Pollination after dark
Although sometimes overlooked, bats are vital pollinators for many economically important species…
Iconic plants of the Amazon
The Amazon Rain Forest, Earth’s largest tropical rain forest, is an immense…
Maize & Teosinte
Maize (Zea mays), or corn, is a domesticated cereal crop native to…
Madagascar periwinkle
Commonly known as Madagascar periwinkle, this member of the dogbane family has…
Picnic in Central Park
Since its completion in 1876, Central Park has been a favorite destination…
Rice and its Wild Relatives
Humans have been farming rice for approximately 10,000 years. The two major…
Plant Inspired Innovations: Nepenthes and Slippery Liquid-Infused Porous…
Most plants absorb nutrients from the soil through their roots. Carnivorous plants…
Being Loved To Death – A Third of…
As the many plants to be digitized in the Endless Forms project,…
The Sacred Plant of Peru: The San Pedro…
For thousands of years, the indigenous people of Peruvian Amazon have used…
John Torrey’s Trip to California and Colorado, 1872
In July of 1872, John Torrey and his daughter Margaret departed on…
Astragalus osterhoutii, Osterhout milkvetch
Astragalus osterhoutii M. E. Jones (or Osterhout milkvetch) is an herbaceous plant known…
Rainbow of Plant Dyes
People have been dyeing their clothing with plants since ancient times. All around…
Extraordinary Oak Leaves
Cabinet of CuriositiesSpecimen Stories
Oak trees are a familiar sight to people all around the world,…
Creepy Cultivars
The word "cultivar" is a blend of the words "cultivated" and "variety".…
Life in Slot Canyons
Cabinet of CuriositiesExpeditions
Slot canyons are deep channels eroded into rock. They are often ten…
Oro City – A Colorado Ghost Town
Oro City was a gold placer (stream-bed) mining town in Colorado, founded…
Eight Days of Oil
Oil has a special significance for those who celebrate Hanukkah. This Jewish…
Elizabeth Britton and the Curly-Grass Fern
Specimen StoriesWomen in Science
Tucked away in an office drawer of NYBG’s Fern Curator, Robbin Moran,…
Hidden Women Botanists - Mrs. Herbert Huntington Smith
The NYBG herbarium has over two thousand specimens that are labeled as collected…
Kate Furbish and the Flora of Maine
Catherine Furbish was born in 1834 in Exeter, New Hampshire. From an…
Lichenicolous Fungi
Composed of different species each playing a different role, a lichen can…
Ellen Hutchins - Ireland's First Female Botanist
Between 1805 and 1813, in Ballylickey on the shores of Bantry Bay,…
Kauai Digit Fern
The Kauai Digit Fern, or Doryopteris angelica, is a rare fern found in the forest on…
Resurrecting from the Dead
I remember coming across Selaginella lepidophylla while imaging herbarium specimens for the…
The Many Colors of the Star Cloak Fern
While imaging herbarium specimens, I was struck by the unusual colors of…
The Atomic Specimen
Working with specimens from New Mexico for the Southern Rocky Mountain Digitization…
Heard it through the grapevine
Vitis is the genus of one of the world’s favorite horticultural crop:…
Catnip: A Felicitous Herb
Focus on ScienceWhat's in a name?
Calling all cat lovers! As I was digitizing plants for the Southern…
Beware! Stranglers on the Loose!
Focus on ScienceCabinet of Curiosities
Meet the genus Cuscuta, or as I like to refer to them,…
Celebrating Pride with Flowers
As the world celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots during…
Virtual Road Trip: Southern Wildflowers
Many Americans are currently practicing social distancing and self-quarantine as a way…
Sister Mary Clare Metz: Faith and Flora
While digitizing specimens for the Texas and Oklahoma Regional Consortium of Herbaria,…
The Biltmore Herbarium: Botany and America’s Largest Home
Biltmore, a Gilded Era mansion in Asheville, North Carolina, is America’s largest…
Ascension Island: Volcanoes, Castaways, and Darwin’s Manmade Forest
One million years ago, a volcano broke the surface in the middle…
Fire Island: Preserving a Unique Ecological & Cultural…
On a geological time scale, barrier islands are by definition impermanent, ever-changing,…
Learning from Extinct Plants
Specimen StoriesFocus on Science
From the woolly mammoth to the passenger pigeon, many extinct species owe…
Black Botany: The Nature of Black Experience
Black Botany: The Nature of Black Experience seeks to acknowledge the complex…
Biocrusts of Hot Drylands
Hot deserts are found on all continents except Antarctica and Europe. In…
Biocrusts of Cold Drylands
The default image that comes to mind when thinking of deserts is…
Biocrusts in Disturbed Areas
Our crusty companions play many imperative restoration roles in disturbed habitats, as…
Riclef Grolle
Riclef Grolle (1934 – 2004) was among the most dedicated and knowledgeable…
Sarah “Sadie” Frances Price
Sarah “Sadie” Frances Price (1849-1903) was one of Kentucky’s most esteemed botanical…
Caroline Coventry Haynes
Caroline Coventry Haynes (1858-1951) is best known for her significant contributions to…
Gertrude Simmons Burlingham
Gertrude Simmons Burlingham (1872-1952) was an American mycologist who specialized in the…
Women in Cryptogamic Botany
As scientific perspectives of the Enlightenment movement fostered enthusiasm surrounding the acquisition…
Trust in the Crust
earth /ˈərth/noun1) the planet on which we live; the world2) the substance…
Josephine Elizabeth Tilden
Josephine Elizabeth Tilden (1869-1957) was one of few women allowed a faculty…
Elke Mackenzie (I.M. Lamb)
The work and dedication of Elke Mackenzie (1911-1990) is critical to our…
Clara Eaton Cummings
Clara E. Cummings (1855-1906) was a cryptogamic botanist who focused primarily on…
The Tecate Cypress: What a Tangled Web
While working as a digitization intern, one of the most pleasing features…
"Posy" Dodge, an Exemplary Citizen Scientist
In an age of growing efforts to engage the public in research…
Elizabeth Knight Britton's Expeditions and Honors
When the Garden began a series of expeditions to the Caribbean during…
Elizabeth Knight Britton's Childhood in Cuba
Elizabeth Knight Britton’s grandfather James Knight owned a sugar plantation and a…
Follow a 1910 Botanical Expedition through Western Cuba
The United States entered the Spanish American War in April of 1898.…
Views from a 1910 Botanical Expedition through Western…
New York Botanical Garden led around 136 botanical expeditions between 1898 and 1918.…
Elizabeth Knight Britton's Legacy in Cuba
Elizabeth Gertrude Knight Britton’s career as a bryologist and her central role…
Elizabeth Knight Britton's Early Career
Elizabeth Knight Britton went on to complete her schooling at the Normal…
Remembrances of Yours
There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance.Pray you, love, remember. And there is pansies,that’s…
Queer Love Lives in Hyacinth
The flowering period of hyacinth may have passed, but their celebration continues…
A World of Botanical Illustrations: Japanese plants referenced…
For decades, Studio Ghibli Inc. has been revered as one of the…
The Herbarium of Endangerment: Cycas riuminiana
Cycads carry significance as “living fossils,” existing in a way that is…