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Why Botany is Cool

Why Botany is Cool. Plants are Chemical Factories ….why?. Dioscorea , yam. Erythroxylum coca. Snakeroot, Rauwolfia serpentina. Foxglove, Digitalis purpurea. Marijuana, Cannabis sativa. Important Medicinals. Taxol, Pacific Yew.

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Why Botany is Cool

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  1. Why Botany is Cool

  2. Plants are Chemical Factories….why?

  3. Dioscorea, yam

  4. Erythroxylum coca

  5. Snakeroot, Rauwolfia serpentina

  6. Foxglove, Digitalis purpurea

  7. Marijuana, Cannabis sativa

  8. Important Medicinals

  9. Taxol, Pacific Yew • To get one kilogram requires cutting and stripping bark from ~12,000 trees • Now being produced by cells in tissue culture

  10. Even Wars… • The First Opium War • 1839-42 • Between China and England • Hong Kong taken over by the British

  11. Directly or indirectly, plants provide all the food we eat.

  12. Piper nigrum • Only spice that could make decaying or heavily salted meat edible • Drew many explorers, including Columbus, to discover rain forested areas.

  13. Tea and Coffee

  14. We Use Their Bodies • Lumber • Paper • An average tree produces pulp to make ~400 copies of a 40 page newspaper • Wood pulp-cardboard, fiberboard, ice cream fillers, cellophane, rayon • Fuel-my sole source of heat! • Charcoal, fabrics, rope, baseball bats

  15. Maple syrup (Acer saccharinum) • Cinnamon, (Cinnamomum zeylanicum) • Dyes • Tannins • Natural chewing gum (Manilkara zapota) • Natural rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) • 50 million Christmas trees • Cork

  16. The Lore of Trees • More species of trees in Appalachians than in all of Europe • A fully grown deciduous tree can transpire more than a ton of water per day • $200,000 of services provided by a single tree living 50 years: • Producing oxygen-$32,000; keeps a family of 4 breathing for a year • Recycling water, regulating humidity-$37,000 • Habitat and shelter for wildlife-$31,000 • Reducing erosion-$31,000 • Pollution control-$62,500

  17. Have You Hugged a Tree? • Annually removes about 12 kg of carbon dioxide • ~equivalent to a 7000 km trip in a car • For those who don’t hug… • NYC-for cutting down a public tree…$1000 fine and 90 days • NJ-for cutting down a shade tree, up to $1500 fine and replacement fee of up to $27/sq. in. • ~$20,000 for an average tree.

  18. Relationships With Wildlife

  19. Have you thanked a plant today?Hug a tree on the way to your next class!

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