Natural delights

Press, 21 April 1979, Page 17

Natural delights

Plants. By Michael Chinnery. Macmillan. 48 pp. Index. $6.95. Potpourris and Other Fragrant Delights. By Jacqueline Heriteau. Penguin. 126 pp. Index. $2.70. Botanic Action. By David Bellamy. Hutchinson N.Z. 64 pp. $5.95. (Reviewed by Lorna Buchanan) “Plants” is a simple introduction to botany, intended for children, but so richly illustrated with large colour plates that it is a delight to browse through. Although it gives most attention to familiar plants from Western Europe, it also includes descriptions of such curiosities as the banyan tree, the huge, stinking

Rafflesia flower from Indonesia, and mangrove plants. Through the illustrations tl)e book introduces the classification of plants, the parts of flowers and trees, adaptions to different habitats, and the uses of plants for man, whether in making bark canoes or in providing palm oil. “Potpourris” describes in great variety the use of dried flowers and herbs as sources of pleasing scents. Most of its recipes are drawn from the days before industrial chemists and aerosol cans took over the task of making people and places “nice to be near.” The author has turned especially to Elizabethan England for ways to “make faire” a musty room. She mixes history with her herbs and recipes, and even tells how to “bathe” in the desert without water by squatting over smouldering aromatics. Many aspects of life could be turned into sweet-smelling experiences using the recipes here for scented candles, scented ink, perfumed linen and pillows, bath herbs, herb teas, strewing herbs, and “tussie-mussies.” These last were little nosegays carried about to defeat the effects of bad sanitation. Like the sense of smell, potpourris are a very personal thing, remarks the author. Her recipes are starting points from which ingredients can be varied to please particular noses; in any case, no two collections of herbs and petals will ever come out quite the same. “Botanic Action,” based on an English television series for children, attempts to teach respect for the environment and understanding of the mechanics of nature by games and projects involving simple experiments. It tells how to measure dust and food chains, how to recycle tea-bags and build gardens in bottles. Young wouldbe activists can draw a “pollution map” of their district and write to their member of Parliament about it. In all, a guide to a good deal of fun (and mess) in the course of making nettle broth or measuring the age of a fish.