Author: tegan
-
Advent Day 11- Australian Christmas Tree
Growing up in Australia, we had a bunch of Christmas traditions that anyone from the far North (Eurasia and North America) might consider strange.
Christmas in my hometown of Perth commonly reaches 40+ degrees C (104 F), so we swap snow with swimming, and often favour seafood and salad over hot turkey roast. There’s even Australian versions of some of the most famous Christmas songs (can I get you a ‘dashing through the sand, in our bathers and our thongs’?).
And over on the West Coast, we have our very own Australian Christmas Tree.… Read more
-
Advent Day 9 – It’s beginning to smell a lot like Christmas
When you think of Christmas, you probably have a pretty good visual. But do you also have a good nose-ual? (smellual? scentual? someone help me with this).
Basically what I’m asking is – when you think of Christmas, what scents come to mind?… Read more
-
Advent Day 7: Mystery plant
If you just saw the cover image, would you known what the post was about?
How about now?:… Read more
-
Advent Day 4 – Kranz means ‘wreath’ in German
Given that you should, right about now, be decorating and hanging thematic wreaths on your doors, walls, loved ones and pets, I thought it might be a good time to ask you if you had heard about Kranz Anatomy.… Read more
-
Advent Day 3 – Pretty Poinsettias, and the Caterpillars that spray them with acid.
Look, I don’t even think we need a leading paragraph. That title speaks for itself…… Read more
-
Advent Day 2 – Poinsettia
Next up on the ‘plants we associate with Christmas’ roundabout is the Poinsettia (aka, Euphorbia pulcherrima). Here are five fast facts about these red and green beauties.… Read more
-
Cranberry blossoms look like crane heads (and other fun cranberry facts)
Happy Turkey Day everyone!
Having grown up in Australia and Germany, we’re not so up with the Thanksgiving Tradition. But we’re plant people, so we do know that cranberries are involved.
Here’s our ode to the humble little berry.… Read more
-
Healing Herbs II – Artemisinin
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects hundreds of millions of people each year, and kills over 500,000. Worldwide, the chosen treatment for malaria is artemisinin combination therapy (ACT), a medicine that relies on the drug artemisinin that happens to come from a plant…… Read more
-
Bacteriocins waging war in the Bacteria Battlegrounds
-
Healing Herbs I – Paclitaxel
We’ve sung their praises before, and we’ll do it again: plants make the oxygen we breathe, the food we eat, the fibres that form our clothing, our fuel, and our shelters. Plus they’re just so darn pretty. But one of the things we mention perhaps less often, is that these glorious greens are not only there for us in the good times, they’ve also got us covered in the bad. Today we’re starting a new series, where we discuss some of the amazing (scientifically supported) medicines that have been developed from planty products.… Read more