By Dawn Bazely Before Carrie Derick became Canada’s first professional woman scientist, as a professor in Botany and Genetics at McGill University in 1912, we know that White, anglophone Canadian…Read More >
Science communication
#AdventBotany Day 22, let it Snow[berry]!
By Dawn Bazely The Snowberry makes a great hedge It seemed a bit strange that the native North American shrub, the Snowberry[6] (Symphoricarpos albus), named for obvious reasons, hadn’t yet…Read More >
#AdventBotany Day 21, the Brussels Sprout and other relatives
The Brussels Sprout is the true plant of Christmas! So says Professor John Warren, and he has statistics to prove his point! The British have a strange love-hate relationship with…Read More >
#AdventBotany 2020 Day 20, Dreaming of white cocoa, hibiscus, and a happy Gomphothere
by Katherine Preston (A Botanist in the Kitchen) ’Tis the season to sound the trumpets and pronounce judgment upon the holy or evil status of traditional holiday foods. If you…Read More >
#AdventBotany 2020 Day 19, all in a pickle
By Alastair Culham Since the launch of #AdventBotany on 1st December 2014 with a post on ivy I’ve had the privelege of working with a huge range of other professional…Read More >
#AdventBotany 2020 Day 18, Yerba mate, Ilex paraguariensis provides a warming winter drink
By Jeanne Osnas (A botanist in the kitchen) Along with conifer trees, poinsettias, and mistletoe, hollies are a botanical hallmark of the winter holiday season. So, too, are warm beverages….Read More >
#AdventBotany 2020 Day 17 revisits a forest of Christmas Trees
By Alastair Culham and Jonathan Mitchley There is much debate and disagreement about the origin of Christmas trees and they have variously been linked to oak branches used in mystery…Read More >
#AdventBotany 2020 Day 16, The Chestnut Song
By Katherine Preston I first tried chestnuts when I was a student in Paris. The holiday season was peaceful that year, and the streets were crowded and cheerful. It was…Read More >
#AdventBotany Day 15, The date palm revisited; elderly seeds and a primer for sex determination
By Claudia Ciotir Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.), is a socio-economically important tree due to its food, fibre and construction material uses in arid and semiarid regions of the world….Read More >
#AdventBotany 2020 Day 14, Early days in IKEA, the lingonberry and a blood sausage
By James Dinsley Childhood trips to IKEA Every year as I was growing up my family would embark on a quest (in what seemed like a Christmas tradition in itself)…Read More >