Plant Story--Four o'clocks, Mirabilis; Watch For Them

 Hiking through the grassland, you see a plant with pretty pale flowers. But you can't match it in the plant book.

four o'clock plant

It is a four o'clock, genus Mirabilis (Nyctanginaceae, the family of bougainvillea) and the problem is, those white "flowers" are not flowers but bracts that surrounded the base of the flowers. 

Travel Story--The Isle of Jersey

 We flew to Jersey, between England and France, on a very short flight from Southampton, England. 

Jersey from the air

Plant Story -- Beautiful Butterflybush, Buddleja davidii

 Butterflybush, Buddleja davidii is a shrub from China. It has long clusters of flowers, purple or rose, lavender or white. They attract butterflies, hence the common name.

butterflybush, Buddleja davidii

Plants You Meet Everywhere. My New Book

Plants You Meet Everywhere, Their Stories is the title of my new book, available on Amazon and from me. As a person who notices plants wherever she goes, I have stepped off airplanes far across the globe and felt lost. Often there are strange-shaped trees, unfamiliar shrubs, and flowers I've never seen before. I am uneasy when I don't know the plants. So when I spotted a dandelion or a marigold, it was a comfort. 

marigolds, Tagetes, growing in a garden in Cornwall 10/1/26

New Book! Plants You Meet Everywhere

 The new book I've been talking about has been published!

Tales of cosmopolitan plants, taken from this blog but in print!

See it on Amazon link

Kathy Keeler

More at awanderingbotanist.com

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Travel Story--Cornwall, The Far Southwest of England

Cornwall is the peninsula that runs west and south of the main part of the island of Britain, into the Atlantic. Beautiful and distinctive, here are some highlights of a recent tour I took there with the trou company Road Scholar.

The coast of Cornwall

Plant Story--Yarrow, Achillea millefolium, Ancient Healing Herb, repost

Reposted and slightly edited from 2014

Achillea millefolium yarrow

Yarrow, Achillea millefolium, is a familiar wildflower with an interesting and confused history. A member of the very large sunflower family, Asteraceae, it is quite closely related to wild and cultivated chamomiles.