"Duke University has decided to close its herbarium, a collection of 825,000 specimens of plants, fungi and algae that was established more than a century ago. The collection, one of the largest and most diverse in the country, has helped scientists map the diversity of plant life and chronicle the impact of humans on the environment.
The university’s decision has left researchers reeling."
Ynes Mexia was born in 1870 & became one of the most successful botanists in the world.
At a time when most people felt women couldn't travel alone, she did - A woman of color in her 50s & 60s. Mexia traveled the Americas for 13 years, collecting >145,000 #plants & discovering >50 new species.
Plants are surrounded by a fine mist of airborne compounds that they use for communication and protection. A team of Japanese researchers has deployed real-time imaging techniques to reveal how plants receive and respond to these aerial alarms. Science Alert has more, including footage showing a plant “talking” to its neighbor. https://flip.it/lAl00b #Science#Plants#Biology#Botany
Can we get a #WhatIsThisPlant hashtag going on Mastodon? It was one of my favorite joys of #Reddit, it hooked me into ecology and botany in very material and direct ways.
From yesterday: "If every single person would make a 10-foot by four-foot space and dedicate it as a pollinator garden, a bird garden or whatever it is, with native #plants, then we are doing our part to put the diversity back." https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-native-plant-tips/
It might be really helpful if we started and contributed to a specific hashtag (something like) #ClimateChangeGardening to chronicle how garden veg/fruit are not coping with the changing seasons and offer substitutions. A lot of people are having major issues with asparagus bc of sudden hot temps in spring but there are others. We can find solutions together. ❤️
Did #dinosaurs pollinate some #Mesozoic#gymnosperms?
This is an idea I've had which is explained below, but there are some caveats to this, one of which being a lack of corresponding/ conspecific female organs also with suitable anatomy. Thoughts? #paleobotany#paleoart#plants