Yoon is a scientist with storytelling skills. She disentangles the mysterious world of taxonomy and takes us on a historical journey from Linnaeus to DNA sequencing.

Once picked, they deteriorate quickly, so mica caps, Coprinellus micaceus is edible, but only if you know what you’re doing.

A new nature mnemonic

Sharing interests with a fellow nature writer reveals our shared use of words.

When the full moon happens twice within a calendar month, the second occurrence is called the “blue moon.”

In addition to botanical names, the world of fungi has a special vocabulary to describe the life cycle of many mushrooms.

Beyond the botanical and common names, mushrooms have a distinct vocabulary to describe their life cycle.

The English language can be a fun as well as confusing.

Spending the day with the original twitterers – robins, cardinals, blue jays, woodpeckers and the rest of the spring arrivals.

I love to play with words, which motivates my 20th Century brain to attempt to follow the ever-changing 21st Century rules. When brain is composting, I often make lists of baffling English words. Years ago I came up with a list of paradoxical words that had opposite meanings. Among my favorites were: Clip –what you [...]