- Chara – should you care(a)?
As a genus, Chara is cool. The plants look sort of like the flowering plants we celebrate generally on this site. But they are algae. So, what are these plants? Are they rare? Where did they come from? Why are they cool?
- How to identify the wild buckwheats (or not)
The answer to identifying buckwheats is, alas, NOT 42. Without a hand lens and a botanical key, and probably years of experience, real identification to species may be impossible. Here, I'll say why this is.
- On pseudoflowers and parasites
This is the story of a plant and a parasitic fungus. The plant is a species of Boechera – rockcress – in the Brassicaceae, i.e. the mustard family. The fungus ...
- Pine trees, conifers and evergreens
Given the tendency of so many people to call all conifers "pine trees", I've put together this blurb to help deal with dorks like me who respond to "by that pine tree" with "What pine tree?"
- The importance of being Yellow
In grouping plants for a wildflower book, the normal ways seem to be either by color or by plant family. But for our Valley and the surrounding mountains, I've come up with an alternative arrangement, based on the dominant yellow flowers.
