With this book you will be able to recognize patterns in plants everywhere you goin the wild, in your garden, among house plants, even at the florist. Understand the magic of patterns among plants, and the world will never look the same again!
Many people recognize plants from the Mint family because they have square stalks, opposite leaves and most of them smell minty. I like to start my classes with a discussion of the the Mints because this pattern is so well known. What people dont realize is that similar patterns exist for other families of plants as well. Simply put, the study of botany is the study of patterns in plants!
Learning patterns in plants is fun, and you only need to learn about 100 broad patterns to recognize something about virtually every plant from coast to coast across the northern latitdudes.
In a two hour plant walk we typically start with the Mint Family, then progress through the Mustard, Pea, Parsley, Borage, Lily and Aster Families, so that every student can easily recognize these common families representing several thousand species. Ive had people tell me they learned more in that two hour walk than in an entire semester of botany in college. Thomas J. Elpel, Botany in a Day AUTHORBIO: Thomas J. Elpel had the rare opportunity as a child to spend hundreds of hours with his grandmother, exploring the hills and meadows of Montana. Toms grandmother helped him to learn about the native plants and their uses, igniting a passion for nature that has inspired Tom ever since.
Tom is now the director of Hollowtop Outdoor Primitive School (HOPS) in Pony, Montana where he teaches classes on stone age skills, including botany. Botany in a Day grew from Toms desire to provide an easy means for other people to discover a closer connection with the natural world. Tom is also the author of three other books inspired by nature, including: Participating in Nature, Direct Pointing to Real Wealth and Living Homes.
