Our Mysterious Ocean A Day at the Beach Despite having spent many a day on the beach at Coney Island in my younger years, I have never developed a love of the oceans; nevertheless, I have never been oblivious to its importance. Life began in the sea and the sea has nourished the biosphere from […]
Underwater meadows? Impossible! Read More »
Taking Stock When I was younger, there was a seasonality for produce. We looked forward to enjoying ripe strawberries in springtime and nothing compared to a warm peach dripping its juices in on a hot summer’s day. Over the years  so much has changed. Positive changes include progress in the sciences with its attendant health
Rosh Hashanah and Botany Read More »
Gaining Control Over Poison Ivy Lately, there seems to be more interest in tackling the poison ivy problem.  Previously nurseries sold various spray products containing amitrol. When sprayed on the poison ivy leaves – as well as other weeds – it traveled down to the roots and killed the entire plant. One of Many Poison Ivy
In Despair over Poison Ivy- Try Goats! Read More »
Every Encounter is Personal OK, yes, it is a native plant. But does that make it either useful or benign?!! Hardly! Â I am talking about that beautiful but deadly vine – poison ivy, Toxicodendron radicans. Actually the name Toxicodendron says it all; toxicos is Greek for poison and dendron means tree. Radicans is Latin for
Beautiful But Dangerous – Poison Ivy Read More »
How Many Petals Does it Take to Make a Beautiful Flower? I could only find one plant with a single petal. That plant is a native of southeast Asia and a member of the Fabaceae family, Afzelia xylocarpa. Although calla lilies (Zantedeschia aethiopica – Family Araceae) are frequently mentioned as having one petal, the
Fibonacci Numbers – We Are Not Done Read More »
Now to the Details Assorted Spirals Careful examination of the patterns of alternate leaves shows them spiraling around the stem. This pattern can be expressed as a fraction. The numerator – the upper number of the fraction – indicates the number of spirals needed to complete the pattern while the denominator – the lower number
Fibonacci Numbers – Are plants mathematicians?! Read More »
Math and Me I was only required to take one semester of math to fulfill my math requirement as I was a freshman in college. I spent that semester taking calculus I and was thrilled to finish and presumably never need to take another math course. Over the years, I found that I did occasionally
Fibonacci Numbers – Math and Nature Go Hand in Hand Read More »
Do We Care About the Philistine? Since we travel several times a year to Israel (before Covid), we are always on the lookout for something new to see. Several years ago we ended up at the Corinne Mamane Museum of Philistine Culture established in 1990. The Philistines were traditional enemies of the ancient Jews living
A Hat Made of Mushrooms Read More »
Still Reading Some Childhood Favorites One of my favorite books has been 1001 Nights – also known as the Arabian Nights – which I reread every now and again even as an adult. The cliff-hanging tales full of magic and fantasy, told by Scheherazade, were a device that, supposedly, kept her new husband tantalized. This
Did you ever walk down the street and see a stranger whose features remind you of someone else? Convergent Evolution The same is surprisingly true of plants. Because of convergent evolution – the evolution of similar structures by organisms of vastly different lineages – plants and animals occupying similar niches in widely separated geographical areas
The shape of things Read More »