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Raindrops keep falling on my flowerhead
Imagine you’re a young and eager pollen. You’re eager for a hot date with an ovule, but first you have to get to her
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Catching up with Botany 2013
I’ve been catching up with blog posts from Botany 2013. The Phytophactor has several posts on the subject, starting with Botanical Meetings – New Orleans. There’
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A lawn without grass?
You know what a lawn is, it’s a patch of grass mowed to be short. But it doesn’t have to be.
Plants & People
Discovering the Victoria Regia water lily
Tatiana Holway, author of The Flower of Empire, discusses how explorer Robert Shomburgk and his crew discovered the Victoria Regia water lily in Guyana.
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Is Drosera meristocaulis the carnivorous plant that walked?
In the classic novel The Day of the Triffids carnivorous plants hunted a blinded human population. Drosera meristocaulis cannot walk, but that makes it even more
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Explore Urban Forest with Earthwatch
I’ve been looking at a few Earthwatch expeditions. They look interesting but the cost for most of them is prohibitive. However, if you live near
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For the anti-social media user in your life
If you ever want to justify your Facebook habit then you can now cite Osterrieder 2013 thanks to the paper The value and use of social
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How embargoes happen
I’m working on a press release for a paper. I think it could be big news – and if it’s not then it could well
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The scientific origins of the Dictator/Sitcom Character game
There’s a game where your computer will attempt to guess what dictator or sitcom character you’re thinking of. It’s based on a binary
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The organic battery gets closer to reality
The Indian Botanists have news of a new publication on using rice to make lithium batteries. I thought I’d read this before, but what I’
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What questions should we be asking the public – and which public should we be asking?
Over the weekend there’s been discussion on twitter about how to enthuse people about plants. Helen Gazeley kicked it off by asking Will James Wong
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When should it be Green Sunday?
Recently the charming rogue Cliff Arnall made the news again. This time it was a rehash of his ‘happiest day of the year’ formula which he