The Content Reader

Today I take a look at the bamboo, one of the most fast growing species on earth. It is used in construction as well as Asian art such as drawings and paintings made with ink.  Origin: Mostly warm, tropical regions, especially East Asia Type: Woody evergreen grass Height: Up to 30 m Edible: Yes Medical: Yes Merchandise: Yes Technical: Yes Apart from rice, no other plant has played such a big role in the history of China and the East as bamboo. You can eat the young shoots, it has been used in almost all areas of life, as well as in paintings, writing and other cultural forms. It is found in Japanese paintings and it was these paintings that inspired Claude Monet in his impressionistic art form.  There are about 1.400 species of bamboo in the world. They are used to different conditions, mountains to plains, but hardly grow on limestone soils, dry deserts or swamps. As far back as 2.000 years ago bamboo played an important role in all areas of Chinese culture. The Chinese carve...

This is a book I bought at a museum shop. I found it interesting to see which plants have made an impact on history and man. It is not a book to read from beginning to end so I take a plant at the time. I will make this a series which will be posted on Mondays. Don't worry, I will not mention all the plants, but some that are common and interesting. The first one is about the onion,  Allium copa.  Origin: Uncertain, probably Southwest Asia Type: bulbous plant Height: 30 cm or more Edible: Yes Medical: Yes Merchandise: Yes Technical: No When you cut an onion, usually the tears start coming. It is due to a sulfur-containing substance which is released. It has the same   effects as pepper spray.  Research has been done to establish whether onion tears are the same as the tears you apply to grief? Charles Darwin determined that tears of grief did not differ from those caused by onions.  However, it turned out that Darwin was wrong. The American biochemist William Fr...

On Tuesday, I visited an old castle from the 16th century. It is called Glimmingehus and is the best-preserved Medieval building in the Nordic countries. Look out for a post about the visit on  The Content Reader Goes Outdoor   next week .  Visiting places, I enjoy looking in the museum shops. Here they had a nice mix of books and this one caught my eye and imagination.  It is about plants and their origins, their stories, and how they have played a central role for man in the development of modern society. The stories of the plants merge into economy, politics, and agriculture. Some of them are well-known, others not so much. Looking forward to seeing how these plants have shaped our society.