One mystical tree. One dangerous neighbor. Strange and magical things continually occur at the Hall family's home at 40 Walden Street. Now there's a terrible sound throughout the town of Concord—the buzzing of a chain saw. Only one thing is worse for Eddy and Georgie Hall than that noise: the man who causes it, Mortimer Moon. When all the trees in town are falling to his hand and he threatens the mysterious tree sprouting in the Halls' backyard, Georgie and Eddy will do anything to stop him. In the eighth installment of the Hall Family Chronicles, secrets—all caused by the growth of a miraculous tree—will be unlocked.
At age thirteen, Major Wiley Gremillion sat with Aubrey Tarver under their dragon tree, sure of her future. She'd share her life with Aubrey and continue her family's tradition of military service. But as a sniper with Special Forces, code name Black Dragon, her enemies cost her a future with Aubrey. Walking away was the only way to keep Aubrey whole. Now retired, Wiley knows she'll be alone, dividing her time between her canvasses and helping others with her unique military skill set. Time hasn't dulled the pain of losing Wiley for Aubrey, but she has to set that aside when her choices put her life and her family's lives in real danger. The only way out is Wiley, but after so many years, Aubrey's not sure that's an option. Aubrey's first call sets off a firestorm that will take all Wiley's experience to escape, and along the way they might find what they lost. Together they started their story under a tree, and they'll fight to make sure it doesn't end on the streets of New Orleans.
The Blue Dragon was evil, and the other dragons cast a spell on him and turned him into a small blue tree, but with the help of a Goblin he began to grow and so did his evil magic. The tree has large heart shaped leaves covered with fine poisonous stinging hairs. Any small creature that ventured close to the tree was sucked down and devoured by the roots that sprang out of the earth when they felt the vibration of movement above. The tree's blue roses had an intoxicating perfume and birds that alighted on the branches were soon overcome and fell unconscious to the ground and suffering the same fate as the other creatures. His evilspread throughout the realms and a band of friends went on a dangerous journey to destroy the tree before it could find a way to break the spell, and change back into an immortal evil dragon that could not be killed.
Two young women, with intertwined fates centuries apart, must protect the secret of the powerful, all-healing mushroom known as amakuna • The gripping story includes mystical visions, shamanic rituals, past lives, an ancient lineage of medicine women, love, betrayal, conspiracies, and murder • Set concurrently in modern times and in 1492 during the Conquistadors’ takeover of the Canary Islands 1492: For millennia, the medicine women of the Guanches, the indigenous people on the Canary Island of La Palma, have used a psychotropic mushroom to look into the past and the future. But the mushroom has other sacred powers: It can cure disease or injury and it links the fate of those who consume it across all eternity. These secret powers are closely guarded by the medicine women, for they can foresee the destructive forces that would be unleashed if the sacred mushroom fell into the wrong hands. Present day: Romy, a young doctor at a biomedical research company, sets out alone on a rock-climbing trek near her home in Germany. Halfway through her climb, an unusual panic overtakes her and she blacks out as she falls more than 25 feet from the face of a cliff . . . Coming to, hours later, she finds herself in a cave, remarkably unscathed, with a strange taste in her mouth as well as a vivid recollection of an ancient ritual centered on a sacred mushroom called “amakuna.” Plagued by visions from the amakuna ceremony, including the death of an old medicine woman under a peculiar looking tree and the appointment of a young apprentice, Iriomé, to take her place, Romy begins to feel as if Iriomé is trying to contact her across the centuries. Identifying the tree from the visions as a Canarian Dragon Tree, she heads to the Canary Island of La Palma to discover the truth behind her visions and her and Iriomé’s intertwined fates. In the heart of the island’s volcanic crater, she discovers the reality of the strange mushroom and its magical, all-healing, all-seeing powers. She brings some of the mushroom back to Germany and experiments with it, leading to repeated flashbacks of Iriomé’s life. But pharmaceutical mega-corporations are already in hot pursuit of her and will stop at nothing to take possession of the amakuna--not even murder. As Romy and Iriomé’s lives continue to parallel across the centuries, they both find themselves in love with powerful men, pregnant, far from home, and in danger. But while Iriomé’s fate is in the past and sealed, Romy’s has not yet been decided, nor has the fate of the mushroom, which she learns has the power to either destroy life or preserve it. Will Romy be able to protect the powerful amakuna secret, as generations of medicine women have done before her? Or will she fall victim to betrayal as Iriomé did, and be forced to destroy the sacred mushroom before it can destroy the planet?
Biography of Alexander von Humboldt, scientist, explorer, and statesman, whose original contributions to zoology, botany, astronomy, geology and oceanography are significant.
A landmark volume celebrating the most remarkable trees on the planet, Pakenham takes readers on a voyage across four continents and introduces them to arbors of all shapes and sizes--dwarfs, giants, aliens, and monuments. Full-color photos.
Now in its eighth edition, Bradt’s Azores remains the only comprehensive guidebook to this nine-island archipelago – a mountainous, nature-lover’s wilderness perched in the mid-Atlantic at the western extremity of Europe. One of the world’s best whalewatching destinations, a geological curiosity and – more recently – a mid-Atlantic adventure playground, the Azores have become ever more accessible thanks to low-cost European flights. The nine islands making up the Azorean archipelago share volcanic origins, albeit from different eras, so each rugged landscape boasts a unique feel. The approach to tourism also differs from island to island: while São Miguel welcomes a rising number of cruise ships and international flights, and Faial is a busy hub for trans-ocean yachts, tiny Corvo and gentle Santa Maria remain almost untouched. The Gulf Stream guarantees a mild climate and plenty of greenery: a pleasant environment for this easily accessible, safe, welcoming and authentic mid-haul destination. With each island treated to its own chapter, Bradt’s Azores provides all the details a visitor needs for a rewarding, enjoyable visit to an archipelago where cows outnumber people. Author and expert botanist David Sayers shares his deep knowledge about flora, fauna and geology that are integral to getting to know the islands. This new edition – thoroughly updated by prolific guidebook author Tim Burford – strengthens coverage of the land- and sea-based activities that have become a significant part of the Azores’ attractions this century while providing the most recent practical information such as where to stay and eat in every price band. Five centuries of human history are well documented in a host of museums spread across the islands, which explain the fluctuating fortunes and strategic importance of the archipelago through the centuries. Attractive architecture, carefully preserved festivals, four islands with UNESCO Biosphere Reserve status and thermal pools complete what is a very agreeable picture. Little wonder then that the Azores attracts geologists, birdwatchers, whalewatchers, horseriders, walkers, mountaineers bent on climbing Portugal’s highest peak (on Pico island), divers, surfers, sailors, mountain-bikers and canyoners – indeed anyone who loves nature or the great outdoors in all its forms.
Studies in Natural Products Chemistry, Volume 83 covers the synthesis or testing and recording of the medicinal properties of natural products, providing cutting-edge accounts of fascinating developments in the isolation, structure elucidation, synthesis, biosynthesis, and pharmacology of a diverse array of bioactive natural products. Natural products in the plant and animal kingdom offer a huge diversity of chemical structures that are the result of biosynthetic processes that have been modulated over the millennia through genetic effects. With the rapid developments in spectroscopic techniques and accompanying advances in high-throughput screening techniques, it has become possible to isolate and then determine the structures and biological activity of natural products rapidly, thus opening up exciting opportunities in the field of new drug development to the pharmaceutical industry. - Focuses on the chemistry of bioactive natural products - Contains contributions by leading authorities in the field - Presents sources of new pharmacophores
