Erythroxylum echinodendron
Erythroxylum echinodendron was endemic to Cuba and was declared extinct in the wild in 1998. Echinodendron means “spiny tree,” and you can see where it got its name in this herbarium specimen. Erythroxylum is a tropical genus with about 250 species.
While this particular species was declared extinct in the wild rather than extinct, this damaged herbarium specimen is the only record I could find of Erythroxlym echinodendron. There don’t seem to be any reintroduction projects in place or even specimens being studied in botanical gardens.
This is particularly sad since many Erythroxylum species are hosts for butterfly and moth larvae and some have powerful alkaloid compounds. Not only are we probably losing insect species with the loss of this plant, but we’ve lost a plant that could have contained chemicals for new medications.
While you may have never heard the word “Erythroxylum,” a large number of your tax dollars are spent trying to control a particular species in this genus. You may have even used a product of Erythroxylum coca.
While most people wouldn’t recognize this shrub,
Erythroxylum coca
everyone knows what it’s most valuable product looks like:
Our use of coal is very, very bad for the environment and everything in it - including us. While we won’t stop using coal anytime soon, we can decrease the damage it does with stronger regulations. Write a letter.
What happens in the brain when people orgasm. I thought it was especially interesting that different types of female orgasms look incredibly different in the brain. With clitoral orgasms, the brain gets very very quiet – the article describes it as “widespread neural power failures,” but at least some non clitoral orgasms actually activate the emotional part of the brain.
Eugene Debs’ 1918 court speech.
Illdoctrine on the “gay rapper” question.
Because when we find ourselves believing killing a man makes us more of a man but loving a man makes us less of a man, it’s probably time to re-examine our criteria for manhood.
Fat discrimination in the medical world.
Cocaine and Thorazine – recommended for children.
Childhood obesity isn’t really an issue. But hungry children are. I found this statistic particularly depressing:
two-thirds of all children growing up in poverty have one or more working parents, and one-third have a parent working full-time, year round
It’s unacceptable that people who work hard every day can’t feed themselves and their families.
Depressing chart of the day.
Flagstaff passed 5 resolutions to keep the bus system up and running and make it even better. Hooray!
Most anti-immigration stances aren’t about making America better, they’re about ignorance and hate.
Tags: activism, cocaine, Eugene Debs, fat discrimination, flagstaff, hip-hop, immigration, orgasms, public transportation, sex, sustainability, that's queer, thorazine |
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