Re: Question About Natives

**l*@juno.com**

Hi All,

The  Frelinghuysen Arboretum, in Morristown, NJ, has a huge collection of
ancient books, some of which describe what plants the Europeans were
bringing here on a particular voyage; others are books that people sent
back to Europe that described the plants they discovered in the Americas.
Lesley Parness is the Education Director there; she is a GWA member, and
is a font of information about these books, all of which are under lock
and key. I'm sure some of our other arboreta and botanical gardens in the
Northeast have similar collections of books for those doing serious
research.

Regards,
Lois de Vries
visit: http://loisdevries.blogspot.com

On Fri, 10 Aug 2007 21:41:22 -0400 "Dan Clost" <dan.clost@sympatico.ca>
writes:
> I guess I'm a titch dyspeptic this evening.
> 
> My first thoughts about only natives-before-1600-is-good causes me 
> to wonder 
> why we "non-natives" apply that rule only to plants. Shouldn't we 
> apply it 
> to ourselves, too? Look at the continent before and after the 
> "introduction" 
> of ourselves.
> 
> But seriously...
> 
> Jeff's question is a very good one and it raises others right along 
> with it.
> 
> Which of the various native characteristics were "improved" and 
> why?
> 
> Is that improved plant occupying the same ecological niche as it did 
> in 
> 1600, as opposed to the same geographical area?
> 
> Does that environment still exist today? If not, has our selecting 
> been to 
> re-create a plant for an environment that we created?
> 
> Are the improvements that we "helped along" the same improvements 
> that 
> nature would have introduced through natural selection? Or, what 
> would the 
> native look like today if we had never shown up?
> 
> I don't think there can be definitive answers to those 
> questions,albeit, 
> there can be some definitive discussion.
> Dan
> 
> 
> From: "Jeff Ball" <jeffball@usol.com>
> 
> >,,,the tightest definition of a "native"  is that it grew in some 
> area of 
> >the country before 1600...The question is whether those plants bred 
> in  the 
> >past fifty years to improve on various native characteristics have 
> the same 
> >contribution to the ecology as the parent natives...>
> > Jeff Ball
> > jeffball@usol.com
> > 810-724-8581
> > Check out my daily blog at www.gardeneryardener.blogspot.com
> > Check out my extensive web site at www.yardener.com
> >
> >
> >
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