This shrub, also known as fuzzy deutzia, about 10 ft-tall, belongs to a genus comprising about 60 species, most of them Chinese in origin. 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.
Lindens are trees gracing many a European village. Their traditional uses include collecting honey and making tea, also from their flowers. They rise up to…
This is the scholarly name for the kiwi fruit-bearing plant, that came from Southern China in rather recent times. Worldwide, there are three genera and…
South American Indians have given us quite a few vegetables now grown all over the world, such as potatoes, tomatoes, beans and corn. A possible…
This shrub of the fragrant white flowers is redolent of tall tales. The genus name? Have you guessed an allusion to gardening? You would be…
Its healing virtues made Linnaeus name it Asclepias, after the Greek God of medi-cine. The genus Asclepias, part of the family of Apocynaceae, to which…
Crocus sativus (Iridaceae) It is a small, low-lying plant found in meadows with a flower seemingly dispropor-tionate to its stem. It flowers, in temperate…
Jasmine (Olivaceae) The genus encompasses several species. Surprisingly, they belong to the same family as olive trees.The adjective “exuberant” springs to mind: jasmine, an evergreen…
This robust perennial, African in origin, ranges widely in the tropical and subtropical zones. It is invasive to such an extent that it has colonized…
This is one of the oldest plants cultivated by mankind, for its edible fruit. For example, Hibiscus esculentus bears a fruit which has been used…