Plants

"Marijuana will not tolerate repression. Tranquillizers and depressants relax the body and release tension, but the state of mind associated with these drugs is "unconsciousness" whereby we escape rather than resolve our dilemmas. Alcoholism is an extreme need of both the body and personality sometimes to release the nervousness that has accumulated and continues to build up to an unbearable degree. It serves the same function for the collective personality for the society as well. A culture in which alcohol and tranquillizers are the prevalent form of release prefers not to witness internal confusion and actually chooses to act without conscious participation, maintaining a semi-numb condition."

"Marijuana can act as the loosening agent, so that whatever has been banned from consciousness may come cascading forth. To uncover our deceptions without our usual rationalizations can be unpleasant, an experience that has turned many psychologically fragile individuals away from marijuana despite its therapeutic catharsis."

"For me, it was like this: pronounced antipathy to conversing about matters of practical life, the future, dates, politics. You are fixated on the intellectual sphere as a man possessed may be fixated on the sexual: under its spell, sucked into it."

"You follow the same paths of thought as before. Only, they appear strewn with roses."

"HEMP, n. A plant from whose fibrous bark is made an article of neckwear which is frequently put on after public speaking in the open air and prevents the wearer from taking cold."

"I believe pot should be legalized (and Jack Daniels should always remain legal!)"

"I had gotten caught with a shopping bag full of Marijuana, a shopping bag full of love - I was in love with the weed and I did not for one minute think that anything was wrong with getting high. I had been getting high for four or five years and was convinced, with the zeal of a crusader, that marijuana was superior to lush - yet the rulers of the land seemed all to be lushes. I could not see how they were more justified in drinking than I was in blowing the gage. I was a grasshopper, and it was natural that I felt myself to be unjustly prosecuted."

"The Rastas, more than any other group, have elevated ganja to a central place in their religious practice and have developed a well-articulated ideology justifying its use and explaining its significance. ... Rastas regard the proscription of ganja use by Babylon's government as part of its strategy of social control."

"As a source of illumination, ganga has become an instrument in the war against Babylon and Babylonian consciousness. Its use, therefore, plays a major role in the de-alienation and decolonization of the African mind."

"The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I’m saying? We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did."

"It's a moral problem that the government is making into criminals people, who may be doing something you and I don't approve of, but who are doing something that hurts nobody else. Most of the arrests for drugs are for possession by casual users. Now here's somebody who wants to smoke a marijuana cigarette. If he's caught, he goes to jail. Now is that moral? Is that proper? I think it's absolutely disgraceful that our government, supposed to be our government, should be in the position of converting people who are not harming others into criminals, of destroying their lives, putting them in jail. That's the issue to me. The economic issue comes in only for explaining why it has those effects. But the economic reasons are not the reasons."

"Not only is pot way cooler than alcohol, it’s also non-toxic. Dylan Thomas could not have smoked himself to death."

"The actual experience of the smoked herb has been clouded by a fog of dirty language perpetrated by a crowd of fakers who have not had the experience and yet insist on downgrading it. The paradoxical key to this bizarre impasse of awareness is precisely that the marijuana consciousness is one that, ever so gently, shifts the center of attention from habitual shallow, purely verbal guidelines and repetitive secondhand ideological interpretations of experience to more direct, slower, absorbing, occasionally microscopically minute engagement with sensing phenomena."

"The perception that cannabis is a safe drug is a mistaken reaction to a past history of exaggeration of its health risks."

"The main effects of smoking marijuana are contentment, relaxation, sedation, euphoria, and increased hunger, all peaking within five to fifteen minutes after smoking and lasting for about two hours...very high THC concentrations...can cause mild paranoia and visual and auditory distortions, but even these effects are rare and usually seen only in very inexperienced users."

"I'm now firm in my belief that marijuana is a key ingredient to happiness for a great number of people. What kind of person prevents another's responsible pursuit of happiness? Not a very humane one."

"I've smoked marijuana, I choose not to smoke marijuana, but when I smoked it the first time, you know what I thought when I smoked it the first time? I thought, "the government lied." I just think that the government should tell the truth when it comes to these drugs. Look, marijuana is safer than alcohol, and don't trust me on this but the City of Denver, five years ago, voted on the decriminalization of marijuana on a campaign based on marijuana being safer than alcohol."

"The fact that I got to be the CEO of a publicly traded company in the marijuana space, that was something that was completely unexpected. But very quickly, marijuana products medicinally compete with legal prescription drugs that statistically kill 100,000 people a year. There's not been one documented death due to marijuana. Then on the recreational side, I've always maintained that legalizing marijuana will lead to less overall substance abuse because people will find it as such a safer alternative than everything else that's out there, starting with alcohol."

"I think that marijuana should not only be legal, I think it should be a cottage industry. It would be wonderful for the state of Maine. There's some pretty good homegrown dope. I'm sure it would be even better if you could grow it with fertilizers and have greenhouses."

"One's condition on marijuana is always existential. One can feel the importance of each moment and how it is changing one. One feels one's being, one becomes aware of the enormous apparatus of nothingness — the hum of a hi-fi set, the emptiness of a pointless interruption, one becomes aware of the war between each of us, how the nothingness in each of us seeks to attack the being of others, how our being in turn is attacked by the nothingness in others."

"When you smoke herb, herb reveal yourself to you. All the wickedness you do, the herb reveal itself to yourself, your conscience, show up yourself clear, because herb make you meditate. Is only a natural t'ing and it grow like a tree."

"I smoke a fat pound of grass and fall on my ass faster than a fat bitch who sat down too fast!"

"A young boy called up and asked me if I preferred grass or astroturf … And I told him that I had never smoked astroturf. I guess that I shouldn’t have said that."

"The question arises, therefore, why cannabis is so regularly banned in countries where alcohol is permitted. [...] It may be that we can ban cannabis simply because the people who use it, or would do so, carry little weight in social matters and are relatively easy to control, whereas the alcohol user often carries plenty of weight in social matters and is difficult to control, as the U.S. prohibition era showed. It has yet to be shown, however, that the one is more socially or personally disruptive than the other."

"You know, it's a funny thing, every one of the bastards that are out for legalizing marijuana are Jewish. What the Christ is the matter with the Jews, Bob? What is the matter with them? I suppose it is because most of them are psychiatrists."

"There is a myth about such highs: the user has an illusion of great insight, but it does not survive scrutiny in the morning. I am convinced that this is an error, and that the devastating insights achieved when high are real insights; the main problem is putting these insights in a form acceptable to the quite different self that we are when we’re down the next day. Some of the hardest work I’ve ever done has been to put such insights down on tape or in writing. The problem is that ten even more interesting ideas or images have to be lost in the effort of recording one. It is easy to understand why someone might think it’s a waste of effort going to all that trouble to set the thought down, a kind of intrusion of the Protestant Ethic. But since I live almost all my life down I’ve made the effort—successfully, I think. Incidentally, I find that reasonably good insights can be remembered the next day, but only if some effort has been made to set them down another way. If I write the insight down or tell it to someone, then I can remember it with no assistance the following morning; but if I merely say to myself that I must make an effort to remember, I never do."

"That is not a drug. It's a leaf."

"Dope gets you through times with no money better than money gets you through times with no dope."

"I have always loved marijuana. It has been a source of joy and comfort to me for many years. And I still think of it as a basic staple of life, along with beer and ice and grapefruits - and millions of Americans agree with me."

"If organized religion is the opium of the masses, then disorganized religion is the marijuana of the lunatic fringe."

"Cannabis, just like morphine, has its usage in medicine. It's unpardonable that authorities forbid sick people access to this medicament and in majesty of law permit to sell cigarettes."

"Make the most of the Indian hemp seed, and sow it everywhere!"

"Some people have said that the aggressiveness that alcohol stimulates, and that is certainly the characteristic of alcohol, is consistent with Western values and Western culture, whereas, for example, the more introspective, meditative, reverie kind of state that marijuana produces, or opium produces, seems more consistent with some of the Eastern cultures than with Western cultures, and maybe some of our discomfort with those drugs has to do with that feeling that this is culturally out of sync with us."

"I had become friendly with a group of people who occasionally smoked cannabis, irregularly, but with evident pleasure. Initially I was unwilling to partake, but the apparent euphoria that cannabis produced and the fact that there was no physiological addiction to the plant eventually persuaded me to try. My initial experiences were entirely disappointing; there was no effect at all, and I began to entertain a variety of hypotheses about cannabis being a placebo which worked by expectation and hyperventilation rather than by chemistry. After about five or six unsuccessful attempts, however, it happened."

"There's a part of me making, creating the perceptions which in everyday life would be bizarre; there's another part of me which is a kind of observer. About half of the pleasure comes from the observer-part appreciating the work of the creator-part. I smile, or sometimes even laugh out loud at the pictures on the insides of my eyelids. In this sense, I suppose cannabis is psychotomimetic, but I find none of the panic or terror that accompanies some psychoses. Possibly this is because I know it's my own trip, and that I can come down rapidly any time I want to."

"The cannabis experience has greatly improved my appreciation for art, a subject which I had never much appreciated before. The understanding of the intent of the artist which I can achieve when high sometimes carries over to when I'm down. This is one of many human frontiers which cannabis has helped me traverse. There also have been some art-related insights — I don't know whether they are true or false, but they were fun to formulate."

"Cannabis also enhances the enjoyment of sex — on the one hand it gives an exquisite sensitivity, but on the other hand it postpones orgasm: in part by distracting me with the profusion of image passing before my eyes. The actual duration of orgasm seems to lengthen greatly, but this may be the usual experience of time expansion which comes with cannabis smoking."

"I do not consider myself a religious person in the usual sense, but there is a religious aspect to some highs. The heightened sensitivity in all areas gives me a feeling of communion with my surroundings, both animate and inanimate. Sometimes a kind of existential perception of the absurd comes over me and I see with awful certainty the hypocrisies and posturing of myself and my fellow men. And at other times, there is a different sense of the absurd, a playful and whimsical awareness. Both of these senses of the absurd can be communicated, and some of the most rewarding highs I've had have been in sharing talk and perceptions and humor. Cannabis brings us an awareness that we spend a lifetime being trained to overlook and forget and put out of our minds. A sense of what the world is really like can be maddening; cannabis has brought me some feelings for what it is like to be crazy, and how we use that word "crazy" to avoid thinking about things that are too painful for us. In the Soviet Union political dissidents are routinely placed in insane asylums. The same kind of thing, a little more subtle perhaps, occurs here: "did you hear what Lenny Bruce said yesterday? He must be crazy.""

"When I'm high I can penetrate into the past, recall childhood memories, friends, relatives, playthings, streets, smells, sounds, and tastes from a vanished era. I can reconstruct the actual occurrences in childhood events only half understood at the time. Many but not all my cannabis trips have somewhere in them a symbolism significant to me which I won't attempt to describe here, a kind of mandala embossed on the high. Free-associating to this mandala, both visually and as plays on words, has produced a very rich array of insights. There is a myth about such highs: the user has an illusion of great insight, but it does not survive scrutiny in the morning. I am convinced that this is an error, and that the devastating insights achieved when high are real insights; the main problem is putting these insights in a form acceptable to the quite different self that we are when we're down the next day."

"Incidentally, I find that reasonably good insights can be remembered the next day, but only if some effort has been made to set them down another way. If I write the insight down or tell it to someone, then I can remember it with no assistance the following morning; but if I merely say to myself that I must make an effort to remember, I never do. I find that most of the insights I achieve when high are into social issues, an area of creative scholarship very different from the one I am generally known for."

"I can remember the night that I suddenly realized what it was like to be crazy, or nights when my feelings and perceptions were of a religious nature. I had a very accurate sense that these feelings and perceptions, written down casually, would not stand the usual critical scrutiny that is my stock in trade as a scientist. If I find in the morning a message from myself the night before informing me that there is a world around us which we barely sense, or that we can become one with the universe, or even that certain politicians are desperately frightened men, I may tend to disbelieve; but when I'm high I know about this disbelief. And so I have a tape in which I exhort myself to take such remarks seriously. I say "Listen closely, you sonofabitch of the morning! This stuff is real!" I try to show that my mind is working clearly; I recall the name of a high school acquaintance I have not thought of in thirty years; I describe the color, typography, and format of a book in another room and these memories do pass critical scrutiny in the morning. I am convinced that there are genuine and valid levels of perception available with cannabis (and probably with other drugs) which are, through the defects of our society and our educational system, unavailable to us without such drugs. Such a remark applies not only to self-awareness and to intellectual pursuits, but also to perceptions of real people, a vastly enhanced sensitivity to facial expression, intonations, and choice of words which sometimes yields a rapport so close it's as if two people are reading each other's minds."

"My high is always reflective, peaceable, intellectually exciting, and sociable, unlike most alcohol highs, and there is never a hangover. Through the years I find that slightly smaller amounts of cannabis suffice to produce the same degree of high, and in one movie theater recently I found I could get high just by inhaling the cannabis smoke which permeated the theater. There is a very nice self-titering aspect to cannabis. Each puff is a very small dose; the time lag between inhaling a puff and sensing its effect is small; and there is no desire for more after the high is there."

"I think the ratio, R, of the time to sense the dose taken to the time required to take an excessive dose is an important quantity. R is very large for LSD (which I've never taken) and reasonably short for cannabis. Small values of R should be one measure of the safety of psychedelic drugs. When cannabis is legalized, I hope to see this ratio as one of the parameters printed on the pack. I hope that time isn't too distant; the illegality of cannabis is outrageous, an impediment to full utilization of a drug which helps produce the serenity and insight, sensitivity and fellowship so desperately needed in this increasingly mad and dangerous world."

"When I die bury me in smoke"

"Straight people don't know, what you're about They put you down and shut you out you gave to me a new belief and soon the world will love you sweet leaf"

"Smoke weed everyday"

"Cuz if at first you don't succeed, won't hurt to smoke some weed. Now them words are just a little more personal for me. Seeing as how I blew up off of puffing them trees."

"When you get a mouthful, That's Hot Lunch When you smoke a cashed bowl down too much You need to refill that with buds Fat-C, I only smoke fresh nugs."

"Let us burn one from end to end And pass it over to me my friend Burn it long, we'll burn it slow To light me up before i go"

"Excuse me while I light my spliff (spliff) Good God, I gotta take a lift (lift) From reality I just can't drift (drift) That's why I am staying with this riff (riff)"

"When the stress burns my brain just like acid raindrops, Mary Jane is the only thing that makes the pain stop."

"Let me get to the point Let's roll another joint Turn the radio loud I'm too alone to be proud."

"Panama Red, Panama Red He'll steal your woman, then he'll rob your head Panama Red, Panama Red On his white horse, Mescalito He come breezin' through town I'll bet your woman's up in bed with Panama Red"

"I smoke two joints in the morning I smoke two joints at night I smoke two joints in the afternoon It makes me feel alright I smoke two joints in time of peace And two in time of war I smoke two joints before I smoke two joints And then I smoke two more"

"You must have been high"

"You must have been so high"

"Weeping shades of indigo"

"Liar, lawyer, mirror; for you, what's the difference? Kangaroo be stoned; he's guilty as the government"

"While upon the subject of plants I may here mention a few of the more striking vegetable productions of Borneo. The wonderful Pitcher-plants, forming the genus Nepenthes of botanists, here reach their greatest development. Every mountain-top abounds with them, running along the ground, or climbing over shrubs and stunted trees; their elegant pitchers hanging in every direction. Some of these are long and slender, resembling in form the beautiful Philippine lace-sponge (Euplectella), which has now become so common; others are broad and short. Their colours are green, variously tinted and mottled with red or purple. The finest yet known were obtained on the summit of Kini-balou, in North-west Borneo. One of the broad sort, Nepenthes rajah, will hold two quarts of water in its pitcher. Another, Nepenthes Edwardsiania, has a narrow pitcher twenty inches long; while the plant itself grows to a length of twenty feet."

"This very striking species has never been confounded with any other."

"The specific epithet rajah means "King" in Malay and was named after Sir James Brooke, the Rajah of Sarawak. This large and splendid Nepenthes distinguishes itself by its peltate-tipped leaf and large pitcher with a deeply vaulted lid which is always larger than the pitcher mouth, N. rajah is rather fond of wet places like swamps or the surroundings of a water fall. Marai Parai plateau is well known as a habitat of this species. Recently other places mentioned above [the Mesilau-East River (near Mesilau Cave), the Upper Kolopis River and eastern slope of Mt. Tambuyukon] are recorded as new habitats."

"This spectacular species is the most famous of all pitcher plants. Known to catch rats, frogs and lizards as well as insects, the huge pitchers of N. rajah are unmistakable. This species was named in honour of Sir James Brooke, one of the White Rajahs of Sarawak's past. It grows only on Mount Kinabalu and Mount Tambuyukon in Sabah, though it is not rare in this area. Legend has it that this species grows only in the spray zones around waterfalls, on ultramafic soils. Although it is true that it grows on ultramafic soils, it is certainly not found in the spray zones of waterfalls, but grows in open, grassy areas within its altitudinal distribution. Generally these areas are land slips or flat ridge tops, where the soil is loose. Although rainfall may be very high in these places, excess water seems to drain away quickly, and the plants are most common at seepages which are less prone to drying out. The stems of N. rajah tend to be decumbent rather than climbing. The leaves are distinctive, as the tendril is inserted about 2 cm from the apex. Although this characteristic is more pronounced in N. rajah and N. clipeata than in other species, it is not necessarily exclusive, as mature plants of many species have slightly peltate leaves. The lower pitchers are tub-shaped and do not sit upright, but lean back against other objects. Up to one litre of fluid may be contained in a pitcher. The peristome is wide and distinctly scalloped. The lid is vaulted and very large relative to the rest of the pitcher. The exterior parts of the pitcher are scarlet to purple, while the inside is yellow to purple. All other parts are yellow-green. Upper and intermediate pitchers are rarely produced, but are smaller, less brightly coloured, and more funnel-shaped than the lower pitchers. The flowers are usually brownish-yellow in colour and, like those of many Nepenthes, have a strong sugary smell. This species seems to flower at any time of the year and hybrids between it and all other Nepenthes species on Mount Kinabalu, except N. lowii, have been recorded. There is no noticeable variation within N. rajah, and no forms or varieties have been described."

"When Hooker described this species, also discovered by Hugh Low on Mt. Kinabalu, he wrote, "This wonderful plant is certainly one of the most striking vegetable productions hitherto discovered...", and it remains so to this day. Also found on Mt. Tambuyukon, N. rajah grows along the ground as a scrambler. The large leaves are blunt and truncated, and the tendril originates from the middle underside. The enormous pitchers are oval-shaped, almost woody in texture, red to purple in color, with a large, gapping, oblique mouth. The thick, fluted peristome is blood red. The interior of the tublike traps is pale green to pink and has no waxy zone, being entirely covered with large digestive glands. The giant lid is vaulted, red above and lime green below. The pitchers can be over a foot in length, and can hold over two quarts of digestive juices, but there have been specimens known to hold four quarts. The flower spikes can also be impressive, standing as tall as four feet. Climbing stems are rare. N. rajah is the only pitcher plant truly documented as having caught rats. It is believed the mammals were in search of water when they fell in and drowned."

"The most famous of all pitcher plants is the giant N. rajah, found only on Mount Kinabalu and neighbouring Mount Tambuyukon in Sabah. The pitchers are unmistakable in appearance, being large (≤35 cm high) and ovoid in shape with a huge, vaulted lid. The peristome is expanded and scalloped at the outer edge, while the inner margin is lined with short, sharp teeth. The pitchers rest on the ground and are often reclined, leaning against surrounding objects for support. The tendril joins the leaf blade just below the tip, which is a distinctive feature. The pitchers are usually dark purple in colour while the peristome ranges from red to purple. Nepenthes rajah grows in open, grassy vegetation in sites which are permanently moist. It always grows terrestrially in serpentine soils. There are no habitats of this type along the main summit trail of Mount Kinabalu, so it is not seen by most visitors. However, a small population persists near the newly opened Mesilau Resort, and interested visitors are sometimes taken to see these plants by the staff of Kinabalu Park. Some populations of N. rajah were seriously depleted by over collection in the 1970's. However, most populations are now off-limits to visitors and lie in remote parts of Kinabalu Park. Artificial propagation of plants in Western countries has helped reduce demand for plants collected from the wild, so the long term outlook for the survival of N. rajah in the wild is comparatively good."

"Sir Joseph Hooker (1873) wrote enthusiastically of this plant: "This wonderful plant is certainly one of the most striking vegetable productions hither-to discovered, and in this respect is worthy of taking place side by side with the Rafflesia arnoldii, it hence bears the title of my friend Rajah Brooke, of whose service in its native place it may be commemorative among botanists." As rajah means ruler or king, it has been called by some the "King of Nepenthes". Many stories are woven around this plant. It probably has the largest pitchers, and both Phillipps and Lamb (1996) and St. John (1862) observed drowned rats in a pitcher with a capacity of more than two litres. This plant grows only in Sabah, on Mount Kinabalu at 1500-2600 m and Mount Tambuyukon, and seems to prefer humid zones and land slips. There are many hybrids of N. rajah, perhaps because this species flowers at any time of the year, and, with the exception N. lowii, all species on Mount Kinabalu seem to have hybridised with N. rajah. We found these huge plants on the slopes of the Mesilau Valley northeast of Kinabalu Park Headquarters, a grassy region near a waterfall, therefore providing quite a humid microclimate."

"This species grows in at least 2 distinct sub-populations, both of which are well protected by Sabah National Parks Authority. One of the populations grows in an area public access to which is strictly prohibited without permit. However, there has been a decline in population of mature individuals in the better known and less patrolled site. This is largely due to damage to habitat and plants by careless visitors rather than organised collection of plants. Nepenthes rajah has become common in cultivation in recent years as a result of the availability of inexpensive clones from tissue culture. I believe that these days commercial collection of this species from the wild is negligible."

"The durian — neither Wallace or Darwin agreed on it. Darwin said "may your worst enemies be forced to feed on it." Wallace cried "it's delicious." Darwin replied "I'm suspicious", For the flavour is scented Like papaya fermented After a fruit-eating bat has pee'd on it."

"There was a great abundance and variety of tropical fruits, but the dorian was never in evidence. It was never the season for the dorian. It was always going to arrive from Burma sometime or other, but it never did. By all accounts it was a most strange fruit, and incomparably delicious to the taste, but not to the smell. Its rind was said to exude a stench of so atrocious a nature that when a dorian was in the room even the presence of a polecat was a refreshment. We found many who had eaten the dorian, and they all spoke of it with a sort of rapture. They said that if you could hold your nose until the fruit was in your mouth a sacred joy would suffuse you from head to foot that would make you oblivious to the smell of the rind, but that if your grip slipped and you caught the smell of the rind before the fruit was in your mouth, you would faint. There is a fortune in that rind. Some day somebody will import it into Europe and sell it for cheese."

"One day when I was practicing chanting in my temple in Vietnam, there was a durian on the altar that had been offered to the Buddha. I was trying to recite the Lotus Sutra, using a wooden drum and a large bowl-shaped bell for accompaniment, but I could not concentrate at all. I finally carried the bell to the altar and turned it upside down to imprison the durian, so I could chant the sutra. After I finished, I bowed to the Buddha and liberated the durian. If you were to say to me, "Thây, I love you so much I would like you to eat some of this durian," I would suffer. You love me, you want me to be happy, but you force me to eat durian. That is an example of love without understanding. Your intention is good, but you don't have the correct understanding."

"For example, imagine part of a review of literature on the theological significance (tongue-in-cheek, of course) of the durian, that Asian fruit that has only lovers and haters: "Professor Adriel Sandoval, in agreement with Yeng Ka Seng and Komarno, states that durian will be the fruit of the tree of life. (References tor all three) Sandoval goes so far as to suggest that only the durian could have been tempting enough to Adam and Eve to cause them to disobey God's instructions, (Reference) In clear opposition to his position is that of Vasince Suvonapong, who claims that durian came into being only after the fall, once decay and decomposition had set in. (Reference)""

"I have been spending a small fortune in durians, they are relatively cheap and very good this season in Singapore. Like all the good things in Nature--tempests, breakers, sunsets, &c. durian is indescribable. It is meat and drink and an unrivalled delicacy besides, and you may gorge to repletion and never have cause for penitence. It is the one case where Nature has tried her hand at the culinary art and beaten all the CORDON BLEUE out of heaven and earth. Would to Heaven she had been more lavish of her essays! "Though all durians are, perhaps, much alike and not divided like apples and mangoes into varieties, the flavour varies much according to size and ripeness. In some the taste of the custard surrounding the heart-like seeds rises almost to the height of passion, rapture, or mild delirium. Yesterday (21st June, 1907) about 2 p.m. I devoured the contents of a fruit weighing over 10 lb. At 6 p.m. I was too sleepy to eat anything, and thence had twelve hours of almost unbroken slumber."

"Most disgusting of all was the rush [by starving POWs] for the durian nuts [discarded by the Japanese guards]. Of all the fruits in the world, the durian is surely one of the most delicious. Growing on high trees, about the size of a melon, it contains within its tough prickly exterior, kernels the size of chestnuts, surrounded by a soft, sticky, whitish substance. It is this latter substance that possesses the truly wonderful, but indescribable taste, approaching nearest to a concoction of banana and sweetened condensed milk with a haunting flavour that might be onions but which is not. The drawback of the durian is its smell, not only existing in the fruit but residual - stronger by far than pickled onions - so that Europeans never eat them normally, except when out of contact with their countrymen or at special durian parties. The natives believe them to harbour aphrodisiac properties. Perhaps that is why the Japanese ate them. .... However, they enjoyed the fruit. Having sucked away the sticky flesh, they spat out the nuts. Thereupon a few men, mainly the garbage fiends, [the men who scavenged for food on rubbish heaps] would scramble for them. Sometimes they even transferred the nuts straight to their own mouths .... always the nuts were, for ultimate consumption, later baked over a fire."

"[The] durian, of all tropical fruits the most captivating. The unopened fruit was about the siza and shape of a rugby ball; a ball covered with pyramidal spikes which presented a formidable obstacle to entry. Inspection revealed that the outer casing was segmented, and a parang [a type of long, machete-like knife]] inserted between two segemnts could prise the fruit open to reveal within each segment large seeds, coated thickly with an amber creamy flesh, tasting of almonds, bad drains and methylated spirits. The initial reaction was one of revulsion but those who went on to taste were lost forever, hooked for life. And durian was more than a delicacy: it was a meal in itself, rich in everything the body needed."

"Dear Reader, if you chance to catch a sight Of Upas Trees, betake yourself to flight."

"Concealing the mad-woman's neighbourhood from you, however, was something like covering a child with a cloak and laying it down near an upas-tree: that demon's vicinage is poisoned, and always was."

"The harmony of things, – this hard decree, This uneradicable taint of sin, This boundless upas, this all-blasting tree, Whose root is earth, whose leaves and branches be"

"Look up! the proof is round you written large; Your Faith is in the balance wanting found; Your shipless seas confess it; bridgeless streams; Your wasted wealth of ore, and moor, and bay. Beneath the Upas shade of Faith depraved All things lie dead -- wealth, comfort, freedom, power."

"On the blasted heath Fell Upas sits, the hydra-tree of death."

"‘When you first came upon me, sir, in the Lodge, this day, more as if an Upas tree had been made a capture of than a private defendant, such mingled streams of feelings broke loose again within me, that everything was for the first few minutes swept away before them, and I was going round and round in a vortex...'"

"sun had set upon him; that the billows had rolled over him; that the car of Juggernaut had crushed him, and also that the deadly Upas tree of Java had blighted him."

"When the world was young and men were weak, and the fiends of the night walked free, I strove with Set by fire and steel and the juice of the upas-tree;"

"In the valley of Nis the accursed waning moon shines thinly, tearing a path for its light with feeble horns through the lethal foliage of a great upas-tree."

"Farther on, there frowned a grove of blended banian boughs, thick-ranked manchineels, and many a upas; their summits gilded by the sun; but below, deep shadows, darkening night-shade ferns, and mandrakes."

"Jerry," said Roger, "You are a upas tree. Your shadow is poisonous!"

"the juices of these plants have been mixed with the poisonous pitch of the upas tree."

"I fear my upas roots have led me out of bounds."

"If you... go on killing everyone you meet till people begin to think you're first cousin to an upas tree, naturally you're found out in the end."

"There Good, a faithless gardener of God, Watered with virtue the world's upas-tree And, careful of the outward word and act, Engrafted his hypocrite blooms on native ill."

"What's the tree I read about somewhere that does you in if you sit under it?", to which Jeeves replies, "The upas tree, sir." Bertie rejoins, "She's a female upas tree. It's not safe to come near her."

"No bird flies near, no tiger creeps; alone the whirlwind, wild and black, assails the tree of death and sweeps away with death upon its back."

"This little girl inside me Is retreating to her favourite place. Go into the garden. Go under the ivy, Under the leaves, Away from the party. Go right to the rose. Go right to the white rose (For me.)"

"Oh roses for the flush of youth, And laurel for the perfect prime; But pluck an ivy branch for me Grown old before my time."

"The holly and the ivy, When they are both full grown, Of all the trees that are in the wood The holly bears the crown."

"I see that God is in all creatures, man and beast, fish and fowl, and every green thing from the highest cedar to the ivy on the wall; and that God is the life and being of them all, and that God doth really dwell, and (if you will) personally (if he may admit so low an expression) in them all, and hath his being no where else out of the creatures . . ."

"Well might the thoughtful race of old With ivy twine the head Of him they hailed their god of wine — Thank God ! the lie is dead; For ivy climbs the crumbling hall To decorate decay; And spreads its dark deceitful pall To hide what wastes away."

"That headlong ivy! not a leaf will grow But thinking of a wreath, Large leaves, smooth leaves, Serrated like my vines, and half as green. I like such ivy, bold to leap a height Twas strong to climb! as good to grow on graves As twist about a thyrsus, pretty too (And that's not ill) when twisted round a comb."

"Walls must get the weather stain Before they grow the ivy."

"The rugged trees are mingling Their flowery sprays in love, The ivy climbs the laurel To clasp the boughs above."

"As creeping ivy clings to wood or stone, And hides the ruin that it feeds upon."

"Oh, a dainty plant is the ivy green, That creepeth o'er ruins old! Of right choice food are his meals I ween, In. his cell so lone and cold * * * * Creeping where no life is seen, A rare old plant is the ivy green"

"Direct The clasping ivy where to climb."

"On my velvet couch reclining, Ivy leaves my brow entwining. While my soul expands with glee, What are kings and crowns to me?"

"Bring, bring the madding Bay, the drunken vine, The creeping, dirty, courtly Ivy join"

"Round broken columns clasping ivy twin'd"

"Where round some mould'ring tow'r pale ivy creeps, And low-brow'd rocks hang nodding o'er the deeps"

"Nothing is more pleasant to the eye than green grass kept finely shorn."

"The grass is always greener over the septic tank."

"Gather leaves and grasses, Love, to-day; For the Autumn passes Soon away. Chilling winds are blowing. It will soon be snowing."

"Knowing trees, I understand the meaning of patience. Knowing grass, I can appreciate persistence."

"There is not one little blade of grass, there is no color in this world that is not intended to make men rejoice."

"If grass can grow through cement, love can find you at every time in your life."

"That the trees are high and the grasses short is a mere accident of our own foot-rules and our own stature. But to the spirit which has stripped off for a moment its own idle temporal standards the grass is an everlasting forest, with dragons for denizens; the stones of the road are as incredible mountains piled one upon the other; the dandelions are like gigantic bonfires illuminating the lands around; and the heath-bells on their stalks are like planets hung in heaven each higher than the other."

"Each blade of grass has its spot on earth whence it draws its life, its strength; and so is man rooted to the land from which he draws his faith together with his life."

"THE GRASS so little has to do,— A sphere of simple green, With only butterflies to brood, And bees to entertain, And stir all day to pretty tunes The breezes fetch along, And hold the sunshine in its lap And bow to everything."

"You could cover the whole world with asphalt, but sooner or later green grass would break through."

"The grass is not, in fact, always greener on the other side of the fence. Fences have nothing to do with it. The grass is greenest where it is watered. When crossing over fences, carry water with you and tend the grass wherever you may be."

"All flesh is grass, and the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: The grass witherith, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass."

"It is of the nature of idea to be communicated: written, spoken, done. The idea is like grass. It craves light, likes crowds, thrives on crossbreeding, grows better for being stepped on."

"Pile the bodies high at Austerlitz and Waterloo. Shovel them under and let me work — I am the grass; I cover all."

"We trample grass and prize the flowers of May, Yet grass is green when flowers do fade away."

"The virtues of a superior man are like the wind; the virtues of a common man are like the grass – I the grass, when the wind passes over it, bends."

"We should be blessed if we lived in the present always, and took advantage of every accident that befell us, like the grass which confesses the influence of the slightest dew that falls on it."

"A child said What is the grass? fetching it to me with full hands; How could I answer the child? I do not know what it is any more than he. I guess it must be the flag of my disposition, out of hopeful green stuff woven."

"I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey work of the stars."

"She bid me take life easy, as the grass grows on the weirs; But I was young and foolish, and now am full of tears."

"The scented wild-weeds and enamell'd moss."

"Grass grows at last above all graves."

"We say of the oak, "How grand of girth!" Of the willow we say, "How slender!" And yet to the soft grass clothing the earth How slight is the praise we render."

"A blade of grass is always a blade of grass, whether in one country or another."

"The green grass floweth like a stream Into the ocean's blue."

"O'er the smooth enamell'd green Where no print of step hath been."

"And pile them high at Gettysburg And pile them high at Ypres and Verdun. Shovel them under and let me work. ** * I am the grass. Let me work."

"While the grass grows— The proverb is something musty."

"How lush and lusty the grass looks! how green!"

"Whylst grass doth grow, oft sterves the seely steede."

"Are you going to Scarborough Fair? Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme, Remember me to one who lives there, He (she) once was a true love of mine."

"Thine eyes are springs in whose serene And silent waters heaven is seen. Their lashes are the herbs that look On their young figures in the brook."

"Dreary rosmarye That always mourns the dead."

"I pray your Highness mark this curious herb: Touch it but lightly, stroke it softly, Sir, And it gives forth an odor sweet and rare; But crush it harshly and you'll make a scent Most disagreeable."

"The basil tuft, that waves Its fragrant blossom over graves."

"The humble rosemary Whose sweets so thanklessly are shed To scent the desert and the dead."

"There is an herb named in Latine Convolvulus (i. e. with wind), growing among shrubs and bushes, which carrieth a flower not unlike to this Lilly, save that it yeeldeth no smell nor hath those chives within; for whitenesse they resemble one another very much, as if Nature in making this floure were a learning and trying her skill how to frame the Lilly indeed."

"In the nice bee, what sense so subtly true From pois'nous herbs extracts the healing dew?"

"There's rosemary, that's for remembrance."

"I know a bank where the wild thyme blows."

"Mrs. Lovett: What's my secret, frankly dear forgive my candor, family secret all to do with herbs, things like being careful with your coriander, that's what makes the gravy grander."

"The Kingdom of Heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field: which indeed is the least of all seeds: but, when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof."

"The sweet mouth gathers sweet herbs."

"Oregano is the spice of life."

"Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?"

"Show me your garden, provided it be your own, and I will tell you what you are like."

"Exclusiveness in a garden is a mistake as great as it is in society."

"Si hortum in bibliotheca habes, nihil deerit."

"God the first garden made, and the first city, Cain."

"My garden painted o'er With Nature's hand, not Art's."

"Who loves a garden, loves a greenhouse too."

"The is clearly more popular than ever, almost certainly because of its informal approach, the profusion of flowers, and the dreamy ambience. Of particular concern in our modern era, cottage gardens also offer great biodiversity. They are good places for human, animal, and insect life."

"We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die."

"It is not ponderable things alone that are found in gardens, but the great wonder of life, the peace of nature, the influences of sunsets and seasons and of all the tangible things to which we can give no name, not because they are small, but because they are outside the compass of our speech. In the great legend of the Fall the spiritual disaster of Man is symbolised by his exclusion from a garden, and the moral tragedy of modern industrialism is only the repetition of that ancient fable. Man lost his garden, and with it that tranquillity of soul that is found in gardens."

"Bright, big-blossomed roses delight the eye, herbs provide s for all ailments, berry bushes supply fruit for s, vegetables go into the indispensable evening soup, and many exotic plants, gifts from long ago, revert to their primal condition."

"The biggest challenge, I think, and this is probably true for all s, is insects, bugs. I somehow started off thinking oh, I won’t have to deal with any insects because my garden will be inside. But insects really, you know, don’t care about that. It just takes one to make it inside, and they don’t have any natural predators, and one becomes a million. That was a constant, constant struggle. I ended up getting beneficial bugs to combat the bad bugs but, especially indoors, that’s a lot of bugs."

"A garden is a nursery for nurturing connection, the soil for cultivation of practical reverence. And its power goes far beyond the garden gate—once you develop a relationship with a little patch of earth, it becomes a seed itself."

"How well the skilful Gardner drew Of flow’rs and herbs this Dial new; Where from above the milder Sun Does through a fragrant Zodiack run; And, as it works, th’ industrious Bee Computes its time as well as we. How could such sweet and wholsome Hours Be reckon’d but with herbs and flow’rs!"

"’Tis all enforced, the fountain and the grot, While the sweet fields do lie forgot: Where willing nature does to all dispense A wild and fragrant innocence: And fauns and fairies do the meadows till, More by their presence than their skill. Their statues, polished by some ancient hand, May to adorn the gardens stand: But howsoe’er the figures do excel, The gods themselves with us do dwell."

"The most beautiful of all gardens is assuredly not that which is rather forest or field than garden, the 'landscape garden' of a false taste; nor, on the other hand, the shaven and trimmed and weeded parterre with an unstarred lawn; but rather the garden long ago strictly planned, rigidly ordered, architecturally piled, smooth and definite, but later set free, given over to time and the sun; not a wilderness, but having an enclosed wilderness, a directed liberty, a designed magnificence and excess."

"In laying out a garden, the first and chief thing to be considered is the genius of the place."

"To build, to plant, whatever you intend, To rear the column, or the arch to bend, To swell the terrace, or to sink the grot, In all, let Nature never be forgot."

"Consult the genius of the place in all, That tells the waters or to rise, or fall, Or helps th'ambitious hill the heav'ns to scale, Or scoops in circling theatres the vale, Calls in the country, catches opening glades, Joins willing woods, and varies shades from shades, Now breaks, or now directs, th'intending lines, Paints as you plant, and, as you work, designs."

"Grove nods at grove, each alley has a brother, And half the platform just reflects the other. The suff'ring eye inverted nature sees, Trees cut in statues, statues thick as trees; With here a fountain never to be play'd, And there a summer-house that knows no shade."

"Nothing is more completely the child of art than a garden."

"A gardener's greatest skill isn't control, or planning, or power... It's listening. The plants know exactly what to do, and will tell you what they need to do it. All you must do is listen......and provide."

"Come into the garden, Maud, For the black bat, night, has flown."

"We have descended into the garden and caught 300 slugs. How I love the mixture of the beautiful and squalid in gardening. It makes it so like life."

"Once again, I experienced that overwhelming joy in the universe that I had felt in London outside the V and A. But this time, my consciousness of the world seemed larger, more complex. It was the mystic's sensation of oneness, of everything blending into everything else. Everything I looked at reminded me of something else, which also became present to my consciousness, as if I were simultaneously seeing a million worlds and smelling a million scents and hearing a million sounds—not mixed up, but each separate and clear. I was overwhelmed with a sense of my smallness in the face of this vast, beautiful, objective universe, this universe whose chief miracle is that it exists, as well as myself. It is no dream, but a great garden in which life is trying to obtain a foothold. I experienced a desire to burst into tears of gratitude; then I controlled it, and the feeling subsided into a calm sense of immense, infinite beauty."

"[N]one but a poet could have made such a garden."

"There was a man named Lessingham dwelt in an old low house in Wastdale, set in a gray old garden where yew-trees flourished that had seen Vikings in Copeland in their seedling time. Lily and rose and larkspur bloomed in the borders, and begonias with blossoms big as saucers, red and white and pink and lemon-colour, in the beds before the porch. Climbing roses, honeysuckle, clematis, and the scarlet flame-flower scrambled up the walls. Thick woods were on every side without the garden, with a gap north-eastward opening on the desolate lake and the great fells beyond it: Gable rearing his crag-bound head against the sky from behind the straight clean outline of the Screes.Cool long shadows stole across the tennis lawn. The air was golden. Doves murmured in the trees; two chaffinches played on the near post of the net; a little water-wagtail scurried along the path. A French window stood open to the garden, showing darkly a dining-room panelled with old oak, its Jacobean table bright with flowers and silver and cut glass and Wedgwood dishes heaped with fruit: greengages, peaches, and green muscat grapes. Lessingham lay back in a hammock-chair watching through the blue smoke of an after-dinner cigar the warm light on the Gloire de Dijon roses that clustered about the bedroom window overhead. He had her hand in his. This was their House."

"God Almighty first planted a garden."

"My garden is a lovesome thing—God wot! Rose plot, Fringed pool, Fern grot— The veriest school Of peace; and yet the fool Contends that God is not.— Not God in gardens! When the sun is cool? Nay, but I have a sign! 'Tis very sure God walks in mine."

"My garden is a forest ledge Which older forests bound; The banks slope down to the blue lake-edge, Then plunge to depths profound!"

"One is nearer God's heart in a garden Than anywhere else on earth."

"An album is a garden, not for show Planted, but use; where wholesome herbs should grow."

"I walk down the garden paths, And all the daffodils Are blowing, and the bright blue squills. I walk down the patterned garden-paths In my stiff, brocaded gown. With my powdered hair, and jewelled fan, I too am a rare Pattern. As I wander down The garden paths."

"And add to these retired Leisure, That in trim gardens takes his pleasure."

"A little garden square and wall'd; And in it throve an ancient evergreen, A yew-tree, and all round it ran a walk Of shingle, and a walk divided it."

"The garden lies, A league of grass, wash'd by a slow broad stream."

"The splash and stir Of fountains spouted up and showering down In meshes of the jasmine and the rose: And all about us peal'd the nightingale, Rapt in her song, and careless of the snare."

"A little garden Little Jowett made, And fenced it with a little palisade; If you would know the mind of little Jowett, This little garden don't a little show it."

"Green, slender, leaf-clad holly-boughs Were twisted gracefu' round her brows, I took her for some Scottish Muse, By that same token, An' come to stop those reckless vows, Would soon be broken."

"All green was vanished save of pine and yew, That still displayed their melancholy hue; Save the green holly with its berries red, And the green moss that o'er the gravel spread."

"Those hollies of themselves a shape As of an arbor took."

"And as, when all the summer trees are seen So bright and green, The Holly leaves a sober hue display Less bright than they, But when the bare and wintry woods we see, What then so cheerful as the Holly-tree?"

"O Reader! hast thou ever stood to see The Holly-tree? The eye that contemplates it well perceives Its glossy leaves Ordered by an Intelligence so wise As might confound the Atheist's sophistries."

"A crown of olives on his helm he had, As if in peace and war he were adrad."

"... Olives luxuriate in limestone regions; from one to ten s are yielded by each tree in good seasons, while the only mathematics the Spanish seem to know are the straight lines in which they plant them. An of such trees will produce over three hundred s of olive oil, consumed in amounts of nearly five s per head annually."

"See there the olive grove of Academe, Plato's retirement, where the Attic bird Trills her thick-warbled notes the summer long."

"On our way to we saw the olive-gathering just beginning; but alas! it had none of gaiety and bright associations of the vintage. On the contrary, it was as business-like and unexciting as weeding onions, or digging potatoes. A set of ragged peasants—the country people hereabouts are poorly dressed—were clambering barefoot in the trees, each man with a basket tied before him, and lazily plucking the dull oily fruit. Occasionally, the olive-gatherers had spread a white cloth beneath the tree, and were shaking the very ripe fruit down; but there was neither jollity nor romance about the process. The olive is a tree of association, but that is all. Its culture, its manuring, and clipping, and trimming, and the grafting—the gathering of its fruits, and their squeezing in the mill, when the ponderous stone goes round and round in the glutinous trough, crushing the very essence out of the oily pulps—while the fat, oleaginous stream pours lazily into the greasy vessels set to receive it;—all this is as prosaic and uninteresting as if the whole were presiding in spirit over the operations."

"Chemically, table olives are dissimilar to most other fruits consumed as part of the . They have a very low sugar content compared to many other s such as s or . Table olives are a variable food, ranging considerably in colour, flavour, texture, and taste. Outside of the olive-growing areas, the consumption of oil depended upon wealth, personal taste, proximity to military sites, proximity to large urban centres and accessibility to trade routes. Ancient historians and scientists alike are interested in understanding the relationship between volumes of consumption and human health. The modern-day is often lauded for its health benefits. It has been found to generate long life expectancies and people who adhere to the diet have very low incidences of heart disease, cancer and rheumatoid arthritis."

"My club, a beetling olive's stalwart trunk And shapely, still environed in its bark: This hand had torn from holiest The tree entire, with all its fibrous roots."

"O that I were lying under the olives, Lying alone among the anemones! Shell-colour’d blossoms they bloom there and scarlet, Far under stretches of silver woodland, Flame in the delicate shade of the olives."

"And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off; so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth."

"1 is every one that feareth the ; that walketh in his ways. 2 For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee. 3 Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house; thy children like olive plants round thy table. 4 Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the ."

"Bryophytes therefore can reveal information about how the first plants adapted in their conquest of the terrestrial environment"

"Plants and plant-eaters co-evolved. And plants aren't the passive partners in the chain of terrestrial life. Hence today's Pop Ecology movement is quite wrong in believing that plants are happy to fill their role as fodder for herbivores in a harmonious and perfectly balanced ecosystem. A birch tree doesn't feel cosmic fulfillment when a moose munches its leaves; the tree species, in fact, evolves to fight the moose, to keep the animal's munching lips away from vulnerable young leaves and twigs. In the final analysis, the merciless hand of natural selection will favor the birch genes that make the tree less and less palatable to the moose in generation after generation. No plant species could survive for long by offering itself as unprotected fodder."

""Or he might say: 'Whereas some honorable recluses and brahmins, while living on food offered by the faithful, continuously cause damage to seed and plant life — to plants propagated from roots, stems, joints, buddings, and seeds — the recluse Gotama abstains from damaging seed and plant life.'"

"A woodland in full color is awesome as a forest fire, in magnitude at least, but a single tree is like a dancing tongue of flame to warm the heart."

"The shad-bush, white with flowers, Brightened the glens; the new leaved butternut And quivering poplar to the roving breeze Gave a balsamic fragrance."

"Many wild plants are appropriate in gardens. In fact, a large number of the plants we regard as are actually plants imported from other countries as garden flowers, which have escaped into the wild, liked the environment, and naturalized themselves. And many a garden plant, fine in one spot, can be an unwelcome guest in another. Even the right plant in the right spot can be weedy if there's too much of it; in that case you must weed it out along with the , , and . (Why do weeds always have the best names?)"

"The flower is the poetry of reproduction. It is an example of the eternal seductiveness of life."

"I think that I shall never see/ A poem lovely as a tree."

"Losing a plant can threaten a culture in much the same way as losing a language. [...] The history of the plants is inextricably tied up with the history of the people, with the forces of destruction and creation."

"Plants are the first restoration ecologists. They are using their gifts for healing the land, showing us the way."

"it worries me greatly that today’s children can recognize 100 corporate logos and fewer than 10 plants."

"In addition to such wholly separable types of causation, science has still to deal with the interaction of vitalistic and mechanistic causes. It is in the discussion of influences interacting between complex and simple energy units that the greatest confusions and conflicts of scientific analysis arise. For instance, let us suppose that science is called upon to describe the plant growing in a field. It can be shown definitely that the soil is delivering a continuous series of chemical stimuli to the plant. It is equally ascertainable that the plant reacts to these stimuli with a series of reactions peculiar to its own inherent nature. Some of these plant responses will result in the delivery of counter stimuli to the soil and some will not. Those influences which are exercises by the plant over the soil will, for the most part, alter the soil in ways determined by the chemical power of the plant. In so far, therefore, as soil and plant interchange influences, it may fairly be said that the more complex units of energy composing the plant will dominate the interplay of causal forces. But, as we have noted, there will be many changes in the plant, as a result of reactions to soil stimuli, which will not direct any influence back toward the earth. Where these plant changes directed by the soil to its own ultimate benefit, then we might clearly assume that the simpler form of energy was in causal control of the more complex energy unit. That is to say if the soil were able to use the more complex energy of the plant to effect its own enlargement, simply by stimulating the plant to act according to the plant’s own principles of action, we might conclude that, after all, the balance of control lay with the simpler unit of energy. This would amount to the philosophical admission that mechanistic causation holds the balance of power. But such does not appear to be the case. Though stimulated to action by the soil, the plant reacts with its own energy according to its own innate principles of action, and with reaction tendencies designed for its own ultimate benefit. With innate power to develop spontaneously throughout its own life cycle, with a balance of power of interaction capable of changing the soil more radically than the soil can change it, and, finally, with a structure designed in such a way as always to react for its own benefit when stimulated to action by the soil, we are forced to conclude that the plant is a more potent generator of effective causes than the soil."

"The gadding vine."

"There is that in the glance of a flower which may at times control the greatest of creation's braggart lords."

"Plants will react quite sharply to an abortion. The fetus, however, will also react to the death of an animal in the family, and will be acquainted with the unconscious psychic relationships within the family long before it reaches the sixth month. The plants in a house are also quite aware of the growing fetus; the plants will also pick up the fact that a member of the family is ill, often in advance of physical symptoms. They are that sensitive to the consciousness within cellular structure. Plants will also know whether a fetus is male or female."

"A Sensitive Plant in a garden grew, And the young winds fed it with silver dew, And it opened its fan-like leaves to the light, And clothed them beneath the kisses of night."

"For the Sensitive Plant has no bright flower; Radiance and odour are not its dower; It loves, even like Love, its deep heart is full, It desires what it has not, the beautiful."

"Pun-provoking thyme."

"Trees are the earth's endless effort to speak to the listening heaven."

"Some to the holly hedge Nestling repair; and to the thicket some; Some to the rude protection of the thorn."

"One morning just after sunrise: The first flower ever to appear on the planet opens up to receive the rays of the sun. Prior to this momentous event that heralds an evolutionary transformation in the life of plants, the planet had already been covered in vegetation for millions of years... Much later, those delicate and fragrant beings we call flowers would come to play an essential part in the evolution of consciousness of another species. Humans would increasingly be drawn to and fascinated by them. As the consciousness of human beings developed, flowers were most likely the first thing they came to value that had no utilitarian purpose for them, that is to say, was not linked in some way to survival. They provided inspiration to countless artists, poets, and mystics..."

"Using the word enlightenment in a wider sense than the conventionally accepted one, we could look upon flowers as the enlightenment of plants... they are, of course, temporary manifestations of the underlying one Life, one Consciousness. Their special significance and the reason why humans feel such fascination for and affinity with them can be attributed to their ethereal quality."

"Us sing and dance, make faces and give flower bouquets, trying to be loved. You ever notice that trees do everything to git attention we do, except walk?"

"Our indigenous herbalists say to pay attention when plants come to you; they’re bringing you something you need to learn."

"In some Native languages the term for plants translates to “those who take care of us."

"People have forgotten that plants were once regarded as our oldest teachers"

"when you know the plants, you just feel more at home wherever you go"

"To me the meanest flower that blows can give/ Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears."

"I'll seek a four-leaved shamrock in all the fairy dells, And if I find the charmèd leaves, oh, how I'll weave my spells!"

"O, the Shamrock, the green, immortal Shamrock! Chosen leaf Of Bard and Chief, Old Erin's native Shamrock."

"Beneath the milk-white thorn that scents the evening gale."

"Yet, all beneath the unrivall'd rose, The lowly daisy sweetly blows; Tho' large the forest's monarch throws His army shade, Yet green the juicy hawthorn grows, Adown the glade."

"The hawthorn-bush, with seats beneath the shade For talking age and whispering lovers made!"

"And every shepherd tells his tale Under the hawthorn in the dale."

"Gives not the hawthorn-bush a sweeter shade To shepherds looking on their silly sheep Than doth a rich embroider'd canopy To kings that fear their subjects' treachery?"

"In hawthorn-time the heart grows light."

"The Hawthorn whitens; and the juicy Groves Put forth their buds, unfolding by degrees, Till the whole leafy Forest stands displayed, In full luxuriance, to the sighing gales."

"There is a Thorn,—it looks so old, In truth, you'd find it hard to say How it could ever have been young, It looks so old and gray. Not higher than a two years child It stands erect, this aged Thorn; No leaves it has, no prickly points; It is a mass of knotted joints, A wretched thing forlorn. It stands erect, and like a stone With lichens is it overgrown."

"The hawthorn-trees blow in the dew of the morning."

"The hawthorn I will pu' wi' its lock o' siller gray, Where, like an aged man, it stands at break o' day."

"Yet walk with me where hawthorns hide The wonders of the lane."

"Then sing by turns, by turns the Muses sing; Now hawthorns blossom."

"Weeds don't know they're weeds."

"Call us not weeds, we are flowers of the sea."

"Great weeds do grow apace."

"Still must I on, for I am as a weed, Flung from the rock, on Ocean's foam, to sail Where'er the surge may sweep."

"An ill weed grows apace."

"In the deep shadow of the porch A slender bind-weed springs, And climbs, like airy acrobat, The trellises, and swings And dances in the golden sun In fairy loops and rings."

"The wolfsbane I should dread."

"To win the secret of a weed's plain heart."

"The richest soil, if uncultivated, produces the rankest weeds."

"Nothing teems But hateful docks, rough thistles, kecksies, burs, Losing both beauty and utility."

"Now 'tis the spring, and weeds are shallow-rooted; Suffer them now, and they'll o'ergrow the garden And choke the herbs for want of husbandry."

"I will go root away The noisome weeds which without profit suck The soil's fertility from wholesome flowers."

"Small herbs have grace, great weeds do grow apace."

"The summer's flower is to the summer sweet, Though to itself it only live and die, But if that flower with base infection meet, The basest weed outbraves his dignity; For sweetest things turn sourest by their deeds; Lilies that fester smell far worse than weeds."

"Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them."

"I'll tell you why I like the cigarette business. It cost a penny to make. Sell it for a dollar. It's addictive. And there's a fantastic brand loyalty."

"He who doth not smoke hath either known no great griefs, or refuseth himself the softest consolation, next to that which comes from heaven."

"Woman in this scale, the weed in that, Jupiter, hang out thy balance, and weigh them both; and if thou give the preference to woman, all I can say is, the next time Juno ruffles thee—O Jupiter, try the weed."

"Tobacco, divine, rare superexcellent tobacco, which goes far beyond all panaceas, potable gold and philosopher's stones, a sovereign remedy to all diseases."

"After he had administer'd a dose Of snuff mundungus to his nose; And powder'd th' inside of his skull, Instead of th' outward jobbernol, He shook it with a scornful look On th' adversary, and thus he spoke."

"Divine in hookas, glorious in a pipe When tipp'd with amber, mellow, rich, and ripe; … Yet thy true lovers more admire by far Thy naked beauties - give me a cigar!"

"I'm gettin' tired of guys who smoke pipes. When are they gonna outlaw this shit? Guy with a fuckin' pipe! It's an arrogant thing to place a burning barrier between you and the rest of the world. It's supposed to imply thoughtfulness or intelligence. It's not intelligent to stand around with a controlled fire sticking out of your mouth. I say, "Hey, professor! You want somethin' hot to suck on? Call me! I'll give ya somethin' to put in your mouth!" I think these pipe-smokers oughta just move to the next level and go ahead and suck a dick. There's nothing wrong with suckin' dicks. Men do it, women do it; can't be all bad if everybody's doin' it. I say, Drop the pipe, and go to the dick! That's my advice. I'm here to help."

"Haven't we had about enough of this cigar smoking shit? When are these fat, arrogant, overfed, white-collar business criminals going to extinguish their cigars and move along to their next abomination? Soft, white, business pussies suckin' on a big brown dick. That's all it is, folks, a big, brown dick. You know, Freud used to say, "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar." Yeah? Well, sometimes it's a big brown dick! With a fat, criminal business asshole sucking on the wet end of it! But, hey. The news is not all bad for me. Not all bad. Want to hear the good part? Cancer of the mouth. Good! Fuck 'em! Makes me happy; it's an attractive disease. So light up, suspender-man, and suck that smoke deep down into your empty suit. And blow it out your ass, you miserable cocksucker!"

"As the most powerful state, the U.S. makes its own laws, using force and conducting economic warfare at will. It also threatens sanctions against countries that do not abide by its conveniently flexible notions of "free trade." In one important case, Washington has employed such threats with great effectiveness (and GATT approval) to force open Asian markets for U.S. tobacco exports and advertising, aimed primarily at the growing markets of women and children. The U.S. Agriculture Department has provided grants to tobacco firms to promote smoking overseas. Asian countries have attempted to conduct educational anti-smoking campaigns, but they are overwhelmed by the miracles of the market, reinforced by U.S. state power through the sanctions threat. Philip Morris, with an advertising and promotion budget of close to $9 billion in 1992, became China's largest advertiser. The effect of Reaganite sanction threats was to increase advertising and promotion of cigarette smoking (particularly U.S. brands) quite sharply in Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea, along with the use of these lethal substances. In South Korea, for example, the rate of growth in smoking more than tripled when markets for U.S. lethal drugs were opened in 1988. The Bush Administration extended the threats to Thailand, at exactly the same time that the "war on drugs" was declared; the media were kind enough to overlook the coincidence, even suppressing the outraged denunciations by the very conservative Surgeon-General. Oxford University epidemiologist Richard Peto estimates that among Chinese children under 20 today, 50 million will die of cigarette-related diseases, an achievement that ranks high even by 20th century standards."

"The pipe, with solemn interposing puff, Makes half a sentence at a time enough; The dozing sages drop the drowsy strain, Then pause, and puff—and speak, and pause again."

"Pernicious weed! whose scent the fair annoys Unfriendly to society's chief joys, Thy worst effect is banishing for hours The sex whose presence civilizes ours."

"Tobacco was the major model used to establish the principals and methods of plant somatic cell genetics including in vitro propagation of cells and tissues, totipotency of somatic cells, doubled haploid production and genetic transformation."

"The money expended for liquor and tobacco is the difference between a young man making a success in life and making a failure."

"Tobacco is a dirty weed. I like it. It satisfies no normal need. I like it. It makes you thin, it makes you lean, It takes the hair right off your bean. It’s the worst darn stuff I’ve ever seen. I like it."

"I am convinced that if I had been a smoker I would never have been able to withstand the worries that have burdened me for so long. Perhaps thanks to that the German people owes its salvation to me. Original: Ich bin überzeugt, wenn ich Raucher gewesen wäre, nie würde ich den Sorgen standgehalten haben, die mich seit so langer Zeit belasten. Vielleicht verdankt dem das deutsche Volk mir seine Rettung."

"Indeed, without tobacco it is doubtful whether the Virginia colony could have survived at all. Initially all the authorities, at home and abroad, were against tobacco farming, largely because King James I hated the “weed,” thinking it “tending to general and new Corruption both of Men’s Bodies and Manners.” Governor Dale actually legislated against it in 1616, ordering that only one acre could be laid down to tobacco for every two of corn. It proved impossible to enforce. By the next year tobacco was being laid down even in Jamestown itself, in the streets and market-place. Men reckoned that, for the same amount of labor, tobacco yielded six times as much as any other crop. It was grown close to the banks of many little rivers, such as the James, the York, and the Rappahannock. Every small plantation had its own riverside wharf and boat to get the crop to a transatlantic packet. Roads were not necessary. Land would yield tobacco only for three years: then a fresh set of fields had to be planted. But the real problem was labor—hence slavery. The increasing supply of cheap, high-quality slave-labor from Africa came (as the planters would say and believe) as a Godsend to America’s infant tobacco industry. So it flourished mightily. James I himself signaled his capitulation as early as 1619 when he laid a tax of a shilling in the pound (5 percent) on tobacco imports to England, though he limited the total (from Bermuda as well as Virginia) to 55,000 lb a year. But soon all such quantitative restrictions were lifted and tobacco became the first great economic fact of life in the new English-speaking civilization growing up across the Atlantic. It continued to be counted as a blessing over four centuries until, in the fullness of time, President Bill Clinton brought the wheel back full circle to the days of James I, and in August 1996 declared tobacco an addictive drug."

"And a woman is only a woman, but a good cigar is a smoke."

"It is now proved beyond doubt that smoking is one of the leading causes of statistics."

"For I hate, yet love thee, so, That, whichever thing I show, The plain truth will seem to be A constrained hyperbole, And the passion to proceed More from a mistress than a weed."

"For thy sake, tobacco, I Would do anything but die."

"Nay, rather, Plant divine, of rarest virtue; Blisters on the tongue would hurt you."

"Thou in such a cloud dost bind us, That our worst foes cannot find us, And ill fortune, that would thwart us, Shoots at rovers, shooting at us; While each man, through thy height'ning steam, Does like a smoking Etna seem."

"Thou through such a mist dost show us, That our best friends do not know us."

"What this country needs is a really good 5-cent cigar."

"A good cigar is like a beautiful chick with a great body who also knows the American League box scores."

"They threaten me with lung cancer, and still I smoke and smoke. If they'd only threaten me with hard work, I might stop."

"Good food, good sex, good digestion, good sleep: to these basic animal pleasures, man has added nothing but the good cigarette."

"Life without smoking is like the smoke without the roast."

"Sir Plume, of amber snuff-box justly vain, And the nice conduct of a clouded cane."

"Just where the breath of life his nostrils drew, A charge of snuff the wily virgin threw; The gnomes direct, to every atom just, The pungent grains of titillating dust, Sudden, with starting tears each eye o'erflows, And the high dome re-echoes to his nose."

"Few people on this planet know what it is to be truly despised. Can you blame them? I earn a living fronting an organizing that kills one thousand two hundred human beings a day; 1200 people. We're talking two jumbo jet plane loads of men, women, and children. I mean there's Attila, Genghis, and me, Nick Naylor the face of cigarettes, the Colonel Saunders of nicotine. This is where I work, the Academy of Tobacco Studies. It was established by seven gentlemen you may recognize from C-Span. These guys realized quick if they were gonna claim cigarettes were not addictive they better have proof. This is the man they rely on, Erhardt Von Grupten Mundt. They found him in Germany. I won't go into the details, he's been testing the link between nicotine and lung cancer for thirty years, and hasn't found any conclusive results. The man's a genius, he could disprove gravity. Then we got our sharks. We draft them out of Ivy League law schools and give them timeshares and sports cars. It's just like a John Grisham novel. Well you know without all the espionage. Most importantly we got spin control. That's where I come in. I get paid to talk. I don't have an MD or law degree. I have a baccalaureate in kicking ass and taking names. You know that guy who can pick up any girl? I'm him, on crack."

"In 1910, the US was producing ten billion cigarettes a year, by 1930 we were up to one hundred twenty three billion, what happened in between? Three things: a World War, Dieting and movies. [...] 1927, talking pictures are born. Suddenly directors need to give their actors something to do while they're talking. Cary Grant and Carole Lombard are lighting up, Bette Davis, a chimney, and Bogart, remember the first picture with him and Lauren Bacall? [...] She sort of shimmies in through the doorway. Nineteen years old. Pure sex. She says "Anyone got a match?" and Bogie throws the matches at her... and she catches them. Greatest romance in the century, how did it start? Lighting a cigarette. In these days, when someone smokes in the movies, they're either a psychopath... or an European. The message that Hollywood needs to send out is "Smoking is Cool!". We need the cast of, uh, Will & Grace smoking in their living room, Forrest Gump puffing away between his box of chocolates, Hugh Grant earning back the love of Julia Roberts by buying her favorite brand - her Virginia Slims. Most of the actors smoke already. If they start doing it on screen... We can put the sex back into cigarettes."

"And 'twixt his finger and his thumb he held A pouncet-box, which ever and anon He gave his nose and took 't away again; Who therefor angry, when it next came there, Took it in snuff."

"Smoking can kill you. And if you've been killed you've lost a very important part of your life."

"Divine Tobacco."

"His pipe was always going out, And then he'd have to search about In all his pockets, and he'd mow O, deary me! and, musha now! And then he'd light his pipe, and then He'd let it go clean out again."

"Generally, the control freaks only increase control. Take cigarettes. At first it was just warning labels. Then, bans on t.v. ads. Then they required restaurants to have no-smoking sections. Then came the bans on airplanes, schools, workplaces, entire restaurants, then bars, too—and now, sometimes, apartments and outdoor spaces, even."

"If you have a compulsive behavior pattern such as smoking... this is what you can do: When you notice the compulsive need arising in you, stop and take three conscious breaths. This generates awareness. Then for a few minutes be aware of the compulsive urge itself as an energy field inside you. Consciously feel that need to physically or mentally ingest or consume a certain substance or the desire to act out some form of compulsive behavior. Then take a few more conscious breaths... As awareness grows, addictive patterns will weaken and eventually dissolve. Remember, however, to catch any thoughts that justify the addictive behavior, sometimes with clever arguments, as they arise in you mind. Ask yourself, Who is talking here? And you will realize the addiction is talking. As long as you know that, as long as you are present as the observer of your mind, it is less likely to trick you into doing what it wants. p. 149"

"I am of course notoriously hooked on cigarettes. I keep hoping the things will kill me. A fire at one end and a fool at the other."

"“Ooh,” she said. A pause, then, “Is it sacred?” “No, it’s nicotine,” I answered, “a very ersatz form of divinity.”"

"The results of the California CPS I cohort do not support a causal relation between exposure to environental tobacco smoke and tobacco related mortality, although they do not rule out a small effect. Given the limitations of the underlying data in this and the other studies of environmental tobacco smoke and the small size of the risk, it seems premature to conclude that environmental tobacco smoke causes death from coronary heart disease and lung cancer."

"A large-scale study found no clear link between secondhand smoke and lung cancer, undercutting the premise of years of litigation."

"A large prospective cohort study of more than 76,000 women confirmed a strong association between cigarette smoking and lung cancer but found no link between the disease and secondhand smoke."

"It's all one thing—both tend into one scope— To live upon Tobacco and on Hope, The one's but smoke, the other is but wind."

"The Elizabethan age might be better named the beginning of the smoking era."

"Little tube of mighty pow'r, Charmer of an idle hour, Object of my warm desire."

"The man who smokes, thinks like a sage and acts like a Samaritan!"

"Sublime tobacco! which from east to west, Cheers the tar's labour or the Turkman's rest; Which on the Moslem's ottoman divides His hours, and rivals opium and his brides; Magnificent in Stamboul, but less grand, Though not less loved, in Wapping or the Strand: Divine in hookas, glorious in a pipe, When tipp'd with amber, mellow, rich, and ripe; Like other charmers wooing the caress, More dazzlingly when daring in full dress; Yet thy true lovers more admire by far Thy naked beauties—Give me a cigar!"

"Contented I sit with my pint and my pipe, Puffing sorrow and care far away, And surely the brow of grief nothing can wipe, Like smoking and moist'ning our clay; * * * * * For tho' at my simile many may joke, Man is but a pipe—and his life but smoke."

"The Indian weed, withered quite, Green at noon, cut down at night, Shows thy decay. All flesh is hay. Thus think, then drink tobacco. * * * * And when the smoke ascends on high, Then thou behold'st vanity Of worldly stuff, Gone at a puff. Thus think, then drink tobacco."

"Tobacco, an outlandish weed, Doth in the land strange wonders breed; It taints the breath, the blood it dries, It burns the head, it blinds the eyes; It dries the lungs, scourgeth the lights, It 'numbs the soul, it dulls the sprites; It brings a man into a maze, And makes him sit for others' gaze; It mars a man, it mars a purse, A lean one fat, a fat one worse; A white man black, a black man white, A night a day, a day a night; It turns the brain like cat in pan, And makes a Jack a gentleman."

"With pipe and book at close of day, Oh, what is sweeter? mortal say."

"Tobacco is a traveler, Come from the Indies hither; It passed sea and land Ere it came to my hand, And 'scaped the wind and weather. Tobacco's a musician. And in a pipe delighteth; It descends in a close, Through the organ of the nose, With a relish that inviteth."

"Some sigh for this and that; My wishes don't go far; The world may wag at will, So I have my cigar."

"Neither do thou lust after that tawney weed tobacco."

"Ods me I marle what pleasure or felicity they have in taking their roguish tobacco. It is good for nothing but to choke a man, and fill him full of smoke and embers."

"For Maggie has written a letter to give me my choice between The wee little whimpering Love and the great god Nick O'Teen. And I have been servant of Love for barely a twelvemonth clear, But I have been priest of Partagas a matter of seven year. And the gloom of my bachelor days is flecked with the cherry light Of stumps that I burned to friendship, and pleasure and work and fight."

"Tobac! dont mon âme est ravie, Lorsque je te vois te perdre en l'air, Aussi promptement q'un éclair, Je vois l'image de ma vie."

"I would I were a cigarette Between my Lady's lithe sad lips, Where Death like Love, divinely set. With exquisite sighs and sips, Feeds and is fed. * * * * For life is Love and Love is death, It was my hap, a well-a-day! To burn my little hour away."

"Old man, God bless you, does your pipe taste sweetly? A beauty, by my soul! A ruddy flower-pot, rimmed with gold so neatly, What ask you for the bowl? O sir, that bowl for worlds I would not part with; A brave man gave it me, Who won it—now what think you—of a bashaw? At Belgrade's victory."

"Tobacco's but an Indian weed, Grows green at morn, cut down at eve; It shows our decay, we are but clay. Think on this when you smoak Tobacco."

"Yes, social friend, I love thee well, In learned doctors' spite; Thy clouds all other clouds dispel And lap me in delight."

"It is not for nothing that this "ignoble tabagie," as Michelet calls it, spreads over all the world. Michelet rails against it because it renders you happily apart from thought or work;… Whatever keeps a man in the front garden, whatever checks wandering fancy and all inordinate ambition, whatever makes for lounging and contentment, makes just so surely for domestic happiness."

"Am I not—a smoker and a brother?"

"Look at me—follow me—smell me! The "stunning" cigar I am smoking is one of a sample intended for the Captain General of Cuba, and the King of Spain, and positively cost a shilling! Oh! * * * I have some dearer at home. Yes, the expense is frightful, but——it! who can smoke the monstrous rubbish of the shops?"

"To smoke a cigar through a mouthpiece is equivalent to kissing a lady through a respirator."

"The cigarettes Mr. Slump smoked were prepared by doctors, so the advertisements declared, with the sole purpose of protecting his respiratory system. Yet Mr. Slump suffered and the young secretary suffered with him, hideously. For the first hours of every day he was possessed by a cough which arose from tartarean depths and was relieved only by whisky."

"Dick Stoype Was a dear friend and lover of the pipe. He used to say one pipe of Wishart's best Gave life a zest. To him 'twas meat and drink and physic, To see the friendly vapor Curl round his midnight taper, And the black fume Clothe all the room, In clouds as dark as sciences metaphysic."

"A cigarette is the perfect type of a perfect pleasure. It is exquisite, and it leaves one unsatisfied. What more can you want?"

"Lastly, the ashes left behind, May daily show to move the mind, That to ashes and dust return we must: Then think, and drink tobacco."

"Ashore it's wine, women and song; aboard it's rum, bum and bacca."

"Capitalism"

"Imperialism"

"Alcoholic beverages"

"Lung cancer"

"Tobacco industry"

"For better or worse, zoos are how most people come to know big or exotic animals. Few will ever see wild penguins sledding downhill to see on their bellies, giant pandas holding bamboo lollipops in China or tree porcupines in the Canadian Rockies, balled up like giant pine cones."

"If we have a thousand bamboo spears, there's nothing to worry about a war with the Soviet Union."

"With women, I've got a long bamboo pole with a leather loop on the end. I slip the loop around their necks so they can't get away or come too close. Like catching snakes."

"Bamboo has long been a subject dear to the heart of the Chinese painter. Bamboo painting has practically developed into a separate art in its own right, standing about midway between calligraphy and the painting of trees."

"After the corpse is almost completely burned [during cremation as per Hindu rites, the chief mourner performs the rite called kapälakriyä, the 'rite of the skull,' cracking the skull with a long bamboo stick, thus releasing the soul from entrapment in the body."

"My instrument there is simply bamboo. The sound is straight from nature and it connects me to nature."

"I would like evolution to join the roster of other discredited religions, like the Cargo Cult of the South Pacific. Practitioners of Cargo Cult believed that manufactured products were created by ancestral spirits, and if they imitated what they had seen the white man do, they could cause airplanes to appear out of the sky, bringing valuable cargo like radios and Television|TVs. So they constructed “airport towers” out of bamboo and “headphones” out of coconuts and waited for the airplanes to come with the cargo. It may sound silly, but in defense of the Cargo Cult, they did not wait as long for evidence supporting their theory as the Darwinists have waited for evidence supporting theirs."

"My chief difficulty was in constructing the carbon filament, the incandescence of which is the source of the light...Every quarter of the globe was ransacked by my agents, and all sorts of the queerest materials used, until finally the shred of bamboo, now utilized by us, was settled upon."

"We explored the process of taking raw bamboo and turning it into a textile, but it requires the use of very strong solvents."

"Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo or willow survives by bending with the wind."

"While cutting a way through the bamboos we suddenly stumbled upon a block of lava (andesite). I was delighted to see it, for I had not previously seen as much as a pebble since we left Laikipia. As I examined it, my interest was roused."

"Bamboo was one of the ‘four gentlemen’, its sturdy and straight qualities of painting representing the honest and upright official. The ability to quote lines of poetry relating to bamboo—and even more so to quote a poem on bamboo that quotes other poems on bamboo, and to explain the attendant allusions, is the province of a cultured man."

"Ordinarily, when he thought back upon those days, let alone upon his student years and the Bamboo Grove, it had always been as if he were gazing from a cool, dull room out into broad, brightly sunlit landscapes, into the irrevocable past, the paradise of memory."

"Unrewarded, my will to serve the State; At my closed door autumn grasses grow. What could I do to ease a rustic heart? I planted bamboos, more than a hundred shoots. When I see their beauty, as they grow by the stream-side, I feel again as though I lived in the hills, And many a time on public holidays Round their railing I walk till night comes. Do not say that their roots are still weak, Do not say that their shade is still small; Already I feel that both in garden and house Day by day a fresher air moves. But most I love, lying near the window-side, To hear in their branches the sound of the autumn-wind."

"After dreaming of its famous bell, a grieving mother seeks her lost child at Mii Temple. She arrives on the night of a full autumn moon, wearing a traveler's hat and grasping a branch of bamboo, a symbol of female frenzy. In an emotion-filled dance, the woman begs the priests to let her ring the bell, which is represented on stage by a miniature construction. At its sound, the child recognizes his mother immediately."

"summer night — blossoming in the pond, water-lilies and stars"

"Bamboo is not a weed, it's a flowering plant, but these are weeds that grow wild to about twenty feet. They're not like bamboo which can make a forest and bloom once in a hundred years. Bamboo is a magnificent plant."

"Our marketing plan is changing immensely because of what's going on in the world. I want to stress how hybrid and how eco-friendly we are - the natural stones and the bamboo flooring."

"Bamboo salt is a specially processed salt according to the traditional recipe using normal salt and bamboo...the bamboo salts are mainly ingested for health of the human body because bamboo-salts that are produced through the several processes give the decrease in toxicity and the conversion of acidity into strong alkalinity compared to sun-dried salts. The production process of bamboo-salts ordinarily is as follows: stamping inside bamboo hardens the sun-dried salt; it is baked at about 800 degrees centigrade for 8-10 hours in a kiln, resulting in a lump of salt through bamboo’s resin soaking into sun-dried salt; the hump is powdered; repeatedly stamped inside bamboo and baked, especially at about 1000 to 1500 degrees centigrade of higher temperature lastly."

"…we stopped in a grove of bamboos. Among the beauties of the vegetable world, this is conspicuous, from one root or bunch of roots, scores and hundreds of stems arise to the height of sixty or eighty feet, each perfectly straight tapering to the top, feathered with bunches of long narrow leaves and leaning from the center outwards, so that the clump has the shape of a hearse-plume. But in the aspect of the bamboo, there is nothing funereal. It is a bright green, its stems covered with a thin verdant bark, beneath which is the beautiful natural yellow varnish of the cane. This tree is the resort of fireflies. At night they seem like drops of light shaken from the branches."

"An Indian hurled a bamboo spear into the captain's face, but the latter immediately killed him with his lance, which he left in the Indian's body."

"...that is, the women and children must never know that they are really bamboo flutes, or hollow logs, or bits of elliptic wood whirled on strings."

"It was a nice little joint with bamboo furniture and Mexican gimcracks. One little lamp burned. It was all right. And the rain hammering like that on the window made it good to be in there."

"...before the sun has become completely hidden — it is now fleeing amid the tall bamboo trees like an animal pursued by shadows — I shall succeed in reducing this grove of trees to a catalogue."

"The taller the bamboo grows, the lower it bends."

"To be sure god exists in all things. God can be realized through all paths. All religions are true. The important thing is to reach the roof. You can reach it by stone stairs or by wooden stairs or by bamboo steps or by a rope. You can also climb up by a bamboo pole."

"The hollow insides of the bamboo reminds us that we are often too full of ourselves and our own conclusions; we have no space for anything else. In order to receive knowledge and wisdom from both nature and people, we have to be open to that which is new and different. When you empty your mind of your prejudices and pride and fear, you become open to the possibilities"

"The bamboo in its simplicity expresses its usefulness. Man should do the same."

"With bamboo poles we prodded the snake at the head and tail, standing by with the nooses, ready to slip them on when he stirred sufficiently. Before he realized what was happening, we had the head-noose over him."

"The Empress Dowager, who had been painting a design of bamboos on silk when the warrior was announced, dismissed him with contumely. 'Your tail,' she said elliptically, 'is becoming too heavy to wag."

"A gentleman's got a walking stick. A seaman's got a gaff. And the merry men of Robin Hood They used a quarterstaff. On the Spanish plains inside their canes They hide their ruddy swords. But we make do with an old bam-boo And everyone applauds!"

"Me ol' bam-boo, me ol' bam-boo You'd better never bother with me ol' bam-boo. You can have me hat or me bum-ber-shoo But you'd better never bother with me ol' bam-boo."

"Goddess of Bamboo Who's there that you don't reach out? When you were young You gave us the rice during the famine When you grew up You grew as tall as the mountain itself Though you stayed at the bottom You became a flute to Lord Krishna Became a cradle to the new born You became a thing of racing toy for the playful children You became the storage can for the food grains During the off season you became a storage room You became a celebration as the pillar of the wedding pendal You became the excitement During the dance of the Nandi-Kolu You became the roof for the entire village You became a blowing tube for the stove When my grandparents became weak you became the supporting stick You became a paddle for the boatman You became a beautiful basket in the hands of the artisan When man wanted to climb up You became a ladder When man was but a dead body You became the the platform to carry him to heaven."

"Bamboo is a Chinese symbol for longevity because of its durability, strength, flexibility and resilience. It survives in the harshest conditions, and seems to endure through all the brutalities mother nature can dish out - still standing tall, and staying green year-round. Its flexibility and adaptability are a lesson to us all that the secret of a long happy life is to go with the flow. Feng Shui practitioners recommend putting bamboo plants in the front of your home to assure long life for all those who dwell there."

"The first thing I do when I’m creating, either for stage or for cinema, is to find the ideograph of the story. Which is; the one, simple expression that can tell everything. And at the same time be recognizable for the audience. It’s like in old Japanese paintings – if you were to paint a bamboo forest, you should be able to find its essence with only three strokes."

"The first thing that I remember that made me realize we're in trouble, in the distance I saw something way up in the air and I couldn't figure out what it was but as he came closer on the horse I realized what it was. It was a head. He had it on a bamboo pole. A head on a bamboo pole. When I saw that, you know, I figured we were in big trouble."

"A gentlemen is comparable to bamboo because of their similar virtues. What people may describe and paint are only the form, the color and the type of bamboo; what neither description nor painting can encompass are the virtues for which bamboo stands. Bamboo stems are hollow, empty hearted, standing for the virtue of humbleness... Bamboo's joints (jie), which are evenly spaced, and hence represent the mean, are clear-cut (zhen) like the virtue of chastity."

"The body of bamboo in repose should resemble a jade dragon; the form of a bamboo with a dancing appearance should be golden phoenix turning its body."

"Study the teachings of the pine tree, the bamboo, and the plum blossom. The pine is evergreen, firmly rooted, and venerable. The bamboo is strong, resilient, unbreakable. The plum blossom is hardy, fragrant, and elegant."

"In former times, in Japan, very simple things make men happy. Moon right on fish pond at certain moment. Cricket singing in bamboo grove. Very small things bring very great feeling. Japan a little island country, must make do with very near nothing. Not like endless China, not like U.S."

"Larry Abraham has traveled throughout the world (including low-profile trips behind the Iron and Bamboo Curtains). He has lectured extensively, and he has written scores of articles and another book, Call It Conspiracy, exposing the power, the ploys, and the grand design of the real rulers of the Establishment...in both the East and the West."

"While the polar bear is mostly carnivorous and the giant panda feeds almost entirely on bamboo, the remaining six species are omnivorous, with largely varied diets including both plants and animals."

"If you ask, Grandmother, what did you say? she will look up absentmindedly and, after a while, say, Oh, you're back from school? Are you hungry? There are sweet potatoes in the bamboo steamer. When she chatters it's best not to interrupt."

"Painters of today start joint after joint and pile up leaf on leaf. How can that be a bamboo. When you are going to paint bamboo, you must first realize the thing completely in your mind. Then grasp the brush, fix your attention so that you see clearly what you wish to paint; start quickly, move the brush, and follow straight what you see before you, as the buzzard sweeps when the hare jumps out. If you hesitate one moment, it is gone."

"The forests that surround the village there in Nara, Japan are filled with beautiful bamboo trees. In Japan, the symbolism of the bamboo plant runs deep and wide and offers practical w:Lessonslessons for life and for work."

"The bamboo sway with even the slightest breeze. This gentle swaying movement with the wind is a symbol of humility. Their bodies are hard and firm and yet sway gently in the breeze while their trunks stay rooted firmly in the ground below. Their foundation is solid even though they move and sway harmoniously with the wind, never fighting against it."

"In time, even the strongest wind tires itself out, but the bamboo remains standing tall and still. A bend-but-don't-break or go-with-the-natural-flow attitude is one of the secrets for success whether we're talking about bamboo trees, answering tough questions in a Q&A session, or just dealing with the everyday vagaries of life."

"The body of a single bamboo tree is not large by any means, but the plants endure cold winters and extremely hot summers and are sometimes the only trees left standing in the aftermath of a typhoon. They may not reach the heights of the other trees, but they are strong and stand tall in extreme weather. Bamboo is not as fragile as it may appear, not by a long shot."

"Remember that we must be careful not to underestimate others or ourselves based only on old notions of what is weak and what is strong. You may not be from the biggest company or the product of the most famous school, but like the bamboo, stand tall, believe in your own strengths, and know that you are as strong as you need to be."

"Be always ready. Unlike other types of wood which take a good deal of processing and finishing, bamboo needs little of that. As the great Aikido master KenshoFuruya says in Kodo: Ancient Ways, "The warrior, like bamboo, is ever ready for action." In presentation or other professional activities too, through training and practice, we can develop in our own way a state of being ever ready."

"Bamboo is a symbol of good luck and one of the symbols of the New Year celebrations in Japan. The important image of snow-covered bamboo represents the ability to spring back after experiencing adversity. The bamboo endured the heavy burden of the snow, but in the end it had to power to spring back as if to say "I will not be defeated.""

"The dahlia which is a perennial, is a native of Mexico from whence it was first introduced into Spain, from thence it has gradually spread itself over Europe...The dahlia, or Georgina, as it is called by the botanists on the continent, belongs to the class Syngcnexia of Linnaeus, and the natural order Corymbiferce of Jussieu. The dahlia may be cultivated either as a perennial bulb, or as an annual; as, however, the old plants flower somewhat earlier than those produced from seeds, and as the finest flowers already obtained are continued in this way."

"Patient, dramatic, serious, genial, From over to over the game goes on, Weaving a pattern of hardy perennial, Civilization under the sun."

"The perennial existence of bodies corporate and their fortunes are things particularly suited to a man who has long views, who meditates designs that require time in fashioning, which propose duration when accomplished."

"Philosophy in India has sprung from the spiritual experience of the ancient sages; it is not the result of mere intellectual speculation. Since it aims at the knowledge of Intellectual reality it is termed as Darsana or "Vision of Truth.""

"Vedanta stands out as the most significant and native philosophy of India. It answers the strict demands of metaphysics, and the deep requirements of a sound religion. The system of Vedanta derives its doctrines from the Prasthana Trayi which comprises the three great text books, viz, the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita and the Brahma Sutras. Vedanta is the clearest and most comprehensive summary ever made of the perennial philosophy; hence its enduring value is meant not only for Indians, but for all mankind."

"Annual plants are by definition plants whose life cycle lasts only one year, from seed to blooms to seed...Perennials, like old friends, return year after year, growing in size and stature until they reach their full maturity. Although they live on longer, many perennials lose their vigor after 3-4 years, and should be replaced. Most perennial plants can be divided to produce new plants, or they can be grown from seeds or cuttings."

"Solidago, commonly called goldenrods, is a genus of about 100 species of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. Most are herbaceous perennial species found in the meadows and pastures, along roads, ditches and waste areas in North America."

"Perennials technically are enduring herbaceous plants that persist year after year, increasing in size by spreading."

"Chicory, scientific name: Cichorium intybus, family: Asteraceae, other common names: Chickory, Coffeeweed, Achicoria (Spanish) is a herbaceous perennial. It is a common weed of roadsides, disturbed areas, and overgrown fields. The ancient Egyptians cultivated this plant for food and medicine... The leaves can be used as greens. The roots are used as a coffee substitute. ..."

"Sugarcane; scientific name: Saccharum officinarum; family: Poaceae, is a perennial monocot; other common name: Caña de Azúcar (Spanish). Sugarcane is the last of four sweetening agents. It is commercially important. About 75% of the world’s sugar is derived from sugarcane. It is considered a mild allergen. The fibrous consistency of raw chewing cane may present a choking hazard to children and others."

"The idea that there is a perennial (lasting-forever) philosophy which can be extracted from past religions and which lays down the basic structure of spiritual practice far off into the distant future, seems to me as fanciful as the idea of a perennial natural science."

"So every man who becomes heartily and understandingly a channel of the divine beneficence, is enriched through every league of his life. Perennial satisfaction springs around and within him with perennial verdure. Flowers of gratitude and gladness bloom all along his pathway, and the melodious gurgle of the blessings he bears is echoed back by the melodious waves of the recipient stream."

"We are not talking about mere instinctive conformity—it is, after all, a perennial failing of mankind. What we are talking about is a rationalized conformity— an open, articulate philosophy which holds that group values are not only expedient but right and good as well."

"The Gita is one of the clearest and most comprehensive summaries of the Perennial Philosophy ever to have been made. Hence its enduring value, not only for Indians, but for all mankind. The Bhagavad-Gita is perhaps the most systematic spiritual statement of the Perennial Philosophy."

"Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune."

"It is when we unbosom ourselves to Him, and confide to Him all our cares and sorrows and temptations, that He walks with us, and abides with us, and opens to us the Scriptures concerning Himself — His dignity, His suitableness, His loveliness. His truth, His tenderness, His faithfulness, revealing Himself in us; causing our hearts to burn within us — to burn with love, gratitude, devotion, courage, joy — to burn with a celestial fire, which consumes all selfishness and sin, and glows, a pure, perennial flame, upon pure, living altars."

"I think this war has rather crystallised my pacifism. I think in the past I was like a lot of people who said I’ve got pacifistic inclination but I’m not a pacifist because what I couldn’t find in my own mind was the answer to that perennial question: ‘Ah, yes, but what would you have done when the Nazis were coming?’ And as someone with Jewish blood I’ve always found that difficult to answer, but the thing with this war which makes it so wrong in so many different ways is that it exposes that argument about the Nazis as a specious argument, in that it assumes a conditional assumption i.e. that you are in 1939, because it can be answered with a similar kind of conditional question: ‘But hang on a minute, if everyone had been a pacifist in 1914 then the Nazis would never have come to power."

"The strawberry (Fragaria X ananasa Duch) is a perennial plant, which belongs to the family Rosaceae. This family consists of about 100 genera and 3000 species, most of which are perennial herbs, shrubs and trees. The family is divided into three subfamilies: Rosoideae (rose subfamily), which contains Rosa spp., Rubus spp. (raspberries and blackberries), and Fragaria spp. (strawberries)."

"We can set our deeds to the music of a grateful heart, and seek to round our lives into a hymn — the melody of which will be recognized by all who come in contact with us, and the power of which shall not be evanescent, like the voice of the singer, but perennial, like the music of the spheres."

"The grape is a perennial, deciduous, woody, climbing vine, which makes itself fast to its support by strong persistent tendrils, opposite or alternate with the large angular, lobed, toothed, and generally hairy leaves. The stems are numerous..."

"The common carline thistle, the centaury star thistle, and the stemless plume-thistle infest pastures with sandy or calcareous soils oftener than clayey or grass lands... The marsh plume-thistle, the various - leaved plume-thistle, and the meadow-plume thistle prevail most in loamy and clayey soils; and must be dealt with in the manner of other perennial thistles."

"Silk and Lace Stronger than an evening fire My heart yearns with desire To build with you a burning pyre That rivals the beauty of angelic choir In you I see both beauty and grace Each time I gaze upon your brilliant face For you are Beauty draped in silk and lace And in your eyes my heart has found its place To speak with you is like Autumn wind The world is kind when you and I see the day begin Together embraced in silk and lace a passion that knows no end Though we are not lovers loving under covers I am glad to know you as a friend."

"She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple. It looks as if she did not neglect herself. The coverings mentioned are for her bed. She took time to decorate and adorn her bedroom with beautiful bedspread, pillows etc. her clothing is attractive and made of silk. Silk was one of the finest linens from Egypt."

"HANDKERCHIEF, n. A small square of silk or linen, used in various ignoble offices about the face and especially serviceable at funerals to conceal the lack of tears. The handkerchief is of recent invention; our ancestors knew nothing of it and entrusted its duties to the sleeve. Shakespeare's introducing it into the play of "Othello" is an anachronism: Desdemona dried her nose with her skirt, as Dr. Mary Walker and other reformers have done with their coattails in our own day --an evidence that revolutions sometimes go backward."

"It's funny how worms can turn leaves into silk. But funnier far is the cow: She changes a field of green grass into milk And not a professor knows how."

"The Spirit of the Gift It is not the weight of jewel or plate, Or the fondle of silk or fur; 'Tis the spirit in which the gift is rich, As the gifts of the Wise Ones were, And we are not told whose gift was gold, Or whose was the gift of myrrh."

"BLACK SILK DRESS Her black silk dress Fitted her like a sheath The taut lines showed Her nakedness beneath Save for black-stockings Gartered at the thigh Stimulating to the loins And pleasing to the eye She turned every head With her glamorous allure Filled each one with thoughts None of which were pure"

"According to an ancient Chinese legend, one day in the year 240 BC, Princess Si Ling-chi was sitting under a mulberry tree when a silkworm cocoon fell into her teacup. When she tried to remove it, she noticed that the cocoon had begun to unravel in the hot liquid. She handed the loose end to her maidservant and told her to walk. The servant went out of the princess's chamber, and into the palace courtyard, and through the palace gates, and out of the Forbidden City, and into the countryside a half mile away before the cocoon ran out. (In the West, this legend would slowly mutate over three millennia, until it became the story of a physicist and an [[apple. Either way, the meanings are the same: great discoveries, whether of silk or of gravity, are always windfalls. They happen to people loafing under trees."

"They don't farm silk in America. They wear clothes, don't they? Or do they go around naked? If they wear clothes, they need silk. And they can buy it from me. “Okay, whatever you want. Just hurry.”"

"My family might never have become silk farmers if it hadn't been for the Emperor Justinian, who, according to Procopius, persuaded two missionaries to risk it. In 550 AD, the missionaries snuck silkworm eggs out of China in the swallowed condom of the time: a hollow staff. They also brought the seeds of the mulberry tree. As a result, Byzantium became a center of sericulture. Mulberry trees flourished on Turkish hill sides. Silkworms are the leaves, Fourteen hundred years later, the descendants of those stolen eggs filled my grandmother’s silkworm box in Guilin."

"Orthodox monks smuggled silk out of China in the sixth century. They brought it to Asia Minor. From there it spread to Europe, and finally traveled across the sea to North America. Benjamin Franklin fostered the silk industry in Pennsylvania before the American Revolution. Mulberry trees were planted all over the United States."

"The most widely raised type of silkworm, the larva of Bombyx mori, no longer exists anywhere in a natural state. The legs of the larve have degenerated, and the adults do not fly."

"A Silk Rose I run my hands down your silk shoulders till our hands are in each others. As our bodies lightly touch, these lips can only kiss. I whisper softly my only words, I love you always"

"Your thought advocates fame and show. Mine counsels me and implores me to cast aside notoriety and treat it like a grain of sand cast upon the shore of eternity. Your thought instills in your heart arrogance and superiority. Mine plants within me love for peace and the desire for independence. Your thought begets dreams of palaces with furniture of sandalwood studded with jewels, and beds made of twisted silk threads. My thought speaks softly in my ears, "Be clean in body and spirit even if you have nowhere to lay your head." Your thought makes you aspire to titles and offices. Mine exhorts me to humble service."

"Narrated Hudhaifa: The Prophet said, "Do not drink in gold or silver utensils, and do not wear clothes of silk or Dibaj, for these things are for them (unbelievers) in this world and for you in the Hereafter.""

"Narrated 'Abdullah bin Umar: Umar bought a silk cloak from the market, took it to Allah's Apostle and said, "O Allah's Apostle! Take it and adorn yourself with it during the 'Id and when the delegations visit you." Allah's Apostle (p.b.u.h) replied, "This dress is for those who have no share (in the Hereafter)." After a long period Allah's Apostle (p.b.u.h) sent to Umar a cloak of silk brocade. Umar came to Allah's Apostle (p.b.u.h) with the cloak and said, "O Allah's Apostle! You said that this dress was for those who had no share (in the Hereafter); yet you have sent me this cloak." Allah's Apostle said to him, "Sell it and fulfill your needs by it.""

"Narrated 'Ali: The Prophet gave me a silken dress as a gift and I wore it. When I saw the signs of anger on his face, I cut it into pieces and distributed it among my wives.""

"Narrated Anas: A Jubba (i.e. cloak) made of thick silken cloth was presented to the Prophet. The Prophet used to forbid people to wear silk. So, the people were pleased to see it. The Prophet said, "By Him in Whose Hands Muhammad's soul is, the handkerchiefs of Sad bin Mu'adh in Paradise are better than this." Anas added, "The present was sent to the Prophet by Ukaidir (a Christian) from Dauma.""

"Narrated Abu 'Amir or Abu Malik Al-Ash'ari: that he heard the Prophet saying, "From among my followers there will be some people who will consider illegal sexual intercourse, the wearing of silk, the drinking of alcoholic drinks and the use of musical instruments, as lawful. And there will be some people who will stay near the side of a mountain and in the evening their shepherd will come to them with their sheep and ask them for something, but they will say to him, 'Return to us tomorrow.' Allah will destroy them during the night and will let the mountain fall on them, and He will transform the rest of them into monkeys and pigs and they will remain so till the Day of Resurrection.""

"For me, each day begins and ends with wanting to learn a little more about the secrets of spider silk. Spiders have been around for over 300 million years and are found in nearly every terrestrial environment. There are more than 40,000 species living today and each spins at least one type of silk. However, most spiders spin more than one type of silk. For example, the orb-web weaving spiders that are commonly seen in gardens during the day or near porch lights at night, typically make seven kinds of silk. Each silk is chemically and functionally distinctive."

"An individual spider can produce multiple varieties of silk because it has numerous silk glands inside its body. Some silk glands make one type of silk, another set of silk glands makes a second type of silk, and so forth. One of the unforgettable moments in my life was the first time I dissected a spider and saw its stunningly beautiful, translucent silk glands."

"What's the difference between spider silk and silkworm silk, the kind of silk in a typical silk scarf or blouse. Silk used in textiles is spun from the mouths of caterpillars to form cocoons that protect them while they transform into moths. A silkworm has only one pair of silk glands and can make one type of w:Fiber}fiber."

"Spiders, in contrast, have many silk glands, and the silk emerges from spinnerets located towards the rear of their bodies. Spiders are also able to spin silk from when they are very young and continue to do so throughout their lives."

"Researchers are drawing inspiration from spider silks to produce novel, protein-based, eco-friendly materials for use in medical, cosmetic, electronic, textile, industrial, and other applications. The potential is enormous, especially considering the mind-boggling diversity of spiders and their silks."

"Golden silk with deep red tie Folded in golden silk with deep red tie of the same tucked inside a bedside drawer this is for what she came... holding to her heart these now opened letters with tear stains she has no shame the i love yous wrapped in golden silk with deep red tie of the same."

"So now our dear old Santa, he's a picture of health. Now that he's so much thinner, he moves with greater stealth. Please don't leave him cookies, forget about the milk. Perhaps some sexy boxers, Mrs. Claus prefers them silk."

"The eighteenth century was "The Age of Silk”. It was the fabric of power and class command. Gainsborough painted not people so much as displays of silken extravagance."

"The lace man might then sell or put out the purl to the silver-thread-spinner, who, by intertwining purl and silk, made an embroiderer's thread called 'sleysy'. The lace man's shop had equipment consisting of wheels and spindles much like those at a rope-walk."

"I have been much amused at ye singular φενόμενα [phenomena] resulting from bringing of a needle into contact with a piece of amber or resin fricated on silke clothe. Ye flame putteth me in mind of sheet lightning on a small—how very small—scale."

"I looked at the inchworm dangling from the silk in my hand and said: "Think how nature makes things compared to how we humans make things." We talked about how animals don't just preserve the next generation; they typically preserve the environment for the ten-thousandth generation. While human industrial processes can produce Kevlar, it takes a temperature of thousands of degrees to do it, and the fiber is pulled through sulfuric acid. In contrast, a spider makes its silk - which per gram is several times stronger than steel - at room temperature in water."

"...touched the silk thread which the caterpillar makes benignly from the protein fibroin...think of its metamorphosis in its cocoon, a churning of natural juices, enzymes – and out comes a butterfly. Where are the toxics in that?"

"We are all Adam's children, but silk makes the difference."

"“Do not wear silk, for one who wears it in the world will not wear it in the Hereafter” (5150)."

"Queen Elizabeth [the First] owned silk stockings. The capitalist achievement does not typically consist in providing more silk stockings for queens but in bringing them within the reach of factory girls in return for steadily decreasing amount of efforts."

"Well, we realised that we have to move with the times, adapt to change. Also, this is a way of capturing a larger segment of the market. The new designs will mean more takers among the younger age groups, who look for trendy designs, and new looks. The older age group will now have something different-looking to add to their existing classic-design collection. …All these innovations are being done without in any way tampering with the purity and uncompromising quality that has characterised Mysore silk fabrics - including saris — for decades.... Although we are giving the body of the sari an element of interest with these innovations, we are seeing to it that it doesn't kill the inherent beauty of the fabric."

"This is one element [kasuti-embroidery fusion] I always missed in a Mysore silk saree. So, I had to go for Kancheepuram, Peddapuram [saris] or Banaras when I needed to wear a very heavy-looking sari. Now, I have bought one and even gifted another to my sister-in-law as part of her wedding trousseau."

"China has been famous for its silk for thousands of years. The main trade route linking China to the West was even known as the Silk Road. The ancient Romans prized Chinese silk and imported both thread and cloth. The Chinese kept their methods of silk production a closely held secret, and so Westerners were unable to make their own. Knowledge of silk making gradually spread west after two Persian monks smuggled some silk worm eggs out of China in the 6th century C.E. However, China remained the world’s key producer."

"Silk. production. The ancient Chinese method of silk making, or sericulture, involved hatching many silk moth eggs at the same time. The caterpillars were then kept on bamboo trays and fed hand-picked mulberry leaves. Some cocoons were allowed to develop into adult moths so that they could produce more eggs. The rest were dropped into boiling water, which made each cocoon unwind to produce a single fiber that could be over half mile (nearly a kilometer long)."

"Silk tapestry, or kesi appeared in China during the Tang dynasty around the 7th century C.E. In silk tapestry, both the background fabric and the foreground threads are made of silk. w:Tapestry|Tapestry [[artists favored big, bold designs without repeats."

"Plain silk fabric can be tie-dyed or printed. Artisans use simple printing blocks to create colourful, repeated designs. For more luxurious reults, silks can be hand-painted or embroidered."

"Summer robes were made from light, cool silk. Those for winter wear were quilted — two layers of silk were stitched together, with a thick layer of warm w:Padding|padding in between. Quilting is still a popular technique in modern [[China for creating cozy dresses and jackets."

"The tradition of painting on silk emerged in the 3rd century BC., with painters producing banners and scrolls....Between the 4th and the 10th centuries silk painted concentrated on human figures. They depicted their clothes and movements with graceful brush strokes."

"It [qin] has seven silk or metal strings and a long soundbox, with marks showing the positions of thirteen particular pitches. The qin was a favorite instrument of scholar-poets because its plucked strings create delicate, magical notes."

"China's earliest contact with the rest of the world was via the Silk Road, along which Chinese silks were transported through the Middle East and into Europe. In return, traders brought foreign goods, such as wool, glass beads, silver, and gold into China."

"The history of silk development spans through centuries and can be traced around the world's very ancient trade route called 'Silk Road'. A UNESCO inspired team trekked this obscure yet historical caravan tract called ‘Silk Road’, which began in China, passed through Tashkent, Baghdad, Damascus, Istanbul and reached European shores. Since the beginning of the Christian era (by 126 BC) silk has been the most coolourful of world caravans. Fabulous silks from China and India were carried to Europe through this 6400 km long road."

"It seems sericulture entered Europe during 140-86 BC. India also has long 3000-year history of silk development and at present ranks second to China in multi-varieties of silk production."

"China zealously guarded the secret of silk for about 3,000 years and plied a prosperous silk trade with the rest of the world. The merchant navies and the Chaldees carried fabulous silks from China to the courts of Babylon and Nineveh."

"In India the silk culture dates to antiquity. According to historians, mulberry culture spread to India by about 140 BC from China through Khotan."

"Even though mulberry culture may have come to India overland from China, the references in old scriptures definitely point out that India cultivated some kind of wild silks independently of China from the time immemorial. The ancient religious scripture, Rigveda, mentioned ‘urna’, generally translated as some sort of silk."

"Francis I did all he could to encourage and support sericulture and is the first French King to wear pure silk stockings. After Francis l, Both Henry II and Henry III patronized the silk weaving industry but it was Henry IV who introduced silkworm rearing into France."

"The saga of silk success and shortcomings during the twentieth century is just astonishing. For the first 40 years until the nylon hit the market silk trade reached an all-time high demand mainly for the women's stockings."

"... the important factor affecting the growth of global silk trade during 1990s was the imposition of quotas by European Union and the United States on imports of"

"Though silk production is less than 0.2 per cent of the world textile output, its production base is spread over 60 countries in the world with Asian nations bagging lion's share of over 90 per cent of mulberry production and almost 100-percent of non-mulberry silk....India is the world’s second largest producer with unique output of four varieties of silk – mulberry, tasar, eri, and moga."

"Sericulture, silk reeling and weaving have been practiced in the ancient trading capital of Shanghai. Shanghai has several modern silk processing plants and is also serving as captive units of American large buying houses."

"Karnataka, earlier known as Mysore, abound with silk, sandal wood and gold, the three most sought-after natural commodities . Karnataka is now the main mulberry silk producing state in India, contributing about two thirds of the output. Over 1 million families earn their living by cultivating bush mulberry, rearing silkworms and harvesting cocoons five to six times a year. Bangalore is the silk capital of India with the headquarters of CSB and its affiliated research located there."

"Silk processing in EU is concentrated in Milan and Como in Italy, Lyon in France and Zurich in Switzerland; same high quality silk weaving, jacquard, and printing are undertaken in the United Kingdom. Italy and France specialize in designer fabrics and scarves from famous fashion houses."

"Silkworm Rearing, Cocoon Harvesting The silk caterpillar, belong to the Order of Lepidoptera winged insects, genus Bombyx. The species Bombyx mori, which can be cultivated indoors, produces over 90 per cent of the world output of raw silk used commercially. There are other types of wild silkworms under the genus Saturnidae."

"Silk is crystalline, homogeneous in structure, hygroscopic in nature, light in weight, and is the longest and the strongest of all natural fibers. Soft, lustrous, and [[hygienic and also has an excellent affinity to dyes. Silk does not catch fire as easily as nylon and wool."

"Success of silk processing depends on quality of silkcocoons, which form integral part of raw silk production and sericulture...Silk is produced and secreted from the external secreting gland (exocrine gland). It is derived from the ecoderm and appears at about 36 hours prior to the rotation (blaktokinesis)...Silk gland can be distinctly divided into three divisions, anterior, middle and posterior....its composition includes spinneret, anteriror division, middle division, and posterior division."

"spinneret: It is a delicate tube inside the posterior part of the primary stage of silk gland. It comprises three parts, viz. spinning area, thread press and common tube. On the dorsal, lateral and ventral sides of thread press, six sets of musculus fibers develops which makes use of their expansion, contraction, flexibility for regulating the flow of silk substance, coarseness of silk as well as pressure in silk formation."

"The weight of the silk filament is decided by the weight of the cocoon shell and silk percentage of cocoon shell. In the reeling factory, raw silk percentage of cocoons and reeling discount of dried cocoons are used. The weight of the cocoon shell and the uniformity of cocoon are considered important commercial factors in raw silk reeling that are closely related to the raw silk yield to be obtained."

"The neatness and some cleanness of raw silk are directly influenced whereas size deviation, tenacity and cohesion of raw silk are indirectly influenced by the breed characteristics of the cocoons. The degree of neatness of raw silk is determined on the basis of incidence of the occurrence of defects which are smaller than those classified as “minor cleanliness defects”."

"The silk reeled on small reels is soaked in permeation chamber kept at low pressure [vacuum up to 400mm of (Hg) mercury/torr before re-reeling. The emulsion medium is water with non-ionic wetting agent and lubricating oil. The permeation of liquor is effected three times to facilitate easy unwinding of silk from the small reels."

"Before spinning a cocoon, the silk builds a hammock, an anchorage to hold its cocoon. This material is known as floss or blaze (Italian:Shelia, Japanese: Kebab). The quantity is small and the quality is poor, but it can be used for noil spinning."

"From Filament to Fabric Silk seems to have played an important role in the development of loom and weaving technology. Traces of primitive looms and woven fabrics are found in excavations in Egypt, China, India and Peru (2500 to 400 BC)...The silk weavers of China innovated the use of heddle and draw loom, a revolutionary development over the primitive tribal loom. India invented a foot tradle for silk weaving, a technical innovation over the ancient loom."

"Raw silk: The silk thread produced by the reeling together of the baves of several cocoons. Raw silk has no twist. Poil: A silk yarn formed by twisting raw silk. The twist may be very slight or exceed 3,000 per meter. Tram: A silk yarn formed by doubling two or more raw silk threads and then twisting them slightly, generally 80 to 150 TPM. Crepe: Silk yarn made by several raw silk threads and twisting them to very high levels in the range of 2000 to 4000 TPM."

"Silk can be woven into all the three basic weaves: plain or tabby twills and [[w:Satin|satin]s. Tabby silk weave produces, among others, taffeta and poplin. Tapestry weaves in silk have been used to weave ceremonial and decorative dresses and tapestries."

"Fabrics are degummed and bleached, if they are woven with yellow raw silk. Silk fabrics like other fabrics (cotton, manmade, wool and others) can broadly divided into mechanical and chemical finishing. The objective of mechanical finishing is to impart or improve certain desirable qualities like drape, fall or handle, feel stiffness, weight etc; but most of the mechanical finishes are only temporary."

"Silk sateen: The sateen is usually woven with degummed silk yarn but sometimes there are also fabrics woven with raw silk, which are degummed after weaving. The former is called glossed silk sateen and the latter is silk sateen."

"Although the bulk of world raw silk supply is spun by the domesticated silk moth, Bombyx mori, there are other sericigenous insects which spin cocoons and their yarn is equally pure silk. There silks are known as wild silk as differentiated from cultivated ‘mulberry silk’. The wild silk moths are abundantly found in remote regions, hilltops and forest interiors in [Burma, China, India, Korea, equatorial Africa and Southeast Asia. In fact, according to one authority, there are between four to five hundred different types of wild moths spinning silk cocoons; but only a few of these moths have commercial values."

"World Raw silk Trading: Raw silk is an important international trade commodity traded at the main commodity markets of New York, Lyon and London. Japan used to dominate the world silk market with her leading position as the top exporter, followed by China and Korea. Since 1869s China has taken over the market and Japan has reversed her role, emerging as a leading importer of raw silk"

"The USA, which used to be the biggest single importer of raw silk until the 1960s has now grown into a leading importer of finished silk cloth by reducing the import of raw silk and waste silk. With the rising weaving costs, the USA prefers to import finished fabric to raw silk."

"The happy shores without a law, ... Where all partake the earth without dispute, And bread itself is gather'd as a fruit; Where none contest the fields, the woods, the streams:— The goldless age, where gold disturbs no dreams, Inhabits or inhabited the shore, Till Europe taught them better than before, Bestow'd her customs, and amended theirs, But left her vices also to their heirs."

"The bread-tree, which, without the ploughshare yields, The unreap'd harvest of unfurrow'd fields, And bakes its unadulterated loaves Without a furnace in unpurchased groves, And flings off famine from its fertile breast, A priceless market for the gathering guest."

"The bread-fruit, as we call it, grows on a large tree, as big and high as our largest apple-trees; it hath a spreading head, full of branches and dark leaves. The fruit grows on the boughs like apples; it is as big as a penny-loaf, when wheat is at five shillings the bushel; it is of a round shape, and hath a thick tough rind; when the fruit is ripe it is yellow and soft, and the taste is sweet and pleasant. The natives of Guam use it for bread. They gather it, when full grown, while it is green and hard; then they bake it in an oven, which scorcheth the rind and makes it black, but they scrape off the outside black crust, and there remains a tender thin crust; and the inside is soft, tender, and white, like the crumb of a penny-loaf. There is neither seed nor stone in the inside, but all is of a pure substance like bread. It must be eaten new; for if it is kept above twenty-four hours, it grows harsh and choaky; but it is very pleasant before it is too stale. This fruit lasts in season eight months in the year, during which the natives eat no other sort of food of bread kind. I did never see of this fruit anywhere but here. The natives told us that there is plenty of this fruit growing on the rest of the Ladrone Islands; and I did never hear of it anywhere else."

"Boys dream of native girls who bring breadfruit, Whatever they are, As bribes to teach them how to execute Sixteen sexual positions on the sand; This makes them join (the boys) the tennis club, Jive at the Mecca, use deodorants, and On Saturdays squire ex-schoolgirls to the pub By private car.Such uncorrected visions end in church Or registrar: A mortgaged semi- with a silver birch; Nippers; the widowed mum; having to scheme With money; illness; age. So absolute Maturity falls, when old men sit and dream Of naked native girls who bring breadfruit Whatever they are."

"I am of first-class seed, and my young are first- born young!"

"Friends, the soil is poor, we must sow seeds in plenty for us to garner even modest harvests."

"If you can look into the seeds of time, And say which grain will grow and which will not, Speak then to me, who neither beg nor fear Your favors, nor your hate."

"In this broad earth of ours, Amid the measureless grossness and the slag, Enclosed and safe within its central heart, Nestles the seed perfection."

"But when they had unloosed the linen band, Which swathed the Egyptian's body, lo! was found, Closed in the wasted hollow of her hand, A little seed, which, sown in English ground, Did wondrous snow of starry blossoms bear, And spread rich odours through our springtide air."

"And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good."

"And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat."

"For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee."

"In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand."

"Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given. For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath. And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come."

"The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil."

"The belief that there is only one truth and that oneself is in possession of it, seems to me the deepest root of all that is evil in the world."

"सुखस्य मुलं धर्मः"

"True glory strikes root, and even extends itself; all false pretensions fall as do flowers, nor can anything feigned be lasting."

"Each act of compassion — however minor it may appear to our blind eyes — affects all Creation; shakes it to its roots!"

"The laurel-tree grew large and strong, Its roots went searching deeply down; It split the marble walls of Wrong, And blossomed o'er the Despot's crown."

"Will matter then be destroyed or not? The Savior said, All nature, all formations, all creatures exist in and with one another, and they will be resolved again into their own roots. For the nature of matter is resolved into the roots of its own nature alone."

"Old as aught of time can be, The root stands fast in the rocks below."

"May God keep our hearts pure from that selfishness which is the root of all sin."

"The root of all steadfastness is in consecration to God."

"If any one owe a debt for a loan, and a storm prostrates the grain, or the harvest fail, or the grain does not grow for lack of water; in that year he need not give his creditor any grain, he washes his debt-tablet in water and pays no rent for this year."

"When, upon the hill of heaven and earth, An spawned the Anuna gods, … there was no small grain, grain from the mountains or grain from the holy habitations. There was no cloth to wear; … the people of those days did not know about eating bread. They did not know about wearing clothes; they went about with naked limbs in the Land. Like sheep they ate grass with their mouths and drank water from the ditches."

"Whoever has silver, whoever has jewels, whoever has cattle, whoever has sheep shall take a seat at the gate of whoever has grain, and pass his time there."

"If you have not got enough grain, I myself shall have grain brought in to you. My lord has become distressed about the battles in Elam. But the Elamites' grain rations have quickly been exhausted, so do not slacken your forces! Do not fall head first into their slavery, nor follow at their heels!"

"Our production system takes abundant grain, which hungry people can't afford, and shrinks it into meat, which better-off people will pay for. But … our production system not only reduces abundance but actually mines the very resources on which our future rests."

"Where there is no grain, this is a sign of vengeance turned towards a city."

"Whether it is roasted or not, you should sprinkle the grain."

"Nance sees into the heart of the Land as if it were a split reed."

"Those tall flowering-reeds which stand, In Arno like a sheaf of sceptres, left By some remote dynasty of dead gods."

"Where there are no reeds, it is the worst of all poverty."

"Conceived by no father, conceived by no mother, the reed came out of the breast of the storm."

"... tobacco mosaic virus ... it's been used as a model for more than fifty years, and scientists throughout the world have used it for a variety of studies."

"The interest in plant virus evolution can be dated to the late 1920s, when it was shown that plant virus populations were genetically heterogeneous, and that their composition changed according to the experimental conditions. Many important ideas were generated prior to the era of molecular virology, such as the role of hostand vector-associated selection in virus evolution, and also that small populations, gene coadaptation and evolutionary trade-offs could limit the efficiency of selection. The analysis of viral genomes in the 1980s and 1990s established the quasispecieslike structure of their populations and allowed extensive analyses of the relationships among virus strains and species. The concept that virus populations had huge sizes and high rates of adaptive mutations became prevalent in this period, with selection mostly invoked as explaining observed patterns of population structure and evolution. In recent times virus evolution has been coming into line with evolutionary biology, and a more complex scenario has emerged."

"Plants have been explored for many years as inexpensive and versatile platforms for the generation of vaccines and other biopharmaceuticals. Plant viruses have also been engineered to either express subunit vaccines or act as epitope presentation systems. Both icosahedral and helical, filamentous-shaped plant viruses have been used for these purposes. More recently, plant viruses have been utilized as nanoparticles to transport drugs and active molecules into cancer cells. The following review describes the use of both icosahedral and helical plant viruses in a variety of new functions against cancer."

"The discovery of the first non-cellular infectious agent, later determined to be tobacco mosaic virus, paved the way for the field of virology. In the ensuing decades, research focused on discovering and eliminating viral threats to plant and animal health. However, recent conceptual and methodological revolutions have made it clear that viruses are not merely agents of destruction but essential components of global ecosystems. As plants make up over 80% of the biomass on Earth, plant viruses likely have a larger impact on ecosystem stability and function than viruses of other kingdoms. Besides preventing overgrowth of genetically homogeneous plant populations such as crop plants, some plant viruses might also promote the adaptation of their hosts to changing environments. However, estimates of the extent and frequencies of such mutualistic interactions remain controversial."

"Persistent infection, wherein a pathogen is continually present in a host individual, is widespread in virus–host systems. However, little is known regarding how seasonal environments alter virus–host interaction during such metastability. We observed a lineage-to-lineage infection of the host plant Arabidopsis halleri with Turnip mosaic virus for 3 years without severe damage. Virus dynamics and virus–host interactions within hosts were highly season dependent. Virus accumulation in the newly formed leaves was temperature dependent and was suppressed during winter. Transcriptome analyses suggested that distinct defence mechanisms, i.e. salicylic acid (SA)-dependent resistance and RNA silencing, were predominant during spring and autumn, respectively. Transcriptomic difference between infected and uninfected plants other than defence genes appeared transiently only during autumn in upper leaves. However, the virus preserved in the lower leaves is transferred to the clonal offspring of the host plants during spring. In the linage-to-linage infection of the A. halleri–TuMV system, both host clonal reproduction and virus transmission into new clonal rosettes are secured during the winter–spring transition. How virus and host overwinter turned out to be critical for understanding a long-term virus–host interaction within hosts under temperate climates, and more generally, understanding seasonality provides new insight into ecology of plant viruses."

"Darwin himself did some simple yet elegant experiments showing that seeds from some plant species could still germinate after prolonged immersion in seawater. Seeds from the West Indies have been found on the distant shores of Scotland, obviously carried by the Gulf Stream, and "drift seeds" from continents or other islands are also found on the shores of the South Pacific islands."

"The origin of plant life upon the Bermudas, is a question not very difficult of solution, after a careful consideration of facts accruing from the continued observations of several years. The islands are greatly influenced by the current of the Gulf Stream, which brings to their shores numberless objects, animate and inanimate, from the Caribbean Sea. Among such we may instances the seeds of trees, shrubs and plants, which are continually being cast ashore; while the occurrence of several forms, even forest trees, just above high water mark, go far to prove their drift origin. The hard seeds of the Leguminosæ seem especially adapted to withstand immersion in salt water for a length of time, and the fact of this order being better represented than any other favours the presumption. But although several leguminous seeds germinate on the Bermudas, there are some commonly cast ashore which do not; such are the seeds of Entada scandens, and Mucuna urens, which have never yet grown on the islands, notwithstanding their seeds are frequently landed near the trailing stems of Canavalia obtusifolia. Probably the sandy soil of the beach is unsuited to these species, which appear to grow on river banks in the West Indian Islands."

"Drift seeds bob down rivers or cross oceans — I have a dark brown Sea Heart on my desk at the Institute. I picked it up on a beach near Durban, far from the tropical Americas where it might have begun. I've rubbed it like a giant worry bead, glossed its brown skin thinking about its adventures on the currents — Gulf Stream, Equatorial, Canary, Brazil, Atlantic, Benguela, somehow making its way around Africa's tip and up to the tropical sands of KwaZulu-Natal."

"According to Guppy the type of Mucuna seed that is most frequently gathered on the beaches of Western Europe is that provisionally referred by him to Mucuna "near urens" and since suggested to be Mucuna altissimo. A drift seed of this was picked up by Guppy on the beach at Salcombe in Devon. In this the seeds are described as slightly flatter or more depressed than in M. urens and rather over and inch in diameter. They possess a narrower but a similarly encircling raphe. In color they are usually of a dark brown and when of a lighter hue they display black mottlings. Another drift seed, found at St. Helens in the Isle of Wight, is in the Kew Museum. Similar seeds have occurred in the Faroe and the Shetland Islands."

"Hold out your hands and let me lay upon them a sheaf of freshly picked sweetgrass, loose and flowing, like newly washed hair. Golden green and glossy above, the stems are banded with purple and white where they meet the ground. Hold the bundle up to your nose. Find the fragrance of honeyed vanilla over the scent of river water and black earth and you understand its scientific name: Hierochloe odorata, meaning the fragrant, holy grass. In our language it is called wiingaashk, the sweet-smelling hair of Mother Earth. Breathe it in and you start to remember things you didn’t know you’d forgotten."

"A path scented with sweetgrass leads to a landscape of forgiveness and healing for all who need it."

"Sweetgrass is a teacher of healing, a symbol of kindness and compassion."

"As it stands, it's the monster from hell, about which nobody knows what to do."

"Put a mossy stone, With mortal name and date, a harp And bunch of wild flowers, carven sharp; Then leave it free to winds that blow, And patient mosses creeping; slow, And wandering wings, and footsteps rare Of human creature pausing there."

"A rolling stone gathers no moss.."

"My will is easy to decide, For there is nothing to divide. My kin don’t need to fuss and moan — "Moss does not cling to a rolling stone.""

"But here there is no light, Save what from heaven is with the breezes blown Through verdurous glooms and winding mossy ways."

"Ready to take Rats-bane for Sugar, Hemlock for Parsly, and the Berries of deadly Night-shade for Cherries."

"Night-shade is very dangerous of what sort soever it be, taken either in the Roote, Hearb, or Fruit; All the kinds excite and provoke to sleepe; The Ordinary and Common Night-shade is lesse pernitious: And those which are called Hortensis, and Belladonna, are the most poysonous and mortall, especially their Fruits; Causing terrible Dreames, strange Phansies, Alienation of the Mind, deepe sleepe, &c."

"I may assure your correspondents, by my own personal testimony, that the plant growing in , from which, but but probably erroneously, the valley in which it stands is said to have taken its former name, is the true “deadly nightshade,” Atropa belladonna. The other plant known as “nightshade,” and sometimes called “deadly nightshade,” ', probably grows there also. It is a very common plant, to be found in all parts of England. But the Atropa grows among the ruins in some abundance, and on my last visit I gathered it in full fruit, its glossy dark purple berries, in shape and colour not unlike a blackheart cherry and with a sweetness of taste by no means disagreeable, presenting a fatal attraction to the ignorant or unwary."

"BELLADONNA, n. In Italian a beautiful lady; in English a deadly poison. A striking example of the essential identity of the two tongues."

"Stinking’st of the stinking kind, Filth of the mouth and fog of the mind, Africa, that brags her foyson, Breeds no such prodigious poison, Henbane, nightshade, both together, Hemlock, aconite—"

"No, no! go not to Lethe, neither twist Wolf’s-bane, tight-rooted, for its poisonous wine; Nor suffer thy pale forehead to be kist By nightshade, ruby grape of Proserpine;"

"Here is Belladonna, the Lady of the Rocks, The lady of situations."

"And eagerly she kist me with her tongue, And under mine her wanton thigh she flung. Yea, and she soothd me up, and calld me sire, And usde all speech that might provoke, and stirre. Yet like as if cold Hemlock I had drunke, It mocked me, hung downe the head, and sunke."

"BURGUNDY [lamenting the neglect of France]: Her vine, the merry cheerer of the heart, Unpruned dies; her hedges even-pleach'd, Like prisoners wildly overgrown with hair, Put forth disorder'd twigs; her fallow leas The darnel, hemlock and rank fumitory Doth root upon, while that the coulter rusts That should deracinate such savagery;"

"BANQUO [perhaps describing hemlock or ]: Were such things here as we do speak about? Or have we eaten on the insane root That takes the reason prisoner?"

"THIRD WITCH: Root of hemlock digged i’the dark,"

"CORDELIA [on her father]: Alack, 'tis he: why, he was met even now As mad as the vex'd sea; singing aloud; Crown'd with rank fumiter and furrow-weeds, With bur-docks, hemlock, nettles, cuckoo-flowers, Darnel, and all the idle weeds that grow In our sustaining corn. ..."

"O Gods! that ever anie thing so sweete, So suddenlie should fade awaie, and fleete! Hir armes are spread, and I am all unarm’d, Lyke one with Ovid’s cursed hemlocke charm’d;"

"Stinking’st of the stinking kind, Filth of the mouth and fog of the mind, Africa, that brags her foyson, Breeds no such prodigious poison, Henbane, nightshade, both together, Hemlock, aconite—"

"And bring me the flag that is moist with the wave, And the rush where the heath-winds sigh, And the hemlock plant, that flourishes so brave, And the poppy, with its coal-black eye;And weave them tightly, and weave them well, The fever of my head to allay;— And soon shall I faint with the death-weed smell, And sleep these throbbings away."

"Through thy battlements, Newstead, the hollow winds whistle; Thou, the hall of my fathers, art gone to decay; In thy once smiling garden, the hemlock and thistle Have choked up the rose which late bloom’d in the way."

"My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk, Or emptied some dull opiate to the drains One minute past, and Lethe-wards had sunk:"

"Bring out the hemlock! bring the funeral yew! The faithful ivy that doth all enfold; Heap high the rocks, the patient brown earth strew, And cover them against the numbing cold."

"He lookèd from his loft one day To where his slighted garden lay; Nettles and hemlock hid each lawn, And every flower was starved and gone."

"The grass, forerunner of life, has gone, But plants that spring in ruins and shards Attend until your dream is done: I have seen hemlock in your yards."

"We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick: But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes."

"Among us there are two principal varieties known of the onion; the scallion, employed for seasonings, is one, known to the Greeks by the name of gethyon, and by us as the pallacana; it is sown in March, April, and May. The other kind is the bulbed or headed onion; it is sown just after the autumnal equinox, or else after the west winds have begun to prevail. The varieties of this last kind, ranged according to their relative degrees of pungency, are the African onion, the Gallic, the Tusculan, the Ascalonian, and the Amiternian: the roundest in shape are the best. The red onion, too, is more pungent than the white, the stored than the fresh, the raw than the cooked, and the dried than the preserved."

"Orrum et caepe nefas violare et frangere morsu; o sanctas gentes quibus haec nascuntur in hortis numina!"

"Wel loved he garleek, oynons, and eek lekes."

"And, most dear actors, eat no onions nor garlick, for we are to utter sweet breath."

"And if the boy have not a woman’s gift To rain a shower of commanded tears, An onion will do well for such a shift, Which, in a napkin being close convey’d, Shall in despite enforce a watery eye."

"Mine eyes smell onions; I shall weep anon."

"The tears live in an onion that should water this sorrow."

"Look, they weep, And I, an ass, am onion-eyed."

"Whoever has tasted onions in Egypt must allow that none can be had better in any other part of the universe: here they are sweet; in other countries they are nauseous and strong. They eat them roasted, cut into four pieces, with some bits of roasted meat which the Turks in Egypt call kebab; and with this dish they are so delighted that I have heard them wish they might enjoy it in Paradise. They likewise make a soup of them."

"Shrek: Ogres are like onions! Donkey: They stink? Shrek: No! Donkey: Oh, they make you cry? Shrek: No! Donkey: Oh, you leave 'em out in the sun and they start turnin' brown and start sproutin' little white hairs... Shrek: No! Layers! Onions have layers. Ogres have layers..."

"The biological origin, diversification, and domestication of maize occurred in Mesoamerica, located in the center of Mexico. This grass of the Poaceae family had a seminal role in the origin, extension of agriculture, and culture of pre-Hispanic civilizations (Smith et al., 1981). One of the species of actual s, Zea mays subsp. parviglumis, is the progenitor of all derivative Zea mays subsp. mays modern races. The human-driven domestication that started around 9,000 years ago is one of the most critical events in the history of agriculture (Doebley, 2004; Piperno et al., 2009; Sahoo et al., 2021)."

"... From the more than 200 million metric tons of corn that the United States produces each year, 85 percent is converted into cows, hogs and chickens in the proportion of 60 millions cows, 100 million hogs and 4 billion chickens. As an index of corn's super conversion powers (double those of wheat), one bushel of corn in a mixed feed bag translated into 15 pounds of retail beef, 26 pounds of pork and 37 pounds of poultry. And this is still corn in a form we can recognize: fodder, silage, shelled grains or fibrous by-products."

"... The great edifice of variety and choice that is an American turns out to rest on a remarkably narrow biological foundation comprised of a tiny group of plants that is dominated by a single species: Zea mays, the giant tropical grass most Americans know as corn. Corn is what feeds the steer that becomes the steak. Corn feeds the chicken and the pig, the and the , the and the and, increasingly, even the salmon, a carnivore by nature that the fish farmers are reengineering to tolerate corn. The eggs are made of corn. The milk and cheese and yogurt, which once came from dairy cows that grazed on grass, now typically come from Holsteins that spend their working lives indoors tethered to machines, eating corn. ... ... Read the ingredients on the label of any processed food and, provided you know the chemical names it travels under, corn is what you will find."

"... corn is the plant of the Americas; it is native to the New World, and corn, more than any other plant, feeds the Americas. At the time of Columbus, corn was cultivated from in Canada to Chile in South America, mostly on forested land that could be cleared by slash-and-burn agriculture followed by several years of fallow. The that replaced the tall grassland of the midcentral United States is a recently developed (ca. 150 years) corn-producing region with its own landrace, . The United States produces 40% of the world's corn harvest, and it takes 25 corn plants per person per day to support the American way of life. This plant is found in more than the on the breakfast table. is in the margarine, corn syrup sweeteners in the marmalade, corn syrup solids in the instant nondairy coffee creamer, and corn was fed to the cows that made the milk, the chickens that laid the eggs, and the pigs that produced the bacon."

"Garrison Wilkes, (quote from p. 4; edited by C. Wayne Smith, Javier Betrán, and Edward C. A. Runge)"

"The parsnip, Pastinaca sativa L. (Peucedanum sativum Benth. and Hook.), is alien to the flora of Greece, but fairly common in Italy. ... Seeds of this have been found in the dumps of Swiss and north Italian pile dwellings of the and s; ... but it is doubtful that these came from wild parsnips which were used as a food, even though they are not carbonized, ... for the root of the wild parsnip is of dubious alimentary value; and Hoops ... and L. Reinhardt ... are probably wrong in thinking that the plant was cultivated."

"Parsnip (Pastinaca sativa, family Apiaceae) is an important root crop in North America, Europe and Asia, being widely consumed in other parts of the world. The vegetable resembles a pale carrot, being used for human and animal nutrition and also for medicinal and therapeutic purposes. Like other crops, it is target of pests and pathogens which lead to economic losses by affecting production quantity and quality in the areas where it is cultivated. Among the viruses that infect parsnip are: parsnip yellow fleck virus, strawberry latent ringspot virus, celery mosaic virus, and parsnip mosaic virus."

"BAKED PARSNIPS Scrape and cut in half lengthwise; boil till tender; put in a shallow baking-pan; put a few pieces of chopped butter or a little cooking oil on top; sprinkle lightly with sugar; pour over sufficient cream to about half cover. Salt to taste and bake a rich brown."

"Parsnip is cultivated mainly in temperate regions worldwide and occasionally in cooler parts of the tropics, including Eastern and Southern Africa. Parsnip requires cool conditions for optimum root maturity and quality. The fleshy, aromatic and slightly mucilaginous root is eaten as a cooked or fried vegetable. Parsnip's high fibre content may help in preventing constipation and reducing cholesterol levels in blood. Parsnip, because it is a shallow rooted crop, requires higher moisture than other vegetables. Aphids, cutworms, beet armyworm, carrot rust fly and carrot weevil are the insect pests that attack parsnip during growing season. Parsnip canker, , , cavity spot and are the diseases that attack parsnip during its lifetime."

"Wild parsnip (Pastinaca sativa L.) is a European biennial weed that has spread through many parts of North America and the world. Though it is often not classified as a noxious weed, it is generally considered a nuisance as it can dominate plant communities and displace beneficial forages. Wild parsnip and similar (Heracleum maximum) have been sporadically associated with photosensitization of livestock and humans (Walling and Walling, 2018; Kriazheva et al., 1991; Zobel and Brown, 1991; Montgomery et al., 1987)."

"Parsnips are lamentably underappreciated, but they are by far the tastiest of winter vegetables, so sweet and deep-flavored, and so versatile. And how to describe their flavor? Like a carrot crossed with , with undertones, and with a perfume unique to parsnips."

"Called kailyards in Scotland and known as potagers in France (sounds fancy, right?), a kitchen garden is a place connected with your kitchen and everyday life. It's a distinct area of your home and landscape where vegetables, fruits, and herbs are grown for culinary use. A kitchen garden can be as small as a collection of or it can be as large as a formal stone garden that covers hundreds of square feet. No matter the size, the purpose is the same: a garden that's tended regularly and used frequently in everyday meals. ... At the very least, kitchen gardens can provide all the herbs you'll need year-round (either cut fresh or dried and stored). Beyond that, kitchen gardens can yield most the greens you and your family eat. And greater still, kitchen gardens can provide large amounts of beans, peppers, squash, cucumbers, and other fresh vegetable in the height of their season as well as opportunity for preserved foods for even the coldest winters."

"In breaking up a piece of grass land, you have at least the advantage of your idea of what a kitchen garden should be. You can make your boundaries and walks, and the forms and sizes of the several plots and plantations in accordance with your own theory of a perfect garden, so far at least as the extent of the grounds, the nature of the soil, and other inevitable conditions will allow. Now in this case the two matters of vital importance are the boundaries and the drainage."

"The vegetable garden has a long timeline and a curious history, quite as compelling as that of any . And with world famous kitchen gardens such as , the home of the American president Thomas Jefferson, in Virginia; in Cornwall; Winston Churchill's in Kent; and in France, home grown vegetables have become as fashionable as they are fresh."

"... “,” … —a documentary miniseries produced, in 1987, for — … had been something of a sensation at the time of its release. It follows a master gardener, , through his yearlong attempt to revive the long-fallow walled garden of , a country estate in , using entirely Victorian-era plants, tools, and methods. Each of the series’ thirteen parts (an introductory episode, and then one for each calendar month, January through December) is narrated, on- and offscreen, by Peter Thoday, a mustachioed horticulturist whose elbow-patched tweeds and air of perpetual wonderment harmonize wonderfully with Dodson, a plainspoken sixty-something man with cheeks as pink as rhubarb, who drops his “H”s and works the soil in a shirt and tie."

"Lovage (Levisticum officinale, Koch.), a perennial, native of the Mediterranean region. The large, dark-green, shining radical leaves are usually divided into two or three segments. Toward the top the thick, hollow, erect stems divide to form opposite, whorled branches which bear s of yellow flowers, followed by highly aromatic, hollowed fruits ("seeds") with three prominent ribs. Propagation is by division or by seeds not over three years old. In late summer when the seed ripens, it is sown and the seedlings transplanted either in the fall or as early in spring as possible to their permanent places. Rich, moist soil is needed. Root division is performed in early spring. With cultivation and alternation like that given to , the plants should last for several years. Formerly lovage was used for a great variety of purposes, but nowadays it is restricted almost wholly to confectionery, the young stems being handled like those of Angelica. So far as I have been able to learn, the leaf stalks and stem bases, which were formerly blanched like celery, are no longer used in this way."

"Herbs ... were an ubiquitous feature of the (English) countryside, found in s, woods, and fields. Lovage (Levisticum officinale Koch.), which belongs to the family, is a perennial plant that grows easily and has an -like taste and a celery-like flavour, thus leading to its name as the Maggi plant. Lovage also gives rise to a gentle mouth-tingling gustatory effect due to the presence of , a volatile modulator. Charting the history of lovage's use in cooking, this narrative historical review will hopefully help to draw attention to a versatile and flavourful culinary herb that has largely been replaced in recipes by and/or ."

". Ligusticum levisticum L. This plant is yet to be rarely found in gardens. At the present day, says , Lovage is almost exclusively used in the manufacture of confectionery; formerly the leaf stalks and bottoms of the stems were eaten, blanched like celery. ... The whole plant has a strong, sweetish, aromatic odor, and a warm, pungent taste, and is probably grown now in America, as in 1806, rather as a medicinal than as a culinary herb. It appears to have known to in 1536, who calls it Levisticum officinarum, and www only seen in gardens by Chabræus ... in 1677."

"Probably the easiest of all culinary herbs to grow, lovage bursts up from below ground every spring at about this time. It has a rich, brothy flavour, halfway between and s, which is probably why the herb (despite being a rare find in UK shops) is still a popular ingredient in sauces and gravies on the continent. Lovage plants are vigorous growers, unfussy about site and soil. In fact, bucking the trend for most herbs, which tend to demand sunny, well-drained sites, it’s perfectly at home even on shady sites."

"... there are over eighty recognizable and distinct botanical forms of cultivated barley, based on morphological character differences (, 1950). Of these, only ten have achieved any wide distribution, and three of these contribute by far the greatest proportion of the cultivated barleys of the world (Orlov, 1936)."

"… historic sources and ancient texts report that gladiators had their own diet consisting of barley and beans, and they have been referred to as hordearii or ‘barley men’ which was reported to help with weight gain and providing subcutaneous fat that protected them from flesh wounds during fights ... Barley is commonly used as a food ingredient, as a fermentable material for beer and distilled beverages and as animal fodder. Barley is ranked fourth amongst the cereal crops behind maize, and in terms of production, area harvested and yield over the past 20 years ... Barley has been incorporated into a variety of food products based on the potential health benefits. The s, a type of soluble fibre, in barley have been demonstrated to lower blood cholesterol ... and reduce human glycaemic response ..."

"Barley was a difficult cereal grain upon which to apply transgenic technology successfully, but not more so than wheat. Major obstacles have now been overcome using direct and indirect methods of transformation, Among the numerous pioneers who produced transgenic barleys, Wan and were first to report efficient transformation of barley that resulted in fertile, stably transformed plants (Wan and Lemaux, 1994)."

"The fruit or in the commoner varieties of cultivated barleys is adherent to the flowering and pale, and on being thrashed does not separate from the latter. Varieties termed naked barleys, however, exist, in which the caryopsis is free from the glumes and falls out of the as readily or more so than a grain of ."

"... barley has been harvested all across North America. Its graceful seed heads are among the most beautiful of grains, as they ripen, swaying in the summer breezes. And while the crop has generally been used in brewing and as a highly nutritious animal feed, its role as one of the most delicious ingredients in a modern kitchen has been overlooked far too often."

"Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is one of the most ancient crops, and it has played a role in the human development of agriculture, civilizations, and culture and the sciences of agronomy, physiology, genetics, breeding, malting, and brewing. It is grown and/or used around the world. For many centuries, barley has fed livestock, poultry, people, and people's spirit. Barley was among the first domesticates playing an important role during the hundreds or thousands of years of human transition from hunting and gathering to agrarian lifestyle in the "Fertile Crescent" of the Near East starting at least 10,000 years ago. ... Barley is best known around the world today as a feed grain and as the premier malting and brewing grain."

"RICE, Oryza sativa, 米 Mi, grown in all the provinces south of the , and by dry cultivation to a small extent in South . ... In two crops are obtained annually, further north only one. ... Glutinous-rice dumplings are made at the time of the and consumed in large quantities. is eaten by persons with weak digestions, and sweetmeats are also made from this rice ..."

"There are two species of cultivated rice, ' and ' The former is a common rice widely grown in the tropical and temperate zones, and the latter is endemic to West Africa. Besides these cultivated species, the genus ' comprises about twenty wild species. Classification of the genus is primarily due to Roschevicz (1931), (1932), and (1948). But the nomenclature for wild species has been an issue of controversy."

"Throughout its history, the cultivation, trade, and consumption of rice has affected vast parts of Asia, Africa, and the Americas. In China rice started to be cultivated more than 10,000 years ago; it was also domesticate very early in South and Southeast Asia, where its cultivation spread widely through antiquity. It was grown in Europe by the tenth century CE and was introduced to the Americas in the early sixteenth century as part of the so-called . By the precolonial period, rice cultivation was widespread in West Africa. Italians like their ' and the Japanese their ; is famous for its coconut rice with beans; and any Indian meal is incomplete without rice."

"As we emerge from the twilight zone of the , it is clear that they established something like a cultural unity in northern India. The valley was by the seventh century the great centre of Indian population. It may be the cultivation of rice made this possible."

"The integrated (IRDF), in which ducks feed on insects and weeds in paddies and fertilise rice plants, has been a flagship of Asian sustainable-agriculture movements. ... Asia accounted for about 90% of 672 million metric tonnes of rice produced in the world as of 2010 (FAO, 2012b). Rice farming in Asia used to be characterised by small scale, labour-intensiveness and on-site recycling of green and animal manures. Although rice farming is still labour-intensive in remote areas of Asian developing countries, it has rapidly been mechanised and agrochemicals-intensive in the name of agricultural modernisation and . In fact, the so-called green revolution has largely resulted from industrial monoculture, genetically modified crops and the overuse of s, which caused agricultural land degradation globally (Roberts, 2008). ... In the IRDF system, ducks are released into rice fields after seedling transplantation. The most recognised strength of IRDF is the synergy of co-producing rice and ducks on the same track of land. Expectably, ducks peck at insects, control the germination of weeds by stirring up paddy water, and provide organic matters for the growth of rice plants. Thus, IRDF makes it possible to fatten ducks, economising on weeds and insects in rice paddies, and obtain greater rice yields."

"Lentil is sometimes called “poor man's meat”. Such a description originated in ancient Europe. In India and many other countries, lentil is equally relished by all levels of society. Nevertheless, there may exist a relationship between poverty and lentil consumption as in earlier times, which led the ancient Greeks to describe the “nouveau rich”: “Now he does not like lentils anymore” (Ackroyd et al., 1982)."

"LENTIL S Lentils, 1 cup. Rich milk, 1/4 cup. Egg, 1. Butter, 1 tablespoonful. Flour, 3/4 cup. Cook lentils until tender, drain, press through a colander, add the milk, butter, flour, salt, and beaten yolk. Mix thoroughly and add the stiffly-beaten white. Drop in spoonfuls on oiled griddle and brown on both sides, or bake in the oven. Garnish with , and serve with or ."

"7.1.2 Lentil/Masoor Dal Masoor dal also known as red lentil is a prevalent pulse in Indian cuisines and widely utilized in diverse food products. It is a type of lentil with a reddish-orange color, a small size and can cook easily as compared to other lentils. It can be cooked without prior soaking like other pulses. To cook masoor dal, it is rinsed thoroughly and then cooked with water or broth until it becomes tender. It can be seasoned with various spices and herbs. Masoor dal is mainly consumed in the form of for lunch and dinner meals along with boiled rice, , and so forth. It is typically cooked with s, tomatoes, onions, and sometimes and . The combination of rice and dal is known by different names in different countries, for example in Nepal, it is known as dal bhat, and in Pakistan, it is known as dal chawal. Dal tadka is a popular variation of lentil curry where the cooked lentils/masoor dal are often tempered with spices like , s, garlic, and curry leaves."

"Lentil (Lens culinaris Medlik.) is an important legume crop with respect to global production, trade, and consumption patterns. Lentil belongs to the family and is a self-pollinated crop. It is one of the highly valued pulse crops in farming systems. Lentil is an annual legume plant with its lens-shaped seed and is grown in more than 45 countries (Khazaei et al. 2019). An artificial (AI)-based research data search engine (Dimensions 2022) indicates there are than 147,000 publications, 75,000 patents, and over 150 s on lentils. These data clearly indicate the importance of lentils in today's world. The total world production of lentils was 5.61 million in 2021, which has more than doubled from 2.66 MT since 1991."

"LENTIL (Lens esculenta) An annual leguminous plant much grown in Europe for its round, flat seeds, which are boiled like soup or cooked like s. The plant is little grown in this country. It requires a warm, sandy soil, and should be planted at about the time are. Sow in drills 18 to 24 inches and harvest when the stems begin to yellow. The seed may be beaten out with a flail after the pods are dry."

"Although lentils tend to suffer less from disease than do other legume crops, they are still impacted by ."

"... Lentil seeds dating back 8,000 years have been found at archeological sites in the Middle East. Lentils were mentioned in the Bible, both as an item that traded to for his birthright and as part of bread that was made during the of the Jewish people."

"... The lentil seeds are relatively higher in protein content (25%), carbohydrates and calories that other legumes (Muehlbauel et al. 1985). Its seeds are also a good source of essential minerals like , , and . Lentil seeds are used for various cuisines worldwide and most commonly used as main dishes, side dishes, as sprouted grain in salads with ' and rice. It is used as a staple of the diet in many Middle Eastern countries and India. Lentil flour can be used to prepare dishes such as soups, stews and s. The flour can be mixed with cereals to make breads and cakes and as food for infants (Williams and Singh 1988)."

"According to the basic evolutionary criteria of survival and reproduction, wheat has become one of the most successful plants in the history of the earth."

"Worldwide, wheat covers about 2.25 million square kilometres of the globe's surface, almost ten times the size of Britain."

"the new agricultural task demanded so much so much time that people were forced to settle permanently next to their wheat field. This completely changed their way of life. We did not domesticate wheat. It domesticated us."

"Cultivating wheat much more food per unit of territory, and thereby enabled Homo sapiens to multiply exponentially."

"Bread may be made out of wheat flour, water, , and salt. Even when it contains no other ingredients than these, it has not always the same food value, pound for pound, for flours themselves differ in composition, and, moreover, some flours take up more water than others, the result being moister bread. Sometimes a little sugar or fat is added to the ingredients, and milk is often substituted for part of the water. These substances contribute somewhat to the nutritive valued of the bread, but they are used in such small amounts that they are much less important than the flour. The food value of a pound of bread is, therefore, not far different from that of the flour used in making it."

"TILLERING The wheat plant has the ability to , i.e. to produce lateral branches. At the end of the vegetative phase of development, the plant will consist of, in addition to the main shoot, a number of tillers. Exactly how many are present at this stage varies widely depending on factors such as plant population, sowing date, mineral nutrition and the application of plant growth regulators. Of the tillers present at this time, only a proportion will survive, the rest dying without producing an , possibly due to competition for resources, such as light or nutrients."

"Historic documents confirm that wheat is the earliest field crop used for human food processing ... It also became the leading grain used for human consumption due to its nutritive profile and relatively easy harvesting, storing, transportation, and processing, as compared to other grains. The earliest varieties, grown 12,000–17,000 years ago in the Near East, were and . Continued breeding resulted in the development of new varieties around the world that often became adapted to areas previously unsuited for the cultivation of wheat. The main wheat varieties grown today are , which is a hexaploid with six groups of seven s in each group. This species includes hard red winter, hard red spring, soft red winter, and white wheats. Another wheat durum is a tetraploid, containing four groups of seven chromosomes totaling 28 chromosomes. The botanical name of is Triticum durum. A limited area is planted with the soft white wheat variety of Triticum aestivum, subspecies compactum, commonly known as . Currently about 4000 different wheat varieties are grown around the world."

"Wheat is the dominant crop in temperate countries being used for human food and livestock feed. Its success depends partly on its adaptability and high yield potential but also on the protein fraction which confers the viscoelastic properties that allow dough to be processed into bread, , s, and other food products. Wheat also contributes s, s, and s, and beneficial s and components to the human diet, and these are particularly enriched in whole-grain products. However, wheat products are also known or suggested to be responsible for a number of adverse reactions in humans, including intolerances (notably ) and allergies (respiratory and food). Current and future concerns include sustaining wheat production and quality with reduced inputs of agrochemicals and developing lines with enhanced quality for specific end-uses, notably for s and human nutrition."

"11 Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the is perished."

"36 Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: 37 And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain: 38 But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body."

"WILD RICE Wild rice, the seed of a special grass that is of a different species than , was formerly gathered uniquely by . Now that it is also being cultivated by growers in various parts of the country, it is more easily available, though never cheap. The pronounced flavor and pleasantly chewy texture of wild rice make it a welcome accompaniment to meats with personality, such as pork, duck, goose, and game, although it also has its role as a contrast to the milder flavors of chicken and s."

"Cultivated Northern Wild Rice (NWR; ' ) is a high-value, small commodity crop grown in irrigated paddies, primarily in Minnesota and California. of the species began ∼60 years ago as demand for the nutritional grain outpaced hand-harvesting efforts from lakes and rivers in the region of the United States and Canada. Cultivated NWR cultivars are open-pollinated and highly heterogeneous and have primarily been bred for seed retention, yield, and seed size. As a lowland crop, NWR's life cycle, particularly its unique seed physiology, poses challenges to breeding efforts, limiting selection cycles per year, and requiring annual grow-outs of all germplasm. Recent efforts have increased the genomic resources available to NWR researchers, including a reference genome assembly and methodology optimization for genotyping-by-sequencing technologies. The species’ close phylogenetic relationship with white rice (') also provides a unique opportunity to utilize comparative genomic approaches to identify genes conferring agronomic traits of interest in NWR, particularly domestication traits such as seed retention. Z. palustris is an enigmatic species with regional ecological, cultural, and agricultural significance in the Great Lakes."

"The only seasonings that the and other rice gatherers traditionally used with wild rice were , berries, and animal fat—any or all of which might be added during cooking. ... Precontact Indian people had their own way of cooking: deer tallow mixed with bear grease was an effective shortening, and ashes were used in place of for baking bread. The absence of salt, a comparatively recent introduction, was often remarked upon in early sources; for example, an explorer at in 1857 found rice cooked with a welcome relief from foods seasoned with salt. Minnesota Ojibway began to acquire a taste for salt only in the mid-nineteenth century."

"Wild rice (' spp.), an important aquatic cereal grain in North America and East Asia, has attracted interest worldwide because of its antioxidant activities and health-promoting effects. Wild rice is high in protein, minerals, and vitamins but is low in fat. The phytochemical content (s, , , s, and s) of wild rice warrants its development as a functional food. Phenolic acids, flavonoids, and other phytochemicals from Zizania plants have pronounced antioxidant properties, which are associated with prevention of chronic diseases. The health-promoting effects of Zizania plants include alleviation of and lipotoxicity, prevention, and anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic, anti-hypertensive, and immunomodulatory effects."

"BUCKWHEAT CAKES. A quart of buckwheat meal. A handful of . A tea-spoonful of salt. A large table-spoonful of the strongest and freshest . Sufficient water to mix a batter. The only way of using buckwheat meal is for thin flat batter-cakes resembling s. Buckwheat in grains or unground, is good food for poultry. When in blossom, its flowers (which are small and white) are very fragrant, and much liked by bees; to whose honey it gives a delicious flavor."

"... Buckwheat does not belong in any regular . It is an ideal grain . When a meadow or a grain field in the regular rotation fails there is no better crop to fill up the loss. Buckwheat is a good crop—there is no better where climatic conditions are right—to sow on new ground or ground that has long been out of cultivation. On poor ground there is no grain crop that can compete with it."

"The is cultivated in the cooler and more mountainous regions of Asia and to some extent in Canada and Maine. It is recommended for its superior hardiness. ... The grain is smaller than the common buckwheat, the plants are more slender and the leaves arrow-shaped. It is sometimes called India wheat and duckwheat. The true buckwheat has bright, white or pink-tinged flowers in large trusses or heads; the India wheat has smaller greenish white flowers in small heads, and also small leaves. ... The common buckwheat (') is the most valuable and most widely grown form. It is met with wild in China and Siberia and enters into the agriculture of every country where grain crops are cultivated. In China it has been grown and used for food from time immemorial. In Japan it is held in general esteem and in Russia it is also largely consumed. It has been cultivated for centuries in England, France, Spain, Italy and Germany."

"The weather was already growing wintry, and morning frosts congealed an earth saturated by autumn rains. The verdure had thickened and its bright green stood out sharply against the brownish strips of trodden down by the cattle, and against the pale-yellow stubble of the spring buckwheat."

"... Historically, buckwheat was an appreciated crop because of its short growth period, moderate requirements for growth conditions, and high adaptability to adverse environments. Nowadays, interest in buckwheat-based food has increased because of its nutritional composition and many beneficial properties for human health. Buckwheat is a rich course of proteins, dietary fibers, vitamins, minerals, and bioactive compounds, including s. Moreover, it contains no and can be used in the production of gluten-free foods for individuals diagnosed with , non-celiac gluten sensitivity, or wheat protein allergies. Buckwheat is traditionally used in the production of various foods and can be successfully incorporated into various new food formulations with positive effects on their nutritional value and attractive sensory properties."

"Almost any good soil will produce a crop of mustard. The basal leaves of mustard are used for greens, and as plants require but a short time to reach the proper stage for use frequent sowings should be made. Sow the seeds thickly in drills as early as possible in the spring, or for late use sow the seeds in September or October. The forms of white mustard, of which the leaves are often curled and frilled, are generally used. Mustard greens are cooked like ."

"Mustard seeds come in three species identified by their colours: yellow, brown and black. Yellow or white mustard (', also called Brassica hirta) is best known as the main ingredient in the mustard that flavours North America's traditional hot dog. Brown mustard, ' has a dark brown seed coat and is used in the manufacturing of Dijon-style mustards. Brown mustard is used in combination with yellow in the making of English-style mustard. What we call oriental mustard is the golden yellow seed coat version of Brassica juncea. The main market for oriental mustard is South and East Asia, where it is used as a condiment in and as a source of cooking oil in some other countries, especially India and Nepal. ... Black mustard (') is native to tropical regions of North Africa, temperate regions of Europe and parts of Asia. It is the type that is commonly used in Indian cuisine and Chinese medicine and the one that is mentioned in the and in many historical recipes."

"' var. rugosa, often known as a leafy mustard/ laipatta, is a tall, slow-growing mustard with beautiful green leaves that ranges in hue from light green to dark purple. It’s a green leafy vegetable native to Central and Eastern Asia that’s eaten all across the world, from China to . Leafy mustard is grown and supplied mostly in Asian nations such as India, China, and Japan. ... Peppery, crispy leafy mustard features broad, soft leaves with high moisture content and a thick, flexible stem that may be used to make , and its seed is also used as a pickle and curry spice. Green leaves can be eaten raw or cooked in salads. They are high in a variety of phytonutrients such as vitamin A, B, C, and E, as well as iron, calcium, and protein ... Leafy mustard is also used to make a fermented pickle product known as which is a well-known and widely enjoyed Nepali meal. The mustard plant is most recognised for its tiny yellowish seeds, which produce mustard, one of the world’s most popular condiments. However, a variety of cultures have used the plant’s green leaves for food and health purposes for ages ..."

""" (mustard) is central to our Indian culture. The yellow mustard flower is the symbol of spring. Songs on the theme of sarson are an integral part of . Mustard oil is the of Bihar, Bengal, Orissa and and is used for flavoring and cooking."

"... Three varieties are in popular use – Brassica alba, Brassica juncea and Brassica nigra. ... Mustard is among the oldest recorded spices as seen in records dating back to about 3000 (Mehra, 1968) and was one of the first domesticated crops. Originally it was the condiment that was known as mustard and the word was derived from the Latin mustum. Must, the expressed juice of grapes or other fruits mixed with ground mustard seeds to form mustum ardens ('hot or burning must) was a Roman speciality condiment. Romans' love for mustard carried the same throughout Europe where it became popular for seasoning meat and fish. ... Most mustard was prepared in the early days by pounding the seeds in a and moistening them with ."

"20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you."

"The grain of rye is darker in color than that of wheat, but is otherwise similar in appearance. Rye flour differs from wheat flour in flavor, the liking for the one or the other being a matter of preference. It differs, however, in another way and in an important particular—its gluten has not the same elastic, tenacious quality and does not yield so light and well-raised a loaf. Although this fact and its dark color make it less popular than wheat, it is second in importance as a breadstuff. It is more easily raised than wheat, especially in cold countries, and therefore has a lower market value. In many parts of Europe it practically replaces wheat among the poor and in army rations. When it is milled entire, as it usually is, it contains more protein than wheat flour, but is probably less completely digested. Wheat and rye flour are often used together in bread making."

"During recent years finds from several prehistoric and medieval periods have thrown new light on the history of the spread of rye. It is now proven that wild rye is indigenous to and was already domesticated there by the at the beginning of agriculture. ' migrated to Central Europe as a s, and single grains of weed rye have been recorded there since the early Neolithic. The number of finds increased during the and , and the status of rye changed from weed to crop plant, probably in the course of the early Iron Age. This acculturation of Secale cereale in central and eastern Europe was obviously independent of the earlier one in Anatolia. The first stages towards deliberate cultivation happened unintentionally through harvesting close to the ground, so that the rye was permanently represented in the seed corn. From this point rye was able to take advantage of its competitive strength on poor soils and in areas with unfavourable climate. The start of rye as a crop in its own right during the pre-Roman Iron Age and Roman period presumably took place independently in different areas. The expansion of intensive rye cultivation occurred in the Middle Ages."

"As fall and early spring pasture, rye is especially valuable. Sown August 20th to September 15th it affords a considerable amount of pasturage until late in the fall, and is practically certain to live over winter, renewing its growth in the spring, providing the earliest of spring pasture. While all kinds of stock relish rye as spring pasture, and do well on it, milk from cows allowed full feed on luxuriant rye pasture will be likely to ill flavored. The green crop may be used for soiling purposes, or as a green manure crop."

", the most serious disease of rye, causes severe losses. This disease is characterized by large purple-black bodies that replace some of the rye kernels in the head. Ergot can be controlled by sowing ergot-free seed on land that has not been cropped to rye for at least 2 years. Ergot loses its viability after a year; if year-old seed is sown, there is little likelihood of infection. Ergot is poisonous to humans and to . If must be removed from rye grain that is to be used for feed or for milling. ... and attack rye but are not serious because crops usually mature before the damage becomes significant. can be destructive to rye, but rarely occurs. causes stunted growth and premature ripening of the rye plant. It is particularly severe in the East South Central and South Atlantic States."

"... Of the eight major s, rye was eighth in production during the late 1980s and the 1990s ... Rye is a highly versatile crop. As a green plant, it is used as and as in s; as grain, it is used for livestock feed and as feedstock in ; and as , it is used in breads and many other s. Of the cereal flours, only wheat and rye can be used successfully in production of bread. Rye is considered inferior to wheat in production of high-volume pan breads, because its dough lacks essential elasticity and gas-retention properties. Rye flour can be used alone to produce “black” bread, which is consumed extensively in eastern Europe and parts of Asia. In many countries, “light-rye” breads are made from rye and wheat flours mixed in varying proportions. The characteristic flavor of rye is liked by many people. Small quantities of rye are used in production of baked specialty products, such as s and s. Substantial quantities of rye grain are also used in production of s. Rye is the acknowledged trademark of ."

"... Most of the cultivated rye species are members of the genus ', and has probably evolved from a perennial grass (') that still grows wild in southern Europe (Arendt and Zannini, 2013; Sapirstein and Bushuk, 2016; Wrigley and Bushuk, 2017). Although rye is now cultivated worldwide, in terms of total production it is a minor . The distribution of rye production differs from that of wheat, due to its demand for cooler growth temperatures and large differences in regional preferences for rye-based products (Poutanen et al., 2014; Wrigley and Bushuk, 2017). Europe provides more than 85% of the world’s rye production (12.8 million tons, 2019), including the leading rye producing countries: Germany, Poland, Russia, Denmark, and Belarus."

"It was that time of the year, the turning-point of summer, when the crops of the present year are a certainty, when one begins to think of the sowing for next year, and the mowing is at hand; when the rye is all in ear, though its ears are still light, not yet full, and it waves in gray-green billows in the wind ..."

"Oats are grown in the s worldwide and based on production, oats are the seventh most important crop. Oat grains are distinct from other cereals due to their high content of soluble , specifically and s. Oats also contain specific bioactive compounds called s. Oats are used primarily for animal feed, but food use of oats has been increasing as a part of the shift to plant-based diets and protein sources. Milling processes for producing oat groats, flakes, and flour include kilning for inactivation of lipid-degrading enzymes. Oats are used typically in flakes, cereals, and bakery products, but emerging areas are dairy and meat substitutes. Oats are an interesting raw material for various plant-based foods due to their relatively good amino acid composition, gluten-free status, and health claims of oat β-glucan as well as mild flavor and light color."

"The country of origin of oats is more difficult to localise than that of either wheat or barley. There is considerable evidence that wild forms of the genus were prevalent in South and South-East Europe and along the littoral of from early times. The plant in those regions and periods, however, was cultivated almost exclusively for use as , and it may be for this reason that representations of the grain, so frequently found on coins of the period in the case of wheat and barley, are so rare or entirely absent in the case of oats. ... states that the and did not cultivate oats and that there is no Sanskrit name or any name in modern for the genus."

"Oat is among the most versatile grain in the family , though it is used primarily for livestock feed and human consumption. Several oat species, such as ' (common oats), ' (Algerian or red oat), ' (naked oats), and ' (sterile or animated oat), are produced commercially and together account for oats being the seventh most grown cereal globally. Viral genera across the families , , , and often cause diseases in oat species, thus causing moderate to severe yield losses annually. In this chapter, we explore the transmission mechanisms of the most important viruses that pose threats to production of oats. Current methods for identifying viruses include purification by nucleic acid assays, symptomatology, and electron microscopy–based, physical examination and serology. Early diagnosis of viral agents causing diseases plays an important role in the management of plant diseases."

"Often called "oatmeal," are readily available in our s and have been for some time. To roll oats, the mass manufacturers first hull the s, steam them, and then pass them through rollers, therefore transforming them into flakes. In fact, "oat flakes" would be a much better popular name than "oatmeal." The thickness of the flakes varies, with the thickest being called "old-fashioned oats." (Actually, some of the rolled oats sold in s, billed as table-cut oats, may be a little thicker than regular supermarket old-fashioned.) The thicker rolled oats take the longest to cook. Thinner oats are usually billed as "quick" or "instant," ..."

"Oats constitute one of the most important field crops of New York State. According to the statistics for different crops in 1912, taken from the Yearbook of the United States Department of Agriculture, the oat crop was third in farm value in New York State. Hay ranked first ... potatoes seconds ... and oats third ... — New York ranking eleventh in oat production in the United States. ... Oats are valuable to farmers because they fit in well with the many systems of used in this State. Oats are also much used as a when land is to seeded to grass; the value of such a crop is doubtful, however, for many s are robber crops."

"Northern countries like Finland, Canada, and Scotland have a long tradition of using oats in a variety of foods. Even in these countries, however, the consumption of oats is low in comparison with that of other s. Processing of oats is required to provide edible products that are stable in storage and have good sensory properties. "Grandmothers's" s contain a variety of oat recipes that form the traditional foods that are the basis of current food uses, namely, , bread, fermented oat , and flour made of boiled, lightly smoked oats. Traditionally, oats are used as whole grains. The development of new ingredients, such as various milling fractions (i.e., bran, flour, and hulls) and enriched fraction (i.e., , , and ), started in the 1980s in responed to accumulating evidence of the health benefits of oat ."

"During the 20th century, the economic position of oats (' ) decreased strongly in favour of higher yielding crops including and maize. Presently, oat represents only ~ 1.3% of the total world grain production, and its production system is fragmented. Nonetheless, current interest is growing because of recent knowledge on its potential benefits in food, feed and agriculture. ... Five approved (EFSA) health claims apply to oats. Four relate to the oat-specific soluble fibres, the s, and concern the maintenance and reduction of , better blood glucose balance and increased faecal bulk. The fifth claim concerns the high content of unsaturated fatty acids, especially present in the endosperm, which reduces the risks of heart and vascular diseases. Furthermore, oat starch has a low , which is favourable for weight control. Oat-specific s and s have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Thus, oats can contribute significantly to the presently recommended whole-grain diet."

"Practically four-fifths of the oat crop of the United States is produced in the thirteen States extending from and Pennsylvania westward to , , , and Kansas. Each of these States annually devotes more than a million acres to oats. The average yield in the six northernmost States, New York, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota, is 31.68 bushels to the acre, while their total production is slightly less than one-third of the oat crop of this country. The average yield of the other seven States, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas, is only 29.23 s to the , yet they produce more than half of the entire crop. ... Oats are grown in the , which includes all the States of the second group, largely because a small-grain crop is needed in the and because the grain is desired for feeding to work stock. is seldom satisfactory in this district, and winter crops often do not fit well into a rotation which ordinarily includes corn, a small grain, and grass. Under these conditions oats are generally grown as the best crop between corn and grass. This is particularly true in Illinois and Iowa, the two States producing the greatest quantifies of both corn and oats."

"Oats is one of the most important grain crops in the . In the United States this crop is exceeded in area and value only by corn and wheat, while in Canada it is even more generally grown than in the United States. In Great Britain and Ireland the acreage devoted to oats is little less than that devoted to all other grain crops. In Germany it exceeds the combined acreage of wheat and barley and is second only to rye. In all the countries of northern Europe the oat crop occupies an important place. ... ... Like several of our cultivated plants, this grain was carried westward from its place of origin in western Asia and eastern Europe by the migrations of the inhabitants of that region early in the Christian era. It is probable that oats were first used for feeding animals and that their use as human food was confined to times when other grain or food was scarce. Its general use as food for man is evidently of recent origin and is due to the development of milling machinery."

"Enclose thee in the heart of Khayar timber, in the car wrought of Sinsapa put firmness. Show thyself strong, O Axle, fixed and strengthened: throw us not from the car whereon we travel."

"Enclose thee in the heart of Khayar timber, in the car wrought of Sinsapa put firmness. Show thyself strong, O Axle, fixed and strengthened: throw us not from the car whereon we travel."

"The poison that is formed upon the Salmali, that which is found in streams, that which the plants produce, All this may all the Gods banish and drive away: let not the winding worm touch me and wound my foot."

"Mount this, all-shaped, gold-hued, with strong wheels, fashioned of Kimsuka and Salmali, light-rolling, Bound for the world of life immortal, Sūrya: make for thy lord a happy bridal journey."

"Cool, Agni, and again refresh the spot which thou hast scorched and burnt. Here let the water-lily grow, and tender grass and leafy herb."

"On thy way hitherward and hence let flowery Durva grass spring up Let there be lakes with lotus blooms. These are the mansions of the flood."

"Around, on every side like drops of sweat let lightning-flashes fall. Let all malevolence pass away from us like threads of Darva grass."

"Tryambaka we worship, sweet augmenter of prosperity. As from its stem the cucumber, so may I be released from death, not reft of immortality."

"Not our own will betrayed us, but seduction, thoughtlessness, Varuṇa wine, dice, or anger. The old is near to lead astray the younger: even sleep removeth not all evil-doing."

"SPRUNG from tall trees on windy heights, these rollers transport me as they turn upon the table. Dearer to me the die that never slumbers than the deep draught of Mujavan's own Soma."

"Forth from mid air with light he dravc the darkness, as the gale blows a lily from the fiver. Like the wind grasping at the cloud of Vala, Bṛhaspati gathered to himself the cattle."

"Sara grass, Darbha, Kuśara, and Sairya, Muñja, Vīraṇa, Where all these creatures dwell unseen, with poison have infected me."

"Drink ye this water, were the words ye spake to them; or drink ye this, the rinsing of the Muñja-grass. If ye approve not even this, Sudhanvan's Sons, then at the third libation gladden ye yourselves."

"Mount this, all-shaped, gold-hued, with strong wheels, fashioned of Kimsuka and Salmali, light-rolling, Bound for the world of life immortal, Sūrya: make for thy lord a happy bridal journey."

"Ride hither to the offering of the pleasant juice, the holy Fig-tree which victorious priests surround: victorious be they still for us. At once the cows yield milk, the barley-meal is dressed. For thee, O Vāyu, never shall the cows grow thin, never for thee shall they be dry."

"The Holy Fig tree is your home, your mansion is the Parna tree: Winners of cattle shall ye be if ye regain for me this man."

"Looking back as far as we can see, in the Rig Veda we find Earth and Heaven often addressed in union as a single being (dyáváprithiví) and honoured together; they are ‘parents of the gods’ (7.53), ‘father and mother’ but also the ‘twins’ (1.159); together they ‘keep all creatures safe’ (1.160). ... In fact, the Rig Veda sees the cosmos as a thousand-branched tree (3.8.11, 9.5.10). Building on this symbol, the Gítá uses the striking image of the cosmic ashvattha (the pipal or holy fig tree, Ficus religiosa) with its roots above and branches below, to remind us of the real source of this manifestation. Elsewhere in the Mahábhárata, it is said that he who worships the ashvattha worships the universe: such is the often forgotten concept behind the worship of sacred trees in India, particularly in temples—once again, the universal at the centre of daily life."

"They said, ‘Cook for a whole year a mess of rice sufficient for four persons; and taking each time three logs from this Asvattha tree, anoint them with ghee, and put them on the fire with verses containing the words “log” and “ghee”: the fire which shall result therefrom will be that very fire (which is required)."

"They said, ‘But that also is, as it were, recondite. Make thyself rather an upper arani of Asvattha wood, and a lower arani of Asvattha wood: the fire which shall result thereform will be that very fire.’ XI.5.1.16 He then made himself an upper arani of Asvattha wood, and a lower arani of Asvattha wood; and the fire which resulted therefrom was that very fire: by offering therewith he became one of the Gandharvas. Let him therefore make himself and upper and a lower arani of Asvattha wood, and the fire which results therefrom will be that very fire: by offering therewith he becomes one of the Gandharvas.”"

"…a peepul tree, a kind of aspen, which strikes its roots into every crack and fissure of a building, and soon loosens the stones. The seeds are carried by birds, and are often deposited on the bark of another tree, where they take root, and completely smother their abode. There is among the natives a superstition that if a man who has planted a tree, dies in debt, the creditor comes in the form of a peepul, roots itself in the tree and destroys it."

"Ferns, encompassing approximately 12,000 species (PPG 1, 2016), represent only about 4% of diversity (Mehltreter, 2010); nonetheless, they provide important (Sharpe et al., 2010), and comprise a substantial portion of commercial ornamental plant production as well as horticultural economic development (Hoshizaki and Moran, 2001; Singh and Johari, 2018). Their evolutionary and paleobiological history is extensive beginning in the , approximately 390 million years ago (mya) with expanded diversity during the (65 mya), when s were becoming more dominant (Schneider et al., 2004; Schuettpelz and Pryer, 2009). Ferns were dominant flora in the , later losing space to s and angiosperms. Increasing forests provided suitable protective, shady environments where ferns flourished on the forest floor or as epiphytes on tree trunks and limbs (Watkins and Cardelús, 2012). Subsequently, over geological time spans, through adaptation and evolutionary radiation (Sessa, 2018), ferns proliferated to occupy a wide diversity of terrestrial environments; ranging from s and coastal locations to more open s, mountain terrains, and s. Consequently, their and life histories ... have commensurately expanded to include a rich panoply of different life forms, physiological adaptive strategies, and wide global habitats."

"' is not so happy-looking in cultivation as ', and it is even more troublesome to pack. I took up a large number of roots, sewed them in a flat package, and put them at the bottom of the box with the other Ferns upon them. In this way the fronds were injured, but the roots themselves were unharmed. About I found my first '—that loveliest of all our English Ferns—so easy of cultivation, so delicately varied in form, and yet so tenacious of life that the smallest division of the bulbous-looking roots will grow."

"s differ from s in the principles of their construction and growth. If we examine the base of a leaf-stalk of a tree we shall find a bud there, which, if left alone, will produce a branch or a cluster of fruit the next season. There are no such buds in the axils of fern leaves, not even in those of the , which is peculiarly tree-like in its growth. The growth of a fern is a sort of perpetual lengthening out at both ends. The upward growth, which is more frequently the subject of observation than the growth of the roots, consists first in a process of unrolling, and then of expansion and maturation of the leaves and stems. Because of these and other characters which obviously and without reference to the peculiar nature of their fruit distinguish them from flowering plants, the several parts of a fern are named differently to the corresponding parts in flowering plants. Thus, the true stem or root-stock of a fern is called a ', the true leaf is called a ', the stem which bears the leaf is called the ', and the ramifications of the stipes through the leafy portion corresponding to the leaf-stalks of other plants bears the name of '."

"1. s are most prominent in shady and humid environments, but many species are also found in drought-prone habitats, either (semi) arid ecosystems or locations with discontinuous water supply within otherwise humid ecosystems. These locations include tree branches and rocks, both substrates with little water storage capacity. 2. is gained through adaptations in water uptake, water loss, water storage and, in many ferns, , a feature that ferns share with other s. The little information available on the 's efficiency to limit water loss suggests that it may be similar to other s. Thus many ferns, while tolerating desiccation, normally avoid it through low cuticular and tal water loss and may not be considered truly . Exceptions are filmy ferns with very little control of water loss and whose water relations are akin to mosses rather than vascular plants. 3. Other adaptations found in xerophytic ferns include photoprotection with pigments, antioxidants, dense , leaf curling and drought avoidance by shedding leaves in the dry season. (CAM) is a common adaptation of xerophytic angiosperms, but is very rare in ferns. is not strongly developed in xerophytic ferns."

"The focus of shifted from simple descriptions to more detailed observations of and when Watt (1940) published the first of his many ecological studies of ' (bracken) in Britain (see Watt, 1976 for a review). Pteridium is an extremely successful colonizer worldwide and can form dense, nearly impenetrable stands. Pteridium generally contains several biochemical compounds such as high levels of s that make it health hazard when eaten by livestock or humans, although the early of New Zealand used ' s as a crop. Where it is unwanted (i.e., considered an invasive weed), Pteridium is difficult to eradicate. Pteridium therefore continues to be an important subject for ecological research (Robinson, 2007). Studies of Pteridium and other abundant ferns have helped to develop an understanding of the complex relationships between ferns and other environments."