Nicholas polunin, botanist and environmentalist : born cheekendon,
oxfordshire 26 june 1909; fielding curator and keeper of the university,
Demonstrator and Lecturer in botany 1939- 47; Macdonald Prefessor of Botany
McGill University, Canada 1947- 52; Founding Editor, Enviromental Conservation
1974-95; CBE 1976; Co-Editor, enviromental challenges 1993-97; married 1939
Helen Lovat Fraser (died 1973; one son;
marriage dissolved 1947), 1948 helen Eugenie campbell (two sons, one daughter );
died geneva 8 december 1997. Nicholas polunin was one of the word’s foremost
and most ardent champions of environmental conservation as well as a distinguished
botanist, writer and explorer.
Datura metel grows in the wild in all the warmer parts of
the word, and is cultivated world, and is cultivated worldwide for its chemical
and ornamental properties,. It was first described by linnaeus in 1753, but no
botanically correct illustrations or descriptions were made until after the new
world was settled. It is not possible to be sure about its original home. It is
similar to D. inoxia, but D. Metel has almost glabrous leaves and fruits that
are knobby, not spiny. D. Inoxia is pilose all over and has a spiny fruits. D. Inoxia
is one of the 50 fundamental herbs used in traditional chenese medicine. The ingestion
of D. Metel in any from is dangerous. The dry flower, particularly the violet
coloured, if rolled and used like cigar, will help to relieve the asthma or
wheezing like.
Indigofera tinctoria bears the common name true indigo. The plant
was one of the original sources of indigo dye. It has been naturalized to
tropical and temperate Asia, as well as parts of afrika, but its native habitat
is unknown since it has been in cultivation worldwide for many centuries.
True indigo is a shrub one to two meters high. It may be an
annual, biennial, or perennial, depending on the climate in which it is grown. It
has light green pinnate leaves and sheafs of pink or violet flowers. The plant
is a legume, so it is rotated into fields to improve the soil in the same way
that other legume crops such as alfalfa and beans are.
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