Plants

Wheat is the most widely cultivated crop in the world by harvested area and the most important source of plant-based protein and calories in the global human diet, forming the dietary foundation of civilizations across Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia, and increasingly across sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America for over 10,000 years. … Read more

Rice is the most important staple food crop in human history, feeding more people on a daily basis than any other single food and forming the caloric foundation of diets across Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East for thousands of years. Domesticated independently in China from wild rice around 7,000 to 9,000 … Read more

Potatoes are the most widely consumed vegetable in the world and the fourth most important food crop in human history after wheat, rice, and maize, with origins in the high Andes mountains of Peru and Bolivia where they have been cultivated by indigenous peoples for over 8,000 years. Introduced to Europe by Spanish conquistadors in … Read more

Lettuce is the most widely grown salad vegetable in the world, cultivated for over 5,000 years with origins traced to the wild lettuce plants of the Mediterranean basin and the Middle East, where ancient Egyptians first domesticated it as a food and oil crop. It belongs to the daisy family alongside sunflowers and chrysanthemums, and … Read more

Apples are the most widely cultivated tree fruit in the temperate world, with a history of human cultivation stretching back at least 4,000 to 10,000 years to the wild apple forests of the Tian Shan mountains in Kazakhstan, where the ancestor of all domestic apples still grows today. They belong to the rose family alongside … Read more

Cabbage is one of the oldest and most widely cultivated vegetables in the world, with a history of human cultivation stretching back over 4,000 years across Europe and Asia. It belongs to the same plant species as broccoli, kauliflower, kale, and Brussels sprouts, all of which were developed from the same wild ancestor through centuries … Read more

Fall foliage color is one of the most celebrated seasonal phenomena in temperate gardening, and while red and orange maples tend to dominate the conversation, yellow-turning shrubs are among the most valuable and versatile contributors to the autumn garden palette. Hundreds of deciduous shrub species produce yellow fall color as chlorophyll breaks down in cooling … Read more

Morning glories are one of the most widely grown and instantly recognizable flowering vines in the world, producing trumpet-shaped flowers in vivid shades of blue, purple, pink, red, white, and bicolor combinations that open each morning in a spectacular daily display and close by afternoon. Belonging to the bindweed family with over 1,000 species distributed … Read more

Carnations are one of the oldest cultivated flowers in the world, with a documented history of over 2,000 years stretching back to ancient Greece and Rome where they were used in garlands, ceremonial decorations, and early herbal medicine. Belonging to the pink family alongside dianthus and sweet william, there are over 300 species within the … Read more

Onions are one of the oldest and most universally grown vegetables in human history, cultivated for at least 5,000 years across virtually every agricultural civilization from ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia to China and pre-Columbian America. They belong to the allium family alongside garlic, leeks, chives, and shallots, and are today grown on every inhabited continent … Read more