Plant Portraits 14. The Fabrics of Cvilization

  (Note images in this series were generated with the assistance of modern AI tools. No actual human individuals are portrayed here. See the first installment of the series for further explanation)

The first humans feeling the need for clothing used bark cloth or perhaps grass skirts. The dawn of civilization brought the weaving of fibers from both animals (wool) and plants into fabric. Looms were among the earliest inventions as people turned to agriculture and the building of permanent settlements. There were the cruder fabrics derived from Cannabis, Agave (see Gifts from Mesoamerica), and others, but the more refined fabrics came with more organized farming cultures. 

 

In the ancient Yangshao culture along the Yellow River in China, fibers of hemp 

(Cannabis sativa) were used for crude fabrics and ropes as early as 7000 years ago. A particular 

use was for decorating pottery. Fresh, soft pottery was wrapped by hemp rope to make 

a distinctive pattern.

Fabric produced from the flax plant, Linum usatissimum, first appeared in Egypt around 

10,000 BCE, and remained the favored fabric throughout Egypt's history. It had been used 

for thread and cords even longer, since at least 30,000 BCE. Today, linen is still valued 

as one of the finer materials for tablecloths, bed sheets, etc. The fiber is extracted from the 

stems of the plant, and then woven into fabric, as in this imagined scene from ancient Egypt.

A cultivated field of flax plants is blooming in the foreground. 

Cotton was first cultivated and used for fabric independently in several parts of the world, 

around 5000 BCE. The fiber is produced on the surface of developing seeds of the cotton 

plant, Gossypium spp, and naturally functions as a parachute for wind-dispersal. Shown 

here is a family harvesting cotton in prehistoric India. It appeared

roughly at the same time in Africa and in Peru. Fabric produced from 

cotton was traditionally the least expensive, and so the common man's choice for clothing.

Silk comes only indirectly from plants, via the silkworm. The larvae feed on the leaves of the 

Mulberry tree (Morus alba), and then wrap themselves in the fine fibers they produce from glands 

in their posterior, as they enter the pupal stage.  Shown here are prehistoric people of China, 

some 8500 years ago harvesting cocoons, soaking them in hot water to separate the fibers, which 

are then spun and woven into fabric on a loom. 

During historical times, silk production was a major industry in China, as shown here during 

the Tang Dynasty. The famous Silk Road developed to export silk from China to western Asia 

and Europe in medieval times. The Chinese managed to keep the silk technology secret for over 

1000 years before it was finally leaked to Japan and Korea around 200 BCE, and much later

 to Europe. 

Silk has always been considered the most luxurious of fabrics,

both in the Orient, and later throughout the world, and so was used primarily by the 

upper classes. Here, the Empress Wu Zitian, the only official female monarch 

in Chinese history, is decked out in her heavily embroidered, royal silk gowns.  

 

Plant Portraits 13. Gifts from Ancient Mesoamerica

  (Note images in this series were generated with the assistance of modern AI tools. No actual human individuals are portrayed here. See the first installment of the series for further explanation)

 Although we think of our major agricultural crops as having originated in Eurasia, the peoples of the new world found uses for many of the unique plants found around them.

Although indigenous peoples may have been aware of rubber's property and made some use of 

it much earlier, the first documentation of rubber technology comes from the Olmec people 

of southern Mexico, some 3600 years ago. Here, an Olmec family taps a rubber tree in the 

forest for its latex. 

 

Olmec children play a traditional game with a rubber ball.

Fibers from the leaves of Agave spp. have been used by indigenous peoples throughout the 

Americas for millenia. Here, an ancient family in Mexico strips fiber from the leaves of 

Agave sisaliana. The fiber could be woven into a rough cloth, but was most important for making 

ropes, and hammocks.Cultivated Agave plants can be seen in the background.

Cacao was first cultivated and used for making beverages by the Olmec people some 3500 

years ago, though there is some evidence of earlier usage in northern South America. Such 

 use was greatly expanded by later civilizations like the Aztec.

Plant Portraits 12. Bounty from the Amazon

  (Note images in this series were generated with the assistance of modern AI tools. No actual human individuals are portrayed here. See the first installment of the series for further explanation)

Descending from the montane rain forests of the Andes, we enter into the vast neotropical rain forest biome. Dominated by the forest of the Amazon Basin, the tropical forests extend northward into western Ecuador, Columbia, Venezuela, and the Guyanas, and up into southern Mexico. A narrow strip also occupies coastal mountains near Rio de Janeiro.  This biome contains one of the richest diversities of plant life on Earth. Here we explore some of the edible contributions of the rain forest.

   

Caution: unripe fruits are toxic! 

A family of the rain forest harvests the fruit of the Aroid, Monstera deliciosa. All parts of the plant, including the unripe fruits, are loaded with highly irritant calcium oxalate crystals, as is characteristic of the entire Aroid family (Araceae). The famous Dumbcane (Dieffenbachia spp.), is so named because of this. Someone who accidentally puts some of the plant in their mouth (or is forced to do so as a punishment!} will not be able to speak because their mouth is so painfully swollen. So the family must be careful to eat only the fully ripened portions of the fruit, when the scales of the fruit loosen and start to fall off (the whole fruit does not ripen at the same time!). At that point the fruit is safe, soft, and delicious, said to have a flavor like a mix of banana, pineapple, mango or strawberry - a natural fruit smoothy.

 

 

 

 

 Montrichardia arborescens, an aroid indigenous to the flooded edges of Amazonian rivers, 

also produces an edible fruit, but valued most for the edible seeds within the fruit.  Again, 

caution must be used to avoid calcium oxalate crystals. Seeds of this and other edible 

aroids are generally roasted (like the tubers of Taro, another aroid) to break down the crystals. 

 

 

An Amazonian family gathers Acai fruits from the indigenous palm, Euterpe oleracea. This 

is the source of acai juice, touted these days as a miracle food for its concentrated mix of 

antioxidants.

 

Vanilla flavoring comes from the seed pods of the vanilla orchid, The genus Vanilla contains 

over 100 species occurring worldwide, with some even in southern Florida. Of these only  

Vanilla planifolia is used for the commercial production of vanilla essence. 

Agoutis are the only indigenous animals with jaws and teeth strong enough to gnaw through 

the tough capsule of the Brazil nut (Bertholettia excelsa, family Lecythidaceae). The two species 

co-evolved, resulting in a reliable source of food for the Agoutis, and a means of seed dispersal 

for the trees. Like North American squirrels, Agoutis bury many of the seeds they gather 

and often forget where they put them. These germinate, producing new trees. The tough 

seed pods prevent other animals from accessing the seeds, which would likely not leave enough 

seeds to produce the next generation.

Plant Portraits 11. South American Treasures

  (Note images in this series were generated with the assistance of modern AI tools. No actual human individuals are portrayed here. See the first installment of the series for further explanation)

  South America provides a diverse landscape of grasslands, deserts, mountains, and rain forests. Each provides sustenance and, in season, spectacular wildflower displays. 

 

The vast grasslands of Argentina and neighboring countries are known as the Pampas. 

Several palms make their home here, including the Syagrus romanzoffianum palms 

shown here. Philodendron selloum, a ubiquitous landscape plant in warm climates everywhere, 

is native to thickets and forest edges bordering on the Pampas. Giant, flightless Rhea birds

 make their home here.feeding on foliage, fruits, insects, and other small animals.

 

 

During the rainy season, the Pampas turns into a colorful mosaic of wildflowers, including 

the blue Commelina erecta, red Glandularia peruviana, and yellow Chrysocephalum 

apiculatum pictured here. The giant Pampas grass, Cortaderia sellowana,

 also makes its home here. 

In the Andes, which run the length of South America, wildflowers also abound, including the 

red and purple Fuchsia magellanica, scarlet Anagallis arvensis, and the orange-yellow  

Chuquiraga jussieui, pictured here. In a remarkable example of convergent evolution,  

Puya raimondii is a giant bromeliad (relative of the pineapple) that blooms just once 

after many decades, similar to the North American Century Plants (Agave spp) which are in an 

unrelated family.

 

 

In the cloud forests of the Andes, Anthurium andreanum evolved bright red-colored spathes,

 a rarity in the Aroid family, to attract hummingbirds, who feed on nectar produced by the 

tiny flowers on the spadix, and transfer pollen from one plant to another. Passiflora edulis,

 on the other hand, is blue-colored to attract large bees, such as carpenter bees, who feed on the 

nectar and transport pollen.

Passiflora tripartita, one of some 550 species found in tropical America, has specialized 

flowers with long nectar tubes, that hang upside-down, classic adaptations for pollination by 

hovering hummingbirds.

 

Fuchsia magellanica, one of over 100 species native to tropical America, has red and purple 

pendant flowers adapted for hummingbird pollination, similar to many species of Passiflora. 

This is anther example of convergent evolution. 

 The Inca culture of the Andes highlands was sustained by farming varieties of native 

tomatoes, potatoes and quinoa. Quinine, an important drug for fighting malaria, was 

derived from another Andean native plant, Cinchona officianalis.

Plant Portraits 10. The Fruit of Life

  (Note images in this series were generated with the assistance of modern AI tools. No actual human individuals are portrayed here. See the first installment of the series for further explanation)

In an earlier post, I explained why humanity might never have come into being without the fig. Its tropical relatives have been a vital source of food for primates since they first entered the rain forest canopy, and the species that evolved in the drier regions of the Middle East have sustained human populations for millennia. 

In the rain forests throughout the tropics, figs are a reliable food source for monkeys and other 

arboreal animals because of their habit of nearly continuous fruit production. Without the figs, 

primates may have diversified much more slowly, or not at all, and failed to give rise to our 

ground-dwelling ancestors. In this picture, the massive fruit set of Ficus sur is a feast for these  

guenon monkeys in Africa.

When Neanderthals entered Europe through the Middle East, the common species that we 

grow today, Ficus carica, was likely vital for their survival as well. This scene depicts an 

imagined later event of about 60,000 years ago, after modern humans had arrived from Africa. 

A Neanderthal man has two wives, one of them is a modern human, illustrating the fact, 

documented by genetic analysis, that Neanderthals and modern humans interbred. 

 

Some scholars believe that the forbidden fruit referred to in ancient stories of the Garden of Eden

 was more likely the fig, rather than the apple as often depicted in modern times. The particular 

type of fruit is not specified in the stories, but apples did not occur in the Middle East at the time.

The date palm, Phoenix dactylifera, though unrelated to the fig, also originated in the 

Middle East  and has been a vital source of food in the region for millennia. Here an early Mesopotamian family harvests dates from a cultivated grove. Note the lone male tree in 

blossom on the left. Date palms are dioecious, which means individual trees bear either 

male flowers or female flowers, not both. Early cultivators realized that they needed only 

one male tree to fertilized dozens of female trees. 

Plant Portraits 9. Big Stink in the Jungle

  (Note images in this series were generated with the assistance of modern AI tools. No actual human individuals are portrayed here. See the first installment of the series for further explanation)

 

 Not all that pleases the eye pleases the nose. Foul-smelling flowers attract flies and other insects that feed on rotting flesh. The stapeliads of Africa are of this nature, but the most spectacular examples are found in Indonesia. 

A family of the Kubu (Orang Rimba) indigenous group of Sumatra passes by the giant 

flowers of Rafflesia arnoldii, which is emitting a foul odor that mimics rotting flesh in 

order to attract carrion flies. The genus Rafflesia contains 41 species, and R. arnoldii has 

the largest of all flowers, measuring up to 40 inches in diameter.

 

A family of the Serampas ethnic group of Sumatra, dressed for a festive occasion, has 

encountered a rare bloom of the giant Titan Arum in the forest, on their way to another 

village. Being a member of the Aroid family (Araceae) the giant bloom of 

Amorphophallus titanum is not a single flower, but an inflorescence of many tiny flowers 

on a central spadix surrounded by a large spathe. The top part of the spadix is sterile,  

and functions to emit a an odor of rotting flesh, similar to that of the unrelated Rafflesia. 

Amorphophallus contains some 170 species with varied floral odors that reflect the tastes 

of particular pollinators. The Serampas people are models of forest management, growing 

a variety of sustainable forest products and have been designated by the Indonesian 

government as protectors of the rain forest within their traditional territory. 

A stink of a different sort is found in the fruits of the genus Durio (Malvaceae). Durian fruits

 have various, mostly disagreeable, odors, but tasty fruits. Orangutans and bats are attracted to 

the smell, knowing from experience that a tasty treat awaits them,  and serve as dispersal agents f

or the fruit. The foul odors perhaps discourage less intelligent, smaller animals, who would be

 unable to disperse the relatively large (one inch) seeds, from feeding on the fruits. 

Plant Portraits 8. South African Treasures

The bird-of-paradise, Strelitzia reginae, grows in moist

soil along watercourses. Those pictured higher on the 

 walls of this ravine are likely near seeps.  

  (Note images in this series were generated with the assistance of modern AI tools. No actual human individuals are portrayed here. See the first installment of the series for further explanation)

 

 The country of South Africs spans nearly 1000 miles from north to south. In the north, one finds the beginning of the vast African savanna, with its iconic herd of wild animals. More interesting botanically, however, is the southern end of the country, where a winter-rainfall, Mediterranean type of climate, with arguably the most spectacular display of spring wildflowers to be found anywhere in the world. Many of our favorite garden flowers originated here, including calla lilies, pelargoniums, birds-of-paradise, and gladiolus. The Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden in Capetown focuses exclusively on collections of native plants and is a great base for forays into the field in the spring season of September through November. 

In this post are imaginary scenes incorporating some of these native plants. You can also refer back to my series on South African wildflowers beginning with the post on Kirstenbosch linked above (or see the Table of Contents.)

 

The common white calla lily, Zantedeschia aethiopica, occurs in shallow marshy areas of 

South Africa.

The yellow calla lily, Zantedeschia elliotii, grows in shallow marshes in eastern South Africa, 

seen here with the giant bird-of-paradise, Strelitzia nicolai, in the background.

Spring wildflowers in the Cape region of South Africa form vast mixed displays of every

 imaginable hue. The iris family is particularly diverse here with about 36 genera and 1200 

species. Gladiolus, Moraea, Babiana, Ixia, Freesia, Watsonia, Romulea. Sparaxis, and  

Geissorhiza, are just a few of the distinctive members of the Iridaceae unique to this area. 

One can also find here many species of Pelargonium (known horticulturally as Geraniums), 

seen on the rocks in the foreground here. In the background are some specimens of the 

unique and spectacular giant aloe (Aloidendendron barberi), which has evolved a unique

form of secondary growth, rare among wood-less monocots.  

South Africa is also home to many species of woody shrubs in the family Proteaceae, the most 

spectacular of which is the King Protea, P. cynaroides.