Book Review: Vegan Vietnamese
Karen Helen Le, author and creator of YouTube’s Helen’s Recipes! , presents 70 vegan versions of popular Vietnamese dishes. Her goal was to provide recipes that people could enjoy without realizing…
Weeds and their Control: Bracken Fern (Pteridium aquilinum)
Also known as eagle fern, bracken fern is a herbaceous perennial and a member of the Dennstaedtiaceae family that includes 10 genera and 240 species of ferns. It is one…
Plant Profile: Winter Daphne (Daphne odora)
Native to southern China, Vietnam and Taiwan, this broadleaf evergreen shrub is a member of the Thymelaeaceae, a plant family of just under 900 species, most of which are unfamiliar…
Plants of Ancient Pompeii: Six Row Barley (Hordeum vulgare)
This annual cereal grain is a member of the grass family, Poaceae, that also includes rice, corn, and bamboo. It was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent about 11,000 years ago…
Plant Profile: Chinese Witch Hazel (Hamamelis mollis)
Native to forests and thickets in southeastern and southwestern China, this deciduous shrub or small tree is a member of the witch hazel family, Hamamelidaceae, that also includes loropetalum, fothergill,…
Weeds and Their Control: Rough Cocklebur (Xanthium strumarium)
Also called clotbur, donkey bur, heartleaf, and woolgarie bur, this weedy annual is a member of the aster family, Asteraceae, that also includes sunflower, yarrow, and lettuce. It’s native range…
Plant Profile: Big-Leaf Witch Hazel (Hamamelis ovalis)
This deciduous shrub was first found in 2004 in coastal Mississippi where it was growing under a canopy of pine and mixed deciduous hardwoods in shallow flat-bottomed ravines and on…
Plants of Ancient Pompeii: Bitter Vetch (Vicia ervilia)
Bitter vetch is an annual and a member of the legume family, Fabaceae, that also includes pea, lupine, and mimosa. Archaeological evidence suggests that the earliest domestication of the plant…
Plant Profile: Japanese Witch Hazel (Hamamelis japonica)
Native to mountainous areas of Japan, this deciduous shrub or small tree is a member of the witch hazel family, Hamamelidaceae, that also includes loropetalum, fothergill, and winter hazel. The…