James Ojascastro

The genus #Viburnum can be hard to ID to species. This one, northern arrowwood (Viburnum recognitum), is distinguished by leaves that are nearly hairless, save for tufts in the vein axils on the abaxial side.

#botany #adoxaceae

National Science Foundation Terminates Hundreds of Active Research Awards (Gift Article) The agency targeted grants focused on diversity, equity and inclusion, as well as research on misinformation.

Universities like mine are limiting hiring, travel, and other spending using federal funds because of the fear of things like this. It's basically impossible to do science, whether NSF takes back funding or not.

One of the most disheartening experiences for me over the past 80 days has been the shattering of the illusion I harbored that academia (particularly wealthy private institutions filled with smart people) would uphold and fight for the ideas and values we cherish.

phloem likely very suitable for artisanal papermaking too

Florida #staranise (Illicium floridanum) in bloom

Forrest County, Mississippi

#botany #schisandraceae #illiciaceae

Cahaba paintbrush, endemic to Bibb County. One of Alabama's eight Dolomite Denizens.

#castilleja #castillejakraliana #orobanchaceae #botany

Amargosa Niterwort (Nitrophila mohavensis) waking from its winter slumber.

This will certainly expedite the extinction of Eriogonum tiehmii

biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press...

Flowers of Miccosukee gooseberry (Ribes echinellum), a rare, spiny shrub represented by just two widely disjunct populations in SC and FL.

#grossulariaceae #botany

Post-bac training in rare plant science / conservation at 4 collaborating institutions: The Morton Arboretum, Atlanta Botanical Garden, California Botanic Garden, San Diego Botanic Garden.

Great mentors and projects, competitive pay. Pls share!

** APPLY BY 3/14 ***

atlantabg.org/conservation...

Graduate Reductions Across Biomedical Sciences (2025)

There’s a google doc trying to keep track of funding/grad school admission/hiring freezes & status please share 🧪 docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

WYOMING:
“Thank you, Madam chairman.”
“I prefer ‘Mister’ chairman.”
“Well you all voted preferred pronouns cannot be compelled speech.”

wombat

#Lepanthes caritensis, a tiny #orchid endemic to Puerto Rico.

#orchidaceae #botany

After 6 years of work, I'm pleased to announce my 1st, 1st-author pub is now in print! Special thanks to coauthors Trần Hồng Nhung, @veronicaypham.bsky.social & @oreotrephes.bsky.social for their contributions! Order @ link ⬇️.

#followingthepapertrail #ethnobotany

ethnobiology.org/publications...

Wooden mallets used for beating #barkcloth in Hawai'i. Round hohoa made from milo (Thespesia populnea), square i'e kuku from 'ōhi'a lehua (Metrosideros polymorpha; middle) and koa (Acacia koa; bottom) woods.

#botany #ethnobotany #hawaii

Voting for the Mayor Who Promised to Blow Up the City Doesn’t Mean I Approve of the Mayor Blowing Up the City It’s so easy to label people these days. From the way folks have been talking, you’d think everyone falls into two buckets: those who voted against...

I wrote this bit that is entirely unrelated to current things

Important and also we need to start explaining to people that humans are just one species on the planet and research doesn’t have to be directly applicable them to be interesting, significant, or worth doing.

What the NSF is doing this week is damaging *generations* of scientific researchers and American investments in science. Billions of US tax payer dollars in investment, being thrown away, because of a fucking fishing expedition that is intended to terrorize and set the stage for a real witch hunt.

Spaeth & Thieret 2004: "No one claimed to enjoy the taste or experience [of drinking KCT 'coffee'. Thieret drank] ⅓c of sweetened KCT 'coffee' daily for 2 weeks, hoping that, with familiarity, the flavor might improve for him. It did not. It poses no serious threat to Maxwell House or Starbucks."

Black Rifle coffee consumers gonna look real stupid real quick

Papers I made by hand from phloem of select #Moraceae. L➡️R: Higuerón (Ficus aurea) Red mulberry (Morus rubra) Paper mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera) Cultivated fig (Ficus carica) Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis) White mulberry (Morus alba) Osage-orange (Maclura pomifera)

Papers I made by hand from phloem of select #Moraceae.

L➡️R:
Higuerón (Ficus aurea)
Red mulberry (Morus rubra)
Paper mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera)
Cultivated fig (Ficus carica)
Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis)
White mulberry (Morus alba)
Osage-orange (Maclura pomifera)

#papermaking #ethnobotany

Peruvian Viagra (Corynaea crassa) Peruvian Viagra from San José Province, Rivas, Costa Rica on June 17, 2018 at 12:06 PM by James Ojascastro

ah yes, this and the physiologically similar but unrelated Balanophoraceae - the poster children of the "doctrine of signatures..."

In Tahiti 🇵🇫, #barkcloth textiles are typically printed using pinnae from the pala'ā #fern (Odontosoria chinensis).

From the collection of the Peabody Essex Museum, MA, USA

#ethnobotany #botany #fiberarts

I'm an origamist, papermaker, ethnobotanist, and plant conservationist. The execution of my art is directly informed by my background in botany, and by the collaborations and partnerships I maintain with papermakers in Vietnam, Mexico, and Nepal.

see also: one graffito, two graffiti

Curious how the phloem of this performs as artisanal paper.