Gleanings of the Week Ending October 12, 2024

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Who Was Buried in Spain’s Megalithic Necropolis of Panoría? - More women than men were buried in Panoria, where human remains were interred in collective burials between 4,100 and 5,600 years ago.

On Navajo Lands, Ancient Ways Are Restoring the Parched Earth - Traditional rock and stick structures, similar to those used by Native peoples long before Europeans arrived on the continent, are not only delivering water to crops they are also restoring the watershed and those of neighbors, helping to sequester carbon, and reviving this high-desert ecosystem…. an opportunity to begin developing localized food economies.

Megadiverse flowering plant family on isolated islands – A high number of evolutionary events -- occurred in the aster family (daisies, sunflowers, and asters) within relatively short time periods on many islands worldwide.

Why is Mount Everest so big? New research highlights a rogue river – but deeper forces are at work - Everest is around 250m taller than the other great peaks of the Himalayas. It is also growing by about 2mm each year – roughly twice as fast as it has been growing on average over the long term. The Arun river’s course changed around 90,000 years ago, eroding away rock that was weighing Everest down – and the mountain has bounced up in response, by somewhere between 15 and 50m. However, the “fundamental cause” of the peak’s size is the tectonic processes that create mountains.

Researchers Grow an Extinct Plant From a 1,000-Year-Old Seed - Israeli researchers have grown the seed of a previously unknown species of flowering plant into a mature tree. In the late 1980s, archaeologists excavating caves in the northern Judean desert discovered a well-preserved but mysterious seed that had likely been carried there by animals. The seed could be dated to between 993 C.E. and 1202 C.E. and that it was a unique member of the commiphora family, a flowering plant known for its aromatic resins. Chemical analysis of the leaves shows an abundance of medical properties in the leaves, and its lack of fragrance matches descriptions of the tsori in the Bible.

Rare and Elusive Australian Bird, Once Thought Extinct for 100 Years, Discovered by Indigenous Rangers and Scientists – Night parrots are generally difficult to detect—a fact that has been long recorded in Indigenous culture. The elusive species creates tunnels and nests in dense spinifex bushes and emerges at night to forage for seeds.

5 things to know from this week’s big report on cannabis - A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine finds the disconnect between the states and the federal government is leading to fragmented policies, and risks to the public. 5 takeaways:

  1. People consume cannabis more regularly than alcohol in the U.S.

  2. Weed and vapes can be super potent and that’s not always disclosed

  3. You can get psychoactive hemp products even in states where cannabis is illegal

  4. Research on cannabis is stifled

  5. Cannabis can be dangerous, but people hear more about its benefits than risks

Biodiversity Becoming a Top Priority - A survey of 300 landscape architects, designers, and landscape architecture educators in the U.S. found that 96 percent of landscape architects are familiar with the impacts of the biodiversity crisis. 45 percent have made biodiversity conservation a top priority of their practice and another 41 percent consider biodiversity as part of their organization’s environmental ethos.

Medical imaging breakthrough could transform cancer and arthritis diagnosis - A new hand-held scanner developed by University College London researchers can generate highly detailed 3D photoacoustic images in just seconds, paving the way for their use in a clinical setting for the first time and offering the potential for earlier disease diagnosis (cancer, cardiovascular disease, and arthritis). What a boon if this could become the new standard…avoiding waiting for an imaging appointment, having to sit still for a long time, and higher cost of current technology!

Incredible Winners of the 2024 Natural Landscape Photography Awards – Couldn’t resist this collection of beautiful images to finish off the gleanings for this week.

Road trip to Texas – September 2024

I made a 2-day road trip to Texas to visit my father. It was the usual 7 hours on the road each direction. It was dark when I left my house. The moon was close to the horizon and looking very large. I should have stopped for a picture when a few clouds drifted over part of it – missed the opportunity. More clouds and fog blinked out the moon before I got to my first rest stop and gave the day an eerie start. I was more than halfway to Texas before the temperature was in the mid70s, but Dallas was in the 90s when I got to my dad’s assisted living home. We finished a puzzle and watered plants around the back patio, but it was too hot to take him for a walk around the block.

I had forgotten that there was a partial lunar eclipse…didn’t venture out of my hotel room. My husband sent a picture the next morning that he took from our front yard.

The next morning I visited my father right after breakfast…a great time for a walk. He is moving more slowly but walks often enough that other walkers in the neighborhood recognize him! There is a lot of home maintenance/improvement going on in the neighborhood. One family had enclosed more of their yard and made rock gardens in the parts that are too shady for much to grow; a small branch had fallen from the tree and was leaning on one of the larger rocks….photo-op.

There was an interesting leaf in the middle of the street…..not the usual fall foliage. It might have been from a Bradford Pear. My dad was so focused on walking that he didn’t seem interested in the leaf, but I took it back to his room as a memento to share with his next visitor.

Getting out of Dallas was a bit challenging. There seemed to be more-than-the-usual stalled cars/trucks (in traffic lanes on US 75 rather than off to the side) and there was some construction. I made a stop to relax a bit close to the border with Oklahoma…and am glad that the rest of the drive back to Missouri was uneventful.

Pokeweed Truce

Pokeweed is a native plant…but it grows too readily and easily becomes a nuisance. In previous years, I have pulled it, cut it, and dug out its roots. This year was a truce year and I anticipate that next year there will be peace! My strategy this year was to let is grow if it came up in my backyard…and was not in the way. It came up in lots of places – probably planted by birds (they eat the purple berries and then poop out the seeds):

Near a rose bush. The plant is growing at the edge of a flower bed that has landscaping cloth with rock on top; it roots probably found the edge of the cloth and have gone deeper into the soil. It’s better than having something with thorns (like the rose bush) hanging over the patio.

At the edge of my wildflower garden. The plants shaded some of the garden when it is very hot….made it easier to keep the soil from completely drying out. The pokeweed never got very high but produced a lot of berries.

Under my largest pine. I didn’t realize that pokeweed leaves turn red in the fall. The stems are a beautiful magenta all summer long. The pine tree had the lower branches trimmed earlier in the year and the pokeweed grew up through the bed of pine needles and filled in the space underneath but not growing up into the pine branches, preserving the privacy of the yard. Lots of berries for the birds this fall.

Towering over/leaning on a bush (very tall and gangly). Half of the plant was blown over in July. I probaby should have cut the rest down but I wanted to see what it would do. It stayed mostly upright although some branches are draped over the bush. I liked the green, magenta, and purple colors with the duller reddish color of the bush in the background.

In the mound where a pine had to be removed. Hopefully the other native plants that I’ve added to the mound will take over next year. For this year, the pokeweed is protecting the young plants…a good thing. Maybe the birds have already started eating the purple berries.

Under the smaller pine with branches lower to the ground. I am encouraged enough about how the pokeweed fills in that I will probably trim off the lower branches of the tree next spring.

In a flower bed at the corner of the house. There was a pokeweed growing in the same place last year between the hosta and violets.  It is a ‘late bloomer’ and probably won’t have as many mature berries for the birds.

In a flower bed near our rhododendron. No berries at all because I tried to pull this one but must not have gotten all the roots….it looks very lush at this point but immature. It will be interesting to see if the leaves turn red at some point.

My strategy for next year will be to actively encourage the pokeweed under the 2 pines, cut or pull any that is getting tall enough to blow over easily (or comes up in the wrong place…which might include the mound where a pine tree was removed). I’ll probably have pokeweed in my yard going forward and consider it as a positive element of the landscaping.

eBotanical Prints – June 2022

22 botanical print books in June. The topics were wide ranging: Japanese landscape gardening, sweet peas (4 books), roses, conifers (2 books), lawns, wayside trees (4 books), natural history of plants (7 books), and irises. The books were published a 56 year period; 5 have color illustrations.

The whole list of 2,412 botanical eBooks can be accessed here. The list for the June 2022 books with links to the volumes and sample images is at the bottom of this post.

Click on any sample images in the mosaic below to get an enlarged version. Enjoy the June eBotanical Prints!

Supplement to Landscape gardening in Japan * Conder, Josiah; Ogawa, Kengo * sample image * 1893

All about sweet peas * Hutchins, W.T. * sample image * 1894

The modern culture of sweet peas * Stevenson, Thomas * sample image * 1910

Sweet peas and how to grow them * Thomas, Harry Higgott * sample image * 1909

The rose book, a complete guide for amateur rose growers * Thomas, Harry Higgott; Easlea, Walter * sample image * 1914

Field notes of sweet peas * Morse, Lester, L. * sample image * 1916

Illustrations of Conifers - V2 * Clinton-Baker, Henry William * sample image * 1909

Illustrations of Conifers - V3 * Clinton-Baker, Henry William * sample image * 1913

Lawns, and how to make them, together with the proper keeping of putting greens * Barron, Leonard * sample image * 1909

Wayside Trees - Series 1 * Mathews, Ferdinand Shuyler * sample image * 1899

Wayside Trees - Series 2 * Mathews, Ferdinand Shuyler * sample image * 1899

Wayside Trees - Series 3 * Mathews, Ferdinand Shuyler * sample image * 1899

Wayside Trees - Series 4 * Mathews, Ferdinand Shuyler * sample image * 1899

The natural history of plants, their forms, growth, reproduction, and distribution V1 pt 1 * Kerner, Anton Joseph, ritter von Marilaun * sample image * 1896

The natural history of plants, their forms, growth, reproduction, and distribution V2  pt 1 * Kerner, Anton Joseph, ritter von Marilaun * sample image * 1896

The natural history of plants, their forms, growth, reproduction, and distribution V2  pt 2 * Kerner, Anton Joseph, ritter von Marilaun * sample image * 1896

The natural history of plants, their forms, growth, reproduction, and distribution V5 * Kerner, Anton Joseph, ritter von Marilaun * sample image * 1896

The natural history of plants, their forms, growth, reproduction, and distribution V6 * Kerner, Anton Joseph, ritter von Marilaun * sample image * 1896

A handbook of garden irises * Dykes, William Rickatson * sample image * 1924

The genus Iris * Dykes, William Rickatson, Round, F.H. * sample image * 1913

Encyclopédie d'histoire naturelle V1 Bontanique * Chenu, Jean Charles * sample image * 1873

Encyclopédie d'histoire naturelle V2 Bontanique * Chenu, Jean Charles * sample image * 1868

Gleanings of the Week Ending September 15, 2018

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

BBC - Future - How China’s giant solar farms are transforming world energy – Giant solar farms that, when viewed from the air form Giant Pandas. All over the world…but in China particularly…there are more and more enormous solar farms. It’s good for the immediate future but there are still issues with what happens when the solar panels need to be recycled (i.e. in 30 or so years).

New research shows how children want their food served -- ScienceDaily – I didn’t find this a challenge…my daughter always enjoyed her food. It seems more likely to be challenging in places like school cafeterias or other institutional settings.

Photos Show the Icy Glacier Landscape of Northeast Greenland – Life lurking in the ice waters. It’s a difficult place to dive.

Landscape Plants Rated by Deer Resistance (Rutgers NJAES) – Maryland is not that far from New Jersey so this list works for us – although I wish they would mark the plants native to North America. I’d rather plant natives.

How This Popular Garden Plant May Spread Parasites That Harm Monarchs | Smart News | Smithsonian – Aargh!!!! We need to be sure we are not planting tropical milkweed in areas where it is not native….the orange butterfly weed – which is also a milkweed – is native across most of North America and a good plant to have in the garden for Monarch butterfly caterpillars.

New color-generation mechanism discovered in ‘rainbow’ weevil -- ScienceDaily – The researches from Yale propose that this mechanism might be useful for screen displays to enable the same true image from any angle and to reduce signal loss in optical fibers.

What Ötzi the Iceman’s Tattoos Reveal About Copper Age Medical Practices | Smart News | Smithsonian – There have been papers coming out about additional discoveries from the remains found in the Alps in 1991 over the years --- there was a lot we could learn and new technologies have come along to enable more than anyone thought about at first.

Night-time habits of captive flamingos -- ScienceDaily – The forage and roam! Evidently, they are more active at night in the wild as well. During the day they tend to rest and preen…that’s when courtship displays happen as well.

Muscle Clocks Play a Role in Regulating Metabolism | The Scientist Magazine® - Circadian rhythms are not just from the brain! There are timekeepers throughout the body. The peripheral clock in muscles was confirmed in 2007 and it turns out that it is important to glucose metabolism. There is still a lot to learn about all the body’s timekeepers!

BBC - Future - Are hot springs the future of farming? – Maybe there is not one strategy that is the ‘future of farming’ – but this is an interesting idea that we may see in places where it can be done effectively.