Plants and People Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering the economic, historical, and medicinal importance of plants to human society.

Botany

The study of plants.

Ethnobotany

Explores how people in different cultures use plants.

Agriculture

Provides stable food supplies for people in permanent settlements.

Teosinte

A wild species "tamed" through artificial selection about $10,000$ years ago that is the ancestor of modern corn.

Spices

Plant products that were commonly used as currency in the Middle Ages.

Pharmacology

The study of drugs and their effects on the body.

Salicin

A compound derived from willow trees used in aspirin.

Alkaloids

Potent plant chemicals that contain nitrogen, such as taxol which has anti-cancer properties.

Taxol

An alkaloid derived from plants that has anti-cancer properties.

Aloe Vera gel

A plant product used by the Egyptians $3,500$ years ago for the same purpose it is used today: to soothe sunburn.

Synthetic drugs

Medications developed by chemists based on the properties of plant compounds found in traditional cultures.