Category: Plants & People
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1,300 year old Dose of Willow Bark Aspirin discovered
Fragmented pottery unearthed in a rockshelter in east central Colorado has revealed traces of salicylic acid, a substance derived from willow bark that’s the natural precursor to modern-day aspirin.Dated to the 7th century, the pottery may be the earliest known physical evidence of the chemical’s use in North America, according to archaeologists.
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Where Are Botanic Gardens Going?
That brings us to what is arguably the most important species in any botanic garden: not the giants swaying in the afternoon breeze, but the weary visitors resting in the shade beneath them. If the work of botanic gardens is to mean anything, it is their visitors who must spread the word, increasing awareness about biodiversity, habitat loss and climate change.
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Pepsi Bets On Cashew Juice To Be The Next Coconut Water
Cashew juice also shows up in various local products around the world like Cashewy in Thailand, which is promoted by its producer as “the beverage of gods.” Nutrition and health websites extol its high vitamin C content, and there are even claims that it helps burn fat and enhances sexual performance.
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Ancient Reed Boat Traditions Disappearing
Centuries before the Spanish arrived and long before the Incas extended their empire from the mountaintops to the coast, fishermen here were building boats from the totora reed that grows along the shore. Today, a handful of fishermen keep up that tradition, growing and harvesting the reeds and forming them into the boats that are known as caballitos de totora, or little reed horses.
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Farmers Use Licorice To Reclaim Salted Fields
In the harsh climate of northwestern Uzbekistan, farmers are cultivating wild licorice on land that is salt-ridden near drainage canals.
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Reforestation Success? The right tree in the right spot
While scale is important for landscape restoration, we need to reconsider quality and not just quantity. When does the presence of a tree really make a difference, and when is it neither an environmental or economical solution to a host of complex issues? What are the implications for food security, biodiversity and landscape protection?
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Strung Up! Botanical Beads Of The World
From childhood I have been fascinated by nature’s infinite variety of forms, colors, textures, shapes and sizes. Seeds display this amazing diversity, and over the years I have accumulated a sizeable collection of botanical necklaces. These “beads” consist of seeds, fruits, stems, roots, arils (seed appendages) and rhizomes (underground stems). I admired them, I wore them and I wondered about them. Where had the seed come from and which plant produced it? When I tried to learn something about these “beads” I discovered there were no books that dealt with the subject.
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Human Impact On Seed Dispersal Affecting Evolution
It has become increasingly apparent that plant species, particularly those dependent upon seed dispersal, may suffer disproportionately from the impact of the modern world.
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The Trees (gasp) Are Killing Us
The purple areas on this map show places where satellites have detected formaldehyde. This chemical forms from isoprene, a volatile organic compound that trees can give off when temperatures are hot.
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Seedless Mango? Heaven or Abomination?
But, then, no longer will one be able to utter this Indian homily: “Aam khana hai ya gutli gin ni hai” losely translated as “Do you want to eat mangoes or count the seeds” but in reality meaning ‘Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth’. And, there are many who will lament being denied the pleasure of licking the seed clean of the fruit.