Clove tree: Syzygium aromaticum, aka Eugenia caryophylatta (Myrtaceae). Why did the Dutch give up New Amsterdam? Considering what it has become, trading away the…
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.
Plant of the month (©Pierre Laszlo, all rights reserved) Daucus carota (Apiaceae) Who said veggies are a dull topic ? Carrots are so common as…
Plant of the month (©Pierre Laszlo, all rights reserved)Euphorbia (Apocynaceae). Euphorbs — some of which are commonly known as ‟spurges‟ — are remarkable plants, numbering…
The cypress is inseparable from the landscapes of Tuscany. What do they offer of interest, if anything, apart from their exclamation mark shapes? Are they…
Ce-le-ry: three syllables. The etymology is reminiscent of the game, by children and by partying adults, when a word is whispered in an ear and…
Salsaparilla, genus Smilax (Smilacaceae) This particular entry for the ‟plant of the month‟ series is about culture. It purports to show that, far from being…
Cyclamen persicum (Myrsinaceae) In Edmond Rostand’s play, Cyrano de Bergerac’s delicate soul was belied by the monstrous appendage defacing him. Cyclamens are likewise, with a…
Genus Lupinus. Lupines — or lupins, both spellings coexist — are autonomous plants. Belonging to the Legume family, they supply nitrogen to the soil, from…
Pando Pando — a single name, whereas plants as a rule have two names, one for the genus and one for the species — is…
Plant of the month (©Pierre Laszlo, all rights reserved) Sambucus nigra (Caprifoliaceae) Had one to choose a plant species for its non-discriminatory friendliness, this one,…