Bassett and Celia Maguire: A Legacy in Leaves…
Bassett Maguire, born in 1904 in Alabama, rose from a curious young…
Clusia venusta: A Jewel of the Tropics
Clusia venusta, a species of the Clusiaceae family, is native to the…
Clusia minor: The Gem of the Caribbean Forests
Clusia minor is a small tree or shrub native to the Caribbean…
Clusia rosea: The Resilient Beauty of the Tropics
Clusia rosea, a member of the Clusiaceae family, is mostly found in…
Botanical Treasure Discovered at Lehman College
Women in ScienceCollectorsSpecimen Stories
In the basement of Lehman College’s Science Hall, in a dumpster waiting…
Geraldine Watson: Botanist and Activist of Texas’s Big…
Geraldine Watson, born in Louisiana in 1925, never planned to become a…
Pitcher plants: so nice, they evolved thrice!
Pitcher plants are famous (or perhaps infamous) for their carnivorous structures that…
For the duration: The safekeeping of American herbaria…
The bombing of the military complex at Pearl Harbor, on December 7,…
Roses are Red, Sometimes Green, but Always the…
Roses are one of the world’s most beloved blooms, with millions of…
Exploring the Art of Paper Making
From its use of local and natural materials, the methods and artistry…
Orchids of Mexico!
Mexico is a 'mega' biodiversity hotspot, and it is particularly rich in…
Epidendrum of Mexico!
Epidendrum is one of the largest of all plant genera in addition to…
Spiranthinae of Mexico!
The orchid family is so diverse, researchers find it helpful to give…
Stanhopea of Mexico!
Stanhopea are amongst the most impressive and beautiful of all orchids, with…
Pleurothallid orchids of Mexico!
The Pleurothallid orchids are a clade of related genera, meaning they are…
Orchids Named for Mexico!
Focus on ScienceWhat's in a name?
Scientific names for plants can indicate a number of different attributes, including…
Prosthechea of Mexico!
Prosthechea is a large tropcial American genus of 125 known species, occuring…
NYBG 2024 New Species Review!
Every year, botanists describe hundreds of new plants, algae, fungi, and lichens…
Honoring the Quechua Language
What's in a name?Specimen Stories
Quechua is a family of indigenous languages spoken by the Quechua peoples of…
The Case for Coevolution
Focus on ScienceCabinet of Curiosities
Charles Darwin’s keen observations of the natural world famously yielded predictions about…
Cultivation and Ecology of Dates
The date palm requires ample sunlight, high temperatures (though it can survive…
The Nourishing Power of Dates
As the Islamic month of fasting – Ramadan – comes to a…
Date Syrup Jallab
There are many recipes featuring dates and their byproducts across many cultures,…
Ethnobotanical Uses of Dates
Although eating the fruit may be the most well-known use of the…
NYBG 2023 New Species Review!
Every year, botanists describe hundreds of new plants, algae, fungi, and lichens…
A Vanilla Voyage: Exploring the Spice's Legacy in…
Vanilla planifolia, commonly known as vanilla, is one of the most instantly…
Ancestral Achiote
In many Caribbean and Latin American households, most of us have known…
Eggplant
The eggplant, also known as aubergine (Solanum melongena), has no official date…
Sweetsop vs. Soursop: A Great Distinction
The Annonaceae family is the largest plant family within the Magnoliales. The…
Queer Love Lives in Hyacinth
The flowering period of hyacinth may have passed, but their celebration continues…
Bean-boozled
Cosmopolitan has a long-standing journalistic reputation for getting straight to the heart…
Botany & Birds: Taking Flight
The exhibition on now at The New York Botanical Garden, is the work of…
Isabella Aiona Abbott: First Lady of Limu
Before Dr. Isabella Aiona Abbott became the first Native Hawaiian woman to…
Fruits of Rosaceae
Flowering plants differ from all other plants by producing seeds within fruits;…
Trust in the Crust
earth /ˈərth/noun1) the planet on which we live; the world2) the substance…
Biocrusts of Cold Drylands
The default image that comes to mind when thinking of deserts is…
Biocrusts in Disturbed Areas
Our crusty companions play many imperative restoration roles in disturbed habitats, as…
Biocrusts of Hot Drylands
Hot deserts are found on all continents except Antarctica and Europe. In…
Vanishing Lakes: Tulare Lake
The California Central Valley was once a matrix of riparian grasslands and…
Vanishing Lakes: Owens Lake
The drying of Owens Lake is a human-made catastrophe. In 1913, the…
Vanishing Lakes: Salton Sea
Ingloriously described as “the biggest environmental disaster in California history,” and a…
Vanishing Lakes: Great Salt Lake
Great Salt Lake is a shallow, highly saline, terminal lake situated in northern…
Vanishing Lakes: Lake Poopó
Lake Poopó is a saline lake in the Altiplano Mountains of Bolivia.…
Pilostyles
Upon first glance, this mounted specimen may seem nothing more than an…
Chicita Culberson
In early March of this year Chicita Culberson, whose work has been…
Cyanolichens
In this collection are some cyanolichens from the NYBG cryptogamic herbarium, some…
Botanical Ragtime
Artists find inspiration from an infinite number of sources, and many artists…
The Ames–Britton Connection
Specimen StoriesWomen in Science
Blanche Ames Ames (February 18, 1878 – March 2, 1969) was not…
Carol Gracie: Interpreter of Nature's Stories
Women in ScienceWorks of ArtCollectors
A beloved member of the NYBG community for over 40 years, Carol…
NAACP member J. E. Spingarn and the Clematis…
Joel Elias Spingarn (May 17, 1875 - July 26, 1939) was a…
Black Pepper: King of Spices
It’s hard to imagine entering a diner, sitting down on the shiny…
Vanda
Vanda is a tropcial Asian and Australian orchid genus with 85 known…
Phalaenopsis
Phalaenopsis, the moth orchids, are perhaps the most commonly cultivated orchid. With…
Miltonia
Miltonia consists of 20 naturally occuring species and hybrids that are entirely…
Paphiopedilum
Paphiopedilum is genus of slipper orchid found in tropical Asia, from eastern…
Cattleya
Cattleya is a genus of 129 tropcial American orchids distributed from Costa…