California Plant Uses: People, Plants & Culture
Saturday, March 28
9:00 AM–3:30 PM
This Workshop Has Been Canceled
The formal name, ethnobotany, is the study of the interaction between people and plants, and is a fascinating, diverse discipline that brings together the natural and social sciences. In this workshop we’ll explore this complex value of plants as well as introduce important cultural ethics applied to modern day plant identification, wild-crafting, gathering and conservation.
Join us for a fun introduction to plant uses by tracing the beginnings of the discipline, exploring key principles and practices, and discussing the many relationships be-tween plants and peoples in past and present cultures. Our emphasis will be on California plants, both native and naturalized, that may be used for food, medicine, cultural and spiritual purposes.
Workshop participants will have opportunities for hands-on experience with some techniques and methods that may be used today. We hope this introduction to California plant uses and the discipline of ethnobotany will cultivate a broad curiosity for the many related fields of this study.
Students are asked to please bring a sack lunch and beverage and a couple of small, water-tight containers if they wish to take home products we’ll make in the workshop.
Jenny Marr and Linnea Hanson are both retired professional California botanists who have studied, managed, and enjoyed California habitats and plants for decades.