Ceiba pentandra
Hundreds of windblown puffballs stuck to a stretch of fence along Palm Beach Boulevard suggest a truckload of pillows exploded in a vehicle crash nearby.
Ceiba pentandra
A closer look reveals a black seed within each puff.
Ceiba pentandra
After sharing Lynne Cherry’s The Great Kapok Tree and discussing rainforest conservation with third graders year after year, the new neighbor meets this Central American wonder in person.
Ceiba pentandra and Abrus precatorius
Abrus precatorius
Whether Latrodectus or Micrurus, some red flags are more duotone. This one’s popping in the backyard.
Abrus precatorius
In the words of Amy Stewart, author of Wicked Plants, “The poison at work within rosary peas is abrin, which is similar to ricin, found in castor beans. Abrin attaches itself to cell membranes and prevents cells from making protein, which kills them.” Stay away.
Schinus terebinthifolia
After foraging in Punta Gorda with Green Deane, Brazilian pepper seems to pop up everywhere (as invasives do). The plan is to roast and grind the sweet and spicy berries, then sprinkle over popcorn.
Schinus terebinthifolia
Click here for more about a storied ornamental listed on the Florida Department of Agriculture’s Noxious Weed List.
Crinum americanum
Billy Creek Preserve and Filter Marsh
Blocks from strip malls on four lanes of fifty mile an hour traffic straddling a median crossed at dawn and dusk by Guatemalan day laborers rests fifty-six acres of marsh designed and engineered to clean and filter water destined for the Caloosahatchee. It’s a rad place to ride your bike.
Billy Creek Preserve and Filter Marsh
Click here for more about the preserve.
Bauhinia purpurea
These flowers are edible!
Bauhinia purpurea
Costus woodsonii
Mimosa strigillosa
Monotropa uniflora
The illusive rows of ghostly flowers are actually a fungus feeding on fungi that’s feeding on tree roots. They’re epiparasites, or parasites sourcing nutrients from other parasites.
Monotropa unifloraHiawa
Eastern Native American tribes once used ghost pipe as an anticonvulsive and painkiller.
Cantharellus cibarius
A bike ride to a secret spot off South Milledge reveals a neon patch of orange on the forest floor. Click here for a simple and delicious recipe by Isa Chandra Moskowitz.
Sabal palmetto
Don’t they look like something out of a Dr. Seuss book?
Pueraria lobata
Pueraria lobata
Pineapple Farm in Saint Mary Parish, Antigua
Ananas comosus
Ipomea pes-caprae
Summer Storm Over Ormond Beach
Odocoileus virginianus
Amidst kudzu and trumpet creeper, a doe stands sentry high above the North Oconee Greenway on a Sunday afternoon.
Murraya koenigii (and Halyomorpha halys)
A curious array of stink bug eggs is almost tossed into a pan of shimmering olive oil. Once apparent, they’re returned to the potted plant. Hopefully the compassionate act doesn’t end in the decimation of beloved leaves.
Click here for the vegan pozole recipe these tiny orbs almost joined.
Aloe mutabilis
Deuterocohnia brevifolia
Lawsonia inermis (henna)
Pedagogy of the Plants 