Plants in the Deserts

Some cacti, like the saguaro, grow to tree size, but true trees need more moisture than most desert environments can supply, so they are scarce on deserts. Close to streambeds, cottonwoods can sometimes be found. Though these streams are dry most of the year, water flows there longest and is usually available fairly close to [...]

Mimicry in Plants

Plant adaptations can be remarkably complex. Certain species of orchids, for instance, imitate female bees, other plants look and smell like dead animals, and still others have the appearance of stones. These strange adaptations to life represent just a few of the sophisticated means by which plants enhance their chances of survival. Mimicry in plants [...]

Botany

Botany, the study of plants, occupies a peculiar position in the history of human knowledge. For many thousands of years it was the one field of awareness about which humans had anything more than the vaguest of insights. It is impossible to know today just what our Stone Age ancestors knew about plants, but from [...]

Why ask why 05

Is it possible to be totally partial?
What’s another word for thesaurus?
What do you do when you see an endangered animal that eats only endangered plants?
Do hungry crows have ravenous appetites?
If a parsley farmer is sued, can they garnish his wages?
Is it true that cannibals don’t eat clowns because they taste funny?
If you’re cross-eyed and have [...]

Steven Wright 26

All the plants in my house are dead–I shot them last night. I was torturing them by watering them with ice cubes.
I put my air conditioner in backwards. It got cold outside. The weatherman on TV was confused. “It was supposed to be hot today.”
I was in a job interview and I opened a book [...]