A recent article featured in the prestigious journal "Science" on strain-programmable fiber-based artificial muscle, by Mehmet Kanik et al. (see: Mehmet Kanik, Sirma Orguc, Georgios Varnavides,

This is my original photograph taken a few days ago in my front garden. The foxglove is coated with droplets from a recent rain.

Last spring we planted a raised bed with asparagus crowns. Background on asparagus can be found in my previous post on Asparagus. The crowns produced ferns which we carefully monitored for asparagus beetles,

For the past 35 years our crab apple tree has put on a spectacular display of flowers in late April to early May. This year I captured the display with a RICOH WG-50 Digital Camera:

Sarracenia purpurea (purple pitcher plant) - family Sarraceniaceae with Drosera binata (forked sundew) - family Droseraceae. Sarracenia purpurea is also known as the northern pitcher plant, turtle socks,

Peperomia caperata - emerald ripple peperomia family Piperaceae. Photographs are my own and were taken in the Dept. of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture Greenhouse at Purdue University, West Lafayette,

Eranthis hyemalis - winter aconite family Ranunculaceae. Galanthus nivalis - snowdrops family Amaryllidaceae. Photographs are my own and were taken at the Dept. of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture

I would like to draw attention to the following article: FORCE MAJEURE The Sun’s Role in Climate Change by Henrik Svensmark The Global Warming Policy Foundation GWPF Report 33 ISBN 978-0-9931190-9-5 ©

I am struggling to identify this plant species .... I suck at identifying succulents! Any help would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks in advance for any assistance that you may provide.

Madagascar jasmine (Stephanotis floribunda) has incredibly fragrant, white, star-shaped, waxy, tubular, trumpet-shaped flowers. It is also known as waxflower, Hawaiian wedding flower, and bridal wreath

This carnivorous plant, Cephalotus follicularis, reminds me of "Seymour" in the "Little Shop of Horrors" (4)! It is commonly known as the "Australian pitcher plant", although

I would like to begin a series of articles that recognize great botanical illustrators of the past. These were artistic pioneers of science illustration, capturing the diversity and beauty of plants before

Tea plant (Camellia sinensis) from Köhler's Medicinal Plants, 1897 Tea is an ancient drink. It was grown 2100 years ago to cater for the drinking habits of the Western Han Dynasty, in western Tibet, China

In a previous post I remarked on the freezing and desiccation tolerance of lichens and mosses: Cold and Desiccation Tolerance of Mosses and Lichens. I illustrated lichens growing on the bark of our maple

What is Systemic Acquired Resistance? Systemic acquired resistance is defined in Wikipedia as follows: The systemic acquired resistance (SAR) is a "whole-plant" resistance response that occurs

After a wonderful vacation in Costa Rica (with ocean temperatures of ~85oF) it was a shock to return to the Midwest and experience the Polar Vortex! Temperatures in West Lafayette, Indiana plummeted to

This will be my last post in the series on my recent travel to Costa Rica. It is focused on Epiphytes, plants that grow on the surface of other plants and deriving their nutrients mostly from the air and

Getting to see the tropical flora of Costa Rica was one of my main reasons for my recent visit to the country. Here is a compilation of photographs of interesting plant species found in the Tulemar Resort

Introduction As a botanist it was a wonderful experience to see a number of different spices grown on the Villa Vanilla plantation near Tulemar. In addition to Vanilla and Cacao (see my previous posts

Introduction After Vanilla, my favorite plant-derived natural product is chocolate. I was delighted to find that in addition to Vanilla, Villa Vanilla(a small biodynamic, organic farm near Tulemar in Costa