Plant of the month (©Pierre Laszlo, all rights reserved)Gentiana genus (Gentianaceae) A plant genus brings together many species — about 400 in this case. They…
A scientist and a writer
Botany, which I did study awhile in my youth, holds a continued interest.
Plants are remarkable organisms.
In writing about them, in these small vignettes I try to combine the scientific and the cultural, the bucolic and the utilitarian, and to convey some of my sense of wonder – in brief to try and emulate some of the eighteenth-century natural historians, with the information now available to us.
Plant of the month (©Pierre Laszlo, all rights reserved)Gentiana genus (Gentianaceae) A plant genus brings together many species — about 400 in this case. They…
Plant of the month (©Pierre Laszlo, all rights reserved)Edelweiss: Leontopodium alpinum (Asteraceae) This plant is famous for its flower, which has become synonymous with, and…
Plant of the month (©Pierre Laszlo, all rights reserved)Aconitum lycoctonum (Ranunculaceae) This rather tall (50-150 cm) perennial looks unexceptional. A native of the mountain regions…
Plant of the month (©Pierre Laszlo, all rights reserved)Mimosa pudica (L). (Fabaceae) There is so much we can learn from the natural world. Often it…
Plant of the month (©Pierre Laszlo, all rights reserved)Prunus dulcis (L). (Rosaceae) Writing about almond trees and almonds is challenging. It is not only difficult to…
Plant of the month (©Pierre Laszlo, all rights reserved)Capsicum genus (Solanaceae). The ubiquitous French dish, salade niçoise, could not have existed prior to Columbus: it…
Plant of the month (©Pierre Laszlo, all rights reserved) Medinilla waterhousei (Melastomataceae) Tagimaucia.Whenever an historian writes about people and events, the account builds on the…
Plant of the month (©Pierre Laszlo, all rights reserved)Chamaemelum nobile (Asteraceae), aka chamomile.This low-growth perennial, endemic to Europe, forms a spreading mat, no taller than…
Plant of the month, (©Pierre Laszlo, all rights reserved)Strelitia genus (Strelitiaceae). Commonly known as bird of paradise for its flower, it is a familiar sight.…
Plant of the month (©Pierre Laszlo, all rights reserved)Cyperus rotundus (Cyperaceae). In somewhat like manner to the tongue for Aesop, there being no greater good…