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.
Cucumber: The Plant That Moves More than You Think
Be it with its curling tendrils or because of its desirable properties, the cucumber is defined by motion: vertical, horizontal, geographical, and digital.
Wild Rice and the Rights of Nature
A groundbreaking lawsuit asks whether wild rice, or manoomin, can hold legal rights under tribal law and the growing rights of nature movement.
The Medicinal Wood That Turned Water Blue
For nearly half a millennium, botanists sought the "true" identity of Lignum nephriticum, a mysterious marvel that confounded early modern science.
Za’atar: From Ancient Texts to Modern Conflict
More than an herb, za’atar shapes, narrates, and anchors identity and political dynamics of the Eastern Mediterranean and Sinai Peninsula.
Greening Philly’s Neglected Lots
Spearheaded by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, an urban beautification program transformed neighborhoods in the city of brotherly love.
In the Sharing Garden
How one family physician fosters food justice, social connectivity, and better health at a local community garden.