Plant of the Month: Guava
Often classified as an invasive species, guava ignites a longstanding, transnational battle over foreign invaders and local customs.
The Great Grape Graft That Saved the Wine Industry
Grape varieties from North America seemed harmless to French winemakers. But destructive bugs were imported with the plants.
Meet the Man Behind the Peony
In China, gramophone and camera in tow, botanist and explorer Joseph Rock collected seeds from the tree peony that bears his name.
The Raffish and Radical Constantine Samuel Rafinesque
Constantine Samuel Rafinesque was an adventuring naturalist who named 2,700 genera and wrote about evolution before Darwin. Why has he been forgotten?
How Poison Ivy Works
Where poison ivy comes from, why it gives some people such terrible reactions, and why—unfortunately for hikers and gardeners—its future is bright.
America’s Mysterious Lost Tree
Extinct in the wild, the Franklinia tree is still cultivated in botanical gardens, private homes, parks, even cemeteries. It's also got an interesting Revolutionary-era backstory.
Speaking for the Trees
David George Haskell's book The Song of the Trees: Stories From Nature's Great Connectors, explores trees' connections with various communities.