Gathering the DesertTo the untrained eye, a desert is a wasteland that defies civilization; yet the desert has been home to native cultures for centuries and offers sustenance in its surprisingly wide range of plant life. Gary Paul Nabhan has combed the desert in search of plants forgotten by all but a handful of American Indians and Mexican Americans. In Gathering the Desert readers will discover that the bounty of the desert is much more than meets the eyeÑwhether found in the luscious fruit of the stately organpipe cactus or in the lowly tepary bean. Nabhan has chosen a dozen of the more than 425 edible wild species found in the Sonoran Desert to demonstrate just how bountiful the land can be. From the red-hot chiltepines of Mexico to the palms of Palm Springs, each plant exemplifies a symbolic or ecological relationship which people of this region have had with plants through history. Each chapter focuses on a particular plant and is accompanied by an original drawing by artist Paul Mirocha. Word and picture together create a total impression of plants and people as the book traces the turn of seasons in the desert. |
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agaves agriculture Amaranth Greens Amaranthus palmeri American areas arid Arizona bacanora Baja California barrancas baskets bats bees beetles Bibliographic Essay birds bitter blossoms botanists buffalogourd cactus Cahuilla canyons century chiles chiltepines Cocopa Colorado Coyote Creosote Bush crops cucurbit cucurbitacins cultivated culture delta desert amaranths Desert Gourds Desert Plants devil's claw diet domesticated drought dunes farmers Felger fiber field flowers fruit gathering germination gourds grain greasewood growing harvest Howard Scott Gentry Indians irrigation kilometers land Larrea legumes looked mescal mesquite meters Mexican Mexico Nabhan native nearby nectar O'odham oases oasis organpipe Palm Springs panicgrass Papago Pima Pinacate pintos pitahaya pods pollen population prehistoric produce rain Río River Romero roots Sand Papago sandfood scientists seedlings seeds Sierra Sonoran Desert southern Southwest Southwestern species squashes summer Tarahumara tepary beans tree tribes Tucson vegetation Warihio wash wild bean wild chiles wild gourds winter