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Welcome to the Natural Coalescence Blog
Here you will find botanical tales and planty fun of all kinds with botany nerding and ecology through a entertaining lens.


Stop and Smell the Irises: Does iris flower scent match their colors?
Irises aren't just in all the colors of the rainbow, they seem to also be every scent of the cornucopia- a nose rainbow. But do their colors match their smell? Sniff for yourself and read all about them.
7 min read


Camas: common or death?
Edible or lethal plants. Comparing and admiring common camas with death-camas, and a few native plant relatives in the PNW.
5 min read


Spring Bulbs: Eat-Me-Nots
All about the popular spring bulbs that are nearly all varying levels of toxic
5 min read


Iris Pride
The iris is more than a lovely (ok absolutely gorgeous) flower. Of ancient Greek mythology, she is the goddess who personified the rainbow and the messenger of the gods where her rainbow trail could be seen left on her message runs between the Earth and the heavens. True, she was a lower tier deity in that mythology, but served a useful role, and how much “use” do we get from rainbows today, really? Definitely some joy and inspiration, and a nice clue to the presence of iso
6 min read


Mystical Mistletoes
Mistletoe in California oak at Yosemite NP Mistletoes get an interesting and sort of bad rep. They are only really thought about during the holidays (unless by botanists) and many have heard that they are super toxic and kill trees they live on. And yet you’re supposed to smooch under them. Why? Wouldn’t you NOT want to apply your mouth to a person when they are under a toxic plant, just in case some falls on their face right then? Well let’s pick all this apart. If you
9 min read
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