Welcome Back to Lyrae’s Nature Blog!
My name is Lyrae Willis. I am an Environmental Scientist and Plant Ecologist specializing in native plant education. I created this site to share my passion for plants and help educate those who want to learn more!
After a couple years of working hard and dealing with health issues, I am excited to say I’M BACK! I have started updating the existing content, and then I will continue with my focus on plant families. As always, I provide my time, photos, and writing free for educational purposes only (contact me for other uses), provided appropriate credit is given.Â
We have plenty of great sites like iNaturalist to help identify and track at the species level. However, I believe everyone should learn about plants and their characteristics rather than relying solely on AI and apps to do it. And understanding plants starts with understanding plant families. Once you can recognize a family and then a genus, it helps you identify plants on your own without relying on computer programs. I also strongly believe that this also allows us to gain a deeper recognition and appreciation for the natural environment. The more we understand the beauty of plants, the more we will want to protect them.Â
The Art of Ethical Wildcrafting
What is ethical wildcrafting? How do you go about harvesting from the wild in an ethical manner that does the least amount of damage and preserves the most for future generations or plants and people? Check out this blog to learn more!
Complete with specific tips on how to harvest and dry flowers, herbs, leaves, roots, berries, lichens, mushrooms, bark, and more!
