… the orange dead leaf (Kallima inachus) . If we didn’t point out this character to guests, no one would ever suspect that they were looking at a butterfly. I like to describe the orange dead leaf butterfly as being able to mimic a dead leaf better than an … at rest on a branch Kallima inachus with its wings open The butterfly has another surprise for visitors: It has incredibly vivid coloration on the dorsal side of its wings. When the …
Type: Blog
… this tree coexisted with the dinosaurs. Ginkgo is sometimes called the maidenhair tree due to its beautiful fan shaped leaves that resemble a maidenhair fern frond. It is one of the most …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… working on conservation genomics of Amsonia tharpii and reconstructing the evolutionary tree for Amsonia . My graduate school work focused on the systematics, taxonomy, and biogeography of …
Type: Staff bio
… summer or early fall container gardens looking tired? Change out your container gardens to extend your displays well into the fall. Gardening in containers can offer us year-round seasonal interest, and we can extend the garden seasons to create vibrant container gardens. I’m a huge fan of fall container gardens with a rich variety … combinations in your container gardens. Cold-hardy vegetables and herbs can also be added for interest and texture. I like using swiss chard, broccoli, Asian greens, parsley, and alliums …
Type: Blog
… Ecological restoration is increasingly used as a tool to limit the ongoing loss of wetlands and protect their diversity and functions, but projects sometimes fail to meet targets. Studying complete restorations can identify landscape factors modulating their success to improve future planning and design. This project uses archives of satellite images to examine …
Type: Research
… Garden scientists, students, and collaborators describe two new tree species related to breadfruit and jackfruit. While conducting fieldwork in Thailand, Chicago Botanic Garden … Nyree Zerega, Ph.D., and collaborators encountered a curious specimen of a tree related to jackfruit and breadfruit. Dr. Zerega is an expert on plants in this group, but nevertheless … and published this summer in the peer-reviewed science journal, Phytotaxa: https://www.mapress.com/j/pt/article/view/phytotaxa.453.3.8 Keywords: Nyree Zerega, species discovery, jackfruit, …
Type: Research
… are biased toward larger moths, overlooking the multitude of tiny ones. Despite this tendency to favor larger species, the average moth is actually quite small, though far from nondescript! … , the largest genus within the family Momphidae. Mompha are tiny moths characterized by 4- to 8-millimeter tufted forewings and distinct color patterns. Specimens up close: Mompha … North America, there are approximately 40 described species, or taxa, of Mompha . In addition to these identified species, a number of undescribed taxa are located throughout the North …
Type: Blog
… citizen science rare-plant monitoring program, made steps toward extending its boundaries to southern Illinois. Many rare plants occur in southern Illinois, and local communities want to assess the health of these plant populations. However, they currently lack a standardized … method of large-scale monitoring of rare plants. Plants of Concern (POC) scientists traveled to Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (SIUC) in mid-May to train members of Dr. David …
Type: Research
… of an explosive radiation during the Jurassic period, at a time when flowering plants began to dominate many terrestrial environments. Repeated multidirectional habitat transitions occurred as this group evolved, leading to the loss of morphological characters that may be used to describe groups. Furthermore, phylogenetic analyses based on targeted gene sequencing have …
Type: Research
… services these communities provide. The vast majority of studies linking functional traits to community assembly use vegetative plant traits of mature life stages, like plant height and specific leaf area, to predict community outcomes. Regenerative traits, like seed and germination traits are vital to understanding assembly and persistence of plant communities; however, they are surprisingly …
Type: Research
