The aliens have landed? All hail His Noodly Appendages? Shiny Tangela? Koosh gone wrong? Or is this one of those Japanese cartoons…? Ok, none of those; it’s a fungus fruiting on the branches of that eastern red cedar. I saw this gall (and quite a few more) on a hike the other week in Ionia County while dodging rainstorms. It only looks …
The Mystery of Moray
High up in the Andes, in Moray, Peru, ancient stone rings descend into a hollow in the mountains. The Incas built these curious structures, called muyus, hundreds of years ago as a standalone site in a remote area, far away from any a larger stone city or temple. What was the purpose of this bizarre and monumental structure? Was Moray a site for …
Of Salt and Sinkholes
According to the internet hivemind, sinkholes form when you divide by zero. According to Wikipedia, a sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer, usually as a part of karst landscapes. Most often, water erodes away the stuff underneath for a while before the hole opens up. The ones …
The Diversity of Orchids, or: “Are You Orchidding Me?”
Featured image: Michigan Orchids. Photos: Katie Grzesiak I really just want to talk about plants all the time; apparently having a job where I talk about plants all the time isn’t enough for me. And since you’re not the boss of me, this time I want to talk about orchids. To make a long story short, orchids (plants in the …