SPRING 1999

WELCOME to Ethnobotanical Leaflets. In our Policy Corner you can preview in advance of our forthcoming summer issue an interview with Meredith Lane that is entitled, "Teaming with Life." Dr. Lane was deeply involved in production of the Report by the Panel on Biodiversity of Ecosystems of the President's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). The proposals in the Report are being presented for consideration starting with this year's federal budgets for NSF, NASA, EPA and other executive branch institutions. The interview focuses on points of interest to all biologists and to economic and ethnobotanists in particular. Dr. Peter Raven of the Missouri Botanical Garden was chair of the committee which produced the report. Also in this issue you'll find a number of new subject areas worth exploring, including recent contributions to our Web Journal. Under this heading will be found various short articles and research notes of general interest to our readers. Please check the link, Ethnobotanical Leaflets Starch Research Page for further news. Also, new color photos by Carlos Ochoa have been added to the Galleria Section. In addition, please note the new links in Online Economic Botany Resources. As always, contributions from our readers are welcome.

Web Journal

--Your source of information on Economic Plants--

: Heaven's Delight--Vanilla, by Luís M. Mendoza de Carvalho; The Natural History of Mahogany, by Scott Herron; Taro (Colocasia esculenta), by Wilfred Lee; The Incredibly Usable Cattail, by Anthony Graham; Origin, Distribution and Classification of Broccoli Varieties, by John McMurray; The Rubber Tree (Hevea brasiliensis), by Keith E. Morgan; Black Mustard, by Sarah Ewing; The Tomato, by Marty Vogt
In our Winter 1998 issue you'll find articles on the ethnobotany of Atropa belladona, avocado, bamboo, hemp, Chenopodium, coca, coconut, cola, jimson weed, peanut, peppers, pineapple and quinine.
See the Summer 1998 issue for articles on Banisteriopsis caapi, Cannabis, chocolate, coca, native dye plants, ergot, mayapple, opium, papaya, peyote, Salvia divinorum and tobacco. Also included in this issue are color photos by Carlos Ochoa of Peruivan maize cobs, chile peppers, zapote (Manilkara zapota), common bean, capuli (Physalis peruviana) and mashua (Tropaeolum tuberosum). Our Fall 1998 issue has articles on edible seaweed, banana, canola, ginseng, grape and sugar cane. Also included in this issue are color photos of the fruits of the aguaje palm (Mauritia flexuosa), maca roots (Lepidium meyenii), umari fruits (Poraquiba sericea), pomarosa fruits (Eugenia inundata), oca tubers (Oxalis tuberosus) and lucuma fruits (Pouteria lucuma), all by Carlos Ochoa.