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…
Tag: botany
Three Black Scientists Overlooked by History
Who is Percy Julian? Percy Julian was a chemist who participated in the synthesis and large-scale production of steroids from plant compounds. The grandson of enslaved people, Julian studied chemistry and graduated as valedictorian of his class in 1920 from DePauw University. Among his many accomplishments, Julian collaborated with his colleague Josef Pikl on the…
Botanical Books to add to your Holiday Wish List
Whether you’re already a plant enthusiast, or you’re looking to explore a new hobby in the new year, the holidays are the perfect time to stock up on plant books. With such a broad category, you may be struggling to narrow down your options. Leave it to the experts! The Earth in Her Hands: 75…
Stop and Smell the Anthuriums
Instead of stopping to smell the roses, maybe it’s time to appreciate the aroma of anthuriums. Anthurium is a genus of plants in the aroid family, Araceae. You’ve probably seen one before, and may even have one in your house. Commercially available Anthurium are often sold as houseplants—noted for their colorful spathe, long-lasting bloom, and…
The Botany of Beer
It’s no secret that St. Louis is one of the best places to be if you find yourself with a hankering for beer. Starting this July at Garden Party Lights, the Garden joins in the fun with a biergarten that’s open through the rosy glow of summer evenings. But even in the midst of a…
Spotlight on Science: Dr. Aaron Floden
Dr. Aaron Floden Assistant Scientist, Flora of Missouri When Aaron Floden first started collecting plants, he purposefully chose a geographic area with low collection numbers. In fact, the 498 square mile area only had about 300 documented species. By the time Floden finished, that number surpassed 1,500 species, including seven species not previously known to…
Building Tomorrow’s Botanists Today
When Monica Carlsen met fourteen-year-old Gabrielle McAuley at the Missouri Botanical Garden’s science open house in the spring, she assumed the teen’s father had talked her into going to the event. As it turns out, it was the other way around. “I made my dad come down here to look at volunteer opportunities,” McAuley said on…
Collection Connection: Whiskey and Research
“There’s a deeper story to almost all of these,” says Ralph Haynes as he peers into a box of dried corn cobs. The co-founder of Pinckney Bend Distillery is meeting with Garden research staff, exploring the herbarium, and flipping through the pages of rare botanical books—taking a deeper look at the intersection of his passion…
Spotlight on Science: Tom Croat
A monthly look at the people behind plant science at the Missouri Botanical Garden Dr. Tom Croat P.A. Schulze Curator of Botany Tom Croat has been called the Indiana Jones of botany, and when you hear him describe his collecting journeys to the Tropics, it fits. Croat, 80, has spent about a third of his…
Cataloging Diversity Across The Americas
“Now we know what we can conserve.” -Dr. Carmen Ulloa “What trees! … all utterly new to us; Bonpland keeps telling me he’ll go out of his mind if the wonders don’t cease soon.” Alexander von Humboldt words of excitement when first landing in present day Venezuela in 1799 demonstrate the exuberance of plant diversity…
From the Library: Analyzing a Mystery Book
The Missouri Botanical Garden’s Peter H. Raven Library has recently been upgrading many of its rare book cataloging records. One such record is for a book published in 1764 by noted botanist Carl Linnaeus (the namesake of the Garden’s Linnean House conservatory) called Genera Plantarum, printed in Stockholm by Lars Salvius. It was thought to…