An acorn is the fruit of an oak tree. Inside an acorn rests a single seed. Inside the seed rests an oak embryo. This embryo is produced by pollination. Oak trees have both sperm-producing and egg-bearing flowers that bundle together. Sperm-producing flowers, or catkins, are inflorescence clusters that look, inContinue Reading
**Please consult your physician before consuming ginseng or any other plant. Wild American ginseng (Panax Quinquefolius) is found in the eastern portion (mostly mountainous region) of the United States and Canada. Other nicknames for the plant are Five Finger (for its five leaflets), Red Berry, Man’s Health, and Man Root.Continue Reading
Autumn is the season of dying and death – but life, as in our own experience, carries on. Winter, to me, is the first season of life. In temperate zones, perennial plants, most notably trees, are asleep in winter. Thing is, a lot of infant vegetative color appears throughout theContinue Reading
“I want to walk with Dada,” Eli announces. I smile to myself when I hear his little six-year-old voice. On this October day, a clear, expansive sky spreads across the land. My boy runs to me and takes my hand. Tall grass, gradually fading to brown in the autumn season,Continue Reading
In reflection, over the past two decades, the global human population has witnessed three novel coronaviruses emerge and cause outbreaks with considerable health consternation. Further, all outbreaks (likely) have a zoonotic origin, or, diseases that spread from animals to humans. The question begs to be asked: Why? III. Scientists whoContinue Reading
I. An August shower pours through the forest. Rainwater still drips from rattling leaves as a glowing mist shines fair in the morning light. The sun is just again peeking through the leafy boughs. Beaming rays illuminate the water-quenched dance of the soft, green canopy. Droplets bead and splash toContinue Reading
How many of us when we were children, and, for some of us even as adults (ahem), have done this: We often overlook this widespread flower powerhouse. But the dandelion is an impressive and beneficial plant with quite an interesting history. Join Appalachia Bare as we unearth the dandelion –Continue Reading
Our evening was cooler than expected. A quick but fierce thunderstorm moved through our late July afternoon that day, complete with loud rolling booms, cracks of lightning, and a torrent of falling water. On the northern Appalachian Trail, among the beech, maple, and birch-covered Green Mountains of Vermont, our campingContinue Reading
The tent appears a little blurry, I must admit, as my eyes wrinkle open. I peek out the tent door, in a fresh morning glow, to find Katie cooking breakfast by the fire. Rubbing my eyes, I reach for a water canister and take cool refreshing gulps. Elijah, still inContinue Reading
Freedom, consciousness, and wildness are all around and ever present as our feet lightly jog across an old, wooden dock. We move gently in the golden light of an aging afternoon sun. With each stride, I sense everything. Blushing coral clouds travel like vessels across a cerulean sky. Brilliant flowers,Continue Reading