Epiphytes are plants that grow on other plants but are not parasites nor symbionts because they neither harm their host nor benefit it. Because of the competition for space and light in the forest, many plants have taken up an…
Read more
There is a book available from Kew Gardens, “Agaric Folia of the Lesser Antilles” by Pegler and it lists over 400 mushrooms found in the Caribbean. It refers to identification, growth characteristics and where they grow. The book is about…
Read more
Bryophytes include the mosses (Musci) and liverworts (Hepaticae). These are undoubtedly plants but they lack features of higher plants like vascular tissue. Mosses are concidered by many as posessing leaves and stems while liverworts are thought of as flattened and…
Read more
Sexual reproduction in angiosperms was once a taboo sbject. When plants were first classified it was considered very rude (by the stuffy Victorian sponsors of the great plantsmen) to call flower parts anything to do with sex so we have…
Read more
Though many people may not even know what lichens are or where they are found, these organisms play an important part in the ecology of our wildlife areas. Lichens are a combination of other species, which makes them unique in…
Read more
November 9, 2013 Earth Science
During the middle Pleistocene era, there were two oceanic plates: the Kula and Farallon plates. About 300,000 to 360,000 years ago, these two plates were subducted, or pushed beneath the western edge of the North American Plate and created a…
Read more
The Buckeye Tree can be found in many states throughout the US. However, the state of Ohio has such a fascination with the tree that it is called the Buckeye state. They even designated the Buckeye Tree as the official…
Read more
November 9, 2013 Physical Science
Even though we aren’t physically aware of it, the Earth is in a constant state of rotation and revolution. Our only indications are the very obvious differences in day and night, and the changing of the seasons caused by this…
Read more
When we think of competition, we usually think of animals competing for food, territories or mates. But plants compete too. It’s true that most plants can make their own food but they need sunlight to do so. Although sunlight is…
Read more
Epiphytes, how many types are there? No one really knows. In one research project, they found over 2100 species in just 500 square meter, about the size of a very small front yard! And epiphytes are not just in the…
Read more