Stories in Greek mythology on the cycle of nature showing youth, death and rejuvenation can have lessons for us today on how grief changes over time and transforms who we are as people.
From minuscule moss to colourful flowers and tall trees.
Philip Donoghue / James Clark
Plants have not lost their capacity for innovation over the years, finds new study.
Narrow-leaved kalmia is an invasive plant typical of boreal ecosystems. Its proliferation can hinder the reforestation of areas subject to disturbances.
(Jacques Ibarzabal/iNaturalist)
Jérôme Alsarraf, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC); Andre Pichette, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC), and Jean Legault, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC)
Boreal plants produce molecules that are valued by traditional medicines and inspire the development of medicinal products by contemporary chemists.
Springtails (Fasciosminthurus quinquefasciatus) are found in any damp soil.
Andy Murray/chaosofdelight.org
With more than one species for every person on the planet, soils are the most diverse habitat on Earth.
Labrador Tea is one of the boreal plants that are classified as pests or weeds. The plant is important to Indigenous communities for its healing properties.
(J. Baker)
Some boreal plant species are classified — and treated — as weeds, affecting Indigenous communities’ access to important cultural, medicinal and ceremonial resources.
A bumblebee flying over a blooming bramble bush.
Legonkov Vladimir
The colonial era profoundly shaped natural history museums and collections. Herbaria, which are scientists’ main source of plant specimens from around the world, are no exception.
Lake surrounding a mining site in Northern Québec.
(Maxime Thomas)
Maxime Thomas, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT); Hugo Asselin, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT); Mebarek Lamara, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT), and Nicole Fenton, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT)
Human activities can affect plants and have consequences for the human populations that consume them.
Why we need to pay more attention to these minute flowers and how they survive in some of the harshest places in the world.
The practice of gardening is deeply tied to colonialism. Here a woman pushes a cart of flowers at her garden centre in Toronto, May 4, 2020.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn