Recent genomic and ecological analyses by a global research team led by the Sino-Africa Joint Research Center, CAS, hosted by the Wuhan Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, have shed light on the origins and dispersal of these iconic trees. The study reveals that Madagascar is the cradle from which all other baobab […]
Botany
Posted inScience, Travel
Fairy Lantern, the Tiny and Mysterious Flower That Few Are Lucky to See
In the heart of the southern states of Australia, there lives a curious and elusive plant, so small and hidden that very few people have the luck to ever see one in their lifetime. It’s Thismia rodwayi, commonly known as the fairy lantern. Belonging to the family Burmanniaceae, which is found in the lush and […]
Posted inAntiquity
The mystery of the disappearance of the most valuable medicinal plant from antiquity
The ancient Greek city of Cyrene (in present-day Libya), where Eratosthenes was born, was founded by settlers from Thera (Santorini) on the advice of the Oracle of Delphi around 632 BC. It soon prospered and became one of the richest cities in the Mediterranean. A plant, whose trade Cyrene dominated for centuries, had a lot […]
