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Herbarium of the Bizarre: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Meredith Hemphill
A podcast about strange, spooky, and misunderstood plants (and sometimes fungi).
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The most recent episodes — sign up to get AI-powered summaries of each one.
- 1 weeks ago8 min
Bat Flower
Happy Dia de los Muertos! Here’s your second Spooky Season special episode. 🦇If you’ve been listening long enough to remember when I got the better microphone, well, it just decided to play a Halloween trick and break on me. Actually, I think it may have been broken when I recorded last time, and I didn’t notice. Anyway, I’ll probably be going back to the worse microphone for a while. Sorry.Music by James Milor from PixabayInformation provided by:https://www.thespruce.com/bat-flower-plant-profile-4842137https://bloomnovix.com/black-bat-flower-symbolism/https://gggp.org/curators-corner-tacca-chantrieri/Taccalonolides: Novel microtubule stabilizers with clinical potential by April L Risinger and Susan L Mooberry. (2009). Cancer Letters, 291(1), 14-19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.canlet.2009.09.020.Taccalonolides E and A: Plant-derived steroids with microtubule-stabilizing activity by Tina L. Tinley, et al. (2003). Cancer Research, 63(12), 3211-3220.https://gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu/plants/ornamentals/bat-flower/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taccahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacca_chantrieriPredicting mating patterns from pollination syndromes: The case of “Sapromyiophily” in Tacca chantrieri (Taccaceae) by Ling Zhang, et al. (2005). American Journal of Botany, 92(3), 517-524. https://doi.org/10.3732%2Fajb.92.3.517
- 3 weeks ago13 min
Bird-catcher Trees
Get ready for the first of two special Spooky Season episodes! 💀Music by James Milor from PixabayInformation provided by:https://www.amusingplanet.com/2021/03/pisonia-tree-that-kills-birds.htmlhttps://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1WqWNglZmzhMMz2zZVkQdcF/the-island-paradise-with-a-dark-heartJason Bittel. (2017, April 1). This tree lures birds with a free lunch and then kills them. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/this-tree-lures-birds-with-a-free-lunch-and-then-kills-them/2017/03/31/27aa04c0-1309-11e7-9e4f-09aa75d3ec57_story.htmlDispersal and germination of seeds of Pisonia grandis, an Indo-Pacific tropical tree associated with insular seabird colonies by Alan E. Burger (2005). Journal of Tropical Ecology, 21, 263-271. doi: 10.1017/S0266467404002159https://plantfinder.mobot.org/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=291705https://nativeplants.hawaii.edu/plants/pisonia-umbellifera/https://seychellesseabirdgroup.wordpress.com/2013/06/02/pisonia-grandisa-grand-problem/comment-page-1/https://naturalhistory.si.edu/research/botany/news/plant-press/researchers-split-birdcatcher-trees-genus-pisonia-threehttps://www.tetiaroasociety.org/biosphere-tetiaroa/pisonia-grandis
- Jul 9, 202611 min
National Plants of the USA (America 250)
Anyone feel like starting a campaign to make tomatoes the national fruit?Music by James Milor on PixabayInformation provided by:https://www.arborday.org/perspectives/americas-national-tree-mighty-oakhttps://www.congress.gov/bill/99th-congress/senate-joint-resolution/159/texthttps://www.congress.gov/committee-report/108th-congress/house-report/689/1https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IF13097Dirksen and the Marigold https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwogofdiGys&t=158shttps://www.nybg.org/planttalk/elizabeth-brittons-roses-campaigning-for-the-national-flower/https://www.history.com/articles/oak-tree-national-tree-of-united-states-of-americahttps://extension.psu.edu/the-national-tree-and-national-floral-emblem-of-the-united-stateshttps://www.birdsandblooms.com/gardening/gardening-basics/national-flower-bird-tree-united-states/https://statesymbolsusa.org/symbol-or-officially-designated-item/state-flower/rosehttps://statesymbolsusa.org/symbol-or-officially-designated-item/state-tree/mighty-oak-treehttps://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title36-section303&num=0&edition=prelim
- Jun 27, 20267 min
Bonus Episode: What's Your Favorite Plant?
Attendees at the Exotic and Carnivorous Plant Expo join the podcast to talk about their own favorite bizarre plants. I intended to post this episode a week or so after the expo, but then I caught the con crud from hell at ConCarolinas and have only just now gotten my voice back. Music provided by James Milor from PixabayAdditional Information:https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Woodcock/overviewhttps://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/american-woodcockhttps://www.sandiegocarnivorousplantsociety.com/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myrmecophyte
- May 13, 202610 min
Rainbow Plants (Byblis)
Come see me at the Exotic and Carnivorous Plant Expo this weekend: https://www.carnivorousplants.org/about/CEPExpoDetailsMusic by James Milor from PixabayInformation provided by:https://www.burymeinthebog.com/grow/rainbow-plantshttps://botany.org/home/resources/carnivorous-plants-insectivorous-plants/byblis-the-rainbow-plants.htmlhttps://www.carnivorousplants.org/grow/guides/ByblisThe carnivorous rainbow plant Byblis filifolia Planch. secretes digestive enzymes in response to prey capture independently of jasmonates by A Pavlovič, et al. (2025). Plant Biology, 27(4), 549–557. https://doi.org/10.1111/plb.70029Chemonastic Stalked Glands in the Carnivorous Rainbow Plant Byblis gigantea LINDL. (Byblidaceae, Lamiales) by Simon Poppinga, et al. (2022). International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 23(19), 1151. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms231911514https://www.sarracenia.com/pubs/byblis.htmlhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byblis_(plant)
- Mar 31, 202613 min
New Species Discovered in 2025
I learned some lessons from the 2024 discoveries episode, and I think this one is not quite so messy. I also managed to contain it all in one episode this time!Music by James Milor from PixabayInformation provided by:https://www.calacademy.org/press/releases/california-academy-of-sciences-and-partners-uncover-new-sunflower-species-in-big-bendDamian Carrington (2026, Jan 7). Fly-arousing orchid and zombie fungus among 2025 botanical and fungal finds. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jan/08/fly-arousing-orchid-zombie-fungus-among-new-plant-fungus-species-finds-2025Aaron P. Davis, et al. (2005). Galanthus subalpinus (Amaryllidaceae): A new species of snowdrop from the Western Balkans. Kew Bulletin, 80, 169-175. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12225-024-10239-8James Doubek (2025, Feb 26). Meet the 'wooly devil,' a new plant species discovered in Big Bend National Park. National Public Radio. https://www.npr.org/2025/02/26/nx-s1-5308248/wooly-devil-new-species-genus-big-bendGabriel A. Iturralde, et al. (2025) Telipogon cruentilabrum (Orchidaceae: Oncidiinae): A new species from mid-western Ecuador, long misidentified as T. dendriticus. Phytotaxa, 694(3), 271–280. https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.694.3.6 [Abstract]https://www.kew.org/read-and-watch/top-10-species-2025Yee Wen Low, et al. (2025). Eugenia venteri (sect. Jossinia, Myrtaceae): A new flagelliflorous tree from the rainforest of Manus Island, Papua New Guinea. Kew Bulletin, 80, 733-743. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12225-025-10264-1https://www.nps.gov/bibe/learn/news/new-plant-species-discovered-in-big-bend.htmhttps://www.nps.gov/im/chdn/ecoregion.htmRosa Villanueva-Espinoza and John R. I. Wood (2025). Two new species of Aphelandra (Acanthaceae) from Peru. Kew Bulletin, 80, 983-991. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12225-025-10334-4
- Jan 25, 20268 min
Pohutukawa
Merry Christmas? Happy New Year? Happy Holidays! That covers it. Personally, I celebrated four this year. Enjoy this more-or-less seasonal episode about the New Zealand Christmas Tree.Music by James Milor from Pixabay.Information provided by:https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/pohutukawa-flame-of-the-north/https://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/native-plants/pohutukawa/https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/photo/pohutukawa-treeshttps://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/metrosideros-excelsa/https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/the-forgotten-pandemic/https://www.tanestrees.org.nz/species-profiles/pohutukawa/https://help.treesthatcount.co.nz/en/articles/8584808-pohutukawahttps://meaningoftrees.com/2019/02/05/pohutukawa-metrosideros-excelsa/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C5%8Dhutukawa
- Dec 1, 202511 min
Cranberry
Pass the cranberry sauce! Did you read that to the tune of the Bob’s Burgers song? I hope so.Music by James MilorInformation provided by:https://www.cranberryinstitute.org/cranberry-health-researchhttps://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/the-botany-behind-why-cranberries-became-a-thanksgiving-staplePeterson Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs of Eastern and Central North America (3rd ed.) by Steven Foster and James A. Duke (2014)https://www.cranberries.org/Herbs at a Glance: A Quick Guide to Herbal Supplements by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (2009)Cranberry: Chemical composition, antioxidant activity and impact on human health by Boris V. Nemzer, et al. (2022). Molecules, 27(5), pg. 1503. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27051503Peterson Field Guides: Edible Wild Plants of Eastern and Central North America by Lee Allen Peterson (1977)The Kitchen Witch Companion by Sarah Robinson and Lucy H. Pearce (2023)Domestication, genetics, and genomics of the American cranberry by Nicholi Vorsa and Juan Zalapa in Plant Breeding Reviews, Volume 43 by Irwin Goldman (Ed.) (2019). https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119616801.ch8
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A podcast about strange, spooky, and misunderstood plants (and sometimes fungi).
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