originally posted: March 26, 2002 | by chelsie

In the 1930s, research began on the secondary compounds found in the genus Rauvolfia. The research faded a decade later, but was renewed in the 1950s. It was discovered the dried powdered roots of Rauvolfia contain about fifty alkaloids. Two have come into general medical use, reserpine and rescinnamine. [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: March 19, 2002 | by chelsie

In the 1800s, France had been through two centuries of political upheaval. In the middle of the century, the vineyards suffered the devastation of an imported aphid, phylloxera (Daktulosphaira vitifoliae) and downy mildew (Plasmopara viticola) from the U.S. The insect and fungus wiped out millions of acres of grapevines. Then the Franco-Prussian War hit in 1870. [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: March 12, 2002 | by chelsie

Mesoamerican or upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum Linnaeus), the cotton of the Maya and Aztec, was domesticated around 3500 BCE, long before either civilization rose. The oldest samples come from the Tehuacán Cave in Mexico. Like South American cotton, this cotton is a tetraploid (4 sets of chromosomes) with African cotton as one of its parents. [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: March 5, 2002 | by chelsie

Around 5,500 years ago in the lowlands of South America, people began cultivating and weaving textiles from a weedy cotton, Gossypium barbadense. Archaeobotanists feel this cotton probably was once widespread along both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Today only a few relict populations of the wild type remain in the lowlands of Ecuador. [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: February 26, 2002 | by chelsie

Levant cotton (Gossypium herbaceum Linnaeus) is a shrub native to the savannahs of sub-Saharan Africa. It was named for the Levant, the eastern Mediterranean, but its home was along the cataracts of the Nile. Levant cotton was domesticated in the land of Kush (Nubia), today known as the Sudan and Ethiopia. [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: February 19, 2002 | by chelsie

Cotton is the single most common textile in modern life. But it was the last of the natural plant fibers to become commercially important in Europe and America. Cotton fabric was labor-intensive; the fibers needed separating from the seed, combing, spinning, and weaving. [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: February 12, 2002 | by chelsie

When Columbus made his fourth voyage to the New World, he captured a group of natives aboard a very large dugout canoe, confiscated their cargo, and forced them into serving as guides. Among other things, the canoe had on board seeds that looked similar to almonds. The natives were extremely careful with these seeds which confused Columbus and his crew. [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: February 5, 2002 | by chelsie

Worldwide, there are 35 species of Ephedra, mostly plants of temperate arid wastes and deserts. These are holdovers from ancient times. A few species of Ephedra have secondary chemicals; two we have found useful in medicine, ephedrine and pseudoephedrine. [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: January 29, 2002 | by chelsie

Maria's homeland had been divided between Austria, Prussia, and Russia. Her childhood was spent under Russian rule. Czar Alexander II had been a reformist, but his reforms were only attempts to prop up the existing system. [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: January 22, 2002 | by chelsie

In 1929, a 30-year-old associate professor of chemistry, Percy Julian, was finally granted a Fellowship and left the U.S. to attain his PhD in Vienna. Julian focused on organic chemistry and earned his doctorate in two years. While in Vienna, he became fascinated with the chemistry of soybeans (Glycine max). [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: January 15, 2002 | by chelsie

In 1797, the newly formed Directory (French revolutionary government) had a problem while their beloved Napoleon was off fighting other battles. The Directory had all sorts of recently released prisoners and no work for them. In a bold plan, the Directory created an invasion force to aid the 'poor country folk' of Wales who the Directory believed would rally around their French liberators. [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: January 8, 2002 | by chelsie

The meadow saffron (Colchicum autumnale Linnaeus) is often mistakenly called an autumn-blooming crocus. But unlike true saffron (Crocus sativus) in the Iridaceae (Iris family), the meadow saffron is a highly toxic plant in the Liliaceae (Lily family). Crocus have three stamens (pollen-bearing parts). Colchicum have six stamens. [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: January 1, 2002 | by chelsie

Western civilization started along the banks of three major rivers in the Middle East--the Tigris, the Euphrates, and the Nile. The Tigris and Euphrates were home to the Sumerians; the Nile home to the Egyptians. Papyrus (Cyperus papyrus Linnaeus) grew in the Nile. [Click here to read more...]