A Fistful of Bladdernuts: The Shifting Uses ofStaphylea pinnataL. as Documented by Archaeology, History, and Ethnology (original) (raw)
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plants-culture.unimore.it, 2009
Plants for ages have helped in satisfying hunger and supplementing a diet. For centuries man has gained and handed on knowledge about their properties, both curative and poisonous. However, this close relationship with plants had also different meaning, not only a physical one, but also spiritual that was connected with beliefs in extraordinary power of some plants. Plants had their place in magical arts, customs or certain forms of religion. Here we take a closer look at three chosen species in different areas connected with humans. Bracken rhizomes, during difficult times of limited food availability, were used for culinary purposes. Seeds of bladder-nut were popular in adornments and rosaries, this shrub was also considered to have magical power. Mistletoe established its reputation as a cult plant, moreover it was and still is in use in medicine.
A Cultural History of Plants, vol. 3: In the Early Modern Era. Introduction
A Cultural History of Plants vol. 3: In the Early Modern Era. Editors: Andrew Dalby, Annette Giesecke, 2022
The connectedness of humans to plants is the most fundamental of human relationships. Plants are, and historically have been, sources of food, shelter, bedding, tools, medicine, and, most importantly, the very air we breathe. Plants have inspired awe, a sense of wellbeing, religious fervor, and acquisitiveness alike. They have been collected, propagated, and mutated, as well as endangered or driven into extinction by human impacts such as global warming, deforestation, fire suppression, and over-grazing. A Cultural History of Plants traces the global dependence of human life and civilization on plants from antiquity to the twenty-first century and comprises contributions by experts and scholars in a wide range of fields, including anthropology, archaeology, art history, botany, classics, garden history, history, literature, and environmental studies more broadly. The series consists of six illustrated volumes, each devoted to an examination of plants as grounded in, and shaping, the cultural experiences of a particular historical period. Each of the six volumes, in turn, is structured in the same way, beginning with an introductory chapter that offers a sweeping view of the cultural history of plants in the period in question, followed by chapters on plants as staple foods, plants as luxury foods, trade and exploration, plant technology and science, plants and medicine, plants in (popular) culture, plants as natural ornaments, and the representation of plants. This cohesive structure offers readers the opportunity both to explore a meaningful cross-section of humans' uses of plants in a given period and to trace a particular use-as in medicine, for example-through time from volume to volume. The six volumes comprising A Cultural History of Plants are as follows:
Plants as Luxury Foods: “And they germinated very well”
A Cultural History of Plants vol. 3: In the Early Modern Era, 2022
The connectedness of humans to plants is the most fundamental of human relationships. Plants are, and historically have been, sources of food, shelter, bedding, tools, medicine, and, most importantly, the very air we breathe. Plants have inspired awe, a sense of wellbeing, religious fervor, and acquisitiveness alike. They have been collected, propagated, and mutated, as well as endangered or driven into extinction by human impacts such as global warming, deforestation, fire suppression, and over-grazing. A Cultural History of Plants traces the global dependence of human life and civilization on plants from antiquity to the twenty-first century and comprises contributions by experts and scholars in a wide range of fields, including anthropology, archaeology, art history, botany, classics, garden history, history, literature, and environmental studies more broadly. The series consists of six illustrated volumes, each devoted to an examination of plants as grounded in, and shaping, the cultural experiences of a particular historical period. Each of the six volumes, in turn, is structured in the same way, beginning with an introductory chapter that offers a sweeping view of the cultural history of plants in the period in question, followed by chapters on plants as staple foods, plants as luxury foods, trade and exploration, plant technology and science, plants and medicine, plants in (popular) culture, plants as natural ornaments, and the representation of plants. This cohesive structure offers readers the opportunity both to explore a meaningful cross-section of humans' uses of plants in a given period and to trace a particular use-as in medicine, for example-through time from volume to volume. The six volumes comprising A Cultural History of Plants are as follows:
Distribution of the European bladdernut Staphylea pinnata (Staphyleaceae) in Poland
Plant and Fungal Systematics, 2021
This paper presents the current distribution range of the protected shrub European bladdernut Staphylea pinnata in Poland. The study was based on a literature review, multidisciplinary search methods and field visits. The paper presents 211 sites considered as natural (including 48 new) and 143 sites considered as sites of anthropogenic origin (including 116 new). The data included in this paper extend the natural range of the species mainly in the Sudety Mts & Sudety Foreland, Rożnów Foothills, and the Tarnogród Plateau. It has been confirmed that the areas of Przemyśl Foothills (54 sites) and Dynów Foothills (49 sites) are the sites most abundant in bladdernut considered as natural. A few sites of anthropogenic origin have been found in the area of northern Poland, several hundred kilometres from the border of the bladdernut continual distribution range. In the case of sites of anthropogenic origin, knowledge of their distribution has increased significantly. This paper provides a...