Nightshades the paradoxical plants

by Charles B. Heiser Jr.

Octavo, Green Decorated Cloth, PP.200, B & w Photos, Text Figures, From An Authoritative Writer

Genres: Nature

200 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1969

About the author

Charles Bixler Heiser Jr.

Reviews

[Bruce Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Humor, random facts, biological details, and historical stories merged to tell the story of a plant family. Example? Well, how about tobacco?

Tobacco became legal tender in Virginia. Wives were bought for 120 pounds of the leaf. Charles B. Heiser, Nightshades- the Paradoxical Plants, (San Francisco: W. H. Freeman, 1969), 164

Or the plant family and the people who tangle with it:

Many members of the family produce alkaloids, which do have a quieting effect; in fact, sometimes a permanent one. Prologue, Charles B. Heiser, Nightshades- the Paradoxical Plants, (San Francisco: W. H. Freeman, 1969), 1-2

[Raven]

"Thus we also have the pre-Linnaean name, Mala insana, which likewise means mad apple. The eggplant was also formerly known as raging apple and love apple."

"The name potato itself is also a source of confusion, for the word potato is derived from batata, one of the Indian names for the sweet potato, a member of the morning glory family."

"A paper on some of Greshoff's phytochemical investigations did appear in the Kew Bulletin in 1909 but without adding details as to what was known about Solanum. His sudden death was announced in the same volume. The cause of death was not reported, and I have always wondered if he got too carried away with his work."