Herbarium of the Bizarre

Anyone feel like starting a campaign to make tomatoes the national fruit? Music by James Milor on Pixabay Information provided by: https://www.arborday.org/perspectives/americas-national-tree-mighty-oak https://www.congress.gov/bill/99th-congress/senate-joint-resolution/159/text https://www.congress.gov/committee-report/108th-congress/house-report/689/1 https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IF13097...

Attendees at the Exotic and Carnivorous Plant Expo join the podcast to talk about their own favorite bizarre plants. I intended to post this episode a week or so after the expo, but then I caught the con crud from hell at ConCarolinas and have only just now gotten my voice back. Music provided by James Milor from Pixabay Additional Information: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Woodcock...

Come see me at the Exotic and Carnivorous Plant Expo this weekend: https://www.carnivorousplants.org/about/CEPExpoDetails Music by James Milor from Pixabay Information provided by: https://www.burymeinthebog.com/grow/rainbow-plants https://botany.org/home/resources/carnivorous-plants-insectivorous-plants/byblis-the-rainbow-plants.html https://www.carnivorousplants.org/grow/guides/Byblis The carniv...

I learned some lessons from the 2024 discoveries episode, and I think this one is not quite so messy. I also managed to contain it all in one episode this time! Music by James Milor from Pixabay Information provided by: https://www.calacademy.org/press/releases/california-academy-of-sciences-and-partners-uncover-new-sunflower-species-in-big-bend Damian Carrington (2026, Jan 7). Fly-arousing orchid...

Merry Christmas? Happy New Year? Happy Holidays! That covers it. Personally, I celebrated four this year. Enjoy this more-or-less seasonal episode about the New Zealand Christmas Tree. Music by James Milor from Pixabay. Information provided by: https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/pohutukawa-flame-of-the-north/ https://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/native-plants/pohutukawa/ https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/photo...

Pass the cranberry sauce! Did you read that to the tune of the Bob’s Burgers song? I hope so. Music by James Milor Information provided by: https://www.cranberryinstitute.org/cranberry-health-research https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/the-botany-behind-why-cranberries-became-a-thanksgiving-staple Peterson Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs of Eastern and Central North America (3rd ed.) b...

Sorry it sounds so echo-y. I’m dog/housesitting for my parents, so I’m not in my usual recording space. Ruby the Beagle says “hi.” Music by James Milor from Pixabay Information provided by: Diphylleia grayi -inspired stretchable hydrochromics with large optical modulation in the visible–near-infrared region by Guofa Cai, et al. (2018). ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 10 (43), pg. 37685-37693...

There seems to be disagreement whether it ought to be spelled narrow-leafed or narrow-leaved. Neither is easy to say, for the record. Music by James Milor from Pixabay Information provided by: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-17100574 https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/120221-oldest-seeds-regenerated-plants-science https://www.livescience.com/2602-extinct-tree-christ-ti...

This episode ended up being way more involved that I expected, but I learned so much, and I thought I knew Dutch Elm Disease pretty well already. Hopefully, y’all will learn a lot, too. Music by James Milor from Pixabay Information provided by: https://www.dontmovefirewood.org/pest_pathogen/dutch-elm-disease-html/ https://www.apsnet.org/edcenter/pdlessons/Pages/DutchElm.aspx https://www.forestrese...

We will resume my trilogy of invasive plants next week once I find my mind. Has anyone seen it? Music by James Milor from Pixabay Information provided by: https://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/running-ponies/animal-or-vegetable-legend-of-the-vegetable-lamb-of-tartary/ The Vegetable Lamb of Tartary: A curious fable of the cotton plant by Henry Lee (1887) https://www.nybg.org/poetic-botany/baromet...

Don't worry, I'm okay. My car is very much not okay, unfortunately.

If you’re thinking of planting a Privet, you should pivot and plant something else. Well, if you live in North or Central America, anyway, but that doesn’t rhyme. Music by James Milor from Pixabay Information provided by: https://www.lewisginter.org/chinese-privet/ https://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/terrestrial/plants/chinese-privet https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/ligustrum-japonicum/ https://...

I have a complicated relationship with this stinky dead fish tree. For your entertainment, a Reddit thread about Bradford Pears: https://www.reddit.com/r/arborists/comments/1bn1wpv/why_bradford_pear_is_so_hated/ Music by James Milor from Pixabay Information provided by: https://indiananativeplants.org/2013/callery-pear-a-bad-bad-plant-in-bloom-right-now/ https://www.bhg.com/gardening/trees-shrubs-...

Meet the world’s biggest (and possibly stinkiest) flowers. Music by James Milor from Pixabay Information provided by: https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/03/world/worlds-largest-flower-indonesia-scn-trnd/index.html https://www.britannica.com/plant/Rafflesia Plants That Kill: A Natural History of the World’s Most Poisonous Plants by Elizabeth A. Dauncey and Sonny Larson (2018) https://www.kew.org/plants/ra...

If you’re in the U.S., I hope you try and have a happy 4th of July. And as a public safety professional in my day job, I must remind you to please not start any fires or injure anyone with fireworks. ‘Kay thanks. Music by James Milor from Pixabay Information provided by: https://www.popsci.com/environment/fairy-lantern-japan-extinct-fungi/ https://www.discoverwildlife.com/plant-facts/thismia-malay...

Be a lavender menace. Music provided by James Milor from Pixabay Information provided by: Flowers and Their Meanings: The Secret Language and History of Over 600 Blooms by Karen Azoulay (2023) https://bouqs.com/blog/capricorn-birth-flower/ https://www.britannica.com/plant/lavender https://www.britannica.com/topic/Lavender-Scare Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs (2nd ed.) by Scott Cunningh...

Support the Pansy Project and get a cute shirt: https://birdscanflystore.com/collection/the-pansy-project/ Music by James Milor from Pixabay Information provided by: Flowers and Their Meanings: The Secret Language and History of Over 600 Blooms by Karen Azoulay (2023) https://bouqs.com/blog/capricorn-birth-flower/ Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs (2nd ed.) by Scott Cunningham (2014) Gard...

Roses are (sometimes) red, Violets are (sometimes) blue, And if you ask Sappho, Violets are gay, too! Happy Pride Month 🌈 Music by James Milor from Pixabay Information provided by: Flowers and Their Meanings: The Secret Language and History of Over 600 Blooms by Karen Azoulay (2023) https://bouqs.com/blog/violet-flower-meaning-symbolism/ Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs (2nd ed.) by Sco...

These extra-special trees are similar to both conifers and fruit trees, but they are actually something much, much older. Ginkgoes are the only tree species around today that was alive at the same time as dinosaurs! 🦕 How cool is that? Music by James Milor from Pixabay Information provided by: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/ginkgo-biloba-benefits Medicinal Plants at Home by Maria Transito L...

Is it really possible that these trees walk around the rainforest like the Ents in Lord of the Rings? I forgot to mention that there won’t be an episode next week. Here’s your one-week notice that I’ll be on vacation next Friday. ✈️ Music by James Milor from Pixabay Information provided by: Stilt-Root Walking by an Iriateoid Palm in the Peruvian Amazon by John H. Bodley and Foley C. Benson (1980)....

Today, at long last, I am revealing my favorite fact about witches’ flying ointment. 🧹 Music by James Milor from Pixabay Information provided by: https://www.gothichorrorstories.com/witches-garden/witch-garden-feature/witches-garden-plants/henbane/ Flowers and Their Meanings: The Secret Language and History of Over 600 Blooms by Karen Azoulay (2023) https://www.britannica.com/plant/henbane Cunnin...

A.k.a. the California Pitcher Plant or the Cobra Lily. It’s not a lily, not even a little bit, but it does look surprisingly serpentine. 🐍 Music by James Milor from Pixabay Information provided by: The cobra's tongue: Rethinking the function of the “fishtail appendage” on the pitcher plant Darlingtonia californica by David W. Armitage (2016). American Journal of Botany, 103 (4), pgs. 780-785....

The carnivorous plants are back, and this time we’re looking at my favorite bug traps, Sundews! I forgot to mention in the intro that I’m going to be at RavenCon in Richmond, VA this weekend—actually, as this airs, I’m probably already on my way—and AtomaCon in North Charleston, SC next weekend. Come say “hi!” Music by James Milor from Pixabay Information provided by: Peterson Field Guide to Medic...

Watch the real-life Zombie Fungus in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuKjBIBBAL8 Music by James Milor from Pixabay Information provided by: https://screenrant.com/girl-all-gifts-fungal-infection-hungries-explained/ https://www.webmd.com/vitamins-and-supplements/cordyceps Interkingdom host jumping underground: Phylogenetic analysis of entomoparasitic fungi of the genus Cordyceps by Naruo Ni...

Sometimes plants come in very silly shapes. Music by James Milor from Pixabay Information provided by: https://sarracenia.proboards.com/thread/3891/nepenthes-bokorensis-wild Species composition of ant prey of the pitcher plant Nepenthes bokorensis Mey (Nepenthaceae) in Phnom Bokor National Park, Cambodia by Shingo Hosoishi, et al. (2012). Cambodian Journal of Natural History, 5 (1), pg. 3-7. Repor...