Next Meeting: Saturday September 1, 3:00 PM

"Some Like it Hot: The Little Known World of Chili Peppers"

Dr. W. Hardy Eshbaugh
Economic Botany's 2007 Distinguished Economic Botanist
Hosted by the U.S. Botanic Garden

Take a journey with Dr. Eshbaugh and learn about the fascinating world of chili peppers. Learn about their origin, evolution, history uses and how they have changed our lives.

Dr. Hardy Eshbaugh, an expert in the taxonomy of cultivated plants- including chili peppers- has distinguished himself as a tireless advocate for biodiversity conservation and has contributed to the next generation of botanists through his inspirational teaching and service.

Dr. Eshbaugh, former president of the Society of Economic Botany, the Botanical Society of America, the American Society of Plant Taxonomists, the American Institute of Biological Sciences, and the Audubon Society, is an author/editor of two books, over 100 research and general papers and more than 20 book reviews.

On Friday, August 31, Dr. Eshbaugh will take his audience on a journey through time that considers Ten Plants that Changed the World. On Saturday, September 1, he will join the DC Ethnobotanists for his talk Some Like It Hot - The Little Known World of Chili Peppers, also open to the public.

Please RSVP to jamie_s_whitacre@yahoo.com if you plan to attend the talk/DC Ethnobotanists meeting on Saturday. It will be a good one!

For the Friday talk, register at http://www.usbg.gov/education/events/ten-plants.cfm

Next Meeting: Saturday June 23, 3:00 PM

Jamie Whitacre
Ethnobotanic Museum Collections from
the Southwestern United States and Northern Mexico

For the last two years, the Departments of Anthropology and Botany at the Smithsonian's Museum of Natural History have collaborated on a project entitled "The Ethnobotanical Diversity of the Border Regions of the U.S. and Mexico”. The mission of this project is to preserve the ethnobotanical heritage of the American Southwest and Mexico by re-uniting plant specimens and cultural materials collected by Edward Palmer (1831-1911).

This talk will provide a behind-the-scenes look at the research behind the project and explain how these ethnobotanic materials were used to develop the Museum's North Lobby exhibit.

Next Meeting Saturday May 19, 3:00 PM

Dr. James Lee
Director of the Mandala Projects
American University School of International Service
Hosted by the United States Botanic Garden

"Mandala" is a Sanskrit word for "circle" or "completion" and is often associated with the wheel of life. The Mandala Project at American University is a broad effort to use new technologies and new research approaches to critical contemporary issues. It brings together many different aspects that make up the human experience: international trade, environmental issues, conflict, and culture.

The Trade and Environment Database (TED), initiated in September 1992, is a collection of categorical case studies initially focused on environmental issues related to specific trade products and the economic consequences of social policy choices, such as culture and human rights, associated with these trade products. TED Cases are organized into clusters of information with extensive search and knowledge capabilities. There are over 700 TED cases studies, many on plants and plant-based products.

Follow these links to read a few recent case studies:
Neem: http://www.american.edu/TED/neemtree.htm
Guarana: http://www.american.edu/ted/guarana.htm#r3
Rooibus Tea: http://www.american.edu/ted/riobas.htm
Cat's Claw: http://www.american.edu/ted/cats-claw.htm

To access the TED Homepage: http://www.american.edu/TED/ted.htm

The U.S. Botanic Garden (USBG) is located on the National Mall at the base of the U.S. Capitol Building. The meeting will be held in the USBG Conservatory classroom (on the left side of the main entrance). Parking in front of the conservatory is free on weekends. Federal Center SW is the nearest Metro station.

Please RSVP by e-mail to jamie_s_whitacre@yahoo.com

Next Meeting Sunday April 22, 11:15 AM

Docent-led tour of "East of Eden: Gardens in Asian Art"

Exhibit Description
Over time, each culture in Asia developed distinct garden types that expressed specific social, religious, and economic concerns. In the arid landscape of West and South Asia, one of the most common garden plans depended on a series of interconnected pools and axial watercourses. Chinese gardens were often characterized by carefully positioned rocks and pools intended to recreate microcosms of nature at large. In Japan, gardens followed a more naturalistic design and incorporated rolling hills and languid ponds to underline harmony between humans and their surroundings.

The very word "paradise" is derived from the walled orchard gardens and hunting parks of ancient Iran, referred to as pardis. According to written sources, the earliest gardens in China, dating to the Zhou period (circa 1050-256 B.C.E.), consisted of enclosed hunting grounds reserved for the royal elite.

The group size is limited to 15, please RSVP by e-mail (jamie_s_whitacre@yahoo.com) to reserve your place.

Link to the exhibit webpage: http://www.asia.si.edu/exhibitions/current/EastofEden.htm

Local Event: April 27-28 Middle East Garden Traditions: Unity and Diversity

A symposium cosponsored by the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and Dumbarton Oaks. This Symposium will discuss the long lasting history of interlinked garden traditions in the Middle East, since Roman times, and in the Islamic world up to the present. It will highlight cultural continuities, variations and differences between gardens from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indus plains.

http://www.doaks.org/gal_2007_spring_symposium_synopsis.html

New Blog and Group Discussion Site

Blog address: http://dc-ethnobotanists.blogspot.com/

Group discussion site:
http://groups.google.com/group/dc-ethnobotanists?hl=en

Start or respond to a discussion thread:
dc-ethnobotanists@googlegroups.com