The Big, Bad Book of Botany

by Michael Largo

  Wow! Broccoli’s nutritional benefits are astonishing, and the science is there to support its inclusion in just about anyone’s daily diet.

  CALLA LILY

  Zantedeschia aethiopica

  Too Beautiful to Bear

  As Albert Camus said, “Beauty is unbearable, drives us to despair, offering us for a minute the glimpse of an eternity.” These are fitting words to describe the radiance of the calla lily. Its splash of vibrant color and uniquely delicate trumpet shape make the calla lily a symbol of beauty, not to mention adorable to nearly all who come across it. In ancient times, people worshipped the flower as a symbol of purity and chastity and treasured it as a celebration of light. Christians saw it as a symbol of the Resurrection, and it’s still a fixture of Easter services. For most of its history, humans have used the lily at funerals, but in recent times it’s become a popular guest at wedding ceremonies, too. The lily even prompted Henry Ward Beecher to write: “Flowers are the sweetest things God ever made and forgot to put into a soul.”

  Calla lilies originated in southern Africa, blooming near marshlands and riverbeds all year round. The calla lily was first scientifically catalogued in the mid-1700s and misnamed by the famous “Father of Taxonomy,” Carl Linnaeus. The German botanist Karl Koch corrected the mistake a half century later. Linnaeus had grouped it with a characteristically different flowering genus, and Koch recategorized the calla lily under a new genus, Zantedeschia (Araceae family), in honor of the famous Italian botanist Giovanni Zantedeschi (1773–1846).

  Most of the species of calla lily are native to southern Africa, growing predominantly in marshy areas. The calla lily plants thrive in a variety of soil and enjoy dappled shade as well as sunlight. The calla lily can grow continuously in watered conditions, even surviving mild frost. However, when water is sparse, the calla lily can adopt a deciduous nature, causing leaves to fall off at maturity. Most calla lily species are also rhizomatous, meaning they have underground stems that spread outward, blooming new stalks and flowers. Zantedeschia is a perennial, usually reaching 3 feet in height, and its shimmering flowers can rise 2 feet above its arrowhead-shaped leaves. The flower of the plant is called a spadix, which actually consists of mini-flowers gathered tightly around an axis point. The inflorescence, or pattern, of these tiny flowers can be showy white, yellow, or pink and forms a funnel shape around a central finger-shaped stalk, or thicker spadix. The larger spadix comprises a phallic flower stalk carrying several male (pistillate) and female flowers.

  On the calla lily, the spathe or petal is actually a modified leaf, which can sometimes reach up to 10 inches long. The actual leaves are dusky green in color, ornamented with transparent speckles. The calla lily mixes well with other plants and can readily displace native wetland species. In this regard, it is also an acknowledged super “weed” suppressor, often eliminating plants considered less beautiful. The clump-forming habits of the calla lily easily overwhelm and crowd out other species, especially due to their underground stem system. Despite this, the lily is not considered an invasive plant, and its impact on its natural environments is minor.

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  •The calla lily has often been used in paintings and was a favorite theme of the painter Georgia O’Keeffe. Her Calla Lilies with Red Anemone, painted in 1928, sold for $6.2 million at a Christie’s auction in New York in 2001. Artist Diego Rivera also favored calla lilies.

  •In India, calla lilies are sacred flowers and have been viewed as a symbol of death, cleanliness, truth and brilliance, purity, holiness, and marriage.

  •In the Roman era, calla lilies were forced to bloom indoors during the darkest time of year to celebrate the preservation of the light and were said to make winter end sooner.

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  The Romans considered the calla lily an erotic flower, viewing it as a symbol of lust and sexuality. Giving the flower to a woman sent an explicit message of a man’s intentions. The Victorians viewed it in much the same way, though considered it a sign of desire in “pure” love.

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  CANNABIS

  Cannabis indica

  Stone Age Stoner

  For most of recorded history, “traditional” medicines have played an essential role in human health care. These remedies relied solely on the curative powers of plants; through trial and error, we discovered scores of effective treatments for a myriad of problems and diseases. Cannabis, popularly known as marijuana, is one mainstay of traditional medicine, completely apart from its psychoactive and physiological effects. The plant belongs to the Cannabaceae family of flowering plants and is native to Central and South Asia. The genus Cannabis comprises three varieties: Cannabis indica, Cannabis sativa, and Cannabis ruderalis. Colloquially referred to as hemp, Mexican Spanish Marihuana, pot, or weed (depending on the context), cannabis is one of the oldest plants cultivated purposefully for its fiber and seed oil, the latter of which is useful in medicinal remedies. These uses all predate its infamy as a recreational drug.

  Archeological studies furnish evidence of cannabis cultivation dating back twelve thousand years. The first written record of cannabis use comes from the oldest Chinese book of traditional medicine, Shen Nung’s Pharmacopoeia. The plant’s mystic fame led to China’s renown as the “Land of Mulberry and Hemp.” Asian cultures regarded the plant as a “source of happiness,” “joy giver,” and “liberator.” Cannabis also shows up as a “sacred grass,” or holy plant, in the Atharva-Veda, a collection of Hindu magic spells.

  The term cannabis, or, more often today, marijuana, actually refers to the dried leaves, stems, and heads of the female flower (which is the only part that contains 1 to 10 percent THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, the compound that gives marijuana its psychoactive effects). Hash, or hashish, is a compressed block of the resin found in the female buds of the plant, and contains 26 percent THC. THC becomes activated when it interacts with the proteins on brain receptors.

  Cannabis is native to tropical and temperate climates and grows well in a temperature range of 74 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Cannabis is a short-day plant, meaning it blooms best in spring and autumn, when days are shorter. It’s an annually flowering herb, with light green leaves, reddish buds, and a sweet, fruity smell. The flowers of cannabis are dioecious, which means individual plants will bear either male or female flowers exclusively. Leaves of cannabis plants are compound palmately lobed (or arranged like fingers on a hand) and have notched leaflets. Initially, pairs of leaves will usually have a single leaflet, which gradually increases to a maximum of seven to thirteen per leaf. The peculiar diagonal venation, or protruding veinlike pattern, of the cannabis leaf distinguishes it readily from other superficially similar leaves. The male flowers are often borne in loose clusters termed a panicle, while female flowers are borne on racemes—a peculiar type of inflorescence, or cluster of stalked flowers arranged along an elongated, unbranched, and indeterminate axis. The fruit of the cannabis plant is called an achene, which is a simple, indehiscent (meaning it does not open at maturity) monocarpellate (formed from one carpel, or female and seed-bearing part of the flower).

  Microscopic examination of mature cannabis plants reveals the presence of many glistening, translucent resin glands protruding from the buds, leaves, and, most abundantly, the floral calyxes, or leaflike envelopes that shield the developing buds and bracts of female plants. These glandular outgrowths, known as trichomes, are what secrete the compound delta 9–tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), as well as cannabidiol (CBD) and other cannabinoids.

  Multipurposed

  The cannabis plant is also commonly called “hemp,” a name particularly used in reference to the soft fiber that comes from its stalk. Hemp is stronger and more durable than cotton and is used to make thousands of commercial products, most notably rope, paper, textiles, and construction materials. Hemp is also a popular food (such as hemp seed, hemp milk, and hemp oil) and a useful biofuel.

  From the era of ancient man to modern day, the mind-altering
psychoactive qualities of cannabis have proved quite as popular as its medicinal ones. Cannabis is classified as a minor hallucinogen with depressant qualities. The immediate psychoactive effects of cannabis consist of a state of relaxation and mild euphoria, while dreamy thinking, introspection, and metacognition are secondary. THC content provides a useful measure of a cannabis plant’s potency.

  Medical Uses

  Cannabis can be used to treat a wide range of medical conditions, such as nausea and vomiting, to stimulate hunger in chemotherapy and AIDS patients, for glaucoma, movement disorders, asthma, neuropathic pain, and spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis. Synthetic forms of THC have also found their way into certain prescription drugs, including Marinol, also known as dronabinol in the United States and Germany, and Cesamet, or nabilone in Canada, Mexico, the United States, and the United Kingdom. In addition, people have used cannabis to treat bipolar and anxiety disorders, inflammation, infection, epilepsy, allergies, depression, and autoimmune diseases.

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  Hash and Assassins

  The word assassin is derived from the Arabic hashshashin. This was a group of assassins founded by Hassan-i Sabbah who were active from the eighth to fourteenth centuries and targeted Persian rulers. The name of the group came about because assassins were given hashish before each assignment, supposedly to calm their nerves.

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  Marijuana and Religion

  Cannabis first grew naturally throughout the Central Asian steppes, from as far south as Iran to the northern tundra and Siberia. Archeological evidence records its use in religious ceremonies as early as 6000 B.C. The nomadic Scythians smoked it and used it as incense. Many Bronze Age sites have been found to contain ceremonial pipes and cannabis seeds. The Assyrians referred to the plant as a “fumigant” and a sacred incense, and believed that smoking it could relieve one’s soul of sorrow and grief. Biblical sources indicate cannabis was an ingredient in the holy anointing oils once used by Jews. In China, Taoists sought its hallucinogenic properties. Sufis and whirling dervishes claimed it was particularly helpful in improving one’s balance while dancing and spinning. Rastafarians believe the herb (which they call ganja) was the first plant to grow on Solomon’s grave, and that the mythical “Tree of Life” was actually a nod to marijuana. Rastas treat cannabis use as a sacrament and point to the Book of Psalms as an indication of its importance: “He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the ser vice of man” (Psalm 104:14).

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  The first documented cannabis craze occurred during the eighteenth century, when “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” were very popular ideals. A century later, cannabis began its steady descent into bad reputation, and a steep, nearly prohibitive tax was put on its sale. In 1937, the United States made the use, sale, and possession of marijuana illegal, though it remained legal (if heavily regulated) for certain medical uses. Currently, the scientifically proven benefits of marijuana have broken through the politically motivated hysteria surrounding the plant. It is currently in the process of being removed from the list of banned narcotics to being legalized. Supporters of its recreational use point to the statistic that no known deaths have occurred directly from marijuana use (although statistics of mortalities while under its influence are inconclusive). In contrast, alcohol, for example, is definitively proven to cause approximately 100,000 deaths per year in the United States.

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  CARROT

  Daucus carota

  The Night-Vision Root

  Carrots are a popular root vegetable, typically orange in color, although red, white, purple, and yellow varieties also exist. The word carrot derives from the Indo-European root ker (horn), due to its hornlike appearance. The carrot belongs to the family Umbelliferae, also known as Apiaceae. It is closely related to celeriac, celery, coriander, fennel, parsnip, and parsley, also categorized in the Umbelliferae family. The name Umbelliferae signifies the often umbrella-like flower clusters of the plants categorized within.

  The crispy root (taproot) of the carrot is the most common edible part; however, the upper green part, or carrot top, which includes the leaves, stems, and umbels of flowers, can be eaten as well. Carrot roots have a sweet and minty aromatic taste, and appear both cooked and raw in many regional cuisines. In ancient times, carrots were actually favored for their aromatic leaves and seeds, and not for their roots, though the close relatives of the carrot—dill, fennel, parsley, and cumin—are still grown for this purpose. The edible variety of the carrot is a domesticated form of the wild carrot, a native of Europe and southwestern Asia. The wild carrot is known scientifically as Daucus carota, carota, while the cultivated domestic carrot is called Daucus carota, sativus. The domestic carrot is actually a highly selected-for variety, bred to reduce the bitterness and to minimize the woody texture of the taproot so evident on wild carrots. The ancestors of wild carrot supposedly originated in regions between Iran and Afghanistan, which remain the center of diversity for Daucus carota. It’s not until fourteenth-century China that we see the first notations of carrots as a product of agriculture. Gardeners will find it grows easily even if they lack a so-called green thumb.

  The carrot plant is a biennial, which means it takes two years to reach maturity to produce seeds. In the first season it grows vegetatively, flowering in its second year of growth to produce seed. However, when cultivated for the root, carrots are actually treated as annuals. The plants usually achieve a height of up to 2 feet and blossom during the months of June to August. The umbel, or the part that consists of a number of short flower stalks, and which together spread from a common top, gives its stems an appearance of umbrella ribs. Carrot plants like full sunlight and grow well in sandy soil, free of lumps and stones. The optimal growth temperature for carrot plants is between 50 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Low temperatures, changes in weather conditions, and various stress factors make carrots bolt, or go into an accelerated species-survival mode. A sudden cold snap can cause carrots to swiftly produce flowers and go to seed before the root reaches full length. The resulting roots prove more useful as animal fodder, and will likely not wind up as supermarket “baby carrots.”

  Carrot seeds are small (0.03 inches in diameter) and germinate quite well under cool conditions. The seedlings are very spongy and delicate and therefore cannot penetrate through a deep covering of soil. It is advisable to sow the seeds to a depth of about ½ inch and keep the soil moist. The plants achieve maturity within 12 to 16 weeks and therefore should be sown, depending on the region, from mid-February to July.

  The principal components of a carrot are water (88 percent), sugar (7 percent), protein (1 percent), fiber (1 percent), and fat (0.2 percent). The fibers are composed predominantly of cellulose and trace amounts of hemi-cellulose and lignin, but no starch. The presence of glutamic and other amino acids gives carrots their sweet taste and aroma. The characteristic bright orange color of a carrot is principally due to the presence of beta-carotene, and to some extent of gamma-carotene and alpha-carotene. The alpha- and beta-carotenes (also known as pro–vitamin A) are further converted into vitamin A in the liver (in humans). Scarcity of vitamin A in the body causes poor night vision, which explains the folk belief that eating carrots is good for your vision. Vitamin A is transformed in the retina to rhodopsin, a pigment necessary for night vision. Studies have also shown the protective effect of beta-carotenes against macular degeneration and senile cataracts.

  What Protects Them, Helps Us

  To protect itself from fungal diseases, the carrot root produces natural phytochemicals, or organic pesticides, called polyacetylenes, namely falcarinol and falcarindiol. Studies suggested that falcarinol and falcarindiol have anticancer properties and thus reduce the risk of lung, breast, and colon cancers. Apart from their anticancer properties, falcarinol and falcarindiol have been shown to possess anti-inflammatory and anti-aggregatory or helpful blood circulation properties. Carro
ts are also rich in antioxidants and minerals, which help prevent cellular damage and slow down cellular aging. Additionally, carrots can prevent heart disease and reduce the risk of stroke. In short, carrots offer a rich supply of beta-carotene, a wide variety of antioxidants, and other health-supporting nutrients—a true “whole food” if ever there was one.

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  Green Thumbs or Green Fingers

  A person with a “green thumb” of course has a natural talent for gardening. However, the origin of the phrase is hard to pin down. In Britain, the idiom for such a person was one with “green fingers.” Some believe the name originated with King Edward I, who had a great passion for gardening. According to legend, the king enjoyed fresh green peas so much that he engaged several serfs to keep him supplied. The serf who had the “greenest fingers” from many hours of shelling was always given a prize. In the United States, the phrase “green thumb” seems to date to colonial times, when tobacco provided a major cash crop for early Americans. Farmers handpicked the flowers from the crops to increase the size and weight of tobacco, using their thumbnails to simply cut the stem, which after some time could turn their thumbs green.