Tumbleweeds

Sep 26 2019

Specimen Stories

Tumbleweeds aren’t restricted to one species or plant family, but are an…


By Amy Weiss

Duck dispersal

Sep 26 2019

Specimen Stories

As more land is developed, plants have an increasingly difficult task of…


By Amy Weiss

Tomato Persona

Aug 9 2019

What's in a name?

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


By Amy Weiss

Algae Rainbow

Jun 13 2019

Works of Art

Algae specimens can be found in every color of the rainbow.


By Amy Weiss

John Kunkel Small

Apr 21 2019

Collectors

John Kunkel Small (1869-1938) was a taxonomist and botanical explorer, who specialized…


By Amy Weiss

Ballast Plants

Sep 26 2019

Specimen Stories

Ships transporting cargo and passengers use ballast to stabilize the ship at…


By Amy Weiss

Granite outcrop specialists

May 15 2019

Focus on Science

Plants are amazing and can adapt to live in the most unlikely…


By Amy Weiss

John Muir

Apr 2 2019

Collectors

John Muir (1838–1914) was an influential naturalist and conservationist, and co-founder of the…


By Amy Weiss

Hitchhikers

Sep 26 2019

Specimen Stories

Some plants have evolved to literally hitchhike on passing animals. They have…


By Amy Weiss

Mulled Cider

Nov 18 2019

Specimen Stories

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


By Amy Weiss

Typical: Christmas in the clouds

Dec 24 2019

Collectors

Bassett Maguire (1904–1991), a botanist who spent the majority of his career…


By Amy Weiss

Before & After: P. F. Zika 28277

Mar 25 2019

Specimen Stories

The unmounted herbarium specimen, as it arrived at the garden in the…


By Amy Weiss

Western Road Trip: Marble Canyon

Jul 23 2019

Expeditions

The Grand Canyon might be the grandest of canyons carved by the…


By Amy Weiss

Western Road Trip: Grant Grove

Jul 23 2019

Expeditions

When visiting giant sequoia trees, you spend a lot of time looking…


By Amy Weiss

Mangroves

Sep 26 2019

Specimen Stories

Mangroves are a group of plant species that, while often only distantly…


By Amy Weiss

How did flowers get their meanings?

Mar 27 2019

There were three main sources for the definitions used by the Victorian…


By Amy Weiss

Tussie-mussies

Mar 27 2019

Weddings, funerals, festivals, and ceremonies — people have always had the impulse…


By Amy Weiss

Seeds go ballistic

Sep 26 2019

Specimen Stories

Getting help is great, but sometimes you just have to do something…


By Amy Weiss

Bigelow's mushroom photographs

May 25 2022

Works of Art

In the herbarium of the New York Botanical Garden there are over 30,000…


By Amy Weiss

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