Like many institutions, the University of Guelph is hosting a series of events in celebration of the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of the Origin of Species. Two of them, a teachers' workshop and the Yodzis Colloquium, have already run, but there is another coming up that I am pleased to announce. This View of Life: Evolutionary Art for the Year of Darwin University of Guelph and Ed Video Oct. 9 - 30 Reception Oct. 16, 5:00-7:00pm Science Complex Atrium Admission is free

Lucrative alternative All this, says Ibrahim, is good news for Malawi, where most people live on less than US$1 a day. He says jatropha could be a lucrative alternative to tobacco, Malawi's agricultural mainstay and principal source of foreign exchange. As global demand for tobacco falls, and the cost of inputs such as fertilisers increases, many farmers in Malawi are feeling the squeeze. "The biodiesel crop campaign has come at the right time, just as the country is looking for an alternative to tobacco," says Alic Kafasalire, a capacity building specialist for the Coordination Unit for the Rehabilitation of the Environment in Malawi.

Out of the total 4,20,000 flowering plants reported from the world Govaerts, 2001) more than 50,000 are used for medicinal purposes

Scientific Name Terminalia arjuna (Roxb.) Wight & Arn.= T. cuneata Roth Family Combretaceae Used Part Bark. Distribution Area A large, evergreen tree, common in most parts of India. . It is rare in the Karnatic, but is fairly plentiful in Tirunelveli and on the west coast. It extends north- wards to the sub-Himalayan tract, where it is distributed along the banks of streams; in Punjab, it is a cultivated tree. It is common in Chota Nagpur, Orissa and in the Northern Circars. Common Uses .The bark is astringent,sweet, acrid,cooling aphrodisiac,

Scientific Name Cyanodon dactylon (Linn.) Pers. Family Poaceae Used Part Whole grass. Distribution Area The grass grows throughout India ascending up to 8,000 ft. Common Uses The plant is astringent, sweet, cooling,haemostatic, depurative, vulnerary, constipating, diuretic and tonic, and is useful in vitiated conditions of pitta and kapha, hyperdispsia, burning sensation, haemoptysis, haematuria, erysipelas, leprosy, skin diseases, vomiting, diarrhoea, dysentery, strangury, colporrhagia, abortion and general debility. The plant is acrid,sweet cooling, useful in biliousness, thirst, vomitting, burning sensation, bad taste in the mouth, hallucinations, epileptic fits, fatigue, leprosy, scabies, skin diseases, dysentery, fever, erysipelas, epistaxis.

Scientific Name Carthamus tinctorius Linn. Family Asteraceae. Used Part Flowers. Distribution Area Cultivated throughout India. As an oilseed crop, safflower is cultivated in the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.