Skip to Main Content
Return to Library Homepage

2023-2024 Common Read - Braiding Sweetgrass: Umbilicaria: The Belly Button of the World

"In a world of scarcity, interconnection and mutual aid become critical for survival." p.272

Anorthosite

Image courtesy of Britannica

Umbilicaria americana, a lichen, growing on rocks

National Park Service -- Rocky Mountain National Park, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Small yellow, white, grey, and black lichen cover a rock at Petrified Forest National Park.

National Park Service-  https://www.nps.gov/articles/lichen-and-our-air.htm

Glacial erratics dot a field in Yellowstone National Park (WY/MT) Glacial erratics dot a field in Yellowstone National Park.

National Park Service- https://www.nps.gov/articles/erratics.htm

Keywords

Accretion: the process of growth or enlargement by a gradual buildup (MW)

Anorthosite: a phaneritic, intrusive igneous rock characterized by its composition: mostly plagioclase feldspar (90–100%), with a minimal mafic component (0–10%). Pyroxene, ilmenite, magnetite, and olivine are the mafic minerals most commonly present. (W)

Asymmetrical: having two sides or halves that are not the same (MW)

Entity: being, existence (MW)

Epiphyte: a plant that derives its moisture and nutrients from the air and rain and grows usually on another plant (MW)

Erratis:  transported from an original resting place especially by a glacier (MW)

Glacial Erratic: glacially deposited rock differing from the type of rock native to the area in which it rests. (W)

Hyphae: one of the threads that make up the mycelium of a fungus (MW)

Medulla: the inner or deep part of an animal or plant structure (MW)

Microcosm: a thing, a place or a group that has all the features and qualities of something much larger (OLD)

Palatable: agreeable to the palate or taste (MW)

Platonic: of, relating to, or being a relationship marked by the absence of romance or sex (MW)

Propagule: a structure (such as a cutting, a seed, or a spore) that propagates a plant (MW)

Symbiosis: a cooperative relationship (MW)

Tenuous: having little substance or strength (MW)

Thallus: a plantlike vegetative body (as of algae, fungi, or mosses) that lacks differentiation into distinct parts (such as stem, leaves, and roots) and does not grow from an apical point (MW)

Additional Resources