News &c

Aroid academics 🇨🇷 If you've read the Monstera deliciosa chapter of my book Legends of the Leaf, you'll know that aroid research is often difficult - the necessary specimens are unwieldy and hard to reach, for one thing. Hence the Monstera genus has not been revised since 1977. Applause, then, for Marco Vinicio Cedeño Fonseca, who has just published a paper revising the taxonomy of Central American Monstera species with fellow aroid researchers Orlando O. Ortiz and Thomas B. Croat - an incredible achievement. I can't wait to read it.

Air freshener 🌍 Neoplants are under scrutiny right now for their "air purifying tech" products, including the Neo Px, which claims to be "up to 30x more efficient at purifying the air compared to any regular houseplant" (that should be "compared with", language fiends). Kaylee Ellen's YouTube channel has been delving into the topic with interesting results, while Wired's review was lukewarm at best, concluding you'd need an uneconomic ten of these £139-a-pop plants to effectively clean the air of the reviewer's dining room. I am still investigating, but my take, thus far, is this: when it comes to air purification, very, very little multiplied by 30 is still not a lot. It is a complex topic, but effectively what it boils down to is that, as the Wired article explained (and I've said several times before), "the best way to rid your home of toxic gases and vapours is to open a window". Selling any indoor plants on the basis of their powers of air purification is, for me, one of the weakest justifications imaginable: especially when there are so many more compelling reasons to surround yourself with greenery.

Job op 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Burford Garden Company in Oxfordshire are seeking to hire a houseplant specialist on a full or part time basis. Details here. 

Plant pound 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Hilda, the Edinburgh houseplant seller, is crowdfunding for a houseplant hospital to add to their existing shop. This space will be a place where the community can come together to learn about houseplants.

Camera action 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🇺🇸 A documentary film called Light Needs by American filmmaker Jesse McLean looks at houseplants in a new way - it's on as part of the UK Green Film Festival in Chester on June 29. Details here. 

RIP Peter 🇺🇸 I was very sad to hear of the death of carnivorous plant legend Peter D'Amato of California Carnivores this week. His book The Savage Garden was my CP bible, and when he agreed to an interview for On The Ledge I was over the moon. He was a wonderful and generous guest, even sending me an updated version of his book, and he told the funniest stories. You can hear part one and part two of his interview.

This succs 🌍 Great to see plant poaching and the conservation of cactus species hitting the headlines - alongside threats to charismatic megafauna such as elephants. BBC Radio 4's World At One talked about these topics (the relevant bit starts at 23min or so) with a guest from the IUCN Red List. As is often the case with radio, the interview was miserably short - listen to these episodes of On The Ledge for a deeper dive. Traffic's guide to navigating the ethical, legal and sustainable purchase of plants is also well worth a read. 

Arty plants 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Collective gallery in St Albans is hosting an art exhibition on the theme of biophilia from July 11 to August 15 and Sarah Gerrard-Jones The Plant Rescuer will be hosting a Q&A and book signing on July 13 at 3pm.