For those of you interested in particular topics on wild plants, but not necessarily everything I post on my Botany Diary blog, I will list the group of posts related to a particular topic when a series is finished. Recently completed was a series called Identifying Trees in Winter. Each of the individual posts areContinue reading “Botany Blog Update: Winter Tree Series Completed”
Category Archives: Botany & Plants
Latta Prairie – a special place
In my old neighborhood, I had just started to explore my local park for its natural history offerings – particularly the plants and birds. I had been familiar with that park for a long time but more from a recreational stance. When I came to NC, I had to not only learn new species ofContinue reading “Latta Prairie – a special place”
What’s In a Name??
As I have written about in the past, I currently work in an herbarium. For a very long time, I mounted botanical specimens. Now we are pretty caught up on that and I am delving into other tasks that surround collections. One of the things I work on fairly regularly is looking up current taxonomy.Continue reading “What’s In a Name??”
50,000 and Counting
This is dedicated to my friend Penny, who I was hiking with when we stumbled upon the first Lady’s Slipper I ever saw. Thursday was a big day at the herbarium where I work. We, as a group, collected our 50,000th specimen: A Pink Lady’s Slipper. Dr. Jim Matthews, who is the founder of theContinue reading “50,000 and Counting”
The Week Ending: February 25th, 2022
Every once in awhile I like to recap some pleasant or unusual highlights from my week. This is such a difficult time in the world, I figured I would share some more mundane, pleasant activities. I drove back from Maryland on Monday after visiting with my family and the weather was very nice. Since thisContinue reading “The Week Ending: February 25th, 2022”
New Artist Book: Kudzu – The Vine that Ate the South
I never heard of it before, which is odd since it was first introduced a the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876. Now, it is all around me. Every area has its own invasive species and I knew the ones in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast US. But until I saw Kudzu – a highly invasiveContinue reading “New Artist Book: Kudzu – The Vine that Ate the South”
What are the chances?
Lately, I have sharing my modest knowledge as an amateur botanist with artists from the Plastic Club in a series called “on plants” which takes place via Zoom off and on. Carla Stine, one of the participants who creates beautiful botanical illustrations, had a strange looking object that fit in the palm of her handContinue reading “What are the chances?”
This Sunday: On Plants. A Zoom series on plants and the different ways artists relate to them.
You do not have to be an artist or an expert on plants to enjoy this upcoming series hosted by the Plastic Club. It will kick off this Sunday with a presentation I am giving on looking at the characteristics of leaves with an emphasis on trees. Many people enjoy plant journaling as a wayContinue reading “This Sunday: On Plants. A Zoom series on plants and the different ways artists relate to them.”
Tree Detective
I had never heard of a Burr Oak (Quercus macrocarpa) before a recent class I took. The reason the tree stood out to me was its acorns which looked little winter hats with fuzz around the rim. Since these trees seem to grow in climates somewhat colder than where I live this seemed sort ofContinue reading “Tree Detective”
Found Treasures in Old Book
Last week at the Herbarium I was browsing through the books and came across this old book that appears to be a textbook from 1855 Here are some pages with diagrams Now here are the surprises! Some pressed plants circa 1878, perhaps from the Cleveland Ohio area as per the dates and places on theContinue reading “Found Treasures in Old Book”
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