About 40 years ago, a Miami couple fresh from a long trip to Asia brought seeds of an attractive Indian evergreen tree to Fairchild Tropical Garden. Over time this species, Polyalthia longifolia (a/k/a P. longifolia var. pendula), has proven to be a very successful introduction to the landscape of southern Florida. Commonly known as the Mast Tree –– ship…
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Fewer plants have a stranger appellation than Monstera deliciosa, but at least the name is half right! This sturdy aroid has been described by one prominent botanist as “probably the finest foliage plant ever introduced into horticulture.” But it is even more than that, because it produces a delicious fruit that combines the tastes of…
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This past week saw the end of summer and the beginning of fall. The nursery still has Jackfruit for sale and will plant a few assorted vegetable and herb plants in the next couple of weeks. Remember, Richard Lyons Nursery is open from 8:00AM until 4:30PM every day EXCEPT Thursday.
Once in a while we come across a plant species whose exact origin is unknown. A well-known example is the Coconut Palm, because its fruit, or seednut, is capable of both floating in ocean water and resisting salt’s toxic effects, allowing it to spread to many tropical and subtropical locales. But in most other cases a plant’s origin is unknown because humans living…
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As you know, we are surrounded by weird things. In your case, at this very moment the closest weird thing is probably your neighbor’s teenage son, who thinks he is the next Justin Bieber, but more closely resembles an offkey cyclops. In the plant world, one of the weirder things is the Baobab tree, but, unlike your neighbor’s kid, the Baobab has…
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