• Delineating Grassland Evolution Using Phytoliths

    Delineating Grassland Evolution Using Phytoliths

    I have a strong fascination with the evolution of grasslands, and this recent talk by Dr. Caroline A E Strömberg is pretty much the best and most comprehensive video about that subject. If you are at all a scholar of grasses, then this is one video you should not miss. It is fairly long, but…

  • Muhly Mania at Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

    Muhly Mania at Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

    There were two places at Austin, TX that I wanted to visit. One was the Half Pint Prairie at the University of Texas at Austin’s campus (a student project from the Covid years that turned a small plot smack-dab in the middle of the city into a mini prairie), and the other was UT Austin’s…

  • eDNA and Mammoth Steppes: Let’s Hear It for the Forbs!

    eDNA and Mammoth Steppes: Let’s Hear It for the Forbs!

    Forbs is a catch-all term for all herbaceous plants in grasslands that are not graminoids. That is, these are the species that are not in the plant families Poaceae, Cyperaceae, and Juncaceae. The focus of this website is obviously on the graminoid family Poaceae, and grasses rightly have been the main focus of studies on…

  • Weirdest looking grass ever (“AI” blooper)

    Weirdest looking grass ever (“AI” blooper)

    I was doing some research on the Poaceae of Svalbard, a Norwegian-owned archipelago near or in the Arctic-circle that holds the distinction of having the northernmost town in the world (Longyearbyen). We are planning a cruise trip to the area later this year, and I wanted to get an idea about any interesting grasses in…

  • Remnants of the Past Winter in Texas

    Remnants of the Past Winter in Texas

    We visited Longhorn State Park in Texas last week, and after a great guided tour of the caverns beneath we decided to hike Inks Lake State Park, which was nearby. I did not expect much from the place, as I am not a fan of lake hikes, but when we got there I was so…

  • Clinging to Life Atop a Billion Year Old Rock

    Clinging to Life Atop a Billion Year Old Rock

    Near the center of the state of Texas, sitting amidst the rolling grass-covered hill country, a pink-colored granite dome erupts out of the earth and soars 130 meters up towards the sky. This is Enchanted Rock, and it along with several other peaks next to it such as Little Dome and Turkey Peak, are called…