Aloe: The Plant of Many Wonders
Aloe vera is one of the over 300 species of Aloe belonging…
Sugar Cane and the Tropical Traces of Empires
Take a moment and think about how easy is to get sweet…
Curious Indigo
Indigo: a profound shade of blue sourced from nature’s color palette; A…
Riclef Grolle
Riclef Grolle (1934 – 2004) was among the most dedicated and knowledgeable…
Season it with Leaves
Culinary herbs are plants with aromatic properties and that are used for…
The Herbarium of Endangerment: Cycas riuminiana
Cycads carry significance as “living fossils,” existing in a way that is…
The Herbarium of Endangerment: Eugenia koolauensis
Many Latin plant names feature the intersection of imperial European botany and…
The Herbarium of Endangerment: Tahina spectabilis
This more “newly discovered” plant was given its Latin name in 2008,…
The Herbarium of Endangerment: A Digital Display of…
“Behind all scientific names are the stories of their objects, of the…
The Herbarium of Endangerment: Vanilla planifolia
One may be most familiar with vanilla’s taste and aroma. The fruit…
Royal Symbols
Plants have been employed as royal symbols through time and across cultures.…
Lichenicolous Fungi
Composed of different species each playing a different role, a lichen can…
Naming the Rainbow
Botany uses Latin to describe and name plants, including the Latin words…
Naming the Rainbow: Caeruleum / Blue
The rarest color in nature, caeruleum (Latin for blue), usually indicates a…
Naming the Rainbow: Viridis / Green
Most plants are green, but only a select few have viridis (Latin…
Naming the Rainbow: Indicum / Indigo
Indigo, the dark bluish-purple color of blue jeans, is a natural dye…
Naming the Rainbow: Rubrum / Red
Rubrum, Latin for red, is often used to indicate firey red flowers…
Naming the Rainbow: Flavum / Yellow
Flavum (Latin for yellow) is often used to indicate yellow flowers, hairs, or…
Naming the Rainbow: Coccineum / Scarlet
A close cousin of the color rubrum, coccineum (Latin for scarlet) is…
Naming the Rainbow: Aurantiaco / Orange
Alas, the Latin name of the sweet orange that makes orange juice…
Naming the Rainbow: Viola / Violet
In an etymological twist, the color violet takes its name from the violet…
Naming the Rainbow: Purpurea / Purple
The deep color purpura, Latin for purple, is commonly used to indicate…
Bigelow's mushroom photographs
In the herbarium of the New York Botanical Garden there are over 30,000…
A World of Botanical Illustrations: Japanese plants referenced…
For decades, Studio Ghibli Inc. has been revered as one of the…
Ethel Zoe Bailey
Women in ScienceFocus on Science
Ethel Zoe Bailey (1889–1983), was the first curator of the Bailey Hortorium…