Visiting the Grand Canyon

There are great pressures on scenic areas. The internet provides "best" lists, resulting in vast crowds coming to "must see" places. And yet I recommend seeing the Grand Canyon, one of those "must sees." It is a wonder of the world.

Plant Names and Families

Indian temple tree (Plumeria, dogbane family, Apocynaceae)

Some of my earliest blogs (spring, 2013) were about botanical classification because I wanted to explain why I used it.

I recently settled down to read a technical book on ecology and found the references (Somebody 2002, Somebodyelse and Coauthor 2011) distracting. Annoying, actually. There was a time when I read over those without a thought.

I elected from the beginning to include references in this blog, but only at the end. But I do stick in technical plant name information (Fancylatin name, twig family, Fancylatinaceae), every time I mention a plant. I am not about to give that up, intrusive as it is. So perhaps I should explain again.

Homogenized World--Attractive and Useful Tropical Plants

I wrote recently that the wonderful trees of any particular location in the modern tropics were drawn from all over the world, many of them in the 16th century as Europeans explored and colonized.

The same applies to smaller plants

Pineapples (Ananas comosus, bromeliad family, Bromeliaceae), popularly associated with Hawaii, are from Central America and the Caribbean.

Plant Story - Garlic, Allium sativum, the Great Protector

My kitchen is never without garlic. Is yours?

Garlic bulb

What is this plant that is essential in cuisines from France to China?

Parks and Wilderness, Access and Overuse

View from Alpine Visitor Center
Rocky Mountain National Park

Recently, the Denver Post published a long article on the National Parks, emphasizing that visitation is up, resulting in very heavy use that is hard on vegetation and wildlife, overcrowds parking lots and creates traffic jams. (Link National Parks Crisis, Nov.  21, 2018: I don't know if you can see it without a subscription but on The Guardian's website I think its accessible link; National Statistics link). Many of the problems can be solved by investing in infrastructure, but not access to solitude. It is harder and harder to have a wilderness experience.

Grand Canyon, from the North Rim