Gathering the Desert
Nabhan, a naturalist specializing in arid lands, seeks in this book to popularize his field. He believes a better informed general public would prevent abuse to long-standing desert ecology. With a judicious mixture of ethnobotany, folklore, history, sociology, and nutrition he creates a "persona" for 12 Sonoran Desert plants: the creosote bush, palm, mescal, sandfood, organpipe cactus, amaranth, tepary bean, chile, devil's claw, panicgrass, and wild gourds. The result is a series of essays that are very readable and enlightening while remaining more scholarly than popular. Recommended for large public libraries as well as academic and special collections. Sondra Brunhumer, Western Michigan Univ. Libs., KalamazooCopyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to theHardcoveredition.