The simple aim of Plant Cuttings is to provide a home for my writings and musings about plants and plants and people. The site does have a nobler ambition – to share my enthusiasm for all things ‘planty’ with a wider audience in the hope that the public’s botanical literacy will be improved. Why is that important? Simply put, if you don’t appreciate or understand something, you probably won’t care about it. Because plants are absolutely essential to the continued existence of people on this planet – think: food, oxygen, medicines, etc. – every one of us should know more about plants, so that we do care about them and look after them. This site’s contribution to that educational brief will be two main categories of blog items, Plant Cuttings, and book appraisals.
Plant Cuttings are intended to provide information about an aspect of botany that seems worth sharing with a wider audience. All topics are fair game for such a post – as long as there’s a plant angle [and one can usually be found]. One of the most important features of a Plant Cutting is that it should be evidence-based, with sources stated for statements made, so that the reader can check on what’s been written [and get more information about the subject]. Sometimes, it may look like too many sources have been supplied to support a statement. That ‘duplication’ is usually to ensure that at least one of the sources can be accessed by interested readers – sites do occasionally disappear from the internet. Plus, different sources may add something extra to the story. Because these items work hardest at promoting the ‘plants are really important’ message, the site has been named after them.
Book appraisals are reviews of books with a plant theme [although plant may be widely interpreted to include fungi (traditionally studied by botanists), and photosynthetic organisms such as algae]. The only criterion for a book to be considered for review is that it has a plant connection – however ‘loose’ that may be [for example I have appraised a book about seashore ecology, because there was plenty to say about seaweeds]. The appraisals are my honest assessments of the books’ strengths and weaknesses. I hope the appraisals will be useful to potential readers.
[For a bit more about me, see here]
Plant Cuttings 