May I encourage you to read further? Perhaps skeptical, you might be thinking: “what is there to know about coriander, that it is a spice?” To…
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.
When did flowers become an attribute of sovereignty? Æons ago. Relatively recent examples that come to mind include fleur-de-lys and the War of the Roses. Indeed,…
The buckeye tree Aesculus (Aesculaceae) The plant is most remarkable for its seed, to which it owes its name in several languages. Native Americans termed…
The rose (Rosa multiflora). The rose! Replete with meanings: as color, for protypic Latin declension, as a symbol of love and religious purity (Virgin Mary),…
Jacaranda, Jacaranda mimosifolia (Bignoniaceae). Naming – This tree, with the syllables in its name, from the Guarani language of Brazilian Indians, rippling off the tongue is…
While strolling on the Avenue du Maine in Paris recently I noticedthat the street is planted with young, slender plane trees. They remindedme of the…
While accurate, the name of this plant is intriguing. Tingling one’snostrils, it is similar to a blade of grass with a lemony fragrance. Thehybrid word…
One ought to pay attention to every feature in daily life, to even the most menial act. I have in mind the snacks one might…
This fifteen to twenty foot tall shrub, which originated in China and Japan, displays a slim trunk arched like a dancer’s body. Its saw-edged leaves…
Native to Eastern Asia, this small tree, about 10 m tall, belongs to the dogwood family: it has opposite, simple leaves, 4-10 cm long. When…