Featured Picks

An ingredient in most beers, hops add bitterness when added at the…

Dulse

Feb 4 2019

Red algae like this one are important food sources for many marine…

By Laura Briscoe

Tea

Feb 5 2019

Tea is a widely popular and culturally significant beverage brewed from the…

Fig family, Moraceae

Feb 7 2019

Ficus carica L., the edible common fig has been cultivated for millenia.…

By Nicole Tarnowsky

Smooth rock tripe

Feb 11 2019

Cabinet of Curiosities

This Umbilicaria species is regarded to be one of the largest lichens…

By Laura Briscoe

Lentils

Feb 11 2019

Lentils were one of the first domesticated crops and remain a dietary…

BLT

Mar 27 2019

Did somebody order a specimen sandwich?

Luffa

Mar 27 2019

Due to their similar uses, many assume loofahs come from sea creatures…

Kava

Mar 27 2019

Roots of the kava plant are used to produce a drink with…

#plantlove

Apr 11 2019

Plant Love

Specimens contained in the William and Lynda Steere Herbarium represent the endless…

By Laura Briscoe, Nicole Tarnowsky, Amy Weiss, Melissa C. Tulig

Heard it through the grapevine

May 21 2019

Cabinet of Curiosities Specimen Stories

Vitis is the genus of one of the world’s favorite horticultural crop:…

By Philip Evich

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Jun 13 2019

The beloved children's book The Very Hungry Caterpillar is turning 50! See many of…

By Nicole Tarnowsky

Tomato Persona

Aug 9 2019

What's in a name?

Choose your tomato persona. While all the same species, Solanum lycopersicum, tomatoes…

Maize & Teosinte

Sep 26 2019

Maize (Zea mays), or corn, is a domesticated cereal crop native to…

Rice and its Wild Relatives

Sep 26 2019

Humans have been farming rice for approximately 10,000 years. The two major…

Mulled Cider

Nov 18 2019

Put these fruits, seeds, bark, and flower buds together to get mulled…

Eight Days of Oil

Dec 16 2019