated by home.social.
-
Anthropogenic climate change and the extinction of Indigenous languages are projected to eliminate up to one-third of the native plant species utilized by Amazonian cultures, causing a massive decline in regional biocultural knowledge by 2080.
#Ethnobotany #Botany #Ethnoecology #Ecology #Climatology #Linguistics #ClimateChange #sflorg
https://www.sflorg.com/2026/07/bot07082601.html -
Anthropogenic climate change and the extinction of Indigenous languages are projected to eliminate up to one-third of the native plant species utilized by Amazonian cultures, causing a massive decline in regional biocultural knowledge by 2080.
#Ethnobotany #Botany #Ethnoecology #Ecology #Climatology #Linguistics #ClimateChange #sflorg
https://www.sflorg.com/2026/07/bot07082601.html -
Anthropogenic climate change and the extinction of Indigenous languages are projected to eliminate up to one-third of the native plant species utilized by Amazonian cultures, causing a massive decline in regional biocultural knowledge by 2080.
#Ethnobotany #Botany #Ethnoecology #Ecology #Climatology #Linguistics #ClimateChange #sflorg
https://www.sflorg.com/2026/07/bot07082601.html -
Anthropogenic climate change and the extinction of Indigenous languages are projected to eliminate up to one-third of the native plant species utilized by Amazonian cultures, causing a massive decline in regional biocultural knowledge by 2080.
#Ethnobotany #Botany #Ethnoecology #Ecology #Climatology #Linguistics #ClimateChange #sflorg
https://www.sflorg.com/2026/07/bot07082601.html -
Anthropogenic climate change and the extinction of Indigenous languages are projected to eliminate up to one-third of the native plant species utilized by Amazonian cultures, causing a massive decline in regional biocultural knowledge by 2080.
#Ethnobotany #Botany #Ethnoecology #Ecology #Climatology #Linguistics #ClimateChange #sflorg
https://www.sflorg.com/2026/07/bot07082601.html -
More adventures in Carob - Since Ceratonia siliqua can grow north of Albania, I was expecting to see more of it. However, knowledge of it seems limited to southern Albania along the coast.
I had pretty much given up on seeing it in the capital city, but after years spotting carob street trees, my eyes are pretty sharp for it and I spotted one today over the wall to the Italian Embassy (fittingly enough).
-
More adventures in Carob - Since Ceratonia siliqua can grow north of Albania, I was expecting to see more of it. However, knowledge of it seems limited to southern Albania along the coast.
I had pretty much given up on seeing it in the capital city, but after years spotting carob street trees, my eyes are pretty sharp for it and I spotted one today over the wall to the Italian Embassy (fittingly enough).
-
More adventures in Carob - Since Ceratonia siliqua can grow north of Albania, I was expecting to see more of it. However, knowledge of it seems limited to southern Albania along the coast.
I had pretty much given up on seeing it in the capital city, but after years spotting carob street trees, my eyes are pretty sharp for it and I spotted one today over the wall to the Italian Embassy (fittingly enough).
-
More adventures in Carob - Since Ceratonia siliqua can grow north of Albania, I was expecting to see more of it. However, knowledge of it seems limited to southern Albania along the coast.
I had pretty much given up on seeing it in the capital city, but after years spotting carob street trees, my eyes are pretty sharp for it and I spotted one today over the wall to the Italian Embassy (fittingly enough).
-
More adventures in Carob - Since Ceratonia siliqua can grow north of Albania, I was expecting to see more of it. However, knowledge of it seems limited to southern Albania along the coast.
I had pretty much given up on seeing it in the capital city, but after years spotting carob street trees, my eyes are pretty sharp for it and I spotted one today over the wall to the Italian Embassy (fittingly enough).
-
🌿 Cissus quadrangularis, known by names such as Pirandai, is a quiet vine with angled stems and a long cultural memory. Its presence in home gardens and dry landscapes hints at deeper patterns shaped by culture, ecology, and scientific curiosity.
✍️ Explore the full reflection: https://www.theperpetuallycurious.org/pirandai/
A quiet geometry can open a wider way of seeing.
-
🌿 Cissus quadrangularis, known by names such as Pirandai, is a quiet vine with angled stems and a long cultural memory. Its presence in home gardens and dry landscapes hints at deeper patterns shaped by culture, ecology, and scientific curiosity.
✍️ Explore the full reflection: https://www.theperpetuallycurious.org/pirandai/
A quiet geometry can open a wider way of seeing.
-
🌿 Cissus quadrangularis, known by names such as Pirandai, is a quiet vine with angled stems and a long cultural memory. Its presence in home gardens and dry landscapes hints at deeper patterns shaped by culture, ecology, and scientific curiosity.
✍️ Explore the full reflection: https://www.theperpetuallycurious.org/pirandai/
A quiet geometry can open a wider way of seeing.
-
🌿 Cissus quadrangularis, known by names such as Pirandai, is a quiet vine with angled stems and a long cultural memory. Its presence in home gardens and dry landscapes hints at deeper patterns shaped by culture, ecology, and scientific curiosity.
✍️ Explore the full reflection: https://www.theperpetuallycurious.org/pirandai/
A quiet geometry can open a wider way of seeing.
-
My grasp of Spanish is good enough to give me some insight, but not enough to get along without some sort of translation.
I'm trying to expand my search for carob references and history and started with Spanish (and related regional languages).
The machine translation can be hilariously bad, like translating "bolo de garrofera" as "slutty bread".
https://www.lasprovincias.es/gastronomia/bolo-garrofera-hongo-20220930133148-nt.html #Carob #Garrofera #Algarrobo #Ethnobotany
-
My grasp of Spanish is good enough to give me some insight, but not enough to get along without some sort of translation.
I'm trying to expand my search for carob references and history and started with Spanish (and related regional languages).
The machine translation can be hilariously bad, like translating "bolo de garrofera" as "slutty bread".
https://www.lasprovincias.es/gastronomia/bolo-garrofera-hongo-20220930133148-nt.html #Carob #Garrofera #Algarrobo #Ethnobotany
-
My grasp of Spanish is good enough to give me some insight, but not enough to get along without some sort of translation.
I'm trying to expand my search for carob references and history and started with Spanish (and related regional languages).
The machine translation can be hilariously bad, like translating "bolo de garrofera" as "slutty bread".
https://www.lasprovincias.es/gastronomia/bolo-garrofera-hongo-20220930133148-nt.html #Carob #Garrofera #Algarrobo #Ethnobotany
-
My grasp of Spanish is good enough to give me some insight, but not enough to get along without some sort of translation.
I'm trying to expand my search for carob references and history and started with Spanish (and related regional languages).
The machine translation can be hilariously bad, like translating "bolo de garrofera" as "slutty bread".
https://www.lasprovincias.es/gastronomia/bolo-garrofera-hongo-20220930133148-nt.html #Carob #Garrofera #Algarrobo #Ethnobotany
-
My grasp of Spanish is good enough to give me some insight, but not enough to get along without some sort of translation.
I'm trying to expand my search for carob references and history and started with Spanish (and related regional languages).
The machine translation can be hilariously bad, like translating "bolo de garrofera" as "slutty bread".
https://www.lasprovincias.es/gastronomia/bolo-garrofera-hongo-20220930133148-nt.html #Carob #Garrofera #Algarrobo #Ethnobotany
-
Medical & Nutritional #Ethnobotany of Plants Native to the Southeast
May 28, 2026, 2:00 pm EDT / 11:00 am PDT
Speaker: Dr. Jillian De Gezelle, Teaching Associate Professor, Department of Plant & Microbial Biology, North Carolina State University
This talk discusses the historical and contemporary uses of plant species that are native to North Carolina & the surrounding regions, including their uses as medicine and food, focusing on species that are of interest for home gardens. -
Medical & Nutritional #Ethnobotany of Plants Native to the Southeast
May 28, 2026, 2:00 pm EDT / 11:00 am PDT
Speaker: Dr. Jillian De Gezelle, Teaching Associate Professor, Department of Plant & Microbial Biology, North Carolina State University
This talk discusses the historical and contemporary uses of plant species that are native to North Carolina & the surrounding regions, including their uses as medicine and food, focusing on species that are of interest for home gardens. -
Medical & Nutritional #Ethnobotany of Plants Native to the Southeast
May 28, 2026, 2:00 pm EDT / 11:00 am PDT
Speaker: Dr. Jillian De Gezelle, Teaching Associate Professor, Department of Plant & Microbial Biology, North Carolina State University
This talk discusses the historical and contemporary uses of plant species that are native to North Carolina & the surrounding regions, including their uses as medicine and food, focusing on species that are of interest for home gardens. -
Medical & Nutritional #Ethnobotany of Plants Native to the Southeast
May 28, 2026, 2:00 pm EDT / 11:00 am PDT
Speaker: Dr. Jillian De Gezelle, Teaching Associate Professor, Department of Plant & Microbial Biology, North Carolina State University
This talk discusses the historical and contemporary uses of plant species that are native to North Carolina & the surrounding regions, including their uses as medicine and food, focusing on species that are of interest for home gardens. -
Medical & Nutritional #Ethnobotany of Plants Native to the Southeast
May 28, 2026, 2:00 pm EDT / 11:00 am PDT
Speaker: Dr. Jillian De Gezelle, Teaching Associate Professor, Department of Plant & Microbial Biology, North Carolina State University
This talk discusses the historical and contemporary uses of plant species that are native to North Carolina & the surrounding regions, including their uses as medicine and food, focusing on species that are of interest for home gardens. -
The study of natural compounds continues to evolve through both traditional knowledge systems and modern analytical science.
Cannacare_au supports evidence-based exploration of plant and fungal chemistry, with attention to both historical use and contemporary research findings.
#Research #MedicinalPlants #Phytochemistry #ScientificResearch #NaturalMedicine #Ethnobotany #Data
-
The study of natural compounds continues to evolve through both traditional knowledge systems and modern analytical science.
Cannacare_au supports evidence-based exploration of plant and fungal chemistry, with attention to both historical use and contemporary research findings.
#Research #MedicinalPlants #Phytochemistry #ScientificResearch #NaturalMedicine #Ethnobotany #Data
-
The study of natural compounds continues to evolve through both traditional knowledge systems and modern analytical science.
Cannacare_au supports evidence-based exploration of plant and fungal chemistry, with attention to both historical use and contemporary research findings.
#Research #MedicinalPlants #Phytochemistry #ScientificResearch #NaturalMedicine #Ethnobotany #Data
-
The study of natural compounds continues to evolve through both traditional knowledge systems and modern analytical science.
Cannacare_au supports evidence-based exploration of plant and fungal chemistry, with attention to both historical use and contemporary research findings.
#Research #MedicinalPlants #Phytochemistry #ScientificResearch #NaturalMedicine #Ethnobotany #Data
-
The study of natural compounds continues to evolve through both traditional knowledge systems and modern analytical science.
Cannacare_au supports evidence-based exploration of plant and fungal chemistry, with attention to both historical use and contemporary research findings.
#Research #MedicinalPlants #Phytochemistry #ScientificResearch #NaturalMedicine #Ethnobotany #Data
-
Uisce Sionainn / Flora Liatromensis
The Dock Arts Centre, Saturday, May 16 at 11:00 AM GMT+1
The Uisce / Flora series of river walks was developed by Anna Macleod and textile designer Katie May Anderson as a transferable model for performative community river walking to celebrate the transformative power of water. The event will include talks by guest speakers on ethnobotany and river regeneration, and the launch of a zine with an essay by Dr. Phillina Sun. Followed by a light lunch.
Anna Macleod is a Scottish-Irish visual artist, researcher, and educator based in the Northwest of Ireland. Her work mediates complex ideas associated with contemporary, historical, and cultural understandings of land and water through a variety of visual art media. She has been awarded the International Atlantic Artist Residency Exchange in Newfoundland with CRUX and Artlink in 2026.
Katie May Anderson is a freelance textile artist and designer based in Glasgow, Scotland. Katie works on various community arts projects across the UK, primarily in the heritage sector. Throughout all her work, collaboration and co-production are crucial, with participants empowered to engage in creative and collaborative expression, building connections and skills development. She has worked in numerous heritage sites in Scotland including Stirling Castle, Castle House Museum, and co-ordinated the Charabancs and Cadillacs project, a community quilt for Community Transport Newham. In 2025 she worked with communities on a textile banner for the ‘Grace’ project at Stirling Castle and a textile map for the Edinburgh Deaf Festival.
-
Uisce Sionainn / Flora Liatromensis
The Dock Arts Centre, Saturday, May 16 at 11:00 AM GMT+1
The Uisce / Flora series of river walks was developed by Anna Macleod and textile designer Katie May Anderson as a transferable model for performative community river walking to celebrate the transformative power of water. The event will include talks by guest speakers on ethnobotany and river regeneration, and the launch of a zine with an essay by Dr. Phillina Sun. Followed by a light lunch.
Anna Macleod is a Scottish-Irish visual artist, researcher, and educator based in the Northwest of Ireland. Her work mediates complex ideas associated with contemporary, historical, and cultural understandings of land and water through a variety of visual art media. She has been awarded the International Atlantic Artist Residency Exchange in Newfoundland with CRUX and Artlink in 2026.
Katie May Anderson is a freelance textile artist and designer based in Glasgow, Scotland. Katie works on various community arts projects across the UK, primarily in the heritage sector. Throughout all her work, collaboration and co-production are crucial, with participants empowered to engage in creative and collaborative expression, building connections and skills development. She has worked in numerous heritage sites in Scotland including Stirling Castle, Castle House Museum, and co-ordinated the Charabancs and Cadillacs project, a community quilt for Community Transport Newham. In 2025 she worked with communities on a textile banner for the ‘Grace’ project at Stirling Castle and a textile map for the Edinburgh Deaf Festival.
-
Uisce Sionainn / Flora Liatromensis
The Dock Arts Centre, Saturday, May 16 at 11:00 AM GMT+1
The Uisce / Flora series of river walks was developed by Anna Macleod and textile designer Katie May Anderson as a transferable model for performative community river walking to celebrate the transformative power of water. The event will include talks by guest speakers on ethnobotany and river regeneration, and the launch of a zine with an essay by Dr. Phillina Sun. Followed by a light lunch.
Anna Macleod is a Scottish-Irish visual artist, researcher, and educator based in the Northwest of Ireland. Her work mediates complex ideas associated with contemporary, historical, and cultural understandings of land and water through a variety of visual art media. She has been awarded the International Atlantic Artist Residency Exchange in Newfoundland with CRUX and Artlink in 2026.
Katie May Anderson is a freelance textile artist and designer based in Glasgow, Scotland. Katie works on various community arts projects across the UK, primarily in the heritage sector. Throughout all her work, collaboration and co-production are crucial, with participants empowered to engage in creative and collaborative expression, building connections and skills development. She has worked in numerous heritage sites in Scotland including Stirling Castle, Castle House Museum, and co-ordinated the Charabancs and Cadillacs project, a community quilt for Community Transport Newham. In 2025 she worked with communities on a textile banner for the ‘Grace’ project at Stirling Castle and a textile map for the Edinburgh Deaf Festival.
-
Uisce Sionainn / Flora Liatromensis
The Dock Arts Centre, Saturday, May 16 at 11:00 AM GMT+1
The Uisce / Flora series of river walks was developed by Anna Macleod and textile designer Katie May Anderson as a transferable model for performative community river walking to celebrate the transformative power of water. The event will include talks by guest speakers on ethnobotany and river regeneration, and the launch of a zine with an essay by Dr. Phillina Sun. Followed by a light lunch.
Anna Macleod is a Scottish-Irish visual artist, researcher, and educator based in the Northwest of Ireland. Her work mediates complex ideas associated with contemporary, historical, and cultural understandings of land and water through a variety of visual art media. She has been awarded the International Atlantic Artist Residency Exchange in Newfoundland with CRUX and Artlink in 2026.
Katie May Anderson is a freelance textile artist and designer based in Glasgow, Scotland. Katie works on various community arts projects across the UK, primarily in the heritage sector. Throughout all her work, collaboration and co-production are crucial, with participants empowered to engage in creative and collaborative expression, building connections and skills development. She has worked in numerous heritage sites in Scotland including Stirling Castle, Castle House Museum, and co-ordinated the Charabancs and Cadillacs project, a community quilt for Community Transport Newham. In 2025 she worked with communities on a textile banner for the ‘Grace’ project at Stirling Castle and a textile map for the Edinburgh Deaf Festival.
-
From aspirin to ancient remedies, trees have provided medicine for millennia. Learn about their healing properties.
#NaturalMedicine #Ethnobotany #Trees
https://www.wordforest.org/2022/03/25/the-medicinal-properties-of-trees-/
-
From aspirin to ancient remedies, trees have provided medicine for millennia. Learn about their healing properties.
#NaturalMedicine #Ethnobotany #Trees
https://www.wordforest.org/2022/03/25/the-medicinal-properties-of-trees-/
-
From aspirin to ancient remedies, trees have provided medicine for millennia. Learn about their healing properties.
#NaturalMedicine #Ethnobotany #Trees
https://www.wordforest.org/2022/03/25/the-medicinal-properties-of-trees-/
-
A comprehensive checklist of Mediterranean wild edible plants: Diversity, traditional uses, and knowledge gaps
"Early View
Online Version of Record before inclusion in an issue"
https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp3.70137 #Botany #PlantScience #Mediterranean #Biodiversity #Ethnobotany
-
A comprehensive checklist of Mediterranean wild edible plants: Diversity, traditional uses, and knowledge gaps
"Early View
Online Version of Record before inclusion in an issue"
https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp3.70137 #Botany #PlantScience #Mediterranean #Biodiversity #Ethnobotany
-
A comprehensive checklist of Mediterranean wild edible plants: Diversity, traditional uses, and knowledge gaps
"Early View
Online Version of Record before inclusion in an issue"
https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp3.70137 #Botany #PlantScience #Mediterranean #Biodiversity #Ethnobotany
-
A comprehensive checklist of Mediterranean wild edible plants: Diversity, traditional uses, and knowledge gaps
"Early View
Online Version of Record before inclusion in an issue"
https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp3.70137 #Botany #PlantScience #Mediterranean #Biodiversity #Ethnobotany
-
A comprehensive checklist of Mediterranean wild edible plants: Diversity, traditional uses, and knowledge gaps
"Early View
Online Version of Record before inclusion in an issue"
https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp3.70137 #Botany #PlantScience #Mediterranean #Biodiversity #Ethnobotany
-
#CentralAsia’s #fruit and #nut #forests: the real Garden of Eden?
Birthplaces of some of the world’s most beloved snacks
by Monica Evans
17 December 2020"Millions of years ago, in the temperate montane forests of a little-known region in Central Asia, some of the world’s best-loved fruit and nut trees began to grow. #Apples, #apricots, #cherries, #plums, #grapes, #figs, #peaches, #pomegranates, #pears, #almonds, #pistachios and #walnuts all originated in the hills and valleys of the #TianShan mountain range, which stretches from #Uzbekistan in the west to #China and #Mongolia in the east.
"The area is volcanic and geologically tumultuous, but fertile – scientists have hypothesized that in a place prone to frequent eruptions, earthquakes and landslides, shorter-lived tree species that could disperse their seeds widely by making themselves palatable to large mammals had a better shot at survival than long-lived, slow-maturing trees.
"And that tasty survival strategy has served these species well. For residents of the region, the foods represent both security and social currency. 'From the taxi drivers to the ministers to the local people, almost everyone carries some #DriedFruit or #Nuts with them,' says Paola Agostini, a lead natural resources specialist for Europe and Central Asia at the World Bank. 'It’s like this safety net, and it’s also a lovely gift: something to share with others that is always appreciated.'
"Central Asian marketplaces offer a cornucopia of colors, flavors, textures and varieties – many more than those most of us are accustomed to finding in our local supermarket’s produce aisle. 'I was always astonished that people in the region could so easily tell which country a particular dried apricot came from,' says Agostini. 'Their knowledge of these products is just so deep.'
"Procuring and sharing these energy-dense treats is an ancient practice in the area. Fruit and nuts were major commodities on the Silk Road, an ancient network of trade routes that tracked through the heart of Central Asia, linking Europe, the Middle East and Asia, from the first century BC through to the mid-1400s. Over centuries of trade and travel – and lots of munching by humans, camels and horses along the way – prized fruit and nut species spread their seeds wider and wider, and new hybrid varieties were created, many of which are now supermarket and home-orchard staples, cultivated enthusiastically in temperate regions across the globe.
"Narratives of plant domestication often tend to overstate the role of humans, but newer science suggests that 'evolution in parallel' with the plants we love is often a more accurate way of framing this process. 'It’s very unlikely that when somebody took an apple from #Kazakhstan and carried it across an entire continent, they were thinking that they could cross it with another variety and end up with something better,' says #RobertSpengler, a paleo-ethnobotanist at the Max Planck Institute in Jena, Germany. 'They were more likely just carrying the seeds to plant somewhere else. And in doing so, they inadvertently set off a chain reaction of hybridization events.'
"According to Spengler’s research into the origins of apples, humans were not the first mammals to participate in that process of dispersal and co-evolution, either. In the late #Miocene, which spanned the period from 11.63 to 5.33 million years ago, large mammals such as #mammoths and #horses played critical roles in dispersing apple seeds and facilitating their evolutionary process into the large, sweet, flavor-rich fruits we enjoy today."
#SolarPunkSunday #Ethnobotany #PlantHistory #SaveTheForests #SaveTheTrees #FruitTrees #NutTrees
-
#CentralAsia’s #fruit and #nut #forests: the real Garden of Eden?
Birthplaces of some of the world’s most beloved snacks
by Monica Evans
17 December 2020"Millions of years ago, in the temperate montane forests of a little-known region in Central Asia, some of the world’s best-loved fruit and nut trees began to grow. #Apples, #apricots, #cherries, #plums, #grapes, #figs, #peaches, #pomegranates, #pears, #almonds, #pistachios and #walnuts all originated in the hills and valleys of the #TianShan mountain range, which stretches from #Uzbekistan in the west to #China and #Mongolia in the east.
"The area is volcanic and geologically tumultuous, but fertile – scientists have hypothesized that in a place prone to frequent eruptions, earthquakes and landslides, shorter-lived tree species that could disperse their seeds widely by making themselves palatable to large mammals had a better shot at survival than long-lived, slow-maturing trees.
"And that tasty survival strategy has served these species well. For residents of the region, the foods represent both security and social currency. 'From the taxi drivers to the ministers to the local people, almost everyone carries some #DriedFruit or #Nuts with them,' says Paola Agostini, a lead natural resources specialist for Europe and Central Asia at the World Bank. 'It’s like this safety net, and it’s also a lovely gift: something to share with others that is always appreciated.'
"Central Asian marketplaces offer a cornucopia of colors, flavors, textures and varieties – many more than those most of us are accustomed to finding in our local supermarket’s produce aisle. 'I was always astonished that people in the region could so easily tell which country a particular dried apricot came from,' says Agostini. 'Their knowledge of these products is just so deep.'
"Procuring and sharing these energy-dense treats is an ancient practice in the area. Fruit and nuts were major commodities on the Silk Road, an ancient network of trade routes that tracked through the heart of Central Asia, linking Europe, the Middle East and Asia, from the first century BC through to the mid-1400s. Over centuries of trade and travel – and lots of munching by humans, camels and horses along the way – prized fruit and nut species spread their seeds wider and wider, and new hybrid varieties were created, many of which are now supermarket and home-orchard staples, cultivated enthusiastically in temperate regions across the globe.
"Narratives of plant domestication often tend to overstate the role of humans, but newer science suggests that 'evolution in parallel' with the plants we love is often a more accurate way of framing this process. 'It’s very unlikely that when somebody took an apple from #Kazakhstan and carried it across an entire continent, they were thinking that they could cross it with another variety and end up with something better,' says #RobertSpengler, a paleo-ethnobotanist at the Max Planck Institute in Jena, Germany. 'They were more likely just carrying the seeds to plant somewhere else. And in doing so, they inadvertently set off a chain reaction of hybridization events.'
"According to Spengler’s research into the origins of apples, humans were not the first mammals to participate in that process of dispersal and co-evolution, either. In the late #Miocene, which spanned the period from 11.63 to 5.33 million years ago, large mammals such as #mammoths and #horses played critical roles in dispersing apple seeds and facilitating their evolutionary process into the large, sweet, flavor-rich fruits we enjoy today."
#SolarPunkSunday #Ethnobotany #PlantHistory #SaveTheForests #SaveTheTrees #FruitTrees #NutTrees
-
#CentralAsia’s #fruit and #nut #forests: the real Garden of Eden?
Birthplaces of some of the world’s most beloved snacks
by Monica Evans
17 December 2020"Millions of years ago, in the temperate montane forests of a little-known region in Central Asia, some of the world’s best-loved fruit and nut trees began to grow. #Apples, #apricots, #cherries, #plums, #grapes, #figs, #peaches, #pomegranates, #pears, #almonds, #pistachios and #walnuts all originated in the hills and valleys of the #TianShan mountain range, which stretches from #Uzbekistan in the west to #China and #Mongolia in the east.
"The area is volcanic and geologically tumultuous, but fertile – scientists have hypothesized that in a place prone to frequent eruptions, earthquakes and landslides, shorter-lived tree species that could disperse their seeds widely by making themselves palatable to large mammals had a better shot at survival than long-lived, slow-maturing trees.
"And that tasty survival strategy has served these species well. For residents of the region, the foods represent both security and social currency. 'From the taxi drivers to the ministers to the local people, almost everyone carries some #DriedFruit or #Nuts with them,' says Paola Agostini, a lead natural resources specialist for Europe and Central Asia at the World Bank. 'It’s like this safety net, and it’s also a lovely gift: something to share with others that is always appreciated.'
"Central Asian marketplaces offer a cornucopia of colors, flavors, textures and varieties – many more than those most of us are accustomed to finding in our local supermarket’s produce aisle. 'I was always astonished that people in the region could so easily tell which country a particular dried apricot came from,' says Agostini. 'Their knowledge of these products is just so deep.'
"Procuring and sharing these energy-dense treats is an ancient practice in the area. Fruit and nuts were major commodities on the Silk Road, an ancient network of trade routes that tracked through the heart of Central Asia, linking Europe, the Middle East and Asia, from the first century BC through to the mid-1400s. Over centuries of trade and travel – and lots of munching by humans, camels and horses along the way – prized fruit and nut species spread their seeds wider and wider, and new hybrid varieties were created, many of which are now supermarket and home-orchard staples, cultivated enthusiastically in temperate regions across the globe.
"Narratives of plant domestication often tend to overstate the role of humans, but newer science suggests that 'evolution in parallel' with the plants we love is often a more accurate way of framing this process. 'It’s very unlikely that when somebody took an apple from #Kazakhstan and carried it across an entire continent, they were thinking that they could cross it with another variety and end up with something better,' says #RobertSpengler, a paleo-ethnobotanist at the Max Planck Institute in Jena, Germany. 'They were more likely just carrying the seeds to plant somewhere else. And in doing so, they inadvertently set off a chain reaction of hybridization events.'
"According to Spengler’s research into the origins of apples, humans were not the first mammals to participate in that process of dispersal and co-evolution, either. In the late #Miocene, which spanned the period from 11.63 to 5.33 million years ago, large mammals such as #mammoths and #horses played critical roles in dispersing apple seeds and facilitating their evolutionary process into the large, sweet, flavor-rich fruits we enjoy today."
#SolarPunkSunday #Ethnobotany #PlantHistory #SaveTheForests #SaveTheTrees #FruitTrees #NutTrees
-
#CentralAsia’s #fruit and #nut #forests: the real Garden of Eden?
Birthplaces of some of the world’s most beloved snacks
by Monica Evans
17 December 2020"Millions of years ago, in the temperate montane forests of a little-known region in Central Asia, some of the world’s best-loved fruit and nut trees began to grow. #Apples, #apricots, #cherries, #plums, #grapes, #figs, #peaches, #pomegranates, #pears, #almonds, #pistachios and #walnuts all originated in the hills and valleys of the #TianShan mountain range, which stretches from #Uzbekistan in the west to #China and #Mongolia in the east.
"The area is volcanic and geologically tumultuous, but fertile – scientists have hypothesized that in a place prone to frequent eruptions, earthquakes and landslides, shorter-lived tree species that could disperse their seeds widely by making themselves palatable to large mammals had a better shot at survival than long-lived, slow-maturing trees.
"And that tasty survival strategy has served these species well. For residents of the region, the foods represent both security and social currency. 'From the taxi drivers to the ministers to the local people, almost everyone carries some #DriedFruit or #Nuts with them,' says Paola Agostini, a lead natural resources specialist for Europe and Central Asia at the World Bank. 'It’s like this safety net, and it’s also a lovely gift: something to share with others that is always appreciated.'
"Central Asian marketplaces offer a cornucopia of colors, flavors, textures and varieties – many more than those most of us are accustomed to finding in our local supermarket’s produce aisle. 'I was always astonished that people in the region could so easily tell which country a particular dried apricot came from,' says Agostini. 'Their knowledge of these products is just so deep.'
"Procuring and sharing these energy-dense treats is an ancient practice in the area. Fruit and nuts were major commodities on the Silk Road, an ancient network of trade routes that tracked through the heart of Central Asia, linking Europe, the Middle East and Asia, from the first century BC through to the mid-1400s. Over centuries of trade and travel – and lots of munching by humans, camels and horses along the way – prized fruit and nut species spread their seeds wider and wider, and new hybrid varieties were created, many of which are now supermarket and home-orchard staples, cultivated enthusiastically in temperate regions across the globe.
"Narratives of plant domestication often tend to overstate the role of humans, but newer science suggests that 'evolution in parallel' with the plants we love is often a more accurate way of framing this process. 'It’s very unlikely that when somebody took an apple from #Kazakhstan and carried it across an entire continent, they were thinking that they could cross it with another variety and end up with something better,' says #RobertSpengler, a paleo-ethnobotanist at the Max Planck Institute in Jena, Germany. 'They were more likely just carrying the seeds to plant somewhere else. And in doing so, they inadvertently set off a chain reaction of hybridization events.'
"According to Spengler’s research into the origins of apples, humans were not the first mammals to participate in that process of dispersal and co-evolution, either. In the late #Miocene, which spanned the period from 11.63 to 5.33 million years ago, large mammals such as #mammoths and #horses played critical roles in dispersing apple seeds and facilitating their evolutionary process into the large, sweet, flavor-rich fruits we enjoy today."
#SolarPunkSunday #Ethnobotany #PlantHistory #SaveTheForests #SaveTheTrees #FruitTrees #NutTrees
-
#CentralAsia’s #fruit and #nut #forests: the real Garden of Eden?
Birthplaces of some of the world’s most beloved snacks
by Monica Evans
17 December 2020"Millions of years ago, in the temperate montane forests of a little-known region in Central Asia, some of the world’s best-loved fruit and nut trees began to grow. #Apples, #apricots, #cherries, #plums, #grapes, #figs, #peaches, #pomegranates, #pears, #almonds, #pistachios and #walnuts all originated in the hills and valleys of the #TianShan mountain range, which stretches from #Uzbekistan in the west to #China and #Mongolia in the east.
"The area is volcanic and geologically tumultuous, but fertile – scientists have hypothesized that in a place prone to frequent eruptions, earthquakes and landslides, shorter-lived tree species that could disperse their seeds widely by making themselves palatable to large mammals had a better shot at survival than long-lived, slow-maturing trees.
"And that tasty survival strategy has served these species well. For residents of the region, the foods represent both security and social currency. 'From the taxi drivers to the ministers to the local people, almost everyone carries some #DriedFruit or #Nuts with them,' says Paola Agostini, a lead natural resources specialist for Europe and Central Asia at the World Bank. 'It’s like this safety net, and it’s also a lovely gift: something to share with others that is always appreciated.'
"Central Asian marketplaces offer a cornucopia of colors, flavors, textures and varieties – many more than those most of us are accustomed to finding in our local supermarket’s produce aisle. 'I was always astonished that people in the region could so easily tell which country a particular dried apricot came from,' says Agostini. 'Their knowledge of these products is just so deep.'
"Procuring and sharing these energy-dense treats is an ancient practice in the area. Fruit and nuts were major commodities on the Silk Road, an ancient network of trade routes that tracked through the heart of Central Asia, linking Europe, the Middle East and Asia, from the first century BC through to the mid-1400s. Over centuries of trade and travel – and lots of munching by humans, camels and horses along the way – prized fruit and nut species spread their seeds wider and wider, and new hybrid varieties were created, many of which are now supermarket and home-orchard staples, cultivated enthusiastically in temperate regions across the globe.
"Narratives of plant domestication often tend to overstate the role of humans, but newer science suggests that 'evolution in parallel' with the plants we love is often a more accurate way of framing this process. 'It’s very unlikely that when somebody took an apple from #Kazakhstan and carried it across an entire continent, they were thinking that they could cross it with another variety and end up with something better,' says #RobertSpengler, a paleo-ethnobotanist at the Max Planck Institute in Jena, Germany. 'They were more likely just carrying the seeds to plant somewhere else. And in doing so, they inadvertently set off a chain reaction of hybridization events.'
"According to Spengler’s research into the origins of apples, humans were not the first mammals to participate in that process of dispersal and co-evolution, either. In the late #Miocene, which spanned the period from 11.63 to 5.33 million years ago, large mammals such as #mammoths and #horses played critical roles in dispersing apple seeds and facilitating their evolutionary process into the large, sweet, flavor-rich fruits we enjoy today."
#SolarPunkSunday #Ethnobotany #PlantHistory #SaveTheForests #SaveTheTrees #FruitTrees #NutTrees
-
Remembering Padma Shri Dr. Palpu Pushpangadan, a visionary ethnobotanist who pioneered benefit-sharing models. His legacy in traditional knowledge and biodiversity lives on. https://english.mathrubhumi.com/news/kerala/dr-palpu-pushpangadan-ethnobotany-pioneer-dies-l9msadff?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon #PalpuPushpangadan #obituary #Ethnobotany #PadmaShriawardee
-
Remembering Padma Shri Dr. Palpu Pushpangadan, a visionary ethnobotanist who pioneered benefit-sharing models. His legacy in traditional knowledge and biodiversity lives on. https://english.mathrubhumi.com/news/kerala/dr-palpu-pushpangadan-ethnobotany-pioneer-dies-l9msadff?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon #PalpuPushpangadan #obituary #Ethnobotany #PadmaShriawardee
-
Remembering Padma Shri Dr. Palpu Pushpangadan, a visionary ethnobotanist who pioneered benefit-sharing models. His legacy in traditional knowledge and biodiversity lives on. https://english.mathrubhumi.com/news/kerala/dr-palpu-pushpangadan-ethnobotany-pioneer-dies-l9msadff?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon #PalpuPushpangadan #obituary #Ethnobotany #PadmaShriawardee
-
Remarkable survey of archaeobotanical evidence for early processing of plant foods. Florin and Ramsey emphasize that theirs is a cautious approach to the evidence, but the conclusion is very clear: humans were extracting food from a wide variety of plants in ways that required grinding, leaching, and lots of tool use tens (if not hundreds) of thousands of years before the supposed emergence of sedentary agriculture.
Their discussion of crossing Wallacea is fascinating. They demonstrate the prior existence of a early, culturally transmitted bundle of adaptive skills for identifying, processing, and managing plant foods in new landscapes, including stone tools and fire, but equally, a capacity to discover, utilize, and steward unfamiliar food plants.
They firmly upend the assumption that the archaeology of food is just about eating animals, and open up the question of how old agriculture really is.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10814-025-09214-z