Towards an anthropology of plant names Part 8: And now for something completely different’ (1971)

This is the final installation in a series of 8 articles that have taken a closer look at some of the commonly used terms for tree parts to segue into following the traces of those words across different cultures through the products of trees – their wood – to reveal hidden knowledge that lies behind the nomenclature we use today. In adopting this approach to introducing and sharing information,
which has so far taken us through over 2,000 years of the history of plant
classification, we will move away from the plants themselves to explore the inherited wisdom that humans have gained from engaging with, working and fashioning trees over time, before returning to a reflection on a modern practice, imbued with symbolism, that seeks to reinstate wood as habitat in an emerging ecology of placemaking by post-industrial societies.