Theobrominated

Karaka ( Corynocarpus laevigatus ) is a small New Zealand tree with large fleshy fruits.  It's interesting for a number of reasons.  Its...

I'm writing this in Melbourne, where I'm about to fly home after a wonderful three weeks in Australia . I wasn't specifically on...

This week I’m on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, visiting family before the Australasian Systematic Botany Society ’s conference in Sydney ...

In New Zealand, the forest we typically identify with— the “bush”— is the lowland mixed conifer-angiosperm forest, with a canopy usually ...

The word weed  can be a hard one to define.  Most people accept that a weed is a plant growing where it’s unwanted, something that’s in t...

(Note: I've updated this post on 28 September, giving the name of the botanist whose advice led me to these two Veronica s and whose col...

Last week I was at Lincoln, near Christchurch, working in the herbarium at Landcare Research .  I was checking my descriptions and identify...

Here's something to watch for if you like foraging for wild food: be very careful about misidentifications.  I remember visiting someone...

Winter heliotrope isn't a true heliotrope , but a daisy, related to the senecios I've featured in a few other entries in this series...

When I use the term wildflower, it's often to avoid the judgmental term "weed".  I like most plants, and if other people have ...