1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910813223103321

Autore

Leland John <1950->

Titolo

Aliens in the backyard : plant and animal imports into America / / John Leland

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Columbia, SC, : University of South Carolina Press, c2005

ISBN

1-283-59817-5

9786613910622

1-61117-213-6

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (248 p.)

Disciplina

578.6/2

Soggetti

Biological invasions - United States

Alien plants - United States

Introduced animals - United States

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. [201]-228) and index.

Nota di contenuto

Cover -- Contents -- List of Illustrations -- Acknowledgments -- 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 -- Notes -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- Y -- Z.

Sommario/riassunto

Leland's ode to survival reveals how plant and animal immigrants have made the country as much an environmental melting pot as its famed melding of human cultures, and he invites us to reconsider what it means to be American.