A Ravenel’s stinkhorn grows amid the wood chips at a local playground. These powerful decomposers, it turns out, are mighty stinkin’ strong.
Ravenel’s Stinkhorn
Nature’s Leftovers
If you’ve ever hosted a holiday feast, you know that leftovers are part of the deal. Some go gracefully, packed up in containers and sent…
Chicken of the Woods
Back in the 1960s, marketers of a certain brand of tuna came up with a catchy jingle: “Ask any mermaid you happen to see, ‘What’s the best tuna?’ Chicken of the Sea.” The white albacore tuna inside those little 5-oz. cans was so delicately flavored that it was deemed to “taste like chicken.” But as
Leftovers
January 2, 2015 Leftovers If you’ve ever hosted a holiday feast, you know that leftovers are part of the deal. Some go gracefully, packed up in containers and sent home with family or friends. Others take on new identities inside inventive casseroles. A select few might, with the best of intentions, get tossed in the
Ear Butter
“Just add water.” Not only is that directive my favorite kind of recipe, it’s also the formula for springtime flora…and fungus. This past week’s rains have our woodland wildflowers—spring beauties, hepatica, twinleaf and bloodroot, to name a few—grabbing lots of attention in the Native Plant Garden at Pottawatomie Park. But a few astute visitors have
Fungi
Nature isn’t always pretty…unless it’s springtime. When spring is in the air, even the dowdiest woodland denizens take on a new radiance, brought to life by the return of longer days and warmer temperatures. Take fungi, for instance. No, not the type that grows on those forgotten leftovers in the back of the fridge, but