Featuring several detours into catmint, which is almost, but not quite, the same thing.

Article on catnip from my defunct blog: https://encyclopaediafelidae.com/crazy-for-catnip/

Music by James Milor from Pixabay

Information provided by:

1. Catnip: Its raison d’être by T. Eisner (1964)
2. https://www.bhg.com/gardening/flowers/perennials/catmint-vs-catnip/
3. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/12/181211103125.htm
4. https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/catnip-nepeta-cataria/
5. https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=e433
6. https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/nepeta-cataria/
7. Catnip and oestrous behaviour in the cat by G. F. Palen and G. V. Goddard (1966) https://doi.org/10.1016/S0003-3472(66)80100-8
8. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010828075659.htm
9. Inheritance of the catnip response in domestic cats by N. B. Todd (1962) https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.jhered.a107121
10. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/experts-how-does-catnip-work-on-cats/
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catnip

It’s one of history’s favorite poisons, Deadly Nightshade! It’s also one of my favorite plants, because it is both pretty and horribly toxic. The flowers are my favorite color!

Music by James Milor from Pixabay

Information provided by:

1. Atropa Belladonna intoxication: a case report by Mohamed Adnane Berdai, et al. (2012)
2. https://www.europeana.eu/en/exhibitions/magical-mystical-and-medicinal/belladonna
3. https://sites.evergreen.edu/plantchemeco/deadly-nightshade/
4. https://www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/deadly-nightshade-botanical-biography
5. https://www.rxlist.com/how_do_anticholinergic_agents_work/drug-class.htm
6. An Evidence-Based Systematic Review of Belladonna by the Natural Standard Research Collaboration by Catherine Ulbricht, et al. (2004)
7. https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/ethnobotany/Mind_and_Spirit/belladonna.shtml
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anticholinergic
9. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atropa_belladonna
10. https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/plants/wild-flowers/deadly-nightshade/

There is COVID in our house, and I still have to get up at 5 a.m. tomorrow. I can’t think of a clever description, but I managed to make an episode on time, so be proud of me, please. This tree is named after intestines. That’s pretty interesting, right?

Music by James Milor from Pixabay

Information provided by:

1. https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/FR372
2. https://apps.worldagroforestry.org/treedb2/speciesprofile.php?Spid=734
3. Chemical composition, secondary metabolites and nutritive value of elephant-ear tree (Enterolobium cyclocarpum (Jacq.) Griseb): A review by N.J. Ekanem, Udoh Inyang, & Kingsley Ikwunze (2022) http://dx.doi.org/10.51791/njap.v49i2.3489
4. Enterolobium cyclocarpum Seed Passage Rate and Survival in Horses, Costa Rican Pleistocene Seed Dispersal Agents by Daniel H. Janzen (1981) https://doi.org/10.2307/1937726
5. https://www.govisitcostarica.com/blog/post/elephant-ear-tree-history-costa-rica-national-tree.aspx#
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enterolobium_cyclocarpum#cite_ref-14
7. https://winrock.org/enterolobium-cyclocarpum-the-ear-pod-tree-for-pasture-fodder-and-wood/
8. Tropical Plants of Costa Rica by Willow Zuchowski

Meet the stinging nettle, a plant you don’t want to touch but might want to eat…or wear.

Alysse Creations: https://alysse-creations.info/

The website is in French, because they are in France.

Music by James Milor from Pixabay

Information provided by:

1. Nettle as a distinct Bronze Age textile plant by C. Bergfjord, et al. (2012) https://doi.org/10.1038%2Fsrep00664
2. https://www.britannica.com/plant/stinging-nettle
3. Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica L.): Nutritional Composition, Bioactive Compounds, and Food Functional Properties by Hari Prasad Devkota, et al. (2022) https://doi.org/10.3390%2Fmolecules27165219
4. https://theecologist.org/2009/aug/20/second-skin-why-wearing-nettles-next-big-thing
5. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/stinging-nettle
6. The medicinal chemistry of Urtica dioica L.: from preliminary evidence to clinical studies supporting its neuroprotective activity by Prabhakar Semwal, et al. (2023) https://doi.org/10.1007%2Fs13659-023-00380-5
7. https://www.webmd.com/diet/health-benefits-nettle-leaf
8. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urtica_dioica

It’s the last week of Carnivorous Plant Month. 😢 But we’re finishing up with a real overachiever.

Music by James Milor from Pixabay

Information provided by:

1. https://entomologytoday.org/2024/03/27/bladderwort-carnivorous-plant-mosquito-biological-control/
2. https://www.britannica.com/plant/bladderwort
3. http://www.batladyherbals.com/2021/03/bladderwort.html
4. Evaluating the carnivorous efficacy of Utricularia aurea (Lamiales: Lentibulariaceae) on the larval stages of Anopheles stephensi, Culex quinquefasciatus, and Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) by Ajeet Kumar Mohanty, et al. (2024) https://doi.org/10.1093/jme/tjae038
5. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utricularia

This week’s carnivorous plant is bad news for gnats, flies, and mosquitoes, but maybe good for cows?

Music by James Milor from Pixabay

Information provided by:

1. https://botany.org/home/resources/carnivorous-plants-insectivorous-plants/pinguicula-the-butterworts.html
2. https://www.learnaboutnature.com/plants/carnivorous/butterworts/
3. https://www.ukhouseplants.com/plants/pinguicula-butterworts
4. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinguicula
5. https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/wildflowers/common-butterwort

Make sure you celebrate International Plant Appreciation Day tomorrow!

Music by James Milor from Pixabay

Information provided by:

1. Carnivorous plants: Phylogeny and structural evolution by Victor A. Albert, Stephen E. Williams, & Mark W. Chase (1992) https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1523408
2. Fluid physico-chemical properties influence capture and diet in Nepenthes pitcher plants by Vincent Bazile, et al. (2015) https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcu266
3. https://www.britannica.com/plant/pitcher-plant
4. https://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2023/11/how-carnivorous-Asian-pitcher-plants-acquired-signature-insect-traps.html
5. How a sticky fluid facilitates prey retention in a carnivorous pitcher plant (Nepenthes rafflesiana) by Victor Kang, et al. (2021) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actbio.2021.04.002
6. Bait, not reward: CO2-enriched Nepenthes pitchers secrete toxic nectar by Chandni Chandran Lathika, et al. (2023) https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.11.25.568661
7. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/carnivorous-pitcher-plants
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitcher_plant
9. https://www.worldwildlife.org/magazine/issues/fall-2020/articles/tropical-pitcher-plants-are-beautiful-but-deadly

April is Carnivorous Plant Month! Because I said so. This week, we’re talking about one of Charles Darwin’s favorite plants, the Venus Flytrap.

Music by James Milor from Pixabay

Information provided by:

1. https://www.zmescience.com/science/venus-flytrap/
2. https://cnr.ncsu.edu/news/2021/01/five-things-about-venus-flytraps/
3. Testing Darwin’s hypothesis about the wonderful Venus flytrap: marginal spikes form a ‘horrid prison’ for moderate-sized insect prey by Alexander L. Davis, et al. (2019) https://doi.org/10.1086%2F701433
4. https://www.fws.gov/species/venus-fly-trap-dionaea-muscipula
5. https://www.the-scientist.com/how-the-venus-flytrap-captures-its-prey-71429