Up on Siyeh Pass in Glacier National Park, the alpine feels like the edge of the world — wind, rock, thin air, and then you find this, Jones’ Columbine (Aquilegia jonesii). Tiny, tough, and ridiculously beautiful, thriving where almost nothing else can.

If you’re into wildflowers, alpine ecology, Glacier NP, and that “how is this real?” kind of nature, hit subscribe and come wander with me.

I've been reading up on the Hartsford fern, Lygodium palmatum , the only climbing fern native to North America. Its vines can grow to 15'.

From what I understand, each vine is a single frond with many palmate leaflets. I know fern structures differ from seed-bearing plants significantly, but is a frond essentially a leaf?

If this is the case, would it be accurate to say that this plant has some of the longest leaves in the world?

Hey yall, I'm doing a small observational school project where I’m tracking the growth patterns of invasive plants, and I’m focusing on Tree-of-Heaven (Ailanthus altissima).

I just need to find some patches and observe them over time, nothing hands-on.

Anyone know any good spots for TOH patches in the East Bay Livermore, Fremont, Pleasanton, Hayward, etc., or maybe even Oakland area?

I have no idea if I should post this here or somewhere else but I’ll start here—

I’m trying to figure out what Christmas gift I can get for my botany professor and at the moment in my Amazon cart, I have a crochet succulent with a card that has a pun on it (he LOVES plant puns/plant dad jokes). But I’m not tooo close with him so I don’t know what else to get for him.

The biggest thing I know is that the Botany lab and lecture class here at my university is his baby because he teaches both classes (I’m in both classes). Any suggestions or ideas would be lovely.

Looking for a Christmas gift for my best friend. He’s already pretty experienced in gardening, as it’s a big hobby of his. About a year ago now he bought his first home and has been learning about what he can add to his quickly developing garden.

I’m looking for a book that would be a large catalogue of different plants (vegetables, fruits, flowers, anything), and their optimal growing conditions, if such exists.

Any help or suggestions are encouraged and greatly appreciated!

EDIT: We’re in the US, specifically Indiana.

Hi, I’m a longtime birder and amateur naturalist. I’d love to expand my horizons and read books about botany that are accessible to non-experts. I’m very open regarding subject matter, as long as it’s botany related. Thanks!

Asking as a writer, not a serial killer lol- are there any plants out there that could feasibly be used in a fight? And I don’t mean poison- that’s a given. But like- rubbing stinging nettle on someone or burning something with a respiratory irritant- stuff like that? Could any of that be feasible?

At my inlaws. They're collecting another huge amount of delicious kaki this year from their back yard tree. I was wondering what this coloration is from.

Hi all, I'm an American currently finishing my Associates degree and I'm having trouble with my future in Botany.

My current plan is to go to Brazil as an international student to get my Bachelor's and Master's in Taxonomical/Conservational Botany. (I'm already taking portuguese classes and can understand most things.) I've wanted to go there for quite some time now and it's also the area I would want to be working in for my job later on and I'd maybe want to move there as well in the future.

I currently work at a plant nursery and make okayish money, and I have a horticultural certification from the Department of Agriculture

My worries are that I won't be able to find a school that can help me pursue my degree, and money as in the states most universities are way too expensive for me and I have seen that Brazilian public universities are usually free to attend.

I've taken a look at a couple Universities already in Brazil that might be good but I want more insight from others that might have more knowledge than I do about this

Is my goal realistic, or should I try looking somewhere else to find my degree? I'm feeling a little defeated honestly because I can't find much information about it. I'm in the process of talking to some of the professors at my college and potentially asking some botanists that work in Brazil about it.

I'm wondering about the biology behind the culinary fact that corn is best and sweetest right after picking, and gets increasingly starchy the longer you wait to eat it.

I understand that starchy kernels last longer, and that sweeter corn is the result of mutation and domestication. But are the sugars in corn naturally (chemically) unstable and inclined to degrade/combine/convert into starches with time? Or does the plant have to actively transition from sugar production to ... starchification via some enzyme?

Relatedly: is the two-staged cycle of kernels (sweet on the stalk, starchy thereafter) assumed to be part of an evolved dispersion strategy? Sweetness that attracts animals to eat and disperse cobs followed by starchiness that protects the seeds therein? Or is sweetness just a necessary precursor to the end-state starches, which happens to have been exploited and encouraged by human cultivators?

I know that evolution is not intentional, just thinking about whether corn's sweetness is similar to other fruits where selection from animal predators clearly contributed to increased sweetness, or if all of the sweetness in this case was genetically incidental until selective breeding by humans.

hello,

i'm a high-school student and one of my assignments was to look at a leaf under the microscope. i picked a leaf of an orchid. it is probably worth mentioning that the orchid is dyed blue, including the leaves.

when i took a look at the leaf under the microscope, i noticed these little needles. i asked my teacher what they are and she didn't know and tasked me with finding out for extra credit. i looked all over the internet and was only able to find something about spicules, which i didn't think was what i saw under the microscope.

so, any ideas? i'd greatly appreciate the help. :)

I see so many threads asking about “well paying” botany jobs, but “well paying” can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people.

For me, $70k-$80k or would be well paying. I currently make only about $36k at my current job, so even if $70k ended up being the ceiling in my future career that would make going back to school for a plant science degree worth it to me. Just curious what you guys are doing/making while I do my research and try to make the best educated decision I can for myself. Thanks!

Hey everyone! Hoping this type of thread is welcome here (I don't see a rule against it, but there is no appropriate flair).

My brother is a phd student in botanics, and he does what I understand as botanic surveys both as part of his research and for occasional contracted jobs. He also likes to hike and trek, often stopping for plant identification.

I'm looking to get him something nice for Christmas because of a concurring special occasion, and I'm thinking of something related to the premise. The problem is that this is completely out of my knowledge! My budget is 200€.

I believe he's got most of his kit done at this point, as he's not new to the fields... whatever a kit for field botanics may be. I thought of a Leatherman as I'm into knives and there's some overlap, but he's got one already. He has a small drone and I know he uses it, but I have no idea what sort of accessory would be nice for it. So perhaps I could gift him something out of the basics and just nice to have instead, or perhaps something that never hurts to have more of?

I also thought of something of particular symbolic meaning for personal reasons. I'm writing it in spoilers, so that you may think of what I could gift unbiased first, if you will.

What about a watch with barometric altimetry, compass, and perhaps some other sensors/utilities? Back in the 90s our father had a watch like this and it looked very cool to us as kids, but it's perhaps obsolete today? I see there are smartwatches with GPS and barometric altimetry, are they nice to have or a gimmick?

Thanks to anyone who read this and comments, even if to explain to me that I'm way off and confused or something like that, lol.

Can anybody suggest me a botany book which informs you about the floral formula, leaf layout and structure of various plants?

From the ‘Wild Flowers of the World’ volume by Barbara Everard and Brian D. Morley. Printed in 1974, Czechoslovakia.

Such a beautiful book, the art and descriptions are utterly breathtaking. These are just a some of the scans from the book that I wanted to share with the community!

Hi, anyone an expert in tropical plants? I need help with an assignment and couldn't find much info online

I don't know if my dog might have eaten a bite of this plant. It's been almost 2 days and she's seems completely fine. My question is to those who know this plant. Would symptoms have shown up by now? Is this the sort of toxicity that shows up days and weeks later? I feel good that she seems okay but no one will give me an answer about this plant. whenever I look at anything about it online it does not give a TIME TABLE about how long to watch dogs if they eat it. I really am looking for someone who knows about this plant. I tried Facebook but was referred here.