Herbarium of the Bizarre

By Meredith Hemphill

A podcast about strange, spooky, and misunderstood plants (and sometimes fungi).

Support the podcast at https://www.patreon.com/HerbariumoftheBizarre... more

Download on the App Store

Download on the App Store

Get it on Google Play

FAQs about Herbarium of the Bizarre:

How many episodes does Herbarium of the Bizarre have?

The podcast currently has 76 episodes available.

Herbarium of the Bizarre episodes:

July 06, 2024Dyer's Croton
I was hoping this plant was going to be a little more explode-y, but you can paint and make cheese with it, so that’s pretty cool.

I didn’t really think about the fact that my day off was also the day everyone sets off fireworks (even though they’re illegal in North Carolina) before I decided it would be a good time to record. At least it’s kind of on theme.

Music by James Milor from Pixabay

Information provided by:
Prokinetic and Laxative Effects of Chrozophora tinctoria whole plant extract by Ayaz Ali Sher, et al. (2022) https://doi.org/10.3390%2Fmolecules27072143

https://discoverpollinators.org/all-about-pollinators/ants/

A review on medicinal aspects of Chrozophora tinctoria (L.) A. (Euphorbiaceae) by Sumaiya Fatima, et al. (2022)

Desert Plants of Egypt’s Wadi El Gemal National Park by Tamer Mahmoud

Pharmacological evaluation of Chrozophora tinctoria as wound healing potential in diabetic rat's model by Harikesh Maurya, Monika Semwal, & Susheel Kumar Dubey (2016) https://doi.org/10.1155%2F2016%2F7475124

The book on how to make all the colour paints for illuminating books: unravelling a Portuguese Hebrew illuminators’ manual by Maria J. Melo, et al. (2018)

https://www.maltawildplants.com/EUPH/Chrozophora_tinctoria.php

A 1000-year-old mystery solved: Unlocking the molecular structure for the medieval blue from Chrozophora tinctoria, also known as folium by P. Nabais, et al. (2020) https://doi.org/10.1126%2Fsciadv.aaz7772

Phytochemical analysis, antiproliferative and antioxidant activities of Chrozophora tinctoria: a natural dye plant by Feyza Oke-Altuntas, et al. (2017) https://doi.org/10.1080%2F13880209.2016.1277767

https://www.fs.usda.gov/managing-land/wildflowers/pollinators/who-are-the-pollinators/ants

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrozophora_tinctoria
...more
10min
June 29, 2024Triffids
I’m trying a new thing today. Y’all will get to hear my “radio voice.” Is that a treat or a punishment? You tell me.

Music by James Milor from Pixabay

Information provided by:
https://www.carnivorousplantresource.com/the-plants/triffid-triffidus-celestus/

Steve Sekeley (Director). (1963). The Day of the Triffids [Film]. Security Pictures, Ltd.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triffid

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_of_the_Triffids

The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham (1951)
...more
11min
June 21, 2024Desert Cotton
Our plant this week is Desert Cotton, which is also known as Kapok Bush. It turns out there is also a Kapok Tree, and that was totally not confusing at all when we were researching this episode. 😵‍💫

Music by James Milor from Pixabay

Information provided by:
Association of Morphological, Ecological, and Genetic Diversity of Aerva javanica Populations Growing in the Eastern Desert of Egypt by Noha A. El-Tayeh, et al. (2020) https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10030402

Desert Plants of Egypt’s Wadi El Gemal National Park by Tamer Mahmoud

A Review on the Pashanbheda Plant “Aerva javanica” by Vinit Ravjibhai Movaliya and Maitreyi Zaveri (2014)

https://www.purdue.edu/hla/sites/famine-foods/famine_food/aerva-javanica/

https://www.enature.qa/specie/tuwaim/

Phytochemical Analysis of Anastatica hierochuntica and Aerva javanica Grown in Qatar: Their Biological Activities and Identification of Some Active Ingredients by Vandana Thotathil, et al. (2023) https://doi.org/10.3390%2Fmolecules28083364

https://www.medicinalplants.doh.gov.ae/en/Encyclopedia-of-medicine-plant-of-UAE/Aerva-javanica

https://tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Aerva+javanica

https://keyserver.lucidcentral.org/weeds/data/media/Html/aerva_javanica.htm

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerva_javanica
...more
8min
June 14, 2024Yarrow
Our plant today symbolizes both war and healing. It’s been used to make beer, soup, and tea, but if you see it in the wild, you would probably just think it’s a weed. Which it is, but a useful one.

Music by James Milor from Pixabay

Information provided by:
Flowers and their Meanings by Karen Azoulay

https://www.almanac.com/yarrow-and-its-medicinal-uses-healing-garden-herb

https://www.almanac.com/plant/yarrow

https://www.botanical.com/~botanid5/botanical/mgmh/y/yarrow02.html

https://www.mountsinai.org/health-library/herb/yarrow

https://santafebotanicalgarden.org/march-2011/

“Yarrow” from University of California Master Gardener Program

https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-151/yarrow
...more
8min
June 08, 2024Mad Honey
I forgot to mention this in the episode, so bonus fact: mad honey poisoning can theoretically be fatal, but no one has actually died from it since the 1800s. These days, we have treatments for severe poisonings, one of which is actually atropine!

Music by James Milor from Pixabay

Information provided by:
https://theapiarist.org/mad-honey/

https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/mad-honey-red-hallucinogen

Risks for human health related to the presence of grayanotoxins in certain honey by the European Food Safety Authority (2023) https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2023.7866

Grayanotoxin poisoning: ‘Mad honey disease’ and beyond by Suze A. Jansen et al. (2012) https://doi.org/10.1007%2Fs12012-012-9162-2

https://bigthink.com/health/mad-honey/

https://www.kew.org/read-and-watch/hidden-poison-rhododendron-nectar

Mad honey: uses, intoxicating/poisoning effects, diagnosis, and treatment by Sana Ullah et al. (2018) https://doi.org/10.1039%2Fc8ra01924j

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_honey

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhododendron
...more
11min
May 31, 2024Catnip
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:
Catnip: Its raison d’être by T. Eisner (1964)

https://www.bhg.com/gardening/flowers/perennials/catmint-vs-catnip/

www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/12/181211103125.htm

https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/catnip-nepeta-cataria/

https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=e433

https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/nepeta-cataria/

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

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010828075659.htm

Inheritance of the catnip response in domestic cats by N. B. Todd (1962) https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.jhered.a107121

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/experts-how-does-catnip-work-on-cats/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catnip
...more
10min
May 25, 2024Deadly Nightshade
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:
Atropa Belladonna intoxication: a case report by Mohamed Adnane Berdai, et al. (2012)

https://www.europeana.eu/en/exhibitions/magical-mystical-and-medicinal/belladonna

https://sites.evergreen.edu/plantchemeco/deadly-nightshade/

https://www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/deadly-nightshade-botanical-biography

https://www.rxlist.com/how_do_anticholinergic_agents_work/drug-class.htm

An Evidence-Based Systematic Review of Belladonna by the Natural Standard Research Collaboration by Catherine Ulbricht, et al. (2004)

https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/ethnobotany/Mind_and_Spirit/belladonna.shtml

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anticholinergic

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atropa_belladonna

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/plants/wild-flowers/deadly-nightshade/
...more
12min
May 18, 2024Guanacaste Tree
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:
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/FR372

https://apps.worldagroforestry.org/treedb2/speciesprofile.php?Spid=734

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

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

https://www.govisitcostarica.com/blog/post/elephant-ear-tree-history-costa-rica-national-tree.aspx#

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enterolobium_cyclocarpum#cite_ref-14

https://winrock.org/enterolobium-cyclocarpum-the-ear-pod-tree-for-pasture-fodder-and-wood/

Tropical Plants of Costa Rica by Willow Zuchowski
...more
9min
May 11, 2024Stinging Nettle
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:
Nettle as a distinct Bronze Age textile plant by C. Bergfjord, et al. (2012) https://doi.org/10.1038%2Fsrep00664

https://www.britannica.com/plant/stinging-nettle

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

https://theecologist.org/2009/aug/20/second-skin-why-wearing-nettles-next-big-thing

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/stinging-nettle

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

https://www.webmd.com/diet/health-benefits-nettle-leaf

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urtica_dioica
...more
10min
April 26, 2024Bladderwort
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:
https://entomologytoday.org/2024/03/27/bladderwort-carnivorous-plant-mosquito-biological-control/

https://www.britannica.com/plant/bladderwort

http://www.batladyherbals.com/2021/03/bladderwort.html

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

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utricularia
...more
11min

FAQs about Herbarium of the Bizarre:

How many episodes does Herbarium of the Bizarre have?

The podcast currently has 76 episodes available.