It’s that time of year again. Here in Michigan, crocuses are coming out, birds are starting to sing, and the air no longer hurts my face. As spring unfurls, my obsessive love of vegetable gardening is also beginning to emerge and bloom again. I feel compelled to write once again about the garden, that tiny kingdom where you can call upon thousands of years …
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 …
Plants Without Chlorophyll: It’s Easy Being Green, But Stealing is Even Easier
Featured images, left to right: pinesap, ghost plant, spotted coralroot orchid. Photos: Katie Grzesiak Plants are Plants Plants make their food with energy from the sun; that’s what is often used to define them as plants. If I want to throw my degrees around, I call them “photoautotrophs,” from the Greek for “light,” “self,” and “feed.” Photosynthesis! It’s super neat, …
Too good to be true: Leafcutter ants pt. 2
Main picture: Cara Gibson for NSTA The scientific process can be very messy indeed, and what originally seem like rock-solid conclusions can later turn out to be specious. Scientists very rarely straight-up lie about their findings for fame and glory; institutional and cultural oversight within science keep the rascals in check. More often, the effect that was originally (honestly) measured later turns …
Spectacular Symbiosis: Leafcutter Ants pt. 1
Of all the animals with which we have the honor of sharing the world, leafcutter ants have to be amongst the most impressive. Over the last ~50 million years, the 47 species of leafcutter ants have achieved remarkable evolutionary success, extending their range from Mexico to Argentina. They are the dominant herbivores in the tropical Americas, and can be major agricultural pests, stripping small trees of their …