Sequoiadendron giganteum (Cupressaceae) This emperor of trees is too well-known to once again tell of its awesome magnificence, of its religious importance to American Indians…
A scientist and a writer
Category: Plants
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.
The linden-tree Tilia spp. (Malvaceae) This plant inspires feelings of protection, of a soft-smelling canopy, redolent of friendly feelings. The Greek myth of enduring marital…
Plant of the month (©Pierre Laszlo, all rights reserved) Amaranth is a rather archaic name for a color, a deep, velvety purple. Not the name…
Plant of the month (©Pierre Laszlo, all rights reserved)Ananas comosus L. (Bromeliaceae)Pineapple World War II and World War I continue to haunt many of us.…
Plant of the month (©Pierre Laszlo, all rights reserved)C3 & C4 plants: distinct groups, what we can learn from the distinction. In addition to absorbing…
Plant of the month (©Pierre Laszlo, all rights reserved)Cyperus papyrus (Cyperaceae)reed, aka sedge, bulrush This tall, thin but robust, aquatic perennial can reach 5 m…
Why this name ? Does it refer to the Virgin Mary, to be honored with roses ? Such an existing interpretation is mistaken, with both its…
In our age of synthetic fibers, natural fibers are nevertheless still very much part of our daily life. Did plant fibers, such as flax, sisal and…
Considerable give-and-take marks cultural exchanges. A prime example is the ritual family dish for the Brazilian Saturday meal, feijoada. It consists of several different pork parts,…
How do naturalists — geneticists, in fact — establish where a given species comes from? This question is closely linked to those of domestication and hybridization…