originally posted: December 25, 2003 | by chelsie

The genus Phoenix consists of an estimated seventeen species; the date palms are native to the tropics and subtropics of Africa and Asia. Of all the date palms, only Phoenix dactylifera Linnaeus [fe' nix dak til if' er a] bears large quantities of the sweet fruit. The origin of this 'true date palm' is an archaeological/botanical mystery. [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: December 18, 2003 | by chelsie

The sorcerer's root or mandrake (Atropa mandragora Linnaeus, aka Mandragora officinalis) is native to southern Europe and the Levant (eastern Mediterranean). The brown root grows up to a meter (3 feet) and was reputed to take the shape of a human. [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: December 11, 2003 | by chelsie

The Kentucky coffee tree (Gymnocladus dioica (L.) C. Koch) is a member of the Caesalpiniaceae, a family closely allied to the Fabaceae, the legumes. It is native to eastern North America. Its closest relative, the soap tree (Gymnocladus chinensis Baillon) is native to eastern Asia. [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: December 4, 2003 | by chelsie

Francisco Hernández had an interesting position in history. As a doctor, he was given the title "Royal Physician of the Western Indies, Isles, and Firm Land of the Ocean Sea". At the age of 55 in 1570, he was the first trained scientist to set foot in New Spain. For the next six years, Hernández documented the plants and materia medica of Mexico. [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: November 27, 2003 | by chelsie

The nutmeg tree (Myrsitica fragrans Houttuyn) is a member of the Myristicaceae [mir is' ti ka' see ee], a family of tropical evergreens native to southeastern Asia, northern Australia, and the Pacific Islands. The nutmeg tree is apparently native to the Molucca Islands in the greater Malaysian Archipelago. Nutmeg trees grow 10 to 20 meters (30 to 60 feet) in height. The trees are usually dioecious, staminate (male) and pistillate (female) flowers are borne on separate plants; a few trees are monoecious known to bear both flowers. [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: November 20, 2003 | by chelsie

The acorn squash (Cucurbita pepo Linnaeus variety pepo cultivar 'Acorn') is a member of a complex and somewhat confusing family, the Cucurbitaceae or cucurbits. The family is worldwide with 114 genera. The genus, Cucurbita, is native to the New World and has nine or so species. Cucurbit fruit or "pepos" are fleshy, many-seeded berries commonly called squashes, pumpkins, melons, cucumbers, or gourds. [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: November 13, 2003 | by chelsie

The immortelle, strawflower, or golden everlasting daisy (Xerochrysum bracteatum (Ventenat) Tzvelev) is native to Australia. In their native habitat, the plants grow in sandy or gravelly soils in open grasslands. The plant was introduced to English gardeners in 1799. The golden everlasting daisy was originally named Xeranthemum bracteatum by Étienne Pierre Ventenat in 1803. Over the years, it was placed in the genera Helichrysum and Bracteantha. [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: November 6, 2003 | by chelsie

The dragon tree of Soqotra (Dracaena cinnabari Balfour f.) is a relict. The plants were named by Professor Isaac Bayley Balfour after his botanical expedition to Soqotra in 1880. The genus, Dracaena, is in the Agavaceae, the agave family, although there are those who give these monocots their own family, Dracaenaceae. Twenty million years ago, the ancestral dragon trees stretched from the Canary Islands to steppes of southern Russia. [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: October 30, 2003 | by chelsie

When John Gerard wrote The Herbal in 1597, he mentioned that Theophrastus (4^th century BCE) and Pliny the Elder (1^st century AD) recognized three "coleworts". By Gerard's time, gardeners had created many more. He recognized fifteen Brassica: the "wilde", the "loved coleworts" (cabbages), "open coles" (kales and collards), "curled savoys" (apparently broccoli types), and "colie floures". One of the odder types, the "parsley colewort", he described as having "very large leaves deepely jagged even to the middle rib...resembling great and rank parsley [with] a great thicke stalke of three cubits (1.5 meters or 4.5 to 5 feet) high...." (The Herbal, John Gerard, 1633 edition) [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: October 23, 2003 | by chelsie

Wild cabbage (Brassica oleracea Linnaeus) is native to the coastlines of Europe and the Mediterranean basin. It is a cool season cultivated plant, 'bolting' or flowering when the temperatures climb. 'Cabbage' has been cultivated for at least 2,500 years. [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: October 16, 2003 | by chelsie

The cashew (Anacardium occidentale Linnaeus) is a broadleaf evergreen tree native to the Neotropics (tropical Americas). The cashew is a member of the Anacardiaceae, the family of sumacs and poison ivy. Like other members of its family, the cashew causes painful rashes and even severe allergic reactions from handling the plant parts. [Click here to read more...]

originally posted: October 9, 2003 | by chelsie

Like all grasses, wheat (Triticum Linnaeus) produces a fruit called a caryopsis or grain. The caryopses are produced in a terminal cluster of inflorescences, the 'ear' of wheat. The inflorescences or spikelets grow alternately along the sides of the ear. [Click here to read more...]