Aliens in the backyard : plant and animal imports into America
Title:
Aliens in the backyard : plant and animal imports into America
Author:
Leland, John, 1950-
ISBN:
9781570035821
Personal Author:
Publication Information:
Columbia, S.C. : University of South Carolina Press, c2005.
Physical Description:
235 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.
Contents:
As American as apple pie : an introduction to weeds -- Out of Africa : how slavery transformed the American landscape and diet -- A green nightmare : the un-American lawn -- A sow's ear from a silk purse : the legacy of sericulture -- Psychedelic gardens : what grandmother grew in her backyard -- Bad air and worse science : malaria's gifts to America -- Bioterror : older than you think -- Cowboys : and their alien habits -- ... and Indians : less native than you think -- An entangled bank : roadside weeds -- House pests : some of those who share your quarters -- It seemed a good idea at the time : the well-intentioned ecological disaster -- Misplaced Americans : as rootless as the humans who invited them in -- Gone fishin' : an unnatural pastime.
Abstract:
"Aliens in the Backyard: Plant and Animal Imports into America recounts the origins and impacts of non-indigenous species on our environment and pays overdue tribute to the resolve of nature to survive in the face of challenge and change." "Mixing natural history with engaging anecdotes, Leland cuts through patriotic and problematic myths coloring our grasp of the natural world and suggests that the stories of how these alien species have reshaped our landscape are as much a part of the continent's heritage as tales of our presidents and politics."
"Simultaneously, he poses questions about which, if any, of our accepted icons are truly American (not apple pie or Kentucky bluegrass; not Idaho potatoes or Boston ivy)."--BOOK JACKET.
Electronic Access:
Table of contents http://www.loc.gov/catdir/toc/ecip056/2005000544.html