New edition of Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179), surrounded by plants and a mineral she touted as medical treatments, her invented alphabet and model of the universe, on lovely ivory Japanese washi paper. Her writings preserve not only her own knowledge and theories but the nature of institutional medicine and folk healing of her day (which she deftly combined). 🧵1/2
Dendromecon harfordii and a lupine that might be Lupinus albifrons in bloom along the cycle path adjacent to the UC Davis Arboretum yesterday. #BikeTooter#Botany#Bloomscrolling
Ask a botanist about common names and they will tell you that they are confusing! What's a bluebell? Depends on where you live. This is a bluebell, Polemonium reptans. Not to be confused with bluebells in Virginia Mertensia virginica, nor bluebells in Texas, Eustoma russellianum, nor bluebells in California, Phacelia campanularia. #Bloomscrolling #botany
Most of Plant Science Twitter seems to be on Bluesky. What are your favorite Fediverse accounts (institutional and/or personal) for keeping up with academic botanical news? #Botany#AskFedi@plantscience@academicchatter
This is the 4th yr that this university has known they have at least one disabled student in Plant Sciences & has not made an attempt to reach out to consult during the organization of the event so it can be planned to be more accessible.
After all the planning is over, without saying anything about whether any accessibility was already planned into the event, disabled people are asked what "accommodations" they need.
Estella Bergere Leopold (1927–2024), passionate environmentalist who traced changing ecosystems
The trailblazing palaeobotanist investigated how climate change affected Earth in the past — and firmly believed science should be used in its defence now. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-00905-z
So, if I said I needed some "spear-leek," you might be scratching your head. But did you know that garlic originates from Old English gārlēac, which literally means "spear-leek"? Cool, right?
Very happy to finally receive Adam Karremans' book "Demystifying Orchid Pollination: Stories of Sex, Lies and Obsession"! I reviewed the manuscript for
Kew Publishing and they kindly sent me a copy. #orchids#botany#pollinators
The plant in the first photo may not look like much, but it's very special. It's tall western penstemon (Penstemon hesperius), which only grows in about a half dozen locations in the Portland, #Oregon/Vancouver, #^Washington area -- and nowhere else in the world. This pestemon was thought to have gone extinct in the late 20th century, but it's turned out to be surprisingly tough. Even so, P hesperius is on the federal endangered species list.
Lady's Smock Cardamine pratensis in Alexandra Park, #Hastings. In Cabbage family. This was my first look at the park, which is a phenomenal place for wild flowers -- it is threaded through by streams. Book says it flowers in April so like everything else in this part of the global north it's early. #WildflowerHour#Botany#ClimateDiary
A waxing gibbous moon framed in the fork of an eroded branch of a Pinus longaeva (Great Basin bristlecone pine) at ~3,048m (10,000ft) in the White Mountains of California. (This is a single frame photo made by a human, #notAI.)
Not letting my righteous anger at academic ableism keep me from passing opportunities on to others..."5 PhD Fully Funded Positions in Agrobiosciences [Genomics and Crop Production, Agriculture Environment] at Sant’Anna di Pisa in Italy" @plantscijobs@plantscience
The phenomenon is called "root pressure", the roots of a plant "pushing" water and nutrients up the plant in normal conditions, along with transpiration pull. It is made visible when the stem is cut, water still circulating in the plant for a while.