(Ch.1-2) Tales of a Shaman’s Apprentice

Chapter 1: Through the Emerald Door

Chapter 1: Through the Emerald Door

Who is (was) the world’s preeminent authority on ethnobotany and often called the father of ethnobotany?

Richard Evans Schultes

Where are the three major regions of the rainforest in the world?

1. The Amazon Basin in South America

2. The Congo Basin in Central Africa

3. The Southeast Asian Rainforest (Indonesia and Malaysia)

Plants produces chemicals to keep insects and other animals from eating them. One of the most common classes of chemicals are ____________ which are characterized by a molecular structure containing a nitrogen atom and at least 2 carbon atoms. They often have a _______ taste.

Quinine is extracted from the _____________ tree and used to cure __________ which is a disease transmitted by ______________

p.6

cinchona tree; malaria; a parasite

__________% of all prescription drugs sold in the U.S. have plant chemicals as active ingredients. The drug taxol is extracted from the ______________ and used to treat ovarian cancer (note that after this book was written, it was discovered that this chemical is actually produced by a fungus growing in the bark of this plant)

p.7

(a quarter) 25%; the pacific yew tree from the American Northwest

Who are Amerindians?

p.11

the ancestors of the lowland indian tribes from the amazon, who crossed the Bering Strait from eastern asia 2k yrs ago and who discovered the new world.

Name the Swiss Chemist who invented LSD. (we’ll learn more about him in lecture). He also isolated psilocybin from ___________ and used it to synthesize a cardiac beta-blacker called visken.

from mushrooms

Vincristine and vinblastine are extracted from _______________ and used to treat lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease, lymphocytic leukemia, and other childhood cancers.

p.16

madagascar

Chapter 2: The Search for the Black Caiman

Chapter 2: The Search for the Black Caiman

What type of animal is a black caiman?

.p.19

a highly endangered crocodillian, over 20 ft, eats humans

French Guiana in South American is not an independent country but rather a department of the country of ________.

French Guiana includes Devil’s Island where French ________ were sent.

prisoners

The black caiman is one of the largest predators in the Amazon basin and reaches a length of _____ feet and is known to eat _________ flesh. It was hunted to the brink of extinction.

20 ft; human/mammal

Name the 3 roles that spices played in the ancient world.

1. medicines

2. currency/ trade

3. food preservatives

Explorers Christopher Columbus and Vasco da Gama were searching for a shorter route to the _____ Islands where nutmeg and cloves grow.

Spice Islands (Moluccas)

Plants often rely on animals to move their seeds around (dispersal). Many fruits are adapted to be eaten whole by an animal where the fleshy pulp is digested while the _____ passes through the animal unharmed.

seeds