Going green: Know Your Weeds is a 15-page pocket guide book by Shruti Tharayil, the founder of Forgotten Greens, an initiative that works on reviving the fast-disappearing traditions of consuming uncultivated greens. The booklet introduces readers to forgotten greens, where to find them and offers some crucial foraging guidelines such as, “Not all edible plants are palatable and not all medicinal plants are edible.” It lists 10 wild edible plants commonly found in neighbourhoods across India.
Know Your Weeds by Shruti Tharayil is a curated list of 10 wild edible plants found growing on the roadside in neighbourhoods across India.
.
Itsy bitsies: Eight legs, eight eyes (most of the time) and a propensity to terrify - spiders have a bad rap. But it’s not their fault. These predators occupy an important rung in the web of life and this pocket guide will help identify 100 of them. Explore Spiders of India by Karthikeya S was published in 2022, and is the ideal companion for the budding arachnologist. With macro images, colourful illustrations and information about their habitats, activities, and body size, it provides just enough information to get one started.
.
Teeny weenies: On a Trail with Ants by Ajay Narendra and Sunil Kumar is a rare handbook on the ants of the Indian subcontinent. Here’s a fun fact - there are over 800 species of ants found in India. It shouldn’t come as a surprise, considering ants are the most populous organisms in the world. We’re talking an estimated 20 quadrillion (20 x 1015) ants on earth. On a Trail with Ants offers insight into 50 of them, with images detailing their habitats and morphology, a summary of their characteristics, and facts on the behaviour of each species, including the shape of their nests. This self-published work came out in 2006. It’s certainly time for an update.
.
Butterfly effect: As far as field guides go, this one is as hyperlocal as it is universal. The Pocket Guide to the Butterflies of Venkateshpura Lake, Bengaluru, covers over 60 species recorded in the area. But given the urban environs around the lake, these species are commonly found around any cityscape, with or without a waterbody nearby. The foldable pamphlet was compiled with the help of researchers from the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment. It also lists a few useful tips on how to attract these colourful insects to the backyard. As it states, nectar plants such as the chaste tree and butterfly bush would help.
.
True colours: Butterflies of Kanha: Pocket Guide to the Butterflies of Kanha Landscape is the work of Pranad Patil, Tulika Kedia, Hemant Ogale and Shardul Bajikar. Published in 2020, the 112-page book documents the rich diversity of butterflies and their behaviour at Kanha National Park in Madhya Pradesh. The book has been produced by Must Art, a gallery dedicated to the sale and promotion of contemporary Gond art. Contributors include Gond artists Mayank Shyam and Manoj Tekam, making it as much a collectible as it is a field guide.
E-Paper
