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Surprising Filipino Lawns: Axonopus compressus in the Philippines
One of the interesting things I found out when visiting the Philippines was the heavy use of Axonopus compressus as turf grass. Although this stoloniferous species (it uses above ground shoots to spread laterally) is also used in the United States, and especially in Florida, I don’t believe I’ve actually ever encountered it there, where…
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In Search of Climbing Bamboo at the Makiling Botanical Garden and Forest Reserve
About two hours away by car from my place of lodging, in the beautiful province of Laguna in the Philippines, sits the Makiling Botanical Garden and the Makiling Forest Reserve. Surrounded and maintained by the University of the Philippines at Los Banos, it is probably the premier botanical garden in the country, and I had…
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A short Palawan Interlude
The island of Palawan is a tropical paradise that lies between the Philippines and Malaysia. It is a large tourist destination, but one that has maintained its natural beauty even with the onslaught of tourists. The flight from Manila was a short 1.5 hour hop, but it was interesting because we went via a propeller…
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Breaking the Blockade
I’ve been doing a long running observation on a stand of Imperata cylindrica (Cogon grass) in Florida since 2021, with the cogon grass rapidly overwhelming its competitors as it spread laterally along a roadside. For a history of this series of observations (oldest to most recent): April 2021Rapid expansion of an invasive grass as viewed…
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Biological Nitrogen-Fixation in Grasses!
Nitrogen is an essential nutrient for plants. But while the element makes up 78% of the atmosphere as diNitrogen (N2), this form is unavailable to plants. The solution to this problem is nitrogen fixation, which involves the conversion of this atmospheric nitrogen into forms such as ammonia (NH3) that are available and useful to organisms.…
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Admiration for an invasive plant
In the ecological sciences, the worst adjective that can be attached to a plant species is the term “invasive”. In fact, I’ve even heard some people call these plants “evil”, and the hatred directed at them is sometimes all out of proportion to their effect on the environment. The reality of course is that there…
Sejarah Poaceae (Volume 2)
The Story of Grasses – Grasslands and Grassy Open Ecosystems