Wild Crops of America

As our natural food supply faces threats from climate change and habitat loss, crop wild relatives have been a recent research darling.  Crop wild relatives can provide genetic diversity that modern agriculture lacks, offering better resistance to disease and pests. Much research on these wild species has taken place in distant locales, like Kyrgyzstan, which…

Hispanic Heritage Month: The Garden’s Peru Program

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, we’re having a month-long series focused on our work in Latin America. This week, we’re learning about the Missouri Botanical Garden’s Peru program! Leading the team is Program Director, Rodolfo Vásquez​ (below, first from left in front row), and Program Manager, Rocío Rojas​ (below, second from left in front row)….

Meeting Madagascar

Madagascar is home to the Missouri Botanical Garden’s largest international research program with more than 200 local staff members, all of whom but one are Malagasy. The Garden has had a research presence in Madagascar since the 1970s, and currently co-manages 13 protected sites jointly with local communities. 

Plant Profile: Coneflowers 

A staple of many wildflower gardens in Missouri because of its beautiful blooms, coneflowers a have a long history of human use, including curing snakebites.

Saving Spring: Growing Rare and Endangered Magnolias

An emblem of spring, magnolias are celebrated for their beautiful white and pink flowers that bloom early in the season. While common in home landscapes, half of all magnolia species are threatened with extinction in the wild. They are found around the globe, and are mainly threatened by logging activity as well as habitat loss…

Scientific Resurrection: Bringing Extinct Plants Back from the Dead 

Species in the hibiscus and sedge families, both extinct for decades but preserved at the Missouri Botanical Garden, are among those scientists want to target to bring back from the dead.  Scientists from across the globe recently collaborated to create a list of plants targeted for “de-extinction.” They examined plant specimens preserved in herbaria, or…

Advancing Conservation Through Continuing Education

The Advanced Inquiry Program encourages professionals to ignite ecological and social change while earning their master’s degrees. Overseen by Miami University’s Project Dragonfly, the Advanced Inquiry Program (AIP) is a one-of-a-kind master’s program that immerses students in collaborative inquiry and action as they champion change. Through web-based coursework from Miami and face-to-face experiential learning and…

Making the Mark

Earlier this year, Missouri Botanical Garden Botanist Patrice Antilahimena embarked on a field trip to a protected area managed by the Garden in southern Madagascar. The dry forest, thick with spiny plants was unlike anywhere he had collected before. But the trip was exciting for another reason: Patrice knew it was likely he would make…

Honeysuckles Explained

Most gardeners cringe at the word “honeysuckle” these days. But not all species of honeysuckle are bad. Here, the William T. Kemper Home Gardening Center explains which native species you should plant in your garden to attract pollinators and which invasive species you should eradicate wherever possible.

Rare Beauty: New Meriania Species to be Classified as Critically Endangered

With vivid pink, purple, and magenta blooms, new species of Meriania discovered by Missouri Botanical Garden scientists and collaborators in Peru are certainly eye-catching. But since many of them are critically endangered, they’re unlikely to catch many eyes in the wild. In fact, four of them are known from just a single population. Describing these…