Blogs

Some years ago, I wrote about the skulls on my desk , asserting that any scientist worth their salt should have at least one. My skulls, however—six of them until recently, are not just “ordinary”...

The pine flatlands of the southeastern Coastal Plain offer an interesting contrast to the upland forests of my home state of Missouri. Closed canopies of oak and hickory are replaced by open canopies of...

Unit tray of Lepturobosca chrysocoma (formerly Cosmosalia chrysocoma ). I belong (or used to belong) to several Facebook groups frequented by insect collectors—both professional and amateur. One question...

For the past few years, I’ve been involved with the Missouri Native Plant Society (MONPS) . To this point, however, my involvement has been limited to attending the monthly meetings of the St Louis Chapter—unfortunately,...

Dry post oak woodland. This week’s destination for the WGNSS Botany Group outing was St. Joe State Park, where the western portion of the Bicyle/Hiking Trail runs along a prime example of dry post oak...

Pinus echinata (shortleaf pine) woodland at Hawn State Park. Nestled in the northern foothills of the St. Francois Mountains lies one of Missouri’s most remarkable of places—Hawn State Park. I have...

After missing a week due to inclement weather, the WGNSS Botany Group resumed their weekly Monday walk schedule with a visit to nearby Babler State Park in western St. Louis Co. One of the larger of Missouri’s...

Hiking buddy Rich and I have already hiked the entirety of the Ozark Trail, doing so in 5–15 mile segments from 1996 through 2015. Since then, we have been redoing some other the segments in the reverse...

Granite “elephants” at Elephant Rocks State Park. After missing the past three weeks, I was finally able to rejoin the Webster Groves Nature Study Society Botany Group for their weekly Monday outing....

Tipularia discolor (cranefly orchid). …but craneflies are plants—specifically, orchids, or Tipularia discolor (cranefly orchid).* This past August, the Webster Groves Nature Study Society (WGNSS) Botany...