New Zealand’s Quest to Save Its Rotund, Flightless Parrots
DNA sequencing, GPS tracking and tailored diets are slowly restoring the endangered kākāpō.
Coming Up Kudzu
Employed as a symbol of the American South or used as shorthand for unchecked growth, kudzu has demonstrated a tenacity beyond all imagination.
Cinchona: A Legacy of Extraction and Extirpation
The source of quinine, cinchona tells a story about the value placed on parts of plants and how that value can be extracted and distorted in support of empire.
Quinoa: Rise of an Andean Superfood
Once considered a minor crop for Indigenous communities, quinoa’s journey to worldwide stardom was centuries in the making.
Translating Corn
To most of the world, “corn” is “maize,” a word that comes from the Taíno mahizwas. Not for British colonists in North America, though.
Cyanea Pohaku: The Plant Discovered Right Before Extinction
Cyanea pohaku, the extinction of which can be traced to human interventions in the environment, was gone before we had a chance to really study it.
Building Community and Urban Tree Canopy
Long before the COVID-19 pandemic, Black communities and other reformers in New York City recognized the ameliorative social effects of greening urban spaces.
Ali: Alfred Russel Wallace’s Right-Hand Gun
Wallace wouldn't have become a famous naturalist without help from colonial networks and hundreds of locals, including his indefatigable Sarawak servant, Ali.
Guaraná: Stimulation from the Amazon to the World
Long cherished by Indigenous peoples for its medicinal and stimulating properties, guaraná remains a key element of Brazilian identity.
The Home Science Labs of English Noblewomen
In the eighteenth century, elite women with a scientific bent often turned to distilling medicines, a craft that helped them participate in experimentation.