Plant Story--Pleated Gentian, Gentiana affinis

This pretty plant is the pleated gentian (Gentiana affinis, gentian family Gentianaceae). Also called Rocky Mountain gentian, bottle gentian and prairie gentian.

Our Changing World--Threats but Also Opportunities

The world is changing.

The second half of the 20th century was warmer than the first half. The 21st century is setting new heat records.

In the arctic, ice is retreating and polar bears are starving. Alaska has record high temperatures. Alaska and Siberia have melting permafrost and forest fires. Looking up the Sami of Norway and Sweden, the information is all about warm winters creating problems for their reindeer herds, ones their grandfathers cannot provide advice about, because they've never seen it so warm.

Switzerland's Aletsch Glacier in 2019;
It has lost more than 1,300 m. (1421 yards) of length and 200 m thickess since
the 1970s  link

Botanists at Work-- Botanical Society meeting 2019

The Botanical Society of America met in Tucson, Arizona at the end of July. I attended to keep current. Everyone said "Arizona? In July?" but it was lovely (see blog about the desert in July link).

Visiting Arizona--July in the Desert Near Tucson

I recently attended the Botanical Society of America annual meeting, this year in Tucson, Arizona. Of course we botanists, gathered from not only across America but from around the world, spilled out of the conference center to see the surrounding desert, botanical gardens, plant breeding centers, and more.