originally posted: September 26, 2002 | by chelsie

The garden canna has a confused parentage. There are fifty to sixty species (depending upon the authority) found in the tropics and subtropics of Asia and the Americas. Prized for the dramatic foliage and odd flowers, Canna have been grown, accidentally and intentionally hybridized, and traded between Western gardeners for more than four hundred years. [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: September 19, 2002 | by chelsie

About 4,500 years ago, people living along the Pacific coast of South America carefully buried their dead. Grave goods from the mundane (food) to the extraordinary (gold masks) honored the deceased. "Cooked tubers appear in the dry coastal tombs...indicating both an ancient origin and the fact that the roots were esteemed highly enough to be carried all the way from the highlands." (Lost Crops of the Incas, National Academy of Sciences, 1989) [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: September 12, 2002 | by chelsie

Of the lettuce genus Lactuca, Hortus Third states there are "Between 50 and 90 species of annual, biennial, or perennial herbs with milky sap, widely distributed, particularly in the Northern Hemisphere..." (L.H. Bailey Hortorium, Cornell University, 1976) Lettuce species are generally inedible, ranging from bitter to toxic. Only one species, Lactuca sativa Linnaeus, has become all the varieties grown in gardens and on farms. [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: September 5, 2002 | by chelsie

Interesting things happen as plants are domesticated; the fig (Ficus carica Linnaeus) is no different. The goat or caprifig is the wild type native to western Asia. According to J.F. Morton ("Fig", Fruits of Warm Climates, 1987, NewCrop, Purdue University), the fig "has been cultivated for thousands of years, remnants of figs having been found in excavations of Neolithic sites traced to at least 5,000 B.C." [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: August 29, 2002 | by chelsie

Dogfennel (Eupatorium capillifolium (Lamarck) Small) is a pioneer, a weed. The airborne seeds are ubiquitous and quickly germinate in ruderal (disturbed) habitats like fields and overgrazed pastures. The plants can grow to two and a half meters (8 feet) becoming the dominant species and shading out sun-dependent grasses and crops. [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: August 22, 2002 | by chelsie

The starfruit or carambola (Averrhoa carambola Linnaeus) is a small tree in the Oxalidaceae or wood sorrel family. The family has only seven genera, but an estimated nine hundred species worldwide. Most of the species are shrubby or herbaceous and grown as ornamentals or cursed as weeds. [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: August 15, 2002 | by chelsie

Horseradish roots (Armoracia rusticana P. Gaertner, B. Meyer & Scherbius) have been collected or cultivated since the Roman Empire and probably longer. The generic name is believed the ancient Roman name for the plant. Horseradish has an uncertain past; its probable origin is Eastern Europe or the Mediterranean. [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: August 8, 2002 | by chelsie

English ivy (Hedera helix Linnaeus) has long been cultivated for its graceful elegance as a wall and ground cover. Hedera is its Roman name; hederiger described someone 'wearing ivy', a show of rank. Even today, ivy-league implies wealth, tradition, and excellence. English ivy is one of five species of Hedera, members of the Araliaceae, the ginseng family. It is native to Europe, western Asia, and North Africa. [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: August 1, 2002 | by chelsie

The cultivated strawberry (Fragaria X ananassa) is a hybrid between the beach strawberry (Fragaria chiloensis Duchesne) of the west coast of the Americas and the Virginia strawberry (Fragaria virginiana (L.) Duchesne) of eastern North America. This hybrid, like its parent species, is a polyploid with eight sets of chromosomes. Strawberries are members of the Rosaceae, the rose family. [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: July 25, 2002 | by chelsie

Mosses (Division: Bryophyta) are found in every climate on Earth except in the oceans. A few species cling to seaside rocks where salt spray would kill other plants. Though tiny, in areas of the tundra or above the timberline, mosses dominate the landscape. In places of warmth and abundant moisture, mosses grow luxuriant. Mosses even survive in Antarctica where much of their life is a state of dormancy. [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: July 18, 2002 | by chelsie

Kelps (Order: Laminariales) are multicellular brown algae, large seaweeds generally found in cool waters. Some species grow to 60 meters (195 feet) at a rate of 40 centimeters (16 inches) a day. These seaweeds form 'forests' important to the productivity of the oceans. [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: July 11, 2002 | by chelsie

The chicozapote (Manilkara zapota (L.) van Royen) is an economic tree supplying fruit called sapodilla, latex called chicle, and hardwood lumber. The trees grow to about 45 meters (145 feet) within the rainforest. Cultivation within a plantation setting results in trees seldom over 10 meters (32 feet). For the fruit, sapodilla, smaller trees work well. The small trees, though, cannot be tapped for chicle. Chicle collection has remained an industry of the rainforest. [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: July 4, 2002 | by chelsie

The elkhorn or staghorn ferns (Platycerium spp. Desvaux) are epiphytes, adapted to life on the surface of trees. There are only eighteen known species widely scattered in the Southern Hemisphere: three species in Africa, four in Madagascar, four in Australia and surrounding Islands, six in Southeast Asia, and a single species from the Andes in South America. [Click here to read more...]