Source: . Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University, Washington, DC

Plant of the Month: Stanhopea Orchids

How did some orchids transform from rare, all-but-inaccessible flowers into popular houseplants you can purchase at a supermarket?
A large tree with moss-covered roots.

Ten Stories about Trees for Arbor Day

They talk to each other via underground networks, grow shy, migrate across the Earth's surface, and reverse some of the damage caused by climate change.
Pear seedlings from a book about Luther Burbank

The Marvelous Experiments of Amateur Plant Breeders

Over 100 years ago, a horticulturalist introduced hybrid plants to California gardeners. Up sprouted a movement of amateur experiments in plant biology.
A golden retriever on the beach

Dogs and Cancer

Because we share many of the same cell types with our pets, they develop some of the same cancers. Comparative oncologists study these parallels.
Squirrel Hoarding

Your Brain Evolved to Hoard Supplies and Shame Others for Doing the Same

Have people gone mad? How can one individual be overfilling their own cart, while shaming others who are doing the same?
Mint

Plant of the Month: Mint

From the fields of ancient Egypt to the present-day American Pacific Northwest, the history of mint goes beyond the search for fresh breath.
A cat

We Have All the Cute Animal Posts

Phylum away for safekeeping, and have fauna!
Bison americanus

Where the Bison Roam—Again?

The American bison isn't extinct. But could it ever roam freely across North America, as it once did? Some scholars say it could happen.
The North Ronaldsay or Orkney sheep is a breed from North Ronaldsay, the northernmost island of Orkney, off the north coast of Scotland.

Sheep Snarf Seaweed at the Scottish Seashore

A seaweed-only diet seems to curb methane emissions in sheep on a tiny island in Scotland.
Clitocybe illudens

P.S., Mushrooms Are Extremely Beautiful

American mycologist Violetta White Delafield painted over 600 stunning watercolors of mushrooms as part of her fieldwork. Here they are in all their glory.