Darwin Archives

Michel Adanson: The Botanist Behind Baobabs and Plant Mutation

Michel Adanson, a prominent 18th-century French botanist and naturalist.

The Methodology of Flowering Plants April 7, 1727 Today is the birthday of the 18th-century Scottish-French botanist and naturalist Michel Adanson. Michel created the first natural classification of flowering plants. In fact, the great botanist Jussieu (“Juice You”) adopted Michel’s methodology to create his masterpiece called Genera Plantarum (1789). Although today we think mainly of Darwin and…

Darwin’s Most Wonderful Plants by Ken Thompson

As Heard on The Daily Gardener Podcast: Darwin’s Most Wonderful Plants by Ken Thompson This book came out in 2019, and the subtitle is Darwin’s Botany Today. In this book, Ken helps us understand Darwin as a botanist. After his famous voyage on The Beagle, Darwin experimented with and observed growing plants at his home in…

November 18, 2020 Winter Garden Plants, William Shenstone, Leo Lesquereux, Asa Gray, Beverley Nichols, The Kew Gardener’s Guide to Growing House Plants by Kay Maguire, and Goldenrod

The Daily Gardener Podcast Album Cover with a pot of rosemary - the herb for remembrance - beckoning gardeners to remember to listen to the show. Updated September 2025.

Michel Adanson, Baobabs, and the Roots of Botanical Classification

Mind Behind Mutation Today is the anniversary of the death of the 18th-century Scottish-French botanist and naturalist Michel Adanson. Michel created the first natural classification of flowering plants. In fact, Jussieu (“Juice You”) adopted Michel’s methodology to create his masterpiece that defined plant groups called Genera Plantarum (1789). Although today we think mainly of Darwin…

William Herbert: The Dean Who Renamed Your Christmas Bulbs

Amaryllis, or more specifically, it belongs to the genus Hippeastrum, sometimes referred to as the Striped Barbados Lily (Hippeastrum striatum).

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. May 28, 1847 Today marks the departure of William Herbert from our mortal garden—a man whose taxonomic meddling continues to vex gardeners nearly two centuries hence. This distinguished botanist, scholar, poet, and clergyman—who…