ve-meta title="Plant Humanities Lab" description="Explore the cultural histories of plants and their influence on human societies."
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Featured Plant Narratives
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Arabica Coffee: Cultivating Connection and Climate Resilience
Arabica Coffee: Cultivating Connection and Climate Resilience
- Nina Foster
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Beyond the Silken Shadow: The Mulberry Tree’s Metamorphosis and Homecoming
Beyond the Silken Shadow: The Mulberry Tree’s Metamorphosis and Homecoming
- Kate Aubrecht and Viveca Mellegård
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Salvation and Suffering: Potato
Salvation and Suffering: Potato
- Nola Rettenmaier, Alexander Betz, and Jessica Gómez
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Jasmine: The Sensual and the Sacred
Jasmine: The Sensual and the Sacred
- Adriana Ballinger and Tori Champion
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Passionflower: Christian Curiosity, Exotic Vine, Tropical Fruit
Passionflower: Christian Curiosity, Exotic Vine, Tropical Fruit
- Theo Detweiler, Willa Frank, Rose Kent
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Guelder Rose: The Powerful Symbolism of a Plant in Ukraine and Russia
Guelder Rose: The Powerful Symbolism of a Plant in Ukraine and Russia
- Anna Hogarth, Nidhish Birhade, and Matthew Turetsky
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The Gulmohar: Becoming Native
- Nidhish Birhade
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What We Know Now: Tracing the Tamarack
What We Know Now: Tracing the Tamarack
- Hannah Hardenbergh
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Featured Resources
.cards
How to Read an Herbarium Specimen
How to Read an Herbarium Specimen
- Maura Flannery
This essay provides an approachable overview of herbarium specimens and how they are used.
All Plant Narratives
.cards
Agave: A Plant with an Intoxicating History
Agave: A Plant with an Intoxicating History
- Ashley Buchanan
Arbor Vitae: In Search of the Tree of Life
Arbor Vitae: In Search of the Tree of Life
- Ashley Buchanan
Ayahuasca: Amazonian Plant Lessons
Ayahuasca: Amazonian Plant Lessons
- Ashley Thuthao Keng Dam, Diana Heredia-López, Rachael Nelson, and Erin Wrightson
Bananas: Chaos out of Order
- Ashley Buchanan
Black-Eyed Pea: Crop, Culture, Class
Black-Eyed Pea: Crop, Culture, Class
- Sarah Mallory, Emily Kamm, Haley Price, and Christina Hourigan
Boxwood: A Plant That Took Over the Garden World
Boxwood: A Plant That Took Over the Garden World
- Anatole Tchikine
The Breadfruit’s Reinvention: Pacific to Caribbean
The Breadfruit’s Reinvention: Pacific to Caribbean
- Elaine Savory
The Broad-Leaf Bark: Friend or Foe?
The Broad-Leaf Bark: Friend or Foe?
- Bethany Kidd and Sierra Roark
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Cacao: Indigenous Network to Global Commodity
Cacao: Indigenous Network to Global Commodity
- Rebecca Friedel
Carolina Rice: An Agricultural Legacy of Enslaved Peoples
Carolina Rice: An Agricultural Legacy of Enslaved Peoples
- Julia Fine
Cassava: From Toxic Tuber to Food Staple
Cassava: From Toxic Tuber to Food Staple
- Christina Emery, Rachel Hirsch, and Melinda Susanto
Cinnamomum verum: Discovering “True” Cinnamon
Cinnamomum verum: Discovering “True” Cinnamon
- Wouter Klein
Arabica Coffee: Cultivating Connection and Climate Resilience
Arabica Coffee: Cultivating Connection and Climate Resilience
- Nina Foster
!
Cryptomeria japonica: Climate Change, Cultivation, and Culture
Cryptomeria japonica: Climate Change, Cultivation, and Culture
- Kira Bre Clingen and Edyth Jostol
Dittany: Women’s Herbs and Reproductive Control
Dittany: Women’s Herbs and Reproductive Control
- Ashley Buchanan
Dracaena draco: The Mystery of Dragon’s Blood
Dracaena draco: The Mystery of Dragon’s Blood
- Thomas C. Anderson, Cati Kalinoski, and Lucas Mertehikian
Eggplant: Food, Sex, and Poison
Eggplant: Food, Sex, and Poison
- Ana Carolina Carmona-Ribeiro, Nathan Cornish, and Sheila Scoville
Guelder Rose: The Powerful Symbolism of a Plant in Ukraine and Russia
Guelder Rose: The Powerful Symbolism of a Plant in Ukraine and Russia
- Anna Hogarth, Nidhish Birhade, and Matthew Turetsky
!
The Gulmohar: Becoming Native
- Nidhish Birhade
!
Heliconia: Evolution at Work
- W. John Kress and Yota Batsaki
Indigo: Layers of Paint, History, and Art
Indigo: Layers of Paint, History, and Art
- Jordan Noelle Smith, Gianna Welty, and Hayley Blair
Jasmine: The Sensual and the Sacred
Jasmine: The Sensual and the Sacred
- Adriana Ballinger and Tori Champion
!
Maize: Sacred Plant, Global Commodity
Maize: Sacred Plant, Global Commodity
- Julia Fine
Mint: The Ubiquity of a Commercial Crop
Mint: The Ubiquity of a Commercial Crop
- Victoria Pickering
Beyond the Silken Shadow: The Mulberry Tree’s Metamorphosis and Homecoming
Beyond the Silken Shadow: The Mulberry Tree’s Metamorphosis and Homecoming
- Kate Aubrecht and Viveca Mellegård
!
Okra: An Enduring Kitchen Staple
Okra: An Enduring Kitchen Staple
- Allison Caban and Malek Charchour
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Opium Poppy: A Cursed Beauty
- Carol Chang, Heather Rose Craddock, and Alejandro Garay
Passionflower: Christian Curiosity, Exotic Vine, Tropical Fruit
Passionflower: Christian Curiosity, Exotic Vine, Tropical Fruit
- Theo Detweiler, Willa Frank, Rose Kent
!
Peanut: From Luxury Food to Livestock Feed
Peanut: From Luxury Food to Livestock Feed
- Maria Job, Elizabeth Chant, and Katherine Enright
Pecan: Beyond Thanksgiving Pie to Indigenous Reciprocity
Pecan: Beyond Thanksgiving Pie to Indigenous Reciprocity
- MaryKathryn Underwood, Stefania Rocca, and Paolo Taffaro
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Pelargonium: By Any Other Name Would Smell as Sweet?
Pelargonium: By Any Other Name Would Smell as Sweet?
- Daisy Reid, Verónica Matallana Chaves, and Yao Jiang
Peony: Pretty and Powerful
- Ashley Buchanan
Salvation and Suffering: Potato
Salvation and Suffering: Potato
- Nola Rettenmaier, Alexander Betz, and Jessica Gómez
!
The Sensitive Plant: Meaning and Movement
The Sensitive Plant: Meaning and Movement
- Elaina Foley, Sabrina Freidus, and Jordan Norviel
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Sunflower: Knowledge, Myth, and Meaning
Sunflower: Knowledge, Myth, and Meaning
- Kristan M. Hanson
Soybean: The Versatile Miracle Crop
Soybean: The Versatile Miracle Crop
- Nina Elkadi
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Quinoa: From Indigenous Crop to International Superfood
Quinoa: From Indigenous Crop to International Superfood
- Matthew Turetsky
What We Know Now: Tracing the Tamarack
What We Know Now: Tracing the Tamarack
- Hannah Hardenbergh
!
Tamarind: From Shady Refuge to Versatile Foodstuff
Tamarind: From Shady Refuge to Versatile Foodstuff
- Allison Fulton, Amara Santiesteban Serrano, and Jeannette Schollaert
Turmeric: Herb of the Sun
- Julia Fine
Venus Flytrap: Queen of the Carnivorous Plants
Venus Flytrap: Queen of the Carnivorous Plants
- John R. Schaefer
Watermelon: Stereotypes of Race and Class
Watermelon: Stereotypes of Race and Class
- Anna Lawrence, Camilo Uribe Botta, and May Wang
Wild Yam: The Rhizome of the Pill
Wild Yam: The Rhizome of the Pill
- Kira Bre Clingen
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