Botanist Mark Whitten was rummaging in an old drawer in the University of Florida Herbarium for tracing paper when he discovered something unexpected: hundreds ...
The Florida Museum of Natural History has hired botanist Lucas Majure as assistant curator of the University of Florida Herbarium. Previously a research scienti...
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Skunkvine in Florida
Skunkvine, Paederia foetida, is an aggressive, twining vine in the coffee family, or Rubiaceae. Plants produce multiple stems up to 35 feet long, which grow across the ground, over trees and shrubbery, or ar...
Two new species of truffles were recently discovered on the roots of pecan trees in Florida orchards. The good news is that you can eat them — the bad news is t...
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Wisteria in Florida
Wisteria has become somewhat iconic in lush gardens in the Southeastern United States. In the spring, it’s easy to locat...
While some might press flowers into books to preserve their beauty, researcher Mark Whitten does it to preserve history.
Whitten, a botanist in the Florida Museum of Natural History Herbarium, glues pressed plants onto archival paper and stores th...
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Air potatoes (in Florida)
Scientific name: Dioscorea bulbifera
This vine can be found in nearly every county in Florida.
Air potato...
Many folks seem to be under the mistaken impression that a herbarium is a place where herbs are grown.
Herbarium specimen sheet, Sedum. Images by Florida Museum & University of Florida Herbarium
Actually, it’s a collection of plant specime...
Syncephalis plumigaleata, a Zoopagomycota fungi, grows on sterilized beef in a petri dish. Photo courtesy of the Zygolife Research Consortium
Walking along ...
