Botanical Bits
26 Mar
0
58
Title image above is copyright © Kristi Ellinopoullos
First published 26th March 2026
The other day I lopped the top off some sugarcane (Saccharum sp.) for a customer and was taken by how similar to lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) the cross-section looked.
So I thought I’d grab a piece of growing..
21 Mar
0
67
Title image above is copyright © Kristi Ellinopoullos
First published 21st March 2026
This post is an extract from Update: Aerial Rootin' Shootin' Sugarcane.
Back on the 16th March, after writing [that post], I cut that stem into two pieces to pot up. Here I’ve laid the two pieces side by side su..
20 Mar
0
191
Title image above is copyright © Kristi Ellinopoullos
First published 15th March 2026
Updated on 20th March 2026
I cut a roughly 2 m cane of Cultivar 1 that other day and was absolutely transfixed by its top piece:
copyright © Kristi Ellinopoullos
Zooming in:
copyright © Kristi Ellinopoullos
Not..
25 Feb
0
315
Title image above is copyright © Kristi Ellinopoullos
First published 25th February 2026
People always do a double-take whenever I mention that I have carnivorous passionfruit! Though apparently it is more accurately a protocarnivorous passionfruit. Here is the flower of the protocarnivorous passi..
31 Dec
0
298
Title image above is copyright © Kristi Ellinopoullos
First published 31st December 2025
Happy New Year!
copyright © Kristi Ellinopoullos
..
10 Dec
0
492
Title image above is copyright © Kristi Ellinopoullos
First published 10th December 2025
Did you know that there are carnivorous bromeliads? Not too many, only three or four in the entire Bromeliaceae (Bromeliad) family of roughly 80 genera and 3,700 species. (How I would love them to all be here ..
09 Dec
0
380
Title image above is copyright © Kristi Ellinopoullos
First published 9th December 2025
Here we are going to explore the botanical structure of a sugarcane stalk. These parts are common to all stems and branches regardless of species, but they are particularly distinct here in sugarcane (and the s..
10 Aug
0
939
Title image above is copyright © Kristi Ellinopoullos
First published 10th August 2025
Bromeliads have the most amazing infloresecences* (flower spikes*), and the inflorescence of the pink-and-blue matchstick bromeliad (Aechmea gamosepala var. gamosepala) is no exception!
* A more accurate descrip..
03 Aug
0
1988
Title image above is copyright © Kristi Ellinopoullos
First published 3rd August 2025
The Araucaria genus comprises twenty species, now native only to the southern hemisphere, though they were once worldwide from 66 to 200 million years ago.
The Bunya Pine (Araucaria bidwillii) and Hoop or Moreton..
11 Jun
1
1287
Title image above is copyright © Kristi Ellinopoullos
First published 11th June 2025
Introduction to the Structure of Sugarcane
Sugarcane is super easy to propagate — possibly the hardest part is deciding which of the three different ways suits you best!
(There is a fourth way not covered here, a..
01 Jun
0
913
Title image above is copyright © Kristi Ellinopoullos
First published 1st June 2025
Botanical Bits
Botanical name: Smallanthus sonchifolius
Family: Asteraceae (the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family: includes daisies, sunflowers, Curio sp. succulents)
Growth: Herbaceous (no woody stems)
..
06 May
1
2948
Title image above is copyright © Kristi Ellinopoullos
First published 6th May 2025
On Bulbs
“Bulb” in the botany world has a very precise meaning — it is the underground stem (yes, stem) of a plant, made of fleshy leaves and used for food storage during dormancy.
A bulb is an organ. Other plant or..