So today was the ESPM Ice Cream Social. I was planning on making an announcement here sooner, but I totally blanked on it yesterday. Sorry about that. For today, the ESPM department was giving away free cones of Ben & Jerry's ice cream to anyone who stopped by outside of Mulford. Some of the professors were scooping cones for people; it was pretty cool get a cone from Keith Gilless, acting dean of CNR. I wasn't able to stay for too long (I had to go to class), but just getting the chance to enjoy the beautiful weather and talk with some friends was great. The Strawberry Kiwi sorbet was pretty good, too. This event reminds me of why the ESPM department is pretty cool (and CNR as a whole).

Yeah, CNR is a pretty chill place to be.

Posted by Joel Kim at 3:02 PM | Permalink

I love my little bath sponge. I love it even more now that I know where it comes from.

I bought a new loofah sponge Saturday, since mine died a sorry death in French Polynesia months ago. As I pulled it out of its packaging, I noticed a seed. Then I stared at the placentation. I thought, "This is Curcubitaceae." And I wondered why I hadn't noticed that about my last sponge.

This image shows the placentation:

Always a curious sort, I put it on my list of things to look into. Did you know that you're scrubbing yourself with xylem? Here's a great step-by-step how to prepare your own loofah article written by Aaron Newton, who grows his own Luffa :http://www.groovygreen.com/groove/?p=689 In this article, Aaron describes the simple process of "milking" the Luffa fruit, to remove the fleshy fruit and seeds, leaving just the fibrous xylem that makes the exfoliating sponge we all love.

Here's a Luffa gord dried out on the vine:

Many species in the genus Luffa, within the Curcubitaceae, are grown for use as sponges. This is the same family as cucumber, melon, and squash. Luffa cylindrica, Luffa acutangula and Luffa aegyptiaca are a few of the species that are grown for this purpose.

Here's a flower with a bumble bee:

Click on "Continue Reading" to see references for further reading, and my sources for all of the photographs of this entry.

Continue reading "Loofah Explained!" »

Posted by Christina at 7:42 AM | Permalink

Grab your student ID, hop on the Hill Line at the Hearst Mining Circle, and get your bum up to the Botanical garden. Yeah, I realize it's raining.

Ok, if you don't go, I won't hold it against you.

I might shed a tear or two for you, though, since you'll miss the orchids that are going crazy right now in the Fern and Carniverous Plant House, which is a little, almost invisible greenhouse right by the main gate to the garden.

Posted by Christina at 9:25 PM | Permalink