Medicinal and Food Plants

Did you know that wild rice is not rice but a tall, aquatic grass? Did you know that the oldest known recipe for beer was found on a Babylonian cuneiform tablet created 3,800 years ago? Did you know that in 1614, the City of London had 7,000 stores that sold tobacco? From buckwheat to rye and from bananas to barley corn, this fascinating reference offers a crisp pictorial record of the many foods on our tables today that emerged thousands of years ago in faraway lands. A major portion of the book features scores of rare woodcut illustrations culled from ancient herbals and old manuscripts that enhance intriguing anecdotes about the origins of grains and coffee, the odysseys of pineapples and peanuts, and the mysteries behind such exotic plants as breadfruit, pomegranates, and poppies. A second section includes a pictorial directory of various herbs, spices, and seeds, and relates their therapeutic, magical, and nutritional uses. An invaluable resource of royalty-free images for commercial artists and hobbyists, this illustrated sourcebook will delight anyone interested in the legendary and symbolic properties of food and medicinal plants.