Despite decades of experience eating wild plants, I was slow to start foraging for fungi. There are many poisonous species. So many species look similar to each other. And, while almost all…

Here’s a botanical riddle: What has fruits that look like a juneberry, flowers that look like a blackberry, leaves that look like an apple, and a name that sounds like a cherry? Answer:…

One of my favorite foraging memories is the first time that my wife and I made violet jelly. We’d gathered several cups of violet flowers from a suburban yard. Our recipe called for…

Years ago, a well-meaning woman admonished me for picking common milkweed because “the monarchs needed them.” I knew that monarch caterpillars relied on milkweed species as their…

Are there any flowers more recognizable than roses? Even botanophobes recognize their fragrant blooms. Throughout history, they have represented dynasties and revolutions, worldly powers and…

As a science teacher, I love strawberries not just for their flavor, but also for their DNA. I use strawberries to show high school students how to extract DNA from living tissue. A quirk of…

My mother is a master gardener. In the spring, her beds are an explosion of showy blossoms, and in August, her gardens overflow with vegetables. Although we share a lifelong love of plants,…

Soft drinks are the very model of industrially processed food. No one is surprised that they contain artificial colors, flavors, and sweeteners. But people might be surprised that root beer,…

When I was young, my grandfather’s driveway was overshadowed by a massive butternut tree (Juglans cinerea) that grew in his neighbor’s yard. Grandpa complained loudly about the…