Madrona Murphy
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arbutocrat.bsky.social
Madrona Murphy
@arbutocrat.bsky.social
Mercenary botanist (mostly for @kwiaht.org), local scientist, pro-abortion, nerd, stoic, ecofeminist killjoy, irreverent descendant of Puritan colonists, she/her; moreover, ICE must be destroyed.
Reposted by Madrona Murphy
Not that you asked, but here's a thread of intriguing (real!) food facts to amuse/bore your friends and family.

Great for gatherings when you need to change the subject!
November 25, 2025 at 4:13 AM
You can support my work Protecting People, Pets, and Foxes in a Wildland–Urban Interface through the San Juan Island Community Foundation sjicf.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/c...
November 24, 2025 at 9:53 PM
Reposted by Madrona Murphy
Hymenopterists, what’s up? Sleeping in pairs? Weighing down the seed head for Bee Reasons?
Anyone know what’s going on with these ( maybe dead?) pairs of leafcutter bees in Australia?
November 21, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Reposted by Madrona Murphy
#UBC Botany is hiring an Assistant Professor in Non-Seed Plant Diversity - come work with us in beautiful #Vancouver, BC! Please repost!

academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/31140
University of British Columbia, Botany
Job #AJO31140, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR IN NON-SEED PLANT DIVERSITY (BRYOPHYTES, FERNS, LYCOPHYTES), Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, CA
academicjobsonline.org
November 20, 2025 at 10:10 PM
Reposted by Madrona Murphy
The Acarology Summer Program (71 years strong!) returns to Univ of Arkansas summer 2026:
Soil Acarology: May 25-June 12
Medical & Veterinary Acarology: June 15-20
Limited to ~15 students for personalized instruction.
Registration: training.uark.edu/portal/train...
#Entomology #bugsky #invert 🧪
Acarology Summer Program | Professional and Workforce Development | University of Arkansas
For 70 years, the Acarology Summer Program has trained researchers in mite identification, biology, and collection. Join this intensive, hands-on course to build your expertise in acarology.
training.uark.edu
November 19, 2025 at 8:06 PM
Reposted by Madrona Murphy
The seed oil of Paullinia cupana has cyanolipids that ARE cyanogenic. Has anyone tested the seeds of Acer or Aesculus for cyanolipids? They weren’t included in the family in the 1970s, when cyanolipid research was popular. 📷: Paullinia cupana Bernard Dupont CCBYSA2 #Sapindaceae #Botany 🌾🧪
November 19, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Reposted by Madrona Murphy
I spent a few years reading bad books by worse people to save you the pain.

Having read the first page of the Nuzzi excerpt

Under medical advice I cannot get drunk enough to make reading that worth it and I suggest you don't try either unless you really thought Twilight was intensely good prose.
November 18, 2025 at 1:10 AM
Reposted by Madrona Murphy
Someone just called the far right a "cancer in society," and as a person living with terminal cancer I find this really offensive.

I mean, cancer isn't killing people on PURPOSE. Cut it some slack.
November 17, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Reposted by Madrona Murphy
anyway she sure looks good to me! she's floppin her dang tail all over the place and rollin around and hollerin, she doesn't look distressed, she looks... excited? i can't read whale body language but she doesn't give me a "suffering an agonizing death" vibe
November 17, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Reposted by Madrona Murphy
A lot of people are going to walk away from the Ghislaine Maxwell coverage with the impression that our prison system isn’t punitive enough but I’d say it highlights how most everyone else is treated with *deliberate* cruelty.
November 14, 2025 at 1:27 PM
The picnic table is back! It took a trailer and a backhoe to get it there (and presumably to take it out) since it is topped with heavy aggregate. The community rejoices (but doesn't seem to be forgetting that is was removed without consultation or that the neighbor is encroaching). Not my photo
November 13, 2025 at 7:52 PM
Reposted by Madrona Murphy
Say what you will about cows, but zero of them are Nazis
November 13, 2025 at 6:31 PM
Double checking which local heritage apples make great pies before sharing them for the holidays: Yellow Bellflower is a resounding yes! Nice texture (quite firm, despite how tender it can be fresh and how bruisable they are), and delicious flavor. Easy to slice. So good fresh though....
November 13, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Reposted by Madrona Murphy
Your seasonal reminder that I design t-shirts (and related products) for grumps, queers, and weirdos.

Impress your relatives at Thanksgiving Dinner! Surprise Grandma with the perfect Hanukkah present! Support a queer, trans independent artist who's been job-hunting since April!
November 10, 2025 at 9:55 PM
The plot has thickened: it's obvious from deeds and county GIS that one of the neighbors is occupying nearly 30% of the public land (with a gravel parking pad and planted trees) apparently without either authorization, or push back from the county.
There's a lot going on out there, but I am completely absorbed in the discussion and civic engagement going on over a picnic table that disappeared from a public beach.
November 10, 2025 at 3:53 AM
Reposted by Madrona Murphy
I voted NO. As long as there is still any time left to reverse the MAGA health care hike, I believe we should do everything we can to force Republicans to the negotiating table.

The fight for health care does not end tonight.
Senator Murray Statement on Government Funding Vote: “The Fight for Health Care Does Not End Tonight—This is the MAGA Health Care Hike” | United States Senate Committee on Appropriations
United States Senate Committee on Appropriations
www.appropriations.senate.gov
November 10, 2025 at 3:24 AM
Reposted by Madrona Murphy
This bill doesn’t address the core issue that millions of Americans will no longer be able to afford ACA insurance coverage next year. I’m willing to work with anyone to create a path forward but this isn’t it.
November 10, 2025 at 1:56 AM
Reposted by Madrona Murphy
please learn about your local ecosystems. please. its so sad and strange to me how many people live in a place and learn nothing about the land that surrounds them and the ways in which that land has grown and changed and flourished for hundreds of years before your town even existed
November 9, 2025 at 2:44 PM
Turns out Yellow Bellflower apples are wonderful on pizza with chicken and blue cheese. (And Blue Pearmain are great stuffed with sausage and baked; and Gloria Mundi make a wonderful addition to chestnut stuffing rolled in pork loin)
November 9, 2025 at 2:54 AM
Reposted by Madrona Murphy
Feed everyone.
November 8, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Reposted by Madrona Murphy
#RecipeOfTheDay is Roast Quinces! Though actually I’m not sure this even qualifies as a recipe, since all you do is quarter them and roast them. But if you’ve never cooked with quince before, this is an excellent place to start. www.nigella.com/recipes/roas...
November 8, 2025 at 11:17 AM
Reposted by Madrona Murphy
Straight people, for the love of everything: if you can’t stand your spouse, divorce them. Don’t do standup comedy or a YouTube series or anything normalizing being miserable in a marriage.

“My husband has me considering Acqua Tofana ha ha ha”

Hilarious!
November 8, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Reposted by Madrona Murphy
walker beauty apples, painted by deborah griscom passmore, 1904
November 8, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Reposted by Madrona Murphy
he would pay for SNAP is all i'm saying and he's not even nice to me
November 8, 2025 at 12:59 AM