Here's a close view of Eupatorium serotinum, known as white boneset and late or late-flowering or late-blooming boneset or thoroughwort. The species grows in Austin but I took this picture in Houston's Memorial Park on September 17th.
One of the most prominent plants in Memorial Park that day was one I'd not seen before, and its feathery growth habit immediately caught my attention:
From what I can gather, this is Eupatorium capillifolium, known as dogfennel. Many of these plants' tips were drooping, either by nature or from the heat. That gave me a chance for a different sort of portrait:
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In 2021 I wrote nine commentaries on the theme of common sense. In particular, I showed that quite a few things people believe to be "common sense" are actually false. If you missed those articles or would like to see them again, I've included links at the end.
Two days ago I came across an article by Ronald Bailey in the October 2022 issue of Reason that begins:
In May, New Jersey became the first state to ban single-use bags made from plastic or paper in large grocery stores. The new ban lumps both types of totes together, but one is actually worse for the environment than the other. Which one?
I think most of us would say plastic. It's only common sense, right? The article continues:
A 2005 life-cycle analysis commissioned by the Scottish government found that manufacturing paper bags consumes 10 percent more energy than manufacturing conventional plastic bags, uses four times more water, emits more than three times the amount of greenhouse gases, generates 14 times more water pollution, and results in nearly three times more solid waste. A 2007 study commissioned by what is now the American Recyclable Plastic Bag Alliance, an industry group, found that, compared to making plastic bags, making paper bags takes 3.4 times as much energy, produces five times as much solid waste, emits twice as much greenhouse gases, and uses 17 times more water.
Surprised? You're welcome to find out more in the full article.
Older "common sense" articles involved:
Lengths of rivers
Popular psychology
Rising and falling prices
Taxes
Birthdays
Baseball batting averages
Direction of inference
Chemistry
Average driving speeds
© 2022 Steven Schwartzman
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