Plants of Ancient Pompeii: Giant Bindweed (Calystegia silvatica ?)
Karen A fresco in the House of the Golden Bracelet shows a vine with heart shaped leaves and white trumpet-shaped flowers. This plant has been identified by some scholars as a…
Poisonous Plants: English Ivy (Hedera helix)
This evergreen climbing vine is a member of the Aralia family, Araliaceae, that also includes Fatsia and Schefflera and is native to most of Europe and western Asia where it…
Plants for a Plant Zoo: Rhinoceros Bush (Elytropappus rhinocerotis aka Dicerothamnus rhinocerotis)
Somebody thought this shrub or small tree had a connection with the ear of a rhinocerous, or so the common name and specific epithet suggest. The specific epithet, rhinocerotis, comes…
Plants for a Plant Zoo: Buffalo-Bur (Solanum rostratum)
Buffalo-bur is one prickly hombre so if you what a plant that will provide challenges, it is perfect for a plant zoo. The stems are covered with long, sharp yellow…
Book Review: The Value of Weeds
Karen Meyers In her book, The Value of Weeds, author Ann Cliff explores the beneficial potential of weeds and how we can use them. She begins with a discussion of the many…
Plant Profile: Flowering Rush (Butomus umbellatus)
Also called grass rush, this aquatic perennial is native to in Eurasia and Africa where it grows in the margins of still and slowly moving water . It is a…
Plants for a Plant Zoo: Hog Peanut (Amphicarpaea bracteata)
Hog peanut is an unusual vine because it has two kinds of flowers and two kinds of fruits. The upper flowers are produced in 2″ long clusters of 2-15 in…
Plant Profile: Tatarian orachea (Atriplex tatarica)
Native to saline and alkaline deserts of Middle and western Central Asia, Asia Minor, North Africa, and Eastern Europe, this annual shrub is a member of the amaranth family, Amaranthaceae,…
Plant Profile: Common Horsetail (Equisetum arvense)
Also known as scouring rush, this is a herbaceous perennial that bears spores rather than seeds and is more closely related to ferns than to seed bearing or flowering plants.…
Plants for a Plant Zoo: Pignut (Conopodium denudatum aka Bunium flexusosum)
If you like to dig in the soil for treasures, grow pignut, dig up the tubers, cook them and enjoy a delicious treat that has a sweet taste something like…