The Society for Ethnobotany

Mary W. Klinger Book Award

Each year at the annual meeting of the Society for Ethnobotany the Mary W. Klinger Book Award is given to an outstanding book published in the discipline of Ethnobotany.

This award is named for Mary W. Klinger, a generous supporter of our society's mission whose husband, Bruno Klinger, was a professor of botany and a specialist in poisonous plants at the Colorado State University College of Veterinary Medicine. His obituary can be read here. When Mary passed, she graciously left the Society in her will with the intent for us to use her gift in a way that we saw fitting.

It is in the generous spirit of Mary W. Klinger that we also hope that other supporters, members, and officers of the Society follow her example and include The Society for Ethnobotany in the planning of their estates.

Award Process | Award Committee

Award Recipients and Information:
2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024
2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020
2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009
1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999

Klinger Award Process

* The names of books to be considered may be submitted by any SEB member or by the author or the publisher of the book. Complete bibliographic and contact information must be provided.

* These books will be considered candidates for the Klinger Award.

* Books are eligible if they have been published on or after March 1^st, three years prior to the current year. Klinger Finalists can be carried over for future consideration, if approved by the Klinger Committee.

* The annual list of candidate books will be completed by March 1^st.

* The book review editor is encouraged to submit the titles of potential candidate texts to the Klinger committee, as the book reviews are received.

* Any member of the Klinger committee may nominate a book from the potential list of candidate texts.

* If two or more committee members nominate a book, it will be considered a Klinger Award Nominee.

* Publishers willing to have their Klinger Award Nominees considered for the award must submit a review copy to each member of the Klinger Committee.

* Klinger Award Nominees that receive positive reviews from the Klinger Committee become Klinger Award Finalists.

After reviewing each Klinger Award Nominee, committee members will submit their top three-ranked books to the chair of the Klinger Committee by May 1^st. For each of the three top book, committee members (including the chair) will provide a one-paragraph review, which describes the merits of each text.

* The chair will compile the rankings and send the ranked list of the top three Klinger Award Nominee to the committee, along with the individual one-paragraph reviews. Committee members, including the chair, will vote yes or no, to confirm the rankings. If the majority of the committee votes in favor of the ranking, the top book will be the Klinger Awardee for that year. If the ranked list fails to achieve a majority vote, the lowest ranked Klinger Award Nominee will be removed from consideration. Ranking will continue as before. The process will continue, as needed until a decision is reached

PLEASE submit nominations through March 1, 2022 to the Book Award Committee via:
Dr. Wendy L. Applequist (wendy.applequist@mobot.org) - Chair

Klinger Book Award Committee

Chair

Wendy Applequist
Missouri Botanical Garden
4344 Shaw Blvd.
St. Louis, MO 63110
wendy.applequist@mobot.org

Members

Jillian De Gezelle
Department of Plant & Microbial Biology
North Carolina State University
4105 Gardner Hall
Raleigh, NC 27695-7612
jmdegeze@ncsu.edu

John Rashford
2799 Bohicket Road
Johns Island, SC 29455
RashfordJ@cofc.edu

John Richard Stepp
Dept. of Anthropology
1112 Turlington Hall
University of Florida
P.O. Box 117305
Gainesville, FL 32611-7305
stepp@ufl.edu

AWARD DETAILS

2024

Baobab: The Hadza of Tanzania and the Baobab as Humanity's Tree of Life

John Rashford
Baobab: The Hadza of Tanzania and the Baobab as Humanity’s Tree of Life
ISBN: 978-3-031-26470-2

2023

The Kingdom of Rye

Darra Goldstein
The Kingdom of Rye. University of California Press, Oakland, California
ISBN: 978-0-5203-8389-0

AWARD DETAILS
2022

The Nuaulu World of Plants

Roy Ellen
The Nuaulu World of Plants. Ethnobotanical Cognition, Knowledge and Practice Among a People of Seram, Eastern Indonesia
Sean Kingston Publishing, Canon Pyon, United Kingdom.

AWARD DETAILS
2021

Mark Merlin, Alfred Capelle, Thomas Keene, James Juvik, and Danko Taboroši
Plants and People of the Marshall Islands (Keinikkan im Ri-Aelōn Kein), Publication Year: 2018
ISBN: 978-9829171368

AWARD DETAILS
2020

Feeding Cahokia

Gayle Fritz
Feeding Cahokia. Early Agriculture in the North American Heartland, Publication Year: 2019
ISBN-13: 978-0817320058

AWARD DETAILS
2019

The Ethnobotany of Eden

Robert A. Voeks
The Ethnobotany of Eden. Rethinking the Jungle Medicine Narrative, Publication Year: 2018
ISBN: 9780226547718

AWARD DETAILS
2018

Michael Balick and Rosita Arvigo
Messages from the Gods: A Guide to the Useful Plants of Belize, Publication year: 2015
ISBN-13: 978-0199965762

AWARD DETAILS
2017

Michael Blake
Maize for the Gods, University of California Press. Publication year: 2015
ISBN: 9780520286962

AWARD DETAILS
2016

Nancy Turner
Ancient Pathways, Ancestral Knowledge
McGill-Queen’s University Press, Publication year: 2014
ISBN: 9780773543805

Nominees for 2016 -------------------

William Balée
Cultural Forests of the Amazon: A Historical Ecology of People and Their Landscapes
University Alabama Press; 1st Edition edition, Publication year: 2013
ISBN-13: 978-0817317867

Nominees for 2014 -------------------

Cannabis. Evolution and Ethnobotany. R. C. Clarke and M. D. Merlin. 2013.

Cultural Forests of the Amazon. William Balée. 2013.

Ginkgo. The Tree That Time Forgot.. Peter Crane. 2013.

Herbal Medicine in Yemen. Traditional Knowledge and Practice, and Their Value for Today's World. Edited by Ingrid Hehmeyer and Hanne Schönig, with the collaboration of Anne Regourd. 2013.

Khawa Karpo: Tibetan Traditional Knowledge and Biodiversity Conservation. Jan Salik & Robert K. Moseley. 2012.

Native Wildflowers and Other Ground Covers for Florida Landscapes, by
Craig Huegel.

Our Daily Bread: A History of Cereals. Bjørnstad, Åsmund. 2012.

R. C. Clarke and M. D. Merlin
Cannabis. Evolution and Ethnobotany
University of California Press, Publication year: 2013
ISBN-13: 978-0520270480

2013

J. D. La Fleur
Fusion Foodways of Africa's Gold Coast in the Atlantic Era
Brill, Publication year: 2012
ISBN-13: 9789004224124

Nominees for 2013 -------------------

Turn Here Sweet Corn. Diffley, Atina

African Ethnobotany in the Americas. Voeks, Robert & Rashford, John

2012

McCormack, Jeff H., K. Maier and P. B. Wallens
Bush Medicine of the Bahamas. A Cross-cultural Perspective from San Salvador Island, including Pharmacology and Oral Histories
396 pages with 161 illustrations (104 in color), large hardcover (11.25" x 9" x 1")
Publication date: September 8, 2011
ISBN-13: 978-0-9837673-0-5

Nominees for 2012 -------------------

1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created. Mann, Charles C.

Sesame. The genus Sesamum. Bedigian, Dorothea

Bush Medicine of the Bahamas. A Cross-cultural Perspective from San Salvador Island, including Pharmacology and Oral Histories. McCormack, Jeff H., K. Maier and P. B. Wallens

2011

Daniel F. Austin
Baboquivari Mountain Plants
University of Arizona Press (April 13, 2010). 416 pages
ISBN-10: 0816528373
ISBN-13: 978-0816528370

Nominees for 2011 -------------------

Baboquivari Mountain Plants. Daniel F. Austin
Hybrid. The History and Science of Plant Breeding. Kingsbury, Noel
In the Shadow of Slavery. Carney, Judith A. and Richard Nicholas Rosomoff
Paleonutrition. Sutton, Mark Q., Sobolik, Kristin D., & Gardner, Jill K
The World of Soy. Du Bois, C. M., Tan, C.-B., & Mintz, S., eds

2010

Eduardo S. Brondizio
The Amazonian Caboclo and the Acai Palm: Forest Farmers in the Global Market
New York Botanical Garden Press (2008). 403 pages
Volume 16 of the Advances in Economic Botany series
ISBN 0893274763

Nominees for 2010 -------------------

2009

Claire Hope Cummings
Uncertain Peril: Genetic Engineering and the Future of Seeds
Beacon Publishing (2008). 240 pages
ISBN 978-080708580-6

Uncertain Peril is a beautifully scripted, clearly articulated treatise on genetically modified crops. The author has extensive legal background and experience in agriculture and environmental policy related to GMOs (genetically modified organisms, i.e. transgenic plants). She proposes alternatives to industrial agriculture that work in harmony with nature. Her thesis that indigenous peoples' food production systems can point the way for sustainable approaches to greater global food security features research of members of the Society for Economic Botany.

Nominees for 2009 -------------------

Ragone, Diane and Van Assche, Jozef (2007)
First International Symposium on Breadfruit Research and Development.

2008

Cameron L. McNeil, ed.
Chocolate in Mesoamerica: A Cultural History of Cacao
University of Press of Florida (2007). 544 pages
ISBN 13: 978-0-8130-2953-5

Nominees for 2008 -------------------

Smith, Nigel, Rodolfo Vásquez and Walter H. Wust. (2007)
Amazon River Fruits: Flavors for Conservation (Frutos del Río Amazonas: Sabores para la Conservación).

Arenas, Pastor. (2003)
Etnografía y Alimentación entre lost Toba-Ñachilamole#ek y Wichí-Lhuku'tas del Chaco Central (Argentina).

Motley, Zerega, & Cross. eds. (2006)
Darwin's Harvest: new approaches to the origins, evolution, & conservation of crops.

Anderson, Edward N. (2005)
Political Ecology in a Yucatec Maya Community.

Yetman, David. (2006)
The Organ Pipe Cactus.

2007

M. Kat Anderson.
Tending the Wild: Native American Knowledge and the Management of California's Natural Resources
University of California Press (June 2005). 555 pages
ISBN: 0520248511

Nominees for 2007 -------------------

Boa, Eric. (2004)
Wild Edible Fungi. A global overview of their use and importance to people.

Motley, Zerega, & Cross. eds. (2006).
Darwin's Harvest: new approaches to the origins, evolution, & conservation of crops.

Anderson, Edward N. (2005).
Political Ecology in a Yucatec Maya Community.

Yetman, David. (2006).
The Organ Pipe Cactus.

Arenas, Pastor. (2003).
Etnografía y Alimentación entre lost Toba-Ñachilamole#ek y Wichí-Lhuku'tas del Chaco Central (Argentina).

2006

Bradley C. Bennett, Marc A. Baker, Patricia Gomez Andrade, Patricia Gomez Andrade.
Ethnobotany of the Shuar of Eastern Ecuador (Advances in Economic Botany).
New York Botanical Garden Press (April 2002). 304 pages
ISBN: 0893274216

Nominees for 2006 -------------------

Dunmire, W. W. (2004).
Gardens of New Spain. How Mediterranean Plants and Foods Changed America.
Austin, TX 78713-7819, University of Texas Press, Post Office Box 7819.

Lewis, W. H. and M. P. F. Elvin-Lewis (2003).
Medical Botany. Plants Affecting Human Health, Second Edition.
John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, NJ.

2005

Daniel F. Austin. 2004.
Florida Ethnobotany.
CRC Press LLC, Boca Raton, FL. 909 pp.
ISBN:0849323320

Nominees for 2005 -------------------

Dunmire, W. W. (2004).
Gardens of New Spain. How Mediterranean Plants and Foods Changed America.
Austin, TX 78713-7819, University of Texas Press, Post Office Box 7819.

Lewis, W. H. and M. P. F. Elvin-Lewis (2003).
Medical Botany. Plants Affecting Human Health, Second Edition.
John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, NJ.

2004

Jean H. Langenheim. 2003.
Plant Resins: Chemistry, Evolution, Ecology, and Ethnobotany.
Timber Press, OR. 586 pp.
ISBN: 0881925748

Nominees for 2004 -------------------

Bennett, B. C., Marc A. Baker, and Particia Gomez Andrade. (2002)
Ethnobotany of the Shuar of Eastern Ecuador. Advances in Economic Botany, Volume 14.
The New York Botanical Garden Press, 200th Street and Kazimiroff Blvd., Bronx, New York 10458-5126.

Kwa’ioloa, Michael and Ben Burt. (2001)
Na Masu’u kia’I Kwara’ae: Out Forest of Kwara’ae.
British Museum Press, 46 Bloomsbury Street, London WC1B 3QQ

Langenheim, J. H. (2003)
Plant Resins. Chemistry, Evolution, Ecology, Ethnobotany.
Timber Press, Inc., 133 SW Second Avenue, Suite 450, Portland, Oregon 97204-3527.

Marles, Robin J., Christina Clavelle, Leslie Monteleone,
Natalie Tays, Donna Burns. (2000)
Aboriginal Plant Use in Canada’s Northwest Boreal Forest.
UBC Press and Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service.

Sarah A. Laird (Editor) (2002)
Biodiversity and Traditional Knowledge.
288 pages 1st edition. Stylus Pub Llc.

Valenzuela-Zapata, Ana G. (2003)
El Agave Tequilero. Cultivo e Industria de México, 3e.
Mundi-Prensa México, Río Pánuco, 141 Co., Cuauhtémoc, 06500, México, D.F., México.

2003

David Yetman and Thomas R. Van Devender. 2002.
Mayo Ethnobotany. Land, History, and
Traditional Knowledge in Northwest Mexico.
University of California Press, 2130 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, CA 94720.
xiv + 359 pp. (hardcover).
ISBN 0520227212

;

Nominees for 2003 -------------------

Bennett, B. C., Marc A. Baker, and Particia Gomez Andrade. (2002)
Ethnobotany of the Shuar of Eastern Ecuador. Advances in Economic Botany, Volume 14.
The New York Botanical Garden Press, 200th Street and Kazimiroff Blvd., Bronx, New York 10458-5126.

Cunningham, Anthony B. (2001)
Applied Ethnobotany. People, Wild Plant Use & Conservation.
Earthscan Publications Ltd., London. Nominated by: Helen Rose, Earthscan, 5 Feb. 2001.

David Yetman and Thomas R. Van Devender. (2002)
Mayo Ethnobotany. Land, History, and Traditional Knowledge in Northwest Mexico.
University of California Press, 2130 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, CA 94720.
xiv + 359 pp. (hardcover). US $ 48.00. ISBN 0-520-22721-2.

Pearsall, D. M. (2000)
Paleoethnobotany. A Handbook of Procedures, second edition.
San Diego, CA 92101-4495, Academic Press, 525 B Street, Suite 1900.

Sarah A. Laird (Editor) (2002)
Biodiversity and Traditional Knowledge.
288 pages 1st edition. Stylus Pub Llc. ISBN: 1853836982

2002

Wendy Hodgson. 2001.
Food Plants of the Sonoran Desert.
University of Arizona Press, Tucson, AZ 85721.
xviii +313 pp. (hardcover).
ISBN 0-8165-2060-7

Nominees for 2002 -------------------

Minnis, Paul E. and Wayne J. Elisens (eds.) (2000)
Biodiversity and Native America.
University of Oklahoma Press, 4100 28th Avenue N. W., Norman, OK 73069-8212,.
x + 310 pp. (hardcover). $34.95. ISBN 0-8061-3232-9
- nominated for consideration in 2001.

Sarah A. Laird (Editor) (2002)
Biodiversity and Traditional Knowledge.
288 pages 1st edition. Stylus Pub Llc. ISBN: 1853836982

Pearsall, D. M. (2000)
Paleoethnobotany. A Handbook of Procedures, second edition.
San Diego, CA 92101-4495, Academic Press, 525 B Street, Suite 1900.

2001

M. W. Eubanks. 1999.
Corn in Clay. Maize Paleoethnobotany in Pre-Columbian Art.
University Press of Florida, Gainesville, FL.
ISBN 0-8130-1669-X

Nominees for 2001 -------------------

Davidson, A. (1999)
The Oxford Companion to Food.
London. Oxford University Press, London.

Paye, G. D. (2000)
Cultural Uses of Plants. A Guide to Learning about Ethnobotany.
The New York Botanical Garden Press, Bronx, NY.

2000

Gerda Rossel. 1998.
Taxonomic-Linguistic Study of Plantain in Africa.
CNWS Publicaitons, c/o Research School CNWS, Leiden University,
P.O. Box 9515, 2300 RA, Leiden, The Netherlands.

Nominees for 2000 -------------------

Davidson, Alan (1999)
The Oxford Companion to Food.
Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K.

Eubanks, M. W. (1999)
Corn in Clay. Maize Paleoethnobotany in Pre-Columbian Art.
University Press of Florida, 15 NW 15th Street, Gainesville, FL. 32611-2079.

Romero, Claudia. (1999)
Epífitas no vasculares comerciales de un bosque montano tropical.
Serie Téchnica, Informe Téchnica No. 310. Centro Agronómico
Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza, Unidad de Manejo de Bosques Naturales, Turrialba, Costa Rica.

Simoons, Frederick J. (1998)
Plants of Life, Plants of Death.
The University of Wisconsin Press, 2537 Daniels Street, Madison, WI 53718.

Tuxill, John and G. P. Nabhan (1998)
Plants and Protected Areas. A Guide to in situ Management.
Standley Thornes Publishers Ltd., Ellenborough House, Wellington Street, Cheltenham, GL50 1YW, U.K.

1999

Wade Davis. 1997.
One River. Explorations and Discoveries in the Amazon Rain Forest.
A Touchstone Book, Simon Schuster Company, New York.

Nominees for 1999 -------------------

Carrington, Sean. (1998)
Wild Plants of the Eastern Caribbean
Macmillan Education Ltd., London.

Brussell, David Eric (1997)
Potions, Poisons, and Panaceas: An Ethnobotanical Study of Monserrat
(with a Foreword by Schultes), Southern Illinois University Press.

Moerman, Daniel E. (1998)
Native American Ethnobotany.
Timber Press, Portland Oregon.;

1998

Amadeo M. Rea. 1997.
At the Desert's Green Edge. An Ethnobotany of the Gila River Pima.
The University of Arizona Press, 1230 Park Ave., Tucson, AZ.

Nominees for 1998 -------------------

Robert Voeks. (1997)
Sacred Leaves of Candomblé: African Magic, Medicine, and Religion in Brazil.
University of Texas Press, Austin.

Michael J. Balick, Paul Alan Cox. (1996)
Plants, People and Culture.
W. H. Freeman Co.

Miguel N. Alexiades (ed.). (1996)
Selected Guidelines for Ethnobotanical Research: A Field Manual.
The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, NY.

Carol A. Newall, Linda A. Anderson, J. David Phillipson. (1996)
Herbal Medicines: A Guide for Health-Care Professionals.
The Pharmaceutical Press, London.

1997

Cath M. Cotton. 1996.
Ethnobotany: Principles and Applications.
John Wiley and Sons, Ltd., Baffins Lane, England.

Nominees for 1997 -------------------

Michael J. Balick, Paul Alan Cox. (1996)
Plants, People and Culture.
W. H. Freeman Co.

Miguel N. Alexiades (ed.). (1996)
Selected Guidelines for Ethnobotanical Research: A Field Manual.
The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, NY.

Cheatham, Scooter, Marshall C. Johnston, and Lynn Marshall. (1995)
The Useful Wild Plants of Texas, the Southeastern and Southwestern United States,
the Southern Plains, and Northern Mexico. Volume 1.
Useful Wild Plants, Inc., Austin, TX.

1996

William Balee. 1994.
Footprints of the Forest. Ka'apor Ethnobotany
--the Historical Ecology of Plant Utilization by an Amazonian People.
Columbia University Press, New York.

Nominees for 1996 -------------------

Arvigo, R. and M. Balick (1993)
Rainforest Remedies. One Hundred Healing Herbs of Belize.
Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, WI.

J. Pojar and A. Mackinnon. (1994)
Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast
Lone Pine Press, Vancouver.

Beryl B. Simpson and Molly C. Ogorzaly. (1995)
Economic Botany. Plants in Our World.
McGraw-Hill, Inc. New York.

Shahina A. Ghazanfar. (1994)
Handbook of Arabian Medicinal Plants.
CRC Press, Inc. 2000 Corporate Blvd. N. W., Boca Raton, Fl.

Richard E. Schultes and Siri von Reis. (1995)
Ethnobotany: Evolution of a Discipline.
Dioscorides Press, Portland, OR.

Gary J. Martin. (1995)
Ethnobotany. A Methods Manual.
Chapman Hall, New York.

Christopher Joyce. (1994)
Earthly Goods. Medicine-Hunting in the Rainforest.
Little, Brown Co., Boston, Mass.