Mulberries are often written off as a scrub tree, growing along and in fence lines, out of the side of other trees, and often too close to house foundations. They get in these unlikely and unwanted places because birds feast on the fruit in June and July when it’s ripe, spreading it’s seed wherever they …
“Nature produces individuals, and nothing more. She produces them in such countless numbers that we are compelled to sort them into kinds in order that we may be able to carry them in our minds. This sorting is classification— taxonomy (Bessey 1908).” The science of identifying and classifying organisms (taxonomy) is responsible for categorizing the …
Today, we know that introducing a foreign species into a habitat, no matter how benign it seems to be, is a really bad idea. The Bradford pear is one prime example of this. The small and decorative tree was a staple of the thousands of new subdivisions that sprung up across the country between the …
Imagine ordering a fruit smoothie only to find out it is made with bell peppers, squash, tomatoes, eggplant, peas, olives, and corn. Ewww. While not the sweet treat you expected, the restaurant didn’t make a mistake. Technically speaking, you got what you ordered…a mixture of blended fruit. This misunderstanding stems for our muddled classification of …