plants

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The Corpse Flower and the Honeysuckle

By Eric Dinerstein / On July 23rd, 2013
Considering the lines stretching around the block ten years ago to witness one of nature’s masterpieces, you might want to arrive early when the National Botanic Garden opens its doors. Trained botanists, tropical ecologists, and naturalists must queue patiently alongside curious visitors from Toledo. All eagerly await a chance to pay homage to the world’s largest flowering plant, the titan arum, now opening (literally) at the Garden.

Conservation Efforts for the Rare Lakela’s Mint, Dicerandra immaculata

By Cheryl L. Peterson / On June 4th, 2012
This unique member of the mint family (Lamiaceae) is found only in Indian River and St. Lucie County.  It is a short-lived perennial with showy pink flowers that bloom in the fall that are pollinated by bees.  Lakela’s Mint is one of six species of Dicerandra, each of which are endemic to only Florida and have their own unique minty aroma arising from a particular mixture of essential oils that are produced in glandular capsules on their leaf surfaces.
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Bird Survey Suggests If You Plant It, They Will Come

By Robert J. Cabin / On April 15th, 2011
The results of last month's annual Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge Bird Survey indicate that birds may colonize reforested areas much faster than experts had predicted. This year's surveyors spotted all five of the common native forest birds and four endangered forest birds within sections of the refuge that two short decades ago had been treeless areas dominated by non-native plants and animals.
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So What's Wrong with a Little Global Warming

By Anthony Barnosky / On March 25th, 2009
Be afraid (but don't panic). On the first day of spring, the only thing I was afraid of (maybe even a little panicked) was that I didn't have enough warm clothes.  I was in Boston, mid-afternoon, and the thermometer on my dashboard registered in the low 30's—that would be Fahrenheit.   Spring?  I don't think so.  I could see my breath, even though the sun was shining.  A couple of days later, as my wife and I were walking across a college campus in Maine that our California-bred daughter was checking out before applying, it was even colder, right around 18°F with a b