Researchers to Improve the Nutritional Content of Cassava

Category(-ies): Plants, Food and Medicine

Cassava, Manihot esculenta is the primary food source for nearly 700 million people worldwide and is the most important food crop in Africa. It provides a good source of starch, but is lacking in protein and other nutrients. The Agricultural Research Service of the USDA has announced the launch of BioCassava Plus, a five-year, $7.5-million research project involving ten institutions. The project, to be lead by Ohio State University, will develop new varieties of cassava with higher nutrient levels, greater shelf life, and resistance to geminivirus, a serious pest of the crop.

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Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 6:34 PM | Comments (0)

Trees to Know in Oregon

Category(-ies): Botanical Resources

Oregon State University Extension Service has released a new expanded, full-colour edition of its popular book, Trees to Know in Oregon. The 152-page guide describes the state's forest and landscape trees with identifying features and anecdotes that are entertaining as well as informative. According to the book Oregon is home to 50 national champions, which are featured in a section on record-breaking trees.

Link: New Edition of Popular OSU Book Introduces Trees to Know in Oregon from Medford News

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 4:21 PM | Comments (0)

Brightening Summer Feasts With Flowers

Category(-ies): Plants, Food and Medicine

It is summer for those of us in the Northern hemisphere and flowers are blooming everywhere. Although not commonly eaten, many flowers are edible and can really brighten up your culinary creations. Colourful pansies and nasturtiums make wonderful additions to salads; violets and rose petals can decorate the dessert plate.

Christine Green has written an informative article for the New Zealand Herald on how to use flowers in your cooking. For gardeners a source of fresh untreated flowers will be readily available, for others be careful to use only flowers grown for edible use. Caution should be taken when trying any new food in case of allergy or sensitivity.

Link: The culinary delights of flowers from the New Zealand Herald - The links at the end of the article are definitely worth investigating.

Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 2:25 PM | Comments (0)

Artistic Vision Guides Garden's Rise from Ruins

Category(-ies): Other Botanical Gardens

The Italian village of Ninfa was so lovely it was named for the nymphs that the residents believed inhabited the area. Destroyed as an act of revenge in a dispute between members of the Caetani family, the village lay in ruins for nearly six centuries. When Ada Wilbraham married into the family, in 1920, she became enamoured with the village and set about to create a garden from its ruins.

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Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 4:41 PM

The Invasive Plant Council of British Columbia

Category(-ies): Botanical Resources , Invasive Plants

Invasive species can quickly spread through new areas, causing ecological damage and threatening rare native plants or animals. Dealing with aggressive species costs the province millions of dollars annually. The Invasive Plant Council of British Columbia (IPCBC) was recently formed to help coordinate a strategy for the management of invasive species. Based on the Invasive Plant Strategy, a plan developed by a diverse group representing all levels of government, agriculture, industry and community, the IPCBC hopes to bring all parties together in the fight against invasive species.

Link: The Invasive Plant Council of British Columbia the IPCBC website

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 5:40 PM | Comments (2)

Plant Insect Interactions of Ancient Times

Category(-ies): Plant Diseases and Pests , Plant Relationships

Researchers are examining fossils from Patagonia and three sites in North America to gain insight into the historic biodiversity of the regions. Insect fossils are rarely found. By studying the damage caused by insects on the more abundant plant fossils, researchers are able to evaluate the type and level of insect feeding in prehistoric times. Life in Patagonia is among the most varied on the planet. The research shows that the region's biodiversity exceeded that of the other research sites as long as 52 million years ago.

Link: Fossil Patagonian plants show high insect feeding diversity 52 million years ago from EurekAlert

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 5:56 PM | Comments (0)

Green Microbes at the Bottom of the Ocean

Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries

UBC researcher J. Thomas Beatty and his colleagues recently made the unique discovery of a bacterium that uses the low level light given off by hydrothermal vents deep below the ocean's surface to fuel photosynthetic reactions. The bacterium, which lives at depths of 2,400 meters, uses a sophisticated antenna system to capture the dim light generated by the vents.

Link: Bacteria Pull Off Photosynthesis sans Sunlight from Scientific American

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 5:50 PM | Comments (0)

Financial Advice for Gardeners

Category(-ies): Plant Legal News and Issues

The British love their gardens, they spend £4 billion on them annually. But the cost of creating beautiful gardens can add up very quickly. The Motley Fool UK has advice for homeowners wishing to create gardens on a budget. And for those looking for investment tips, why not try some of the companies profiting from the annual £4 billion spent by gardeners?

Links:

• Gardening For Next To Nothing from the Motley fool UK


• Making Money From Gardens from the Motley fool UK

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 5:48 PM | Comments (0)

Connecticut Considers Ban of Common Landscape Plants

Category(-ies): Invasive Plants , Plant Legal News and Issues

Scientists in Connecticut are concerned by the invasion of landscape plants into the state's wilderness areas. Some ornamental species produce an abundance of seeds that are carried into natural areas by the wind, birds or other wildlife. Vigorous plants chosen for horticultural use sometimes out compete native plants for space and light. Officials are considering a ban on several species and their cultivars.

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Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 6:35 PM

Record Number of Deaths for West Coast Sea Birds this Year

Category(-ies): Climate Change

Along the Pacific coast from California to British Columbia animals dependent on the ocean for food are suffering. Surveys of salmon are showing a 20% to 30% drop in population compared with surveys conducted in recent years. Record numbers of dead seabirds are washing up on Pacific shores this year. No one is certain why this is happening, but scientists suspect that unusually warm water temperatures along the coast are affecting the food chain.

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Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 6:05 PM | Comments (0)

The Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park

Category(-ies): Plant Conservation , Plants in the Landscape

In August leaders of three African nations will officially open the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, joining South Africa's Kruger National Park, Mozambique's Limpopo Park and Zimbabwe's Gonarezhou National Park. The new park will cover approximately 35,000 square kilometres and is the first step in the creation of a transfrontier conservation area that will cover 100,000 sq. km.

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Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 4:31 PM

The Science of Gardening

Category(-ies): Botanical Resources , Plant Relationships , Plants, Food and Medicine

In a recent issue of the Christian Science Monitor, writer Jim Regan reviews the latest addition in the Accidental Scientist series from the Exploratorium, the website of the Museum of Science in San Francisco. Even if, like Mr. Regan, you are not a gardener, you will enjoy the friendly perspective in which the photos, videos and interactive displays are presented.

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Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 4:07 PM | Comments (0)

Guerrilla Gardening

Category(-ies): Plants in the Landscape

Budget cuts in many cities have led to reduced budgets for parks and beautification projects. Residents of many urban areas are fed up with unsightly vacant land and unattended flowerbeds. Some urban nature lovers are so fed up that they have taken matters into their own hands. They have become guerrilla gardeners.

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Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 6:33 PM | Comments (2)

Looking for Healthy Butternut Trees

Category(-ies): Plant Conservation , Plant Diseases and Pests

Butternut trees (Juglans cinerea) are not common. Many people may have never tasted the nuts, which are prized in eastern N. America, where they are native. The tree is plagued by butternut canker, which has wiped out 80% of Juglans cinerea in some US states. To promote the tree researchers are searching the tree's native range for healthy stock to use in breeding research.

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Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 2:17 PM | Comments (49)

The Darwinian Interlude

Category(-ies): Plant Relationships

Microbiologist Carl Woese makes an argument for a new biological model based on communities and eco-systems rather than on genes and molecules. He theorizes that in the earliest days of life’s existence on the planet genetic information was shared on a lateral basis between life forms. At some point a bacterium developed that kept its genetic innovation to itself and began to out compete other forms of life. Thus the era of Darwinian evolution began.

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Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 2:41 PM | Comments (0)

New Chinese Garden Planned for Seattle

Category(-ies): Other Botanical Gardens

Seattle is planning the construction of a Chinese garden that will be three times the combined area of the Chinese gardens in Portland and Vancouver. The four and a half acre garden is expected to cost US$30 million and take ten years to construct. The Seattle garden will be built in the style of the Sichuan province to reflect the culture of Seattle’s sister city, Chongqing.

Links:

• Elaborate 4.5-acre Chinese garden planned from the Seattle Times


• Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden


• Portland Classical Chinese Garden


• The New York Chinese Scholar's Garden

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 2:35 PM

New Device Takes Children Beyond the Garden

Category(-ies): Other Botanical Gardens

The 4-H Children’s Garden at Michigan State University has introduced technology to allow visitors to explore the world of plants beyond the botanical garden’s beds. Personal Science Assistants (PSAs) can scan a tag on displays at the garden to call up additional information and photos of the plants. The devices connect science learning to a real world experience and they are a hit with kids.

Link: Garden gizmo puts plant info in visitor’s hands from Lansing State Journal

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 2:27 PM | Comments (0)

New Seed Project is “Out of This World”

Category(-ies): Plant Explorers

China has announced plans for an experimental plant breeding station in space. The satellite lab will be stationed 200 to 400 km away from the earth, where seeds will be exposed to cosmic radiation, micro-gravity, high vacuum, alternating magnetic field and other factors that could cause mutations, which might result in new useful plants.

Link: China to launch 1st “seed satellite” a very brief article from China View. Hopefully we will hear more about this project in the future.

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 2:24 PM | Comments (1)

Managing the Effects of the Pine Beetle Infestation on BC’s Logging Communities

Category(-ies): Plant Diseases and Pests , Plant Legal News and Issues

More than seven million hectares of pine forest in British Columbia are now infested with the mountain pine beetle and there is no end to the spread of the pests in sight. BC’s logging industry is ramping up operations to harvest the glut of dead timber left in the wake of the infestation. The increased harvest is a boon to the economies of logging communities, but when the dead timber is depleted, many regions will need a new economic plan.

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Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 2:45 PM | Comments (0)

Human Selection Shrinks Himalayan Snow Lotus

Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries , Plants, Food and Medicine

Recently collected samples of the Himalayan snow lotus, Saussurea laniceps are considerably shorter than samples collected just 100 years ago. The plant is harvested as a medicine in China and Tibet, where it grows at high altitudes (around 4000 metres). Scientists studying the plant believe that human selection is resulting in the diminished stature of the plant.

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Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 5:09 PM | Comments (0)

Tracing the Development of Corn

Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries , Plants, Food and Medicine

Native Americans developed modern corn from a grassy relative, teosinte in a period of agricultural selection between 6000 and 10,000 years ago. Using population genetics to compare the genes of teosinte and modern cultivated corn, a research team led by UC Irvine's Brandon Gaut, has identified 1200 of the 59,000 genes in the corn genome that are thought to have been targeted during domestication.

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Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 5:02 PM | Comments (1)

Smoke Jumpers Employed in “Bug Hunt”

Category(-ies): Plant Diseases and Pests

Asian longhorned beetles (ALBs) first arrived in N. America 9 years ago, inadvertently brought in from China in green-wood palettes. ALBs seriously threaten maples, birches, poplars, horse chestnut, willow, alders, birches and other tree species in Canada and the US. It is very difficult to spot trees infected with the beetles. To aid in the task, smoke jumpers, who normally fight western forest fires, have been brought in to work high in the treetops, where signs of infestation are most evident.

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Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 4:57 PM