ve-meta title="Plant Humanities Lab" description="Explore the cultural histories of plants and their influence on human societies."

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Featured Resources

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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.

Featured Plant Narratives

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Okra: An Enduring Kitchen Staple

Okra: An Enduring Kitchen Staple

• Allison Caban and Malek Charchour

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Indigo: Layers of Paint, History, and Art

Indigo: Layers of Paint, History, and Art

• Jordan Noelle Smith, Gianna Welty, and Hayley Blair

Soybean: The Versatile Miracle Crop

Soybean: The Versatile Miracle Crop

• Nina Elkadi

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Opium Poppy: A Cursed Beauty

Opium Poppy: A Cursed Beauty

• Carol Chang, Heather Rose Craddock, and Alejandro Garay

Quinoa: From Indigenous Crop to International Superfood

Quinoa: From Indigenous Crop to International Superfood

• Matthew Turetsky

Cercidiphyllum japonicum: The Katsura at Dumbarton Oaks

Cercidiphyllum japonicum: The Katsura at Dumbarton Oaks

• Abner Aldarondo

Eggplant: Food, Sex, and Poison

Eggplant: Food, Sex, and Poison

• Ana Carolina Carmona-Ribeiro, Nathan Cornish, and Sheila Scoville

Maize: Sacred Plant, Global Commodity

Maize: Sacred Plant, Global Commodity

• Julia Fine

All Plant Narratives

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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

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

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

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

Heliconia: Evolution at Work

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

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

Okra: An Enduring Kitchen Staple

Okra: An Enduring Kitchen Staple

• Allison Caban and Malek Charchour

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Opium Poppy: A Cursed Beauty

Opium Poppy: A Cursed Beauty

• Carol Chang, Heather Rose Craddock, and Alejandro Garay

Peanut: From Luxury Food to Livestock Feed

Peanut: From Luxury Food to Livestock Feed

• Maria Job, Elizabeth Chant, and Katherine Enright

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

Peony: Pretty and Powerful

• Ashley Buchanan

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

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

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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- A collaboration between: 
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- and
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- with support from
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