… a gelatinous substance that makes them slippery and difficult to handle. So the first question is, what purpose does the slimy coating serve? This is not the kind of blog post where I give you all the answers. That would not be good science … through the digestive tract of an animal and still germinate. Not all seeds can do that. It is possible that in nature, the coating protects the seeds on their journey from the mother plant …
Type: Blog
… to find the seedpod hanging below and to the right of the third blossom. Its scientific name is Impatiens capensis , and jewelweed has some interesting features that make it worth getting … You might expect a plant called “touch-me-not” to be toxic or irritating to the skin. This is not the case. The name comes from a little seedpod surprise. When they are ripe, a slight … plant was reacting negatively to his touch. Rather than a defense mechanism, shooting seeds is an effective dispersal strategy, as it sends the seeds away from the mother plant where they …
Type: Blog
… in length, with the tail being about a quarter of the length of the body and head combined. It is by far the largest of the shrews we will see here. They are generally a velvety, dark gray … dark of night. These high-energy, secretive animals are active year-round, so their presence is more noticeable when the ground is covered with snow. If a healthy population exists in good habitat, it is not unusual to spot …
Type: Blog
… and recreation comes from Lake Michigan. If we waste water, then we waste the lake. It is that simple. The Water Conservation Game is set up and ready to play. The girls responded very well to the activity. I am sharing it on … of the Lake Michigan with an image to represent the local water source. (For most cities, that is groundwater.) I discovered, to my surprise, that many of my Brownie Scouts were not familiar …
Type: Blog
… process? And what do all those colorful beer-making terms mean? Malted (germinated) barley is used as a base in beer and scotch. Photo via Finlay McWalter, Wikimedia Commons. GFDL A beautiful vine for the home garden is hops ( Humulus lupulus ), pictured here in flower. Pollinated and fruited in fall, these pale … grains are grasses with a special type of seed called a caryopsis . Inside a caryopsis is an embryo and a large, starchy food reserve (called the endosperm) that plays a key role in …
Type: Blog
… the colors of the season long after the tree leaves have faded and been raked away. It is one of November’s icons, reminding us of the cultural and botanical history of the continent. … teosinte (pronounced tay-oh-SIN-tee), around 10,000 years ago by the people living in what is now Mexico. Over time, maize became a staple crop, yielding different varieties of nutritious … Indian corn in bundles of three alongside gourds, pumpkins, and bundles of straw. Indian corn is related to popcorn. These kinds of maize differ from other kinds in that they have a harder …
Type: Blog
… Asian plants enrich our tables as well. The list of culinary vegetables from Asia is exhaustive. Wheat and barley originated in western Asia, and rice in the east. Fruits include … domesticated apples trace back to central Asian species. One of the Garden’s core values is the belief that beautiful gardens and natural environments are fundamentally important to the … from genetic resources. The ethical collection and propagation of plants from other places is a form of what’s termed ex situ conservation that many public gardens, including the Chicago …
Type: Blog
… A new collaboration between Garden scientists and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is hoping to expand the range of a species once extinct in Illinois. Garden scientists, students, … ( Tetraneuris herbacea ). Plant Biology and Conservation Ph.D. student Rafael Urbina Casanova is working with Garden scientists Drs. Jeremie Fant and Andrea Kramer, and collaborators Jenny … relies on dry, rocky habitat in the Great Lakes region to survive. Unfortunately, this habitat is often quarried, so very little habitat remains available in Illinois,” said Rafael. This …
Type: Research
… Competition is heating up in the western United States. Invasive and native plants are racing to claim … and resources. Alicia Foxx, who studies the interplay of roots of native and invasive plants, is glued to the action. The results of this contest, says the plant biology and conservation … Botanic Garden and Northwestern University, could be difficult to reverse. Cheatgrass, which is an aggressive, invasive plant with a dense root system, is in the lead and spreading quickly …
Type: Blog
… Photo by Bill Bishoff Consider the butterfly’s ability to see ultraviolet light. UV light is a spectrum of light between 10 and 400 nanometers that humans and most other animals cannot … light, and they use these amazing gifts in a variety of clever ways. One well-known phenomenon is the relationship between butterflies and nectar-producing flowers. Thanks to special … These patterns can resemble airport landing strips or helicopter pads, advertising, “The food is in here!” The butterflies easily home in on these markings and land on the flower petals. From …
Type: Blog
