posted: February 5, 2007

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The yellow leafcup or bear'sfoot (Smallanthus uvedalia (L.) Mackenzie ex Small = Polymnia uvedalia (L.) L.) is native to the U.S. ranging from central Florida north to New York, west to Michigan and southwest to Texas. It is a large, shrub-like perennial native to moist open woodlands and was probably more common when forests covered much of the land. [Click here to read more...]

posted: October 30, 2006

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Wolf's claw or stag's-horn clubmoss (Lycopodium clavatum Linnaeus) is a ubiquitous plant native to Europe, Asia, and North America. It is a low, creeping, evergreen cryptogam, a plant that reproduces by spores, not seeds. The spores are yellow and produced by sporophylls arranged in club-like strobili (sing. strobilus). The strobili are cut in summer, dried, and the spores are separated by use of a sieve; a surprising amount of work to collect something that resembles dust. [Click here to read more...]

posted: September 4, 2006

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Water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes Linnaeus) is the only free-floating aroid, family Araceae. Chloroplast and mitochondrial DNA studies and fossil evidence indicate that water lettuce evolved near the Tethys Sea between 60 and 45 million years ago. Apparently, it is the one and only species in its genus and subfamily, the Pistioideae. But it is not an evolutionary dead end; water lettuce is wildly successful. It is a pantropical pest plant. [Click here to read more...]

posted: October 31, 2005

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Night came early. The road was poor, not much better than a path through the heath. A distant storm was brewing and the man wanted to get to an inn before the wind and rain caught him. Tired, the traveler could barely follow the road in the dark. Several times he stumbled off the trail; he was increasingly alarmed that he might lose his way. He cursed that he had neglected to carry a lantern, thinking his journey would have had him safe by sunset. [Click here to read more...]

posted: June 6, 2005

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The cowhorn orchid (Cyrtopodium punctatum (L.) Lindley) grows in the intense sunlight of the cypress swamps in southern Florida. The seedling orchids take hold in the forks of branches, on old stumps, or in knotholes of bald cypress (Taxodium distichum). A dense mat of roots holds the orchid to the cypress supporting the horn-shaped pseudobulbs and long inflorescences. [Click here to read more...]

posted: March 14, 2005

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In John Gerard's day (the late 1500s), the stitchwort was considered a grass, "Gramen Leucanthemum, or White-floured Grasse", though he pointed out that Ruellius (Jean Ruel, a French botanist) "termed it Holosteum", a word 'Latinized' from the Greek words, holos, "all" and osteon, "bone". [Click here to read more...]

posted: February 7, 2005

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Wednesday, February 9th is the start of Yiyou, better known as the Year of the Green Rooster or Year 4702.

The second new moon after winter's solstice marks the beginning of the Chinese New Year. The celebration runs until the full moon fifteen days later. The New Year has specific traditions beginning with a thorough house cleaning. All brooms, brushes, mops, rags and buckets are put away. On New Year's Eve at midnight, windows and doors are opened; the remaining vestiges of the old year leave. [Click here to read more...]

posted: January 3, 2005

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By outward appearances, the spiny gru-gru (Acrocomia aculeata (Jacquin) Loddiges ex Martius) seems merely a tall palm that makes a stately addition to a large landscape. In areas where the palm is cultivated, it is grown for its esthetic value. But the wild gru-grus were and, still are in some places, utilitarian plants. The uses probably date back to long before Europeans settled in Central and South America. [Click here to read more...]

posted: October 11, 2004

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The Carolina redroot (Lachnanthes caroliana (Lamarck) Dandy) is native to wetlands of eastern North America. The roots and rhizome of the Carolina redroot were a source of red dye for settlers of North America. Dyeing was probably learned from eastern Native Americans who were well acquainted with this wildflower. Settlers also took redroot as a medicinal. [Click here to read more...]

posted: August 2, 2004

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Major cultivation of lupins or lupines (probably Lupinus albus subsp. termis (Forsskål) Ponert) began around 4,000 years ago in Egypt. Lupines grew so well on sandy soils, they received the unfortunate name, lupinus "of wolves", along with a reputation of impoverishing soil. The name stuck even though by the first century, Pliny the Elder knew better, "...fields and vineyards are enriched by a crop of lupines; and thus it has...little need for manure...." [Click here to read more...]

posted: May 31, 2004

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Cycads, those plants in the Order: Cycadales, comprise three families, eleven genera, but only around 200 species worldwide. Typically subtropical or tropical, cycads are seed-bearing plants with a lineage that dates back to the Mesozoic. Depending on the species, cycads grow anywhere from open, dry, rocky, nutrient-poor soils to moist shady forests. Generally considered slow-growing, cycads manufacture a high quality starch and store it with their caudexes (trunks) and seeds. [Click here to read more...]

posted: April 19, 2004

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Oats (Avena sativa and A. nuda) became a popular crop throughout Europe during the Middle Ages. Oats were easy to cultivate. In 1597, John Gerard mentioned that "Common Otes...is used in many countries to make sundry sorts of bread...Jannocks, Haver cakes, Tharsse cakes...which are called generally Oten cakes..." [Click here to read more...]

posted: March 15, 2004

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John Gerard considered the heart's-ease (Viola tricolor) "of a temperature obscurely cold, but more evidently moist, of a tough and flimie juice...for which cause it moistneth and suppleth...." By the best ideas of medicine in those days, cold and moist plants were thought the cure for hot and dry diseases, those illnesses accompanied by inflammations or fevers. The tiny pansies were distilled; apparently the medicinal was a type of water of violets. [Click here to read more...]

posted: March 8, 2004

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The witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana Linnaeus) is a small autumn blooming tree native to damp woodlands in eastern North America. The herbal lore of the witch hazel dates back to the Native Americans. Charles F. Millspaugh (American Medicinal Plants, 1892) wrote "The many varied uses of a watery infusion of Witch-hazel bark were fully know to the aborigines, whose knowledge of our medicinal flora has been strangely correct as since proven." [Click here to read more...]

posted: March 1, 2004

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In 1597, John Gerard recognized "divers sorts of the Goose-berries; some greater, others lesse: some round, others long, and some of a red colour...." There are about 150 species of Ribes variously called gooseberries or currants. Most are native to the Northern Hemisphere with a few species native to the Andes. The European gooseberry (Ribes uva-crispa Linnaeus) is the most commonly known species. [Click here to read more...]

posted: February 23, 2004

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Carolina jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens (L.) J. St. Hilaire) is native to the southeastern U.S., Mexico, and Guatemala. All parts of the vine including the flowers and nectar are considered toxic if ingested. Even honeybees are not immune. Having no other source of forage, bees have been found dead with their intestines filled with pollen from Carolina jessamine. Twenty secondary chemicals have been isolated from the plant. But in the 1800s, the root was a widely used materia medica by doctors. [Click here to read more...]

posted: February 16, 2004

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White goosefoot or lamb's quarters (Chenopodium album Linnaeus) is an annual growing up to three meters (10 feet) in height. It is considered native to the Northern Hemisphere--Europe, Asia, and North America. The leaves are thick, toothed or shallowly lobed with white mealy trichomes especially on the lower surface. [Click here to read more...]

posted: February 9, 2004

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The huisache or sweet acacia (Acacia farnesiana (L.) Willdenow) is a woody legume thought native to warm temperate or tropical America. The tree is now found in warm zones throughout the world. The small thorny tree is best known for "cassie", the sweet violet fragrance of the spherical inflorescences of tiny yellow flowers. [Click here to read more...]

posted: February 2, 2004

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The Palma Christi or castor bean plant (Ricinus communis Linnaeus) has been cultivated for at least 4000 years. It is not a 'bean', but a member of the Euphorbiaceae, the spurge family. The distinctively mottled seeds have a high oil content in the endosperm. Castor 'beans' have been found among grave goods in Egyptian tombs. The oil extracted by crushing the seed was used in oil lamps in Egypt and the Middle East. The oil is as valuable today as in ancient times; it is used in lubricants and various manufacturing processes. [Click here to read more...]

posted: January 26, 2004

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The guanabana (Annona muricata Linnaeus) is a member of the Annonaceae, the custard apple family. Guanabana [gwah nah ban' ah] has a peak season, but continues flowering providing some fruit year round. According to Julia Morton (1987), varieties are classified by taste--sweet, subacid, or acid, by shape--round, oblong, angular, or heart-shaped, and by consistency--soft and juicy or firm and dry. The fruit is eaten fresh, immature and cooked, or made into various juice drinks or desserts. [Click here to read more...]

posted: January 19, 2004

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The shampoo ginger (Zingiber zerumbet (L.) Roscoe ex Smith) is frequently cultivated in home and village gardens from southern Asia throughout the Oceanic and Pacific Islands. Ancient Polynesians carried the ginger on their outriggers when settling new islands. Called ava pui vao in Samoan and awapuhi kuahiwi in Hawaiian, it is considered one of the Polynesians' main medicinal plants. [Click here to read more...]

posted: January 12, 2004

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Although the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans cultivated radishes (Raphanus sativus Linnaeus), it is thought they did not enter English gardening until the mid-1500s. In The Herbal (1597), John Gerard included 4 cultivated radishes and a wild weedy type, Raphanus raphanistrum. Gerard recognized their medicinal qualities taking from the first century writings of Pliny the Elder and Dioscorides and the second century works of Galen. [Click here to read more...]

posted: January 5, 2004

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The genus Stellaria [stel lair' re ah] is comprised of about 120 species worldwide. Known as "starworts" or "chickweeds" the plants are lowly members of the Caryophyllaceae, the family of pinks and carnations. The medium chickweed (Stellaria media (Linnaeus) Villars) is the most recognizable species; it has become a cosmopolitan nuisance plant especially in temperate cropland. [Click here to read more...]

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