11 blog posts about plants that you really must read

Berry Go Round 29 is upon us, a little delayed because of some unforeseen travel on my part. And getting right down to it, let’s honour the mindless fools who honestly think that a blog carnival dedicated to plants and botany is going to feature their absurd lists of great mortgages or places to become a veterinary assistant.

How about some pollination pr0n? Sally at Foothills Fancies has been Getting Down… and Busy among the wildflowers to observe bees feasting on “a seasonal smorgasbord” while doing their flying penis thing. Photos courtesy of a pal of hers, these are guaranteed safe for work and edumacational.

The Phytophactor focuses on a wildflower that would grace any low-lying and dampish corner of a garden for his Friday Fabulous Flower the Swamp Milkweed. Does it do that milkweed thing of donating its toxins to caterpillars, I wonder? He also gets political in a discussion of A real resurrection (fern), suggesting that research on out of the way organisms like ferns could be important for drought resistance in maize. Yeah right.

Sarcozona, over at Gravitys Rainbow, primed by a previous post of Phytophactor’s, notices another wildflower in bloom: Lilacs!?!. She also nominated World of Ecology‘s post introducing a new tool to help people Learn how to recognise Australian plant families. I’d love the opportunity.

Ted at Beetles in the Bush has a Friday Flower too, just as fabulous in my opinion. It’s pawpaw. Or, if you’re feeling particular, Asimina triloba. Because there are lots of plants that go by the name of pawpaw. How does this one relate to the others? Ted reveals all, and more.

Dave Ingram, at Dave Ingram’s Natural History Blog, has been sticking his nose into flowers in an experimental test of the old adage about A rose by any other name. I’ve a feeling Shakespeare wasn’t thinking of the entire family Rosaceae, but who knows.

Got Sisyrinchium? Over at Anybody seen my focus … JSK has two, which she explores in some detail. There’s Annual blue-eyed grass and Needle tip blue-eyed grass and, of course, they’re not grasses at all.

Exercising editor’s rights, I’m going to single out Watching the world wake up‘s post Strawberries are way cool from among the many sent in. You’ll learn why I’m wrong when I refer to wild strawberries and much else besides.

And now, both to boost numbers and to draw attention to an unfolding tragedy, I give you a post right here on the Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog. It is brief and to the point because we have covered the story previously. The Russians are planning to turn one of Vavilov’s field stations into a housing estate. The station is still doing important work, and there really is no need to get rid of it. Land for houses can’t be that scarce that it should take precedence over a long-standing and fruitful collection of plant diversity. What can you do? Save Pavlovsk!

That’s all for now. My thanks to all the smart people who suggested entertaining and informative posts. Next month’s carnival is being hosted at Brainripples, so submit.