Botany in a Day: The Patterns Method of Plant Identification - Softcover

Elpel, Thomas J.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1892784157 ISBN 13: 9781892784155

Publisher: Hops Pr, 2004

Synopsis

Looking for a faster, easier, and fun way to identify plants? Botany in a Day teaches you the patterns method of plant identification, so that you can discover the wonderful world of plants around you, wherever you go.

Instead of trying to identify plants one-at-a-time, Botany in a Day give you a way to learn them by the hundreds, based on the principle that related plants have similar patterns for indentification, and they often have similar uses.

The one-day tutorial included in the text teaches you seven key patterns to recognize more than 45,000 species of plants worldwide. Master these seven patterns and you will be ready to use the included reference guide--Thomas J. Elpel's Herbal Field Guide to Plant Families of North America. Here you will find the patterns for indentification and the patterns of uses for the majority of plants across the continent.

Botany in a Day is used as a guide by thousands of individuals, plus herbal schools and universities across North America.

About this title

About the Author

Thomas J. Elpel had the rare opportunity as a child to spend hundreds of hours with his grandmother Josie Jewett. Together they explored the hills and meadows near Virginia City, Montana, collecting herbs, looking for arrowheads and watching wildlife. Grandma Josie helped Tom to learn about native plants and their uses, igniting a passion for nature that has inspired him ever since. She also sparked his interest in survival skills.

"All I ever wanted to do as a kid was to go to Grandma’s house," Tom said. "When she moved from Virginia City to Pony, I followed her. Renee and I eventually bought land just a couple blocks from her place."

At the age of 16, Tom went on a 26-day, 250-mile walkabout in the desert canyons of southern Utah with Boulder Outdoor Survival School . The following year he and Grandma Josie went together to Tom Brown’s Tracker School in New Jersey.

Tom spent thousands of hours practicing and developing survival skills in his "backyard" in the Rocky Mountains.

He is now the director of Hollowtop Outdoor Primitive School, LLC in Pony, Montana. Botany in a Day grew from Tom’s desire to provide an easy means for other people to discover a closer connection with the natural world. Tom is also the author of four other books inspired by nature, including: Participating in Nature, Direct Pointing to Real Wealth, Living Homes, and Shanleya's Quest.

From the Inside Flap

Botany in a Day is changing the way people learn about plants! Tom's book has gained a nationwide audience almost exclusively by word-of-mouth. It is now used as a text and recommended by herbal and wilderness schools across North America. Instead of presenting individual plants, Botany in a Day unveils the patterns of identification and uses among related plants, giving readers simple tools to rapidly unlock the mysteries of the new species they encounter throughout the continent.

Too often people try to learn plants one-at-a-time, without rhyme or reason. Now you can cut years off the process of learning about plants and their uses. Tom's book helps you beyond the piece-meal approach to botany and herbalism towards a more "whole" approach. Within 1 1/2 hours you can understand the big-picture of botany and herbalism. Learn how related plants have similar features for identification. Discover how they often have similar properties and similar uses.

Tom's book takes you beyond the details towards a greater understanding of the patterns among plants. By mid-morning you can be in the field, matching flowers to the patterns in the book. Instead of learning plants one-at-a-time you will discover that you can learn them by the dozens--just by looking for patterns.

Most plant books cover only one or two hundred species. Botany in a Day includes more than 100 plant families and over 700 genera--applicable to many thousands of species.

By the end of the day you will have a functional knowledge of botany. You will be able to continue growing your knowledge of plants and plant patterns--in the wild, in your garden, among house plants, even at the florist. Understand the magic of patterns among plants, and the world will never look the same again!

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Botany in a Day Tutorial: How to Proceed

1. The study of botany is the study of patterns in plants. To start, find a comfortable, quiet place to read for a while. You will need to read through the tutorial on Plant Names and Classification and The Evolution of Plants to understand the "big picture" of how plants are related to each other and how botanists have sorted them into a kind of "filing system" based on their relationships. This background is essential for understanding how and why plants are placed in groups the way they are. Did you know, for instance, that common grass is considered a "flowering" plant? After you read these chapters you will be ready to learn some useful patterns for identifying common plants.

2. Next, continue reading the tutorial with Learning Plants by Families to help you recognize some of the most common flower patterns found anywhere in the world. Read about these families to learn their characteristics, then go for a walk and look for plants wild or domestic that fit the patterns. The seven families covered there (Mustard, Mint, Parsley, Pea, Lily, Mallow, and Aster) include more than 45,000 species of plants worldwide. Learn the basic patterns and you will know something about these plants wherever you encounter them. Do not concern yourself with individual plant names at first; just concentrate on learning the patterns of the families. You will be farther ahead in the long run, and you may be surprised to discover how much you can know about a new plant without even knowing its name. See how many plants you can find in each of the families you are studying. Now you are doing botany!

3. As you become comfortable with the patterns of the plant families from the tutorial, then you can begin studying new family patterns from Part II: Reference Guide. I ve highlighted the most common and easy-to-learn plant families in bold in the Index of Plant Families and Subfamilies by Common Names. Practice identifying these families until you are comfortable with most or all of them before you start learning the rest. I also recommend reading through The Medicinal Properties of Plants section in the back of the book. A basic understanding of plant properties will often aid you in identifying a plant. Please wait on utilizing any plants until you build up confidence in your identification skills.

There are many places to look for patterns in plants. Look at wildflowers and weeds and study the flowers in your yard. Look at pictures in other plant guides and notice those plants that fit the patterns of the families you are studying. Floral shops, greenhouses, nurseries and botanic gardens are other good places to study plant patterns. Some gardens have living displays of plants from all around the world. There you will recognize plants from other continents that belong to the families you know!

If you are on a nature trail or in a nursery any place where plants are labeled with their Latin names you can look up their names in the Index of Plants by Genus. Read about the family characteristics and look for those patterns in the specimen before you. You may use the key included in this book at any time, although it is no substitute for learning the patterns of the families. Start with showy, distinctive flowers first and simply match them against the patterns in the key.

4. As you become confident with patterns in a family you may start identifying individual plants in that family. You can do this easily by searching through the drawings and photos of plants within the proper family. Instead of randomly searching through hundreds or thousands of pictures, you can look through the one or two dozen plants within the family you have identified. Some illustrations are provided for that purpose in this text, but you should also use this book in conjunction with other picture books that have the plants organized by family.

Many plant guides are organized alphabetically or by the color of the flower; these books can ultimately hinder your progress in learning plants. Look for books that are organized according to families. At the very least, make sure the book includes the family name with each plant.

Edition details

• Publisher: Hops Pr
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1892784157
• ISBN 13: 9781892784155
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 5
• Number of pages: 221