The Art of the Thousand Bloom Chrysanthemum
How do horticulturists coax more than 1,000 flowers from a single plant? The answer lies in a centuries-old Japanese tradition.
Disgust, Desire, and Durian
How Southeast Asia’s famously pungent fruit became a source of cultural identity and global demand.
How Kudzu Was Supposed to Save the South
Before it became a notorious invasive plant, kudzu was promoted as a solution to widespread soil erosion.
The Peacock Flower and Reproductive Resistance Under Slavery
European naturalists documented the peacock flower's medicinal uses but left its most consequential history behind.
The Secret Lives of Insects
Can fruit flies have dialects? Can dung beetles navigate by the stars? Find surprising answers in this collection of stories about bugs and people.
The Return of Florida’s Wild Flamingos
New sightings suggest a surprising ecological comeback—and a chance to reexamine the state's environmental past.
How the Himalayan Blackberry Took Over the Pacific Northwest
The tangled history of an invasive plant and a scientist’s troubling quest to engineer a more efficient natural world.
The Rise and Fall of Britain’s Muskrat Empire
A fur-farming experiment unleashed a prolific rodent—and sparked one of the rare successful eradications of an invasive species.
A History Wrapped in Banana Leaves
How hallacas and the banana plant became intertwined in Venezuelan cultural memory.
Sassafras: From Scent to Science in American Medicine
How did sassafras go from cure-all to carcinogen? Its history links Indigenous knowledge, colonial trade, and modern scientific debate.