It smells a little skunky along the trail. Did a fellow hiker light up a joint ahead of you or it could be a botanical wonder of the coast redwoods and beyond?! Skunk cabbage emerges early in the year in swampy lowland regions of the coast redwood forest. It is known scientifically as Lysichiton americanus and the Greek meaning … Continue reading
People are cloning the world’s oldest redwoods. Archangel Ancient Tree Archive is planting their clones en mass around the world in an effort to create robust forests of the future. They say these ancient clones will reverse deforestation across the planet and combat climate change in the process. These are lofty claims and they have me worried. … Continue reading
I’m visiting St. Paul this week and smiling with every Minnesotan because today is the first beautiful spring day following months of snow. As the temperature climbed into the 70’s this afternoon, I sat by Jewel Lake on St. Catherine’s University campus and watched the wildlife. An egret stalked prey with its feet in the … Continue reading
Originally posted on Ruskin K. Hartley:
The idea for the first Earth Day was hatched, as many conservation ideas have been, at the 1969 UNESCO conference right here in San Francisco. It was celebrated for the first time the following year on the first day of Spring — March 21, 1970. It’s since blossomed and…
Ferns are under-appreciated, despite the fact that as a group they have more than 12,000 species worldwide and their lineage is even older than the redwoods! Maybe I’m a fern nerd (well, no maybe about it actually), but I can’t think about redwood trees without also thinking about the ferns that grow in their shadows. This … Continue reading
Every once in awhile, someone is in the right place at the right time to catch an image like this. This praying mantis is just minding its own business, perched on its very own fern bicycle. I would totally ride a fern bike too! Continue reading
I spend a lot of time with plants and it’s true, it is hard to know where you stand with them. Do they resent us for pruning them? Are they mad we published that paper about them without providing them a chance to offer editorial advice? Or worst yet, did we photograph them from an … Continue reading
